Review Mount & Blade is a new kind of RPG

[DarkUnderlord]

Tags: Mount & Blade

Now that the game is out, the reviews are trickling in. <a href="http://www.gamesquad.com/index.php?option=com_articles&id=8&pform=&aid=197">According to Gamesquad.com, Mount & Blade is a whole new kind of special RPG</a>. Not one of those old-style pesky RPGs where stats get in the way and combat is determined by mathematics:
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<blockquote>Unfortunately, most RPGs, be they single player or massively multiplayer affairs, just don't live up to those realities. Instead, combat is often portrayed as a distant, mathematically-based process livened up with a flash of the Tolkien-esque fantastical. Simply, where are all the Braveheart moments in RPG gaming?
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I had despaired of ever finding a RPG that I could truly sink my, er... sword into - that is, until I came across TaleWorlds' Mount & Blade. Within moments of giving the beta a try, I knew that TaleWorlds' was well on its way to achieving something unique in the world of electronic swordplay: removing the middle man and allowing the gamer to swing his own sword. That simple change, combined with a few other innovations, offered the promise of fundamentally altering the standard RPG formula forevermore.
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Mount & Blade is not like other RPGs. Rather, Mount & Blade offers the choice between the more traditional third-person perspective and a novel first person perspective. Because the game sports some pretty visuals, either choice is a rewarding experience but it is the first person perspective that brings the game to life like no other RPG I can think of.</blockquote>
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A couple of things... Firstly, removing the mathematics and relying on player skill makes it an action game, kind of like a first person shooter. Secondly, first-person in RPGs is not "novel". The review ends lamenting the lack of story and multiplayer. Despite that, it scores a 9 / 10.
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Spotted @ <a href="http://www.rpgwatch.com">RPGWatch</a>

 

[inwoker]

Scott Tortorice is the new type of special reviewer.

 

[dagorkan]

I messaged Babyarm about this but I may as well put this here.

Check out the new definition of a superior RPG:

http://www.rpgfan.com/features/mountandblade/index.html

 

[Jaime Lannister]

Mount & Blade: loved by the Codex until non-RPG fans found it.

Then, it turned into a punching bag.

M&B, you will be missed.

 

[The_Pope]

I have to say, mount & blade combat is far more enjoyable than watching some retard miss again and again because you haven't stabbed a million goblins yet.

 

[thesheeep]

I have to say, mount & blade combat is far more enjoyable than watching some retard miss again and again because you haven't stabbed a million goblins yet.

Indeed! Still it adds the action genre to the other ones in M&B

 

[dagorkan]

I would be fine if they didn't call it an RPG or pretend it would one day evolve into one. It isn't an RPG any more than Civ4 or GTA or The Sims are. Also do not suggest your non-RPG is a superior RPG because it has twitch combat... That is the very least, if you are obsessed with pretending your game is an RPG find another rationalization.

 

[thesheeep]

Nah, too many stats and some minor choices involved to not include the RPG tag here.

The problem is just that journalism considers every game that has this RPG tag to be RPG only

 

[dagorkan]

Civ4 doesn't have stats and choices?

 

[thesheeep]

With stats I obviously meant character stats...

 

[dagorkan]

What's the difference? Treat a city as a character with it's own stats. Or your Empire, number of cities, gold, tech level etc are all treated as stats or attributes which can be invested in and your choices, success or failure are determined by them.

Anyway Civ4 does have unit (including hero) stats in any case. Attack, defence, movement and a whole bunch of promotions with which you can customize them with so there are hundreds of combinations. A branching kind of progression sort of like The Witcher but with more choices... and it doesn't rely on twitch. Civ4 is more of an RPG than the Witcher!

 

[thesheeep]

Okay, that's so far from sanity, I won't even bother to tell you why you can't define a city as your character to make the game an RPG

 

[Spectacle]

Retards who like a good game for the wrong reasons are still retards.

 

[Shannow]

Mount & Blade: loved by the Codex until non-RPG fans found it.

Then, it turned into a punching bag.

M&B, you will be missed.

Links or it didn't happen.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Retards who like a good game for the wrong reasons are still retards.

 

[Unradscorpion]

Okay, that's so far from sanity, I won't even bother to tell you why you can't define a city as your character to make the game an RPG

Hmmm... an RPG where you play a city... maybe it is possible...

 

[Durwyn]

Okay, that's so far from sanity, I won't even bother to tell you why you can't define a city as your character to make the game an RPG

Hmmm... an RPG where you play a city... maybe it is possible...

Take away your "sim" from my RPG :declineofcodex:

Altough...

 

[JarlFrank]

I had despaired of ever finding a RPG that I could truly sink my, er... sword into - that is, until I came across TaleWorlds' Mount & Blade.

[obligatory penis joke] So the hole in the middle of Mount and Blade's CD is big enough to fit your "sword" through it? [/obligatory penis joke]

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Okay, that's so far from sanity, I won't even bother to tell you why you can't define a city as your character to make the game an RPG

Hmmm... an RPG where you play a city... maybe it is possible...

I'd love to roleplay Ranx.

 

[dagorkan]

I don't see what's odd about it... you're all too held down by the superficial details. An RPG is a game where you control an entity that plays a particular role in the game world and where your choices, and success or failure of your actions is determined by the attributes of that entity.

Anyway an first person game with stats is not enough to qualify as an RPG.

 

[JarlFrank]

We should interview Armagan so he can call us a prestigious magazine.

 

[Skankster]

Wasn't there a link with him spruiking his RPG credentials somewhere here? I think someone recently linked back to it.

That seemed to have been lost somewhere between the 4 or 5 graphical updates that he concentrated on. Unfortunate really.

 

[the_dagon]

Interesting debate upon RPG or not...

So is the good old Majesty a RPG ?

 

[Durwyn]

Interesting debate upon RPG or not...

So is the good old Majesty a RPG ?

Well the fuck! cRPGs and even consolish RPGs are nothing but evolution (or deevolution in some cases) of PnP Rpgs... For me RPG is when you play a role of character Attributes, skills, perks defines your character abilities... If your personal twich skills are more important than characters attributes it's Action RPG. In other cases it's a simulation game

Edit: Just before everybody flaming me, i didn't mention dialogues, c&c and some other things that makes RPG

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

I still say there should be an RPG where you roleplay an evil sentient city dropping blink-bombs into the cores of sentient planets and enslaving entire nations with yellow light.