The Decline of Quality RPGs

DualShockers writes:

"RPGs (Role Playing Games, for those of you who aren't too fond of acronyms) have been a major part of the gaming industry. Anyone who's been around for the past three decades will probably tell you that RPG's defined, for the most part, a large portion of the industry during the times of the most memorable consoles (SNES, for example). It was the genre that kick-started most of our lusts for gaming. Games like Xenogears, Chrono Trigger, Terranigma, Earthbound, Lunar, and Secret of Mana, just to name a few – titles that became more than just a game, for some; titles that birthed fanaticism in storytelling and left memorable imprints in the back of our minds. These were the times when games had meaning – where deep stories were of abundance and kept you at the edge of your seat anxious to reveal what happened next. But as newer generations of consoles began to spawn, storytelling began to change dramatically, and RPG's became a withering breed conquered by western first-person shooters and the practical need to choose graphical prowess over a valuable storyline."