20 Games That Defined Role-Playing Games

[saenz]

Honestly, I'm pretty impressed at their choices and reasonings. I especially liked how they avoided some sacred cows that were natural refinements as opposed to truly innovative products.

At the very least, it's rare you actually see a print gaming mag like Game Pro post something thoughtful like this.

for effort.

 

[Surf Solar]

That is the most retarded RPG related article I've read in a long time.

This.

Also:

Thanks to Baldur’s Gate, BioWare was already considered as one of the masters of RPG development

Also good Job mentioning "Fallout" and then showing a picture of Fallout 2.

 

[Kaanyrvhok]

Good list

My only argument is that Morrowind is more influential than Arena.

Incorrect. Arena was the most influential and groundbreaking game of the TES series. It was leagues ahead of it's time when it was released.

morrowind changed the direction of the genre. It made publishers say, "oh, we can sell RPGs on consoles".

 

[malichaixx]

Urist McMal cancels read article: too much Weeaboo.

all right, I did read the whole thing, but I'm sick of the jRPG worship that goes on in the West. I can't stand the railroading, the cutesy-poo characters, the storylines....urgh.

 

[PorkaMorka]

Well, that was a fool's errand.

If you try to make a list of the 20 most influential RPGs and you decide to cover:

- WRPGs
- JRPGs
- MMORPGs
- Japtactical RPGs
- Roguelikes
- action adventure games with stats

The list is doomed to be nothing but a mish mash because each genre only gets a few games.

And this is was a mish mash.

But it was nice to see Fire Emblem on there.

 

[Xor]

Are the Pokemon games actually RPGs? Can you define the protagonist in any way or do you merely level up their pokemon?

If it's not an RPG, what would you classify it as?

 

[sea]

Are the Pokemon games actually RPGs? Can you define the protagonist in any way or do you merely level up their pokemon?

If you think of your Pokemon as your party rather than the protagonist as the lead character (since for all intents and purposes, the Pokemon are what make the game), then yes, there's a huge amount of depth, considering you can breed Pokemon, choose what attacks they learn, can use various temporary and permanent upgrades, etc.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

 

[waywardOne]

You know, if you consider DA2 to be an RPG, then the list is perfect.

 

[curry]

As corny as it is, those old ass Pokemon games were more RPG than most of the contemporary shit by Obsidian or Bioware.

 

[l3loodAngel]

Tbh I havent played pokemon but seeing the RPGs today I am willing to bet that the inspiration definatelly comes from pokemon. Other than that I dont think I want to read anything from Gamepro...

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Are the Pokemon games actually RPGs? Can you define the protagonist in any way or do you merely level up their pokemon?

Trainer guy has no stats, bu the pokemans are the actual party anyway. The protagonist is just the guy that walks around opening doors for them with his opposable thumbs. They also need him for talking to people, because pokemons can only say their own name. How else would they buy potions in stores?

Anyway, my post on this subject, from that other thread

Considering the stuff that passes for RPG these days, I don't see much reason to laugh at pogeymans.

Turn based combat(newer ones have 2 vs 2 and 3 vs 3 battles)
Full party creation
Huge customization (unless you're a tourneyfag, in which case there are like 5 "community approved" party builds)
Stats matter (but trainer guy has no stats)
No romances (only raw, animal sex among monsters)
No bullshit epic story (there may be a crime syndicate or two in your way, but what matters is: are you a bad enough dude to beat the champion?)
No cutscenes
No fake choices (You sure as fuck are a bad enough dude. Take this monster and go hurt things for XP and money)
No grindan (unless you're lazy and want to win by sheer level difference)
No decline (the best, most complex title is always the latest one)
Very few bugs (the discovered ones are famous because of that)
Beauty contests where you can even win ribbons for your pretty princess of a fire breathing dragon, holy shit


fake edit: Hey, it even fulfills Serious_Business requirements for oldschool goodness.

Shitty interfaces, generic settings, repetitive gameplay, grindan and loot, excel sheets, levelling up, fake-difficulty based on character skill and not player skill, etc

edit: Here, a comparison of combat in pokemans and two other most prestigious RPGs.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Tbh I havent played pokemon but seeing the RPGs today I am willing to bet that the inspiration definatelly comes from pokemon.

Nope, Pokemon games are much more complex than "the RPGs today", assuming you mean AAA titles.