RPGs sure have changed since the days of battery-equipped NES cartridges. But at the same time, they haven't changed a bit, have they? Tonight, we take a look back at the evolution (or lack thereof) of this genre over the past three decades; specifically, where we've all ended up and how the RPGs of the PSX/N64 era got us there.
Hit the comments with your questions, unless you've all suffered some kind of amnesia and have been suddenly called away to engage a madman bent on world domination whilst piecing together your shattered memory along the way, or to prevent two opposing governmental forces from destroying the world with their struggle for control. Because Lord knows those things happen all the time.
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Contest:
3:54 PM on 12.11.2008
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Did you find the english lyrics/singing annoying? Unfortunately, I certainly did.
Looking forward to what you all have to say on RPG evolution. I really got into the turn-based ship battles in Skies of Arcadia.
Great RPG on the Nintendo 64, or greatest RPG on the Nintendo 64?
Mine is Dancing Mad, without a doubt. It's absolutely STELLAr.
(See what I did there? Har har har.)
Also, do any of you listen to The Black Mages?
Who here has played one of the best RPGs that has ever been scanned on a silver disc? The ship crew, finding the landmarks, the story...all of it beautiful. Does anyone else think of this as one of the most amazing RPGs of all time?
Also, ISN'T CUPIL CUTE AS SHIT?!!?
God, it's been a while. Hopefully I can still bring the funk.
I remember being blown away by FF7. It just seemed so exotic and beautiful at the time (mostly due to the music and pre-rendered backgrounds), and I can recall thinking "this is the future of RPGs" at the time. Have any of you had a similar moment, regardless of whether you thought the new direction was better or worse?
Also, I managed to Matlock out what happened to Dyson. So no need for any more deception ;)
P.S. <3 Retroforce! :DDDDDDDDDDD
Also,
Can we please get a Rip Taylor update? We got the Dyson status report last week, and the RetroforceGO! fans are clamoring for more Rip Taylor. Alright, it's just me, but I'm clamoring nonetheless.
How do you thing video games will have affected your lives at age 70? What games will you look back on as true classics? Do you think you will still (attempt) to keep up with the gaming world? What will be your fondest memories?
oh RPG's you've changed my life for the better. :3 Personaaaa
FUCK YEAH! It's my favourite RPG of all time too. I (sadly) only played the GC version, so I didn't get the authentic "classic" experience with the increased encounter rate and stuff.
But man, if they ever make a sequel (Vyse and Aika are in Valkyria Chronicles, so they could be hinting at something), I'll cream so hard it'll be heard around the world.
Also, RAMIREZ >>>>>>>>>>> SEPHIROTH. Truth.
Also, What is your opinion on random battles. Recently I feel like random encounters have been mostly replaced with a Chrono Trigger style encounter in which the characters have to contact some enemy-object to initiate a battle. I personally think this is neat, but it also removes some of the exciting randomness of running into a rare new enemy. Non-random battles do give you much more control over your own pace in the dungeon. I guess I sit on the fence on this one, and I am curious how you guys feel.
when i podcast i got no pants on/
people say that I'm ridiculously handsome/
i like to punch old ladies, that ain't wrong/
and i will put babies in Colette and Stella Wong/
i don't hate Anthony, that's not true kids/
but my god, ain't his haircut just so stupid?/
since Dyson left, I'm the host of this show/
i can do "and welcome" but i don't eat pizza rolls/
Topher likes slurpees, I'm a ladies man/
I'd only make exceptions for effing Dr. Yang/
my style is retromazin', my face got handsome features/
i'll win in every battle, cuz PaRappa is my teacher/
i'm nerdcore, my bed is cartridges of E.T/
Chad C, i was amazing at E3/
teach me? i know all about games/
yeah you had a highscore, but.. things change/
Daisy is a total bitch, yeah that's true!/
to her i say like craineum's son; pew pew!/
Also,
My question is did any of you play the Atelier Iris games? If so did you like them? I thought they were amazing :)
Things like this are the reason I love this site.
So what do you guys think make up a true RPG? Is it the exploration and battles? Does an RPG have to be all about stats, experience points and menus? Do you consider Zelda or Okami to be RPGs or more like hybrids?
Also The World Ends With You makes me tingle.
Also, Chad, remember this?
Topher Cantler = "Tofu Canteloupe" (not mine, obviously!)
Chad Concelmo = "Chat, Concise-Mode" (because you are the guy who usually needs to keep RFgo on topic!)
Stella Wong = "Tell A Swan" (no reason for this one, it just sounds awesome and I was trying to avoid words like gong, schlong and dong)
Colette Bennett = "Cool Head? Been It!" (because she keeps it laaaaaaaid back (with her mind on her money and her money on her mind (okay, maybe not the last part)))
We all know how craptacular that turned out...
Delly, that was awesome, but not one reference to dolphins? I'm disappointed.
Mega Man X Command Mission. Has anybody played that? I've only played a little, and it seemed simple but fun.
