Are RPG's getting worse every 5 years? (List your top 10 RPG's ever to help!)

1. Planescape: Torment
2. Fallout 2
3. Fallout
4. Final Fantasy 6
5. Baldur's Gate 2
6. Dragon Quest 4
7. Chrono Trigger
8. Wild Arms 3
9. Paper Mario
10. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue (Sega CD)

I worship at the fount of FF6 and CT too, but Square originally built its fanbase on quality. RPGs pretty much peaked in the 90s, and with few exceptions we've been in recession ever since. RPGs like everything else have succumbed to the siren's call of graphics = all, and there's no involved gameplay to distract one from the fact that the stories these games bank on are pretty awful. My picks either boast geuninely well-written scenarios, worthwhile gameplay, or in several cases both.

Yes, motherfucking Paper Mario. After going through shit title after shit title on the PS2, firing up an emulator and playing Paper Mario was a breath of fresh air. Involved gameplay, and a storyline that doesn't take itself too seriously. It beats the unholy shit out of Final Fantasy 7.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Quote:

Posted by Lukage
Are we talking about them outright sucking or lacking originality?

In many cases, one follows the other. Shadow Hearts 2 for example would have otherwise been an excellent game, but it was destroyed by its tired by-the-numbers storyline. Like so many other games, it started out good, but then the writers got lazy and fell back on the Big Book of RPG Cliches.

I'm just sick and tired of yelling at the screen trying to make the protagonist stop being an idiot, and having my intelligence insulted by plot twists I can see coming a hundred miles away. Seymour turns out to be a bad guy? Gosh, I never would have guessed.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Quote:

Posted by Lord Jaroh
BTW, I have been truly "in the genre" since Final Fantasy I on the Nintendo, so I do have a lot of experience playing these games to judge for myself what I like, and what I don't like.

Don't take him too personally. Utopia has a huge elitist streak. His preference in RPGs is directly proportional to how obscure and inaccessible a game is.

The biggest problem I see in RPGs these days is that designers seem to think they have to decide between a linear storyline with no room for player input, or a game that allows for player choice but contains a barebones storyline at best. This is simply not true, as demonstrated by the games that are frequently at the top of people's lists, like Torment and KOTR.

Unfortunately, the middle ground requires work on the part of developers. If not branching storylines, you at least need branching quest lines and quest solutions. Planescape: Torment was as linear as they come storywise, but there was a hell of a lot of room for personal involvement, not only from how you built your character, but what interim quests were available and how you actually approached them.

Most current RPGs don't even give you any control over how your character develops. There's variety to be had simply in deciding to play through the game as a thief instead of a wizard, but you don't even get that anymore. The sphere system in FFX was largely irrelevant, since most of the cast was pretty well set on very specific paths, and the one wild card - Kimahri - usually wound up gimped unless you had a very specific goal in mind.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

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Posted by DragoonKain
The badass characters are slowly fading. I miss the days of Kain, Cecil, Shadow, etc.

You said something interesting there. Kain, Cecil, and Shadow are indeed bad ass characters, but notice how they're superficially no different than pretend-badass characters like Cloud, Sephiroth, or Amarant. Cecil and Kain have their fair share of angst, and Shadow is just as bad as any other over-the-top-look-how-awesome-and-cool-I-am character.

The difference? They don't wallow in it. Cecil is forced pretty quickly to get over himself, unlike Squall or Fei who spend the entire game being unlikable emo bitches. Kain has brief angsty moments, but doesn't dwell on it, and saves the weepy stuff for non-critical moments. Sorry I tried to kill you and take your woman, Cecil, but right now it's more important that I use Jump on this boss. And Shadow? He's professional. He doesn't get pretentious about his motives or badass ninja skillz, he just does the job he's paid to do.

Square's writers lately have taken to copying the form, but not the function of the badass archetypes. That's why you end up with guys like Cloud who spend all their time being emo instead of picking their ass up, turning off the Robert Smith, and getting out there to kick some proper ass.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?