The FPS and the RPG: A Comparison

[lostclause]

Has anyone mentioned FPSRPGS? I am of course referring to Fallout 3.

I would like to see more of those, except more FPS than RPG.

Check out bioshock. Even if you didn't get enough adam to buy just about everything they usually boil down to different ways to blow up your enemies.
On topic: Nice thread, personally I like both genres so I'm not too worried about which is better.

 

[FrozenPhoenix13]

I'm another one of those "I like both" people because when you get right down to it it's kind of the same feeling just at different times

Example: In a game like Final Fantasy all your time and work you put into killing those wolves or slimes or rogue robots that have no place in a fantasy game, pay off when you finally destroy the hundred foot tall fifty headed dragon-behemoth and save the world

However in an fps you get that same feeling (just in a much smaller dose) everytime you turn a corner with your shotgun out and you blast an enemy's head 10 feet behind them

 

[Spicy meatball]

They are very different fields. Some games attempts to combine the two *ahemGearsofWar* but at the very core they are two very unique game styles. Comparing Counter Strike with Prince of Persia is redundant because they play differently but personally I am more of an RPG fan than FPS. Doesn't mean I hate shooters, I just like it less that RPGs

 

[Woem]

I'd like to point out that your only playing JRPGs from the looks of it. also, Yuri(the main character of the game in the last screen shot, the guy with purple hair) is only effeminate in the sense that he has long hair.

Exactly, this doesn't count so much for WRPGs. Take for instance Planescape: Torment or Arcanum, where you can get experience points by choosing the correct dialogue option or for not resorting to combat to resolve a situation. And the grinding is far less important here.

 

[Flying-Emu]

Comparing rpgs and fps is like comparing godzilla to jason.

Then why do people hate on X while simultaneously saying that Y is so much better?

 

[Flour]

I'm still trying to understand how "effeminate" is a con.

Because, while most would deny it, a lot of young male gamers are insecure about their sexuality so anything that ruins that "manly man" image is wrong, "gay" or something to insult and laugh at.

 

[Fat Hippo]

I'd like to point out that your only playing JRPGs from the looks of it. also, Yuri(the main character of the game in the last screen shot, the guy with purple hair) is only effeminate in the sense that he has long hair.

That's a guy?!...you're fuckin' kidding me.

well deus ex mixed them both perfectly

I wouldn't call it perfectly. The FPS aspect of Deus Ex was actually kind of lame, the shooting wasn't all that much fun.


Overall, nice post. I just wish there were better hybrids of the genres. It seems like all FPS games that use a decent RPG system end up lacking in the shooting department. I thought the combat in Mass Effect and Fallout 3 was soooo boring.

 

[Archaeology Hat]

Gears of war is a TPS and you seem to have played JRPG's primarily. I've never played a Western RPG with an effeminate main character.

And I've played several JRPGs without them.

I'm still trying to understand how "effeminate" is a con.

In itself it's not a con. It becomes a con when it's the default main character archetype for the entire subgenre. Just like SPACE MARINES are a con in FPS games.

 

[RAKais]

Play Borderlands when it is released.
Enjoy a true RPS (Role Playing Shooter)
?????
Profit!

 

[Casbahthegrey]

It's not as cut and dried as that, each genre has their own sub genres and sub species of players, most FPS players aren't beefy jocks or something similar (although because FPSs are generally a shorter or more intense game they attract these type of player), just like alot of RPG players aren't fat, bespectacled shut-ins.

You see RPGs that have effeminate spiky haired characters are called JRPGs; Japanese Role Playing Games. They are completely different to western RPGs. Western RPGs are all about customisation: creating a character that you immerse yourself in and then going out into a world thats all about choice. JRPGs have a character or a bunch of characters that have a set bunch of skills that can't be changed (Though they can usually be upgraded with all those shiny xp points you must grind out of mobs) and exist in a linear world that the player has little to no choice in. JRPGs are all about the storyline, the player is simply there to hack their way through the often brilliant and fun combat at the same time as absorbing the fantasmagorical plot. In both types of RPGs their are often awful amounts of grinding, but you have to get xp somehow.
Then there are Action RPGs, FPS RPGs (Oblivion, Fallout 3), MMORPGs and the list goes on.

FPSs aren't always an online swear fest, many are meant to be enjoyed as immersive single player games (eg. Bioshock, System Shock, Deus EX) with stories just as rich and deep as any RPG. Many aren't all about action (though it is the accepted norm). Repetition is not really something to complain about in an FPS, the game is all about point and shoot over and over and over, thats like complaining that the sun lights only half the earth at a time.
FPSs are a solid and dependable form of instant entertainment, just jump on and log in to a multiplayer game, most of the controls will be the same from game to game so there is hardly any learning curb. By their very nature they are some of the most accessible games created, some people resent that or just don't get them.