ALso, I got my major award! Thanks youse guys!!!! I'll write a post about it soonish.
My vote is for random battles, players shouldn't be punished for exploreing!
Do you think that Vagrant Story was Square's true swan song before the generic Squeenix JRPGs started coming in in their thousands?
If you liked it, what made you fall in love?
Hey guys just wanna ask, would prefer an RPG that has poor gameplay but a great story or an RPG that has a poor story but great gameplay?
Also, what happened to the cuteness spam you guys used to get in the comments? I think it's time we picked up our game :)
starting now
Enjoy :D
Also, I don't know why everyone hated on Majoras Mask so much. I personally hate Zelda games that are in Hyrule where you save Zelda and all that, they're so cliche. It was fun and fresh to go to a new world and change form when you put on the masks. Sure the time limit was a bit annoying sometimes, but it promoted better time and resource management. There was even cows getting abducted by aliens! How cool is that? It was also when they introduced Tingle! Kalooom-PA!
In summary Tingle rocks and I hope Topher is or will soon be feeling better.
A question from the game Suikoden: "Chad did you ever play me?"
Rip Taylor thinks its awesome how almost every genre of current-gen games have cribbed some sort of leveling up system from the retro era of RPGs. Can you imagine what games would be like today without all of the hybrid elements from RPGs? Maybe RPGs haven't had such a difficult time evolving, as most people claim. Maybe we just haven't noticed how they've grown because all games, from platformers to puzzle games to straight forward FPS, have absorbed some sort of RPG style gameplay elements. Instead of stagnating, RPGs have actually spread out and infected every other genre.
But that's just Rip Taylor's opinion.
Also, since then we've seen small and pretty hardcore Japanese companies like Atlus and NIS have some success in America. What are your favorite titles from those makers and other smaller publishers?
What quirky battle system tweak kept you from getting bored of repetitive battle sequences? Which tweak attempts failed?
I really liked Mother 3's rhythmical button tapping and Mario RPG's button combos for special moves. I usually hate cumbersome systems that requires you to switch up weapons just to get the right kind of alignment attacks.
Also, who has the better themesong Gato or Robo?
The question is that if you've ever feel that RPG's have been TOO MUCH CONSERVATIVE in terms of their gameplay and have only evolved in terms of story, graphics and immersion but not so much in their gameplay style (even i they cahnge machanics, they are always items/magic/attacks/grinding)
In other words... HAS MODERN RPG'S PUT MORE ATTETION INTO STORY AND IMMERSION THAN GAMEPLAY? Is that good or bad? Why can't we have a game that's fun to paly but also immersive?
It has the most awesome and epic story!
Did any of you play it? And if so, are you infuriated at Xenosaga for taking a beautiful story and just ignoring the shit out of it?
Do you like games that take real-world topics such as religion and put them into an RPG, giving them a tangible and definite..."answer" so to speak? (i.e. Xenogears' take on "God").
So, whether you thought FF7 was the shit or just shit, do you think it was harmful to the genre because of its massive popularity or was it mostly harmless? Do you guys think it was massively popular because of its ad campaign or because it is a solid game? (I personally loved it, but this is hardly about my opinion. ^_^)
No seriously, Dragon Warrior VII and DQ VIII have got to be as old school as they get.
Do you guys find some modern JRPGs to be more stale than their predecessors? I find some modern JRPGs are retro in their mechanics but they feel dated, but at the same time Final Fantasy Tactics or Dragon Quest still feel fresh. Adding onto Tash's question, do you think RPGs have gotten too long?
I used to be able to do 80 hour RPGs but now I get bored at 40-50 hours...
Maybe I'm getting too old.
SetoChaos: Atelier Iris 1 was great. But I didn't think the second one improved on it at all...
LaxLuster talked about adult characters in RPGs. I still like the sort of "Shounen Jump" RPG which is a nonsensical story about teenagers saving the world. I just don't enjoy dark, serious comics/manga, or RPGs... so I don't know if I'd like one with all adult characters.
Finally, anyone tried Castle Fantasia 2, Koi-suru Oukoku (KO - EE - SOO - ROO OH - KO - KOO), Utawarerumono (OOH - TAH - WAH - RAY - ROO - MO - NO), or Men at Work 2? Because those are the first adult RPGs that have been fan translated.
Anyway, What do you think needs to be done to bring turn-based RPGs back into the mainstream? Are they a dead subgenre like the text-based ones?
Is there any hope for them...?
And yes, I like the Atelier Iris games for PS2 too (at least numbers 1 +3). They really recall to mind the SNES era of RPGs with super-sharp graphics. Sweetness. ;-)
If you guys haven't gotten around to play it, I can supply NOT copies of the game for the PSone to you. Just shoot me off a pm or something.
p.s. I haven't had the chance to post questions or anything in the past few weeks because of weird recording times and me just not being able to get to a computer of some sorts. BUT I have been listening. Love you guys <3
What was your entry into the genre?