Rpg's of Past or present?

There are a lot of Great RPG's out there as we all know, but are the latest RPG games up to par with the old classics?

In my opinion no, because it's all been done. In the past it was easier for developers to do something innovative and new, but now it's like they stick to a formula and don't like to experiment or mix it up much. Seriously, how many times has an rpg been about, vengeance, saving, the world, Getting the bad guy, Saving the damsel? - Hundreds. The rpg games of the past may not be as graphical or compelling as the new ones, but the new ones have it easier, they can use cut scenes, visuals, character models e.t.c to tell the viewer what they should be feeling/thinking, whereas in the past they really had to write an in depth story to put their point across. I believe overall the past RPG's are best because they are the ones that started it all.

Any Opinions?

 

yea, i second motion on this one, developers back then had great ideas, but sadly, the technology just isn't enough to create a fabulous graphic. that's why they have remakes

 

Two things to consider: Firstly, when you eat pizza for the first time, you are absolutely blown away. The taste is amazing. But the more you eat it, the more it looses its spark and eventually becomes just another food. The same principle applies with RPG's. Once you play it for the first time, it's a great experience but the more RPG's you play, the harder it becomes to impress you. That's why the latest RPG's seem so "unimaginative". For someone that only recently has started playing RPG's, they might find the latest one really good simply because they haven't played much. True, the story of older RPG's is a lot better but you have to factor into account how much experience you have with the genre. I still find RPG's great but it is true that they are not as great as the oldies and I find myself playing other genre's more and more these days.

Secondly, you have to remember that there is only so much they can come up with. After they have used the same plot lines over and over it becomes more difficult to think of something original. That's why developers focus more on the gameplay if they realise that they simply don't know how to make their story more original and new. That's another factor that has to be taken into account.

That's my opinion at least. Like I said I still like RPG's a lot, it's just that they are getting boring lately and am looking for a more original one.

 

There is already a topic on this

 

Sorry, where might that be? I searched but couldn't find one.Thanks

 

I guess like it's hard for developers to make new ideas for RPG's
It's hard for me to come up with a new topic...

 

https://www.romulation.org/forum/index.php/topic,8713.0.html

 

This topic has a specific focus on RPGs. That one is towards games in general. I'm willing to let this one stay, but I don't think its that great of a debate topic, so moved.

 

If you really want "innovative & wacky" game elements or concepts try playing RPGs that were only relesed in Japan, a lot of these are filled with fresh ideas, some kewl & neat, some just plain insane, as an example try out "Rudra no Hihou" & it's funky spell creation system. That reminds me, I haven't made my review of that game yet...

 

The problem is a lot of the good Japanese RPG's are well, in Japanese and impossible to be played by most people. There are translations, yes, but only a few games get translated.

By the way Cahos, the last time I saw a review from you was AGES ago

 

Yes I know, I haven't got the time to put my latest one up yet. This next one though uses less photos than my last one as the game, Rudra no Hihou feels quite like any Final Fantasy game so no problem explaining how that game plays out.

Anyway, to be honest, I'd rather RPGs didn't go into the "realism" direction they seem to be headed nowadays. I didn't quite like it when FF8, was done with characters that looked like real people. I rather they look like cartoony characters like the characters in Lunar or Rhapsody a Musical adventure, I don't know, maybe because giving an RPG a cartoony feel makes the game cheery & fun to look at, than giving realism to the game atmosphere. That's why the older games seem more fun to me since the low graphics made characters look cartoony naturally..

And as I said in another older thread, I also enjoy it more if the game has less to no voice acting at all & more text to read, because it can help improve your reading. And if you've got kids who hate reading, what better way for you to get them into reading than a good RPG! And yeah, though you really use less of your imagination playing games, RPGs laden with text would atleast stimulate you to "imagine" how each character would sound in your head.

 

Rudra no Hihou? is that translated to Treasures of the Rudra? That game was really good.

I agree with you Cahos, I also like the cartoony look a lot better. The style in FF 9 was the best though. I loved it. But I have to admit I'm also a huge fan of FF 8 even though it is more modern. I still think that game is very underrated. Voice acting is rather annoying, I agree. Rarely do we see games where the voice acting is very good. Metal Gear Solid, God of War are some of the very few games that actually have good voice acting. For RPG's I think that it's best to just stick to text and focus more on the actual story and gameplay.

One advantage that voice acting does have is tone of voice. It allows for more expressive dialogue.

 

Yes, Rudra no Hihou is Treasures of the Rudras in English.

The best voice acting I loved in an RPG so far are the ones for the two PSOne Lunar games & the one in Valkyrie Profile whose voice actors were from various familiar cartoons. I hated Tidus' American voice, add to that his funky look in FFX & he looked more like a teenage otaku for me

 

Oh man I really can't wait to read your review. That was a classic SNES RPG. Looking forward to it.

Yes indeed, Tidus did sound like a little ninny boy. He was so annoying. FF12 improved a little on the voice acting, I must admit, but other than that, I almost always prefer reading.

On a side note and off topic, isn't it funny how much worse English voice acting is compared to listening to something in Japanese, especially anime? I mean, I don't understand Japanese, but I just can't watch anime in English. It doesn't sound right. I much prefer watching Anime in Japanese with English subtitles. The same goes with old Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee movies or other foreign films. I much rather watch those in Chinese and read subtitles.

 

Paladins Quest 2 Or Lennus II was recently translated, Great play so far

 

Will look into those. Arabian Knights translation is almost complete. Been looking forward to that for years.

 

i wish i know Japanese but i guess its not possible for me anyway i am a big fan of rpg and you have a point because they use the same history but i like it

i wish i could play luminous arc right now

 

Dude, as we said, there are a lot of Japanese RPGs of the past, that were translated to English in the past years. Go check them out here:

http://www.romhacking.net/

 

*sigh* there are so many in progress too bad well let try these thanks

 

Personally, my favourite RPG was Morrowind. It's not that old is it?...