So in Review, its not all cut and dried. Go out and play more and many different games, decide for yourself or something.

 

[black lincon]

I'd like to point out that your only playing JRPGs from the looks of it. also, Yuri(the main character of the game in the last screen shot, the guy with purple hair) is only effeminate in the sense that he has long hair.

That's a guy?!...you're fuckin' kidding me.

This may be a skill I've acquired after watching to much anime, but yes, and it's blatantly obvious.

 

[TotallyFake]

I would personally love a mix of both genres but they tend to always turn up the volume, so to speak , on one end over the other. I loved fall out 3 but hated how "off" the gun play seemed. After playing call of duty and other specific fps titles up until release.

Fallout ended up making me use VATS all the time until I had to stop playing because I became death incarnate at level 20 and just ended up going on infinite AP fueled killing spree's. There needs to be a mix were the gun play feels satisfying while giving you options as to how to grow/customize your character.

Yeah, Fallout 3's a strange beast. There's a weird middleground between entirely skill based shooting, and entirely dice based. As far as I can tell Fallout 3 is entirely dice based, even with non-VATS shooting. Part of me thinks it might just be the overall shallowness of the combat system. Weapon changing takes ages, and there are no special abilties, reducing it to either VATS or Doom-Era shooting.

There's got to be a middle ground. Deus Ex had the collapsing cross-hair and damage based on your characters stats, which I feel works quite well. Mass Effect has special abilites and a cover system, adding a splash of depth to the combat.

Maybe Fallout should have scrapped VATS, gone for CoD4 Iron-sights (or a collapsable crosshair) and had the RPG elements change the weapon handling (recoil, wobble, reload time etc.)

 

[tenlong]

Comparing rpgs and fps is like comparing godzilla to jason.

Then why do people hate on X while simultaneously saying that Y is so much better?

It is a matter of taste. I like rpgs and 3rd person shooters.[ I don't like fps tho.] Different strokes for different folks i guess.

 

[NeutralDrow]

I don't really care for effeminate JRPG-esque characters. I'm not "sexually insecure", and I think that that type of character can be interesting when done well. But it's an overused character type (not that the hyper-masculine super soldier isn't) and I'd like to see a bit more variety in games, with characters who are less stereotypical.

In itself it's not a con. It becomes a con when it's the default main character archetype for the entire subgenre. Just like SPACE MARINES are a con in FPS games.

But that's the thing, what part of it is stereotypical? Unlike most "hyper-masculine super soldiers," I don't think I've ever seen a bishounen main character who's appearance dictated what their characterization was like. Yuri from Tales of Vesperia was nothing Luke from Tales of the Abyss, who was nothing like Cloud from Final Fantasy VII, who was nothing like Vaan from Final Fantasy XII...

Because, while most would deny it, a lot of young male gamers are insecure about their sexuality so anything that ruins that "manly man" image is wrong, "gay" or something to insult and laugh at.

I don't think I'd go quite that far, but there does seem to be a large amount of shallowness on part of the player...

 

[Amnestic]

I'd like to point out that your only playing JRPGs from the looks of it. also, Yuri(the main character of the game in the last screen shot, the guy with purple hair) is only effeminate in the sense that he has long hair.

That's a guy?!...you're fuckin' kidding me.

This may be a skill I've acquired after watching to much anime, but yes, and it's blatantly obvious.

You can tell from the smile and the shape of the head *nods sagely.* The chin is too pointy. If you look across to the character's on the left, the blonde-guy has a pointy chin and the pink-haired lass has a rounded one. Not a universal rule, but has been a good indicator on more than one occasion.

 

[TheLefty]

I've given up on JRPGs but Western ones are amazing. Fallout 3, Mass Effect, those are amazing but I've grown out of Golden Sun and Final Fantasy. Personally I think Fallout 3 is the perfect combination of FPS and RPG. If you want to play it as an FPS but dump skills into Small and Big Guns. Mass Effect is also good, simply choose Soldier as your class and it basically become a TPS.

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

I like both. I just dont like JRPGs.

 

[Fat Hippo]

I'd like to point out that your only playing JRPGs from the looks of it. also, Yuri(the main character of the game in the last screen shot, the guy with purple hair) is only effeminate in the sense that he has long hair.

That's a guy?!...you're fuckin' kidding me.

This may be a skill I've acquired after watching to much anime, but yes, and it's blatantly obvious.

Blatantly obvious my ass. It's not just his hair that's pink, a lot of his clothes are too, and his face is by far the most feminine of all the faces in that picture.