What games are you currently playing?

[cidbahamut]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Overwhelming emphasis on narrative. Emphasis on "overwhelming".

It's difficult to classify this stuff because it is largely subjective, I'll give you that much.
On the other hand, I think it's safe to say that most people are able to recognize distinctions on some basic level that allows them to determine that The Elder Scrolls is not a first person shooter franchise, but we've somehow managed to become unable to make that distinction in reverse so now we have games like Borderlands touting themselves as role playing games.

Extra Credits has done a couple videos on the subject and a lot of it comes down to what particular itches a game scratches. I don't play Baldur's Gate for the same reasons I play Borderlands or Diablo II, but there is a lot of overlap with the original Deus Ex. The lines are pretty damn fuzzy, but I feel like people are pretending they aren't even there.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Some people think Drum'n'Bass is Dubstep. Just because Drum'n'Bass can cross over with Dubstep doesn't mean they're not two different genres

Some things just exist to be remixed. Game genres are not immune to this.

[Armando]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I agree whole-heartedly with Extra Credit's assertion that genres are defined by why you play the game rather than game mechanics. On the other hand you'd be hard-pressed to come up with an alternative term for "RPG elements" that's immediately understood and doesn't have any negative connotations attached (Skinner box, lol.)

That aside, I finally got around to playing the UnderTale demo and I was pleasantly surprised. The game manages to reward pacifism, which is very rare.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

For reference, much of what Armando and Cid are talking about is here in the videos below. This is also why I go through phases where I mostly play Japanese RPG for a long time or Western RPGs for a long time. Or why I'm so big on Atlus because they often manage to scratch the itch for both really well.

Extra Credits is generally worth keeping up with regardless of the topic.

[Armando]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

For reference, much of what Armando talking about is here in the videos below.

To be clear, I was echoing Cid's opinion. He brought up the Extra Credits bit first. Credit where credit is due and all that.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Credit goes to Extra Credits either way

I was telling Firewind the other day that I have needs that get met by certain games. Shin Megami Tensei is why I struggle to get into Pokemon these days because it fills my need to collect monsters each time out. That and it lets me build really OP monsters without ever having to be worried about them being banned from multiplayer tournaments or whatever because there usually isn't multiplayer (barring DemiKids and SMT Imagine Online).

I play *a* Dynasty Warriors type game and I'm set for a long time. I really don't need one each year.

Same thing with Bethesda's games. They do the open world/freedom thing so well I really don't need anyone else aping that, which is why I think SE and Bioware are on the wrong track for chasing Skyrim. SE and Bioware not only do exploration poorly, its not the reason I play their games to start with. Their idea of exploration is poking sparkly things or finding a treasure chest.

I don't go to The Elder Scrolls for narrative and I don't go to Mass Effect for exploration. If I want a game that can do both really well, I'll place my trust in Obsidian for that sort of thing.

[Icemage]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I don't get the hate for "RPG elements". I didn't call Dragon's Crown an RPG; it's not, and it's nowhere near. But it does use a lot of the hack-and-slash fantasy game tropes: classes/races with specific advantages/disadvantages, dungeon exploration, limited-activation magic/skills, randomized damage/skills, etc.

If you want to refine the definition, by all means feel free, but you're going to have to find a better term. "RPG" just talks about "role playing games", which have long since evolved past their Chainmail/D&D roots, but the perception lives on.


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Dragon's Crown is much more like an arcade beat 'em up ala Gauntlet Legends than anything else, at least just going off the trailers >.>

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Its also generally sold out in retail due to limited shipments and pre-orders, so if you want it I'd consider getting Dragon's Crown digitally off PSN. Lots of places here are already sold out.

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

On a tight budget atm, Xillia is my last goodie until PS4 (not counting my sub to XIV)

[Taskmage]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I thought the abnegation point was a good one, but not entirely useful in defining a genre. Abnegation is also why I play solitaire and games like Bejeweled. You have to pair that with a surface element to really be descriptive. And they're totally right that JRPGs and Western RPGs can barely be considered the same genre. I don't really feel that Elder Scrolls games have an "overwhelming focus on narrative." Yeah, there's a story there, but I and most of the people I know easily forget it exists in the process of exploring and experimenting.

When it comes to why we play RPGs, I think their more recent video on game compulsion strikes more true to me.

Yes, most games provide this to an extent, but I think it's fair to say that RPGs are the originators and still do it best.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

On a tight budget atm, Xillia is my last goodie until PS4 (not counting my sub to XIV)

Er, PS3 still has plenty of games left through early to the middle of next year. There's no reason to get a PS4 at launch that I've seen. PS3 still has GTA, Dark Souls II, GT6, KH 1.5 HD, FFX HD collection and a load of other games coming.

All you're going to get with a new console at this point is the same frustration people got buying a 3DS, Vita and Wii U at launch - and there will be delays for games no matter how rosy they paint their "launch windows."

[cidbahamut]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I don't really feel that Elder Scrolls games have an "overwhelming focus on narrative." Yeah, there's a story there, but I and most of the people I know easily forget it exists in the process of exploring and experimenting.

I'd argue that there is an overwhelming focus on narrative, but that it's a focus on the player's narrative. Skyrim lets me build my own stories and it is very good at that. But yeah, this is kind of why I pointed out that the lines are super fuzzy. I think we can all agree that Skyrim would generally be filed under Role Playing Game, but articulating precisely why quickly becomes a murky and perilous task.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

TES is definately more lore-focused and into the idea of making you a pivotal figure in history more than telling a specific story about a person with a specific identity. Pretty much all Bethesda, Black Isle and some Obsidian games do that though.

I'd say Bioware, but I lost repsect for them the second they needed to make another Shepard out of every protagonist they made now, which is to say "generic human" in a game featuring multiple races. They could let you play as other races, but don't because they're lazy (i.e. EA does not want to pay for that kind of ambition/kill the silent protagonst).

Granted, Shepard had a good run, its just Hawke proves it can also be done poorly and the Warden had plenty of good merits left to do another, more ambiguous protagonist.

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

BF4 & The Order, plus I intend to use it for streaming.