ARPG’s take a lot of strategy and that was only one point I was trying to make to SuperTroll. They have a lot of depth to them too, and if you jump into an area with a bunch of shitty skills and horrible stat placement on top of medoicre weapons/gear, you’ll get bopped. I just like the fact I can dodge things in real time instead of it being based on a dice roll like it usually is in turn-based RPG’s. I also find the combat in ARPG’s a million times more fun, faster-paced and enjoyable than your typical turn-based game.
Edit: Souls games are huge in strategic, smart play. They reward you for it. Stamina bar is just one thing you’ll want to keep your eye on, and it’s just one example.
I dunno, I only really play Final Fantasy when it comes to turn based and almost all of them offer Active. I don’t really play other turn based RPGs. I remember Wild Arms 3 being pretty fast paced, but I don’t remember if it’s active or not. Lunar’s not Active, but I play that more for it’s narrative and characters then the gameplay.
A lot of ARPGs do take strategy, but a lot of them don’t because they tend to built like action games, but with stat modifiers. They are about quick reflexes and split second judgment, not pre-game planning. This doesn’t make them bad.
Only time I’ve played an ARPG that took strategy outside of the Souls games (and even then the strategy is just dont play stupid) is doing low level/bad gear runs.
I played Diablo 2 for a few weeks. I liked it for a little while. I liked those XML/UA games but people told me those “didn’t count as RPGs.” Diablo 2, either.
Idk/gaf Every genre probably has at least a couple games for everyone.
Play Diablo or PoE. Sometimes you’ll run across enemies who can hit you with curses and auras that dramatically nerf your defenses, to a point where you have to fight those enemies completely differently than you would the last group you just bopped. Or, you’ll come across an enemy that can reflect your damage, forcing you to again, play differently. Some enemies can freeze/slow you, dramatically reducing your characters effectiveness.
Just some random examples. You can’t always go HAM all the time with no thought, even when you get the best gear/skills, the games are still usually balanced to a point where you can still get bopped if you don’t play smart.
Those are ARPG’s and the combat/gameplay gets crazier the farther you get and the better your gear/skills get.
I played Ultimate Alliance 2, and while I found it extremely basic, it was still pretty fun. The RPG elements are extremely light in that game, it felt more like a beat 'em up or character action game lite. I heard Ultimate Alliance 1 had a lot more depth to it.
Ok fine what I should say is FF games with action RPG elements are terrible cause they literally turn into mindless button mashers.
Also I wouldn’t consider demon souls a RPG…RPGs are characterized by the turn based format so any game that doesn’t have turn based action is inherently not a true RPG. I’d call it a action adventure but not a RPG in the traditional sense.
Naughty Dog is a really good studio, but I never really cared for Uncharted 2, and never really liked the characters/dialogue as much as everyone else. I’m generalizing, yes, but the circle of gamers I knew at the time were all losing their damn minds over that game.
RPG stands for Role Playing Game, it has nothing to do with what kind of combat engine the game uses. In the Souls games, you create your own character who represents you, who has no personality and is defined by your actions/beliefs, and you progress through the story interpreting things, customizing your character to your preferred play style, and making your own choices throughout. That’s role playing. edit also not to mention the games place a heavy emphasis on immersion and growing attached to your character and the world.
Early console rpg’s adopted turn based battle systems overwhelmingly, because with the limited technology and gameplay possibilities of the time, it was pretty much the best way to translate to video games the table top pen and paper role playing games of the time which spawned the genre and the term “rpg”. But now we have first person role playing games like elder scrolls and role playing games with in depth combat, etc.
Honestly, I would say that the Souls games are more true to classic table top style role playing then something like Final Fantasy, which has nothing even resembling role playing (from a story telling standpoint, at least), and is more or less a completely linear story telling game that just happens to have turn based combat and a lot of stats.
Naughtydog has a knack for making first world problems out of third world scenarios.
And INFINITE will body whoever did that doa5 song, in a rap battle 10 - 0
I think the DoA series, perverses the fighting game genre. And that niggas that play that game should just got play battle raper or some other shit because you know what you are REALLY after.
Suikoden felt really fast, too. When I gave commands to all my characters and watched as ALL of them at the same time attacked, it blew my mind.
I have PSN Wild Arms 1 but I haven’t played it much. I love the 2D overworld and it’s kind of a downer the battles take place in 3D. I thought Legend of Legaia and Legend of Dragoon were faster-paced, but that’s probably because of how unique those battle engines were.
Grandia is a series I hear about having a great battle system, but I’ve personally never played them.
Actually RPGs were always designed with turn based in mind. It’s embedded to the DNA of that genre like jump mechanics in a platformer. The advances in technology allowed for the deviation we see today but on principle and intention, turn base is a defining feature of RPGs. The perversion of action RPGs is unfortunately a symptom of modern over thinking…kind of like CTEs
There are plenty of developers of games that feature role playing, but not turn based battles, and would like a word with you for implying that they do not know their own damn genre.
No. The defining characteristic of rpg’s is role playing. Silent protaganists! Player avatars! Branching paths! Dialogue tree’s! Customization! Immersion and story telling!
Turn based combat is just easier to sync up with those elements in general, but if a developer has the game design know how and hard work needed to make an action/skill element work in a role playing based game, well more power to them.
There have been action rpg’s all the way back to the nes and even Atari (I’m sure you just would refuse to recognize them though, since they don’t conform to your arbitrary definition of role playing that states it MUST have turn based combat above all else).
Over thinking? No. It’s natural. And furthermore there is no such thing as over thinking. As long as the logic and reasoning is solid, you cannot think too much. Especially when you’re trying to be an artist.
I’m pretty sure 90% of game developers would disagree with you just as much as I am.