What makes a good RPG game ?

[PedroSteckecilo]

It was a pretty terrible joke, but I'll be back to joke again! Though if his goal was to use ZERO punctuation... he shouldn't have used parenthasis.

 

[Tamrhind]

I like RPG's for their Story, Length and Depth and only occasionally for their gameplay. Call me old fashioned but I read a lot, and having RPG's which are like playable, somewhat interactive novels kicks ass.

This, to me, is what Darthracoon later called "immersion". It's something that was, on the whole, missing until THAT game came along (Baldur's Gate I mean BTW). Even the likes of Arena and the Ultima episodes didn't quite have IT to the same extent (IMO, anyway).

 

[xpenoxis]

If I may...Some of the best RPG's were not 3-d take chrono-trigger for the super nintendo
it was before the day of massively rendered cutscenes and it was perfect...try it sometime

 

[Alex_P]

A coherent, interesting storyline.
Well-written characters.
Game mechanics that, at the least, don't suck.

Very few games qualify as a "good RPG" by these standards.

-- Alex

 

[Chiasm]

For me its all about customizing your character and heavy stat driven story game with allot of options and a more tough difficultly curve. Why I loved more of the classic CRPGS's like the Baulders gate,Fallout,Planescape. Though now days for a good story I find these new games sadly focus on so much of the graphics it's hard to do get a decent game play and the rougelike feel I used to have.

Why I have been playing allot of Spiderwork games(Geneforge) and also Eschlon book 1 which so far is very amazing though the only downside is that they are far more indie lack high end graphics and so few people care or even buy them.

P.S I find it sad how many want a more deep story hardcore stat driven game yet when one finally comes out most gamers and critics only say it doesn't have good enough bloom and amazing graphics.

P.S.S Then again I just remembered I am also one of those freaks who still plays Castle of the Winds, So maybe its a bad thing to actually like gameplay over graphics.

 

[DreamKing]

I prefer my RPGs to have a deep story, like Skies of Arcadia Legends, deep character customization, like Tales of Symphonia, and awesome attacks, like Baten Kaitos Origins

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

RPGs in general need more choices that affect the plot and are IRREVERSABLE, so that is you try to reload it, it would say " hey buddy, it was your choice to kill those villagers, now you have to live with it."

 

[ReepNeep]

- Allowing players the freedom to go and massacre villagers and loot their bodies sounds cool on paper, but in reality it never plays out. In the end, all that happens is the player gets bored and starts to use the gameworld as a sort of playbox. It happens in Morrowind, in Fable. The game is no longer a compelling adventure with you as the main character, and has instead become a virtual experiment. See how many people you can kill before the guards come for you. See how much gold you have to spend at the Temple of Avo in order to reverse your alignment. The game's mechanics cease to become integral parts of the game's narrative, and instead become the bunsen burner and the steel tongs with which you try to bend the game's rules to breaking point. In any other genre this would be fine, but in RPGs you are supposed to play a 'role'. You have a character to play, one who has to fit into the gameworld. In Fable, I could go on a killing spree, then simply buy my virtue back and walk into any town to see people applauding my approach. How the heck does that fit into the game's narrative?

Sandbox games, right? Go anywhere, do anything and it becomes a toy where the only purpose is to fiddle with it. 'Immersion' and narrative go right out the window.

By having permanent consequences for your actions and not being able to 'buy back' your reputation these particular problems are avoided. Fallout assigning titles like 'berserker' and 'childkiller' is a good example of this. No matter how high your karma may get, you will always be tainted.

The rest of your stuff is spot on, though.

 

[Typecast]

I hate JRPGS, there I've said it, I can't help the way I feel, it's mostly just the turn-based combat, but it includes randome encounters, and large overscaled outdoors map in which something(one-thing) represents an entire group of enemies. Also the 'menu-navigation' gameplay that is the combat system. All that and the androgens.
Ok, that's out of the way. I'm a Deus Ex fan, just like j-e-f-f-e-r-s. I personally feel that tight characterization and storyline is essential for a good RPG. When you've got something like Fable, for example, I felt like my character had zero personality. Sure I could customize him, but in all seriousness, he might has well have been a blank hovering monolith spreading doom and discord to the idiots who inhabited the dinky villages of the game world. KOTOR was also a good RPG in that it had characterization that allowed you to connect with the characters and perhaps invest something in them.
Alright, so I'm just waffling at this point, but I think that strong characterization, and the pacing of exposition in relation to gameplay is essential to creating that 'suspense of disbelief' that is necessary.

*On a side note, I didn't hate Mass Effect(Oh sure those bothersome vehicle sections were boring, the sci-fictioness was as wooden as Star Trek and the script read like Passions, but at least the combat mechanics were ok and it presented you with some interesting choices) but I felt it lacked depth. The issue of its originality is irrelevant when you set out to make space opera, but honestly it did feel VERY cheesily ripped off from EVERYWHERE.

 

[LewsTherin]

A fine argument

QFT. An RPG is a two way experience, it's not all just given to you on a silver platter with a side of chips, you actually have to ROLEPLAY, create a character and act how said character would in the situations the game throws at you. Again, D&D is king. If your character is a homicidal sociopath, go for it, but don't expect the villagers to leave mints on your pillow.

Anyway, a good RPG needs a well written story, it doesn't need to be imaginative or original, as long as its good (although it might help), I agree with Pedro that JRPG's are only recently going down the Androgyny side-road, but they were once the pinnacle (And still are, for the most part)of story driven game play. look at games like Final Fantasy, The Tales of series, Chrono Trigger, Fire Emblem (Given, Strategy/RPG), the Mana series, the list goes on.

It also needs a deeper morality system, ala D&D or Mass effect. Something where you aren't limited to just the walking embodiment of hate and murder or a saint, but lets your walk the middle ground, or go either way, depending on the character you are playing. D&D has this down.

Then there is always immersion and gameplay, the medium from which you can interact with the game's environment. A bad control setup is like trying to thread a needle blindfolded with your nose. It just doesn't work. Good Graphics are nice, but shouldn't be the focus point.

 

[Trace2010]

While an RPG is obviously story based, this needs to be used to make the story driven by more than just the one character you walk around with.

Take you're FF7, at what point was say, Tifa absolutely neccesary to the plot? She was there to look good and be a choice for Cloud, she was unique but needless. (I'll probably get corrected on this point but meh)

The point I'm getting at here is, character's need depth which is getting harder to find outside of the FF series (irony).



Also, enemies need to be more original than dragons,ogres and golems of lava.

I would argue that it is also harder to find WITHIN the FF series now, because many of the characters are simply reborn as other characters to fit similar stories or episodes within a story.

 

[Trace2010]

I like RPG's for their Story, Length and Depth and only occasionally for their gameplay. Call me old fashioned but I read a lot, and having RPG's which are like playable, somewhat interactive novels kicks ass.

This, to me, is what Darthracoon later called "immersion". It's something that was, on the whole, missing until THAT game came along (Baldur's Gate I mean BTW). Even the likes of Arena and the Ultima episodes didn't quite have IT to the same extent (IMO, anyway).

I am much like this as well, I grew up reading and transferred that into a love of RPG stories. The main 2 problems with storylines:

1) They become to introverted (centering more and more around your character until you wonder whether you are playing a first person shooter)....or...

2) There are too many storylines within the game and they become too hard to follow linearly.
(So as character A is doing this, characters B and C have been doing this- short segments are fine...but long segments that allow for space between playtimes is definitely a no-no).

 

[RedElectric]

Actual character development. That's one thing that makes a GREAT rpg for me. Take Dragon Quest...I believe it's IV, for example. Each character STAYS in character throughout all aspects of the game. Ragnar smashes, Alena being a tomboy just rips through enemies physically(well after getting the upgraded claws during her chapter)...so on and so forth.

I hate it when my characters become interchangeable. I also hate cookie-cutter characterizations. Granted that now most of the characters in DQIV are pretty cliche, at the time they were unlike any other. Vibrant, deep and motivated, the characters themselves were as much of a joy as the storyline. So, yeah...all that being said, the best rpgs have AMAZING characters.

(Also, in all honesty, it's just absolutely LAZY to create a completely vapid and empty protagonist, stick it in the middle of some kind of story no matter how loose, and call it an immersive gameplay experience. Tell a GOOD story, THAT'S immersive!)

 

[Daiquere]

I'd say it's mostly the story, but it also needs to have gameplay that is fun enough too not discourage people from playing through it too get to the next plot plot point.

I played final fantasy 8 up to the third disk(somewhere around a hidden city in a lake filled with guards and monsters that get's invaded while you're doing some quest in a dream state). I wanted too play through until the end but I was forced too play using Riona who I hadn't played as since I got another character. Because of this she died a lot and cost me a lot of items and irritated me so much that I put the ps1 in a cabinet and never resumed too play it(partly because my brother sold the game and system at a yard sale and didn't tell me until the next day, but it had been months since I had played it anyway so I probably wouldn't have resumed it if I could).

 

[Parallel Streaks]

To be honest I believe that Valve are one of the only good storytellers and writers, Portals story was brilliant but simple, and every word spoken by GlaDos was just pure gold.

 

[minoes]

I don´t understand why people say that androgynous characters are only from JRPGs, because most females in western RPGs look like men.

 

[Arcticflame]

Entirely depends on what the devs are focusing upon.

E.G. Neverwinter nights - it's all about roleplaying and characterisation. Which is why I didn't like it that much (too much choice dammit).

Oblivion - About freedom, running around wherever the heck you wanted in a lush (or not lush), fantastic landscape

Diablo - All about simple minded slashing and blasting, fun because of quick, intuitive gameplay (seems to be a hallmark of blizzard).

You cannot condense what makes an RPG good into one point, but a general idea for me would be:
Immersion, gameplay and ergonomics.
Oh wait, that's the key for every game.

Useless post No: 67. Completed.

 

[BardSeed]

I'm sure this has already been said but I think immersion makes an RPG. If I'm immersed then I AM the level 13 rogue with a sharp tongue and sticky fingers. I slayed the beast that was causing havoc in a nearby city.

 

[Alex_P]

Again, D&D is king.

Blindly following the D&D formula is exactly what makes so many RPG video games (not to mention pen-and-paper RPGs) absolute crap.

-- Alex

 

[shadow skill]

More than anything a good story makes a good RPG.