Barrow_Bug said:
However, you do NEED some kind of narrative in a single player RPG.
I don't think it's a requirement. Although I guess a branching story would indirectly include a narrative, it just wouldn't be as focused or as epic as modern games try to make it. Still, the story should be an aspect of gameplay! Video games are interactive fiction, not passive fiction like reading a book.
The interaction is
the entire point of a video game. Why this interaction has not made an in-depth debut in the narrative? I don't know, but it just seems like the next natural progression of game design. Let the player create the story by wandering through a maze of different story outcomes. Let them decide which branch to take. This is interaction! Performing a mass slaughter of enemies and monsters between each story arc is utterly
not interacting with the story, it's just linearly progressing to the next, unalterable part.
Linear narrative is a cop-out in terms of video game interactivity. It's the anti-thesis of what RPG stands for choice, interaction, and consequence.