R.I.P: Traditional Console RPG

Gamer Limit writes: Have you misplaced a part of your youth? A convoluted, engrossing story? Individualized, quirky characters? A grossly overpowered, unusually stylish protagonist? Looking for that four person party? That menu driven combat? The countless amount of grinding? The four to six stage final boss? If you've answered yes to one or all of these questions, then you, like me, are itching for a traditional, console-style RPG.

I, more than most, am an RPG whore, and will play most anything that receives a decent amount of buzz. I've tackled everything, within the last few years, from Fallout 3 to Eternal Sonata to Rise of the Argonauts to Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, with most titles offering an engrossing experience that I can thoroughly explore and enjoy a fulfilling journey. But most action RPGs (and similar variations), unless new aspects are added along the course of the game, get boring and repetitive. I don't know how many times I had to put down FFVII:Crisis Core in disgust because I just couldn't take the monotonous combination of mission-driven sidequests and mindless repetition of the "x" button. Or how I maxed out my level in Mass Effect before I could finish masturbating to the alien lesbian sex romp.

[Cameron_aka_Cam]

Very interesting article! Especially the "masturbating to the alien lesbian sex romp." part.

[ZeroXMD]

Is the perfect game for anyone who likes the current trend of customization but misses the old skool RPG feel. The SMT series was on SNES for 1 and 2, then had the Persona and Devil summoner series' on ps1 and saturn, but none came out of Japan until SMT (3) Nocturne. That game alone is as good as any FF game (held higher by some people) and has customization done perfectly. The Persona, Digital Devil Saga, and Devil Summoner games are all awesome, but the best is Nocturne and the originals on SNES, which you can find translated copies of online. The stories are always thought provoking and deep, even questioning you on the outcome of the game (it was one of the first series to feature alternate endings depending on how you played.)

As one generous act of Capcom, Nocturne even has Dante from DMC appear in the game. You fight him twice in the game, then you can recruit him when you are level 80. Trust me, he fits into it well.

I seriously cannot wait for SMT4. I can't wait, despite it's not even announced.

[Fullish]

I don't think they are dying, I think just the fanbase is dying.

[SaiyanFury]

It's not so much the fanbase, it's the focus of the younger gamers. I'm a 30 year old gamer and there's little left for me as a traditional RPGamer. Valkyria Chronicles is about the only RPG I love this gen. But Demon's Souls (Asian English version) is coming at the end of the month. As a King's Field veteran, I'm getting it. Classic style gameplay will no doubt ensue and I cannot wait for it. There's great things coming, but it takes patience; something that younger gamers lack.

[agentxricky]

I agree with Fullish.

[krauley]

that the fanbase is dying as much as new gamers coming into the mix are more into action/shooters games, while the old school rpg'ers still exist, just have not expanded as much as the other genres have.

[drdistracto707]

nice read, pretty interesting. but i still wouldnt say they are dying

[iseven]

I hope the Super Mario RPG 3 brings back the days of Super Mario RPG. That was fun. Then Paper mario ruined it.

[chrisjc]

I had an hour long conversation with my wife last night about how amazing Super Mario RPG was. Really; it showed Nintendo had innovation and could actually make new characters for once. Oh right, that was Squaresoft.

[Ziriux]

Yea, i think it all depends on the developer and their design decision.

[lord_of_balrogs]

"Epic stories and convoluted plot twists are sacrificed for character customization and grittiness. "

Ya, that's what I felt about Fallout 3. It had one of the worst stories I had the pleasure of playing.

[cartman313]

Really? I must be easily entertained...I enjoyed the story.

[Legionaire2005]

When you escape Vault 101 you surrounded by a wasteland filled with people, critters, mutants and etc. You go from place to place in search of your father who is trying to purify the water in the wasteland with a group of scientist, but a organization called the Enclave wanted to purify water in a different way that benefits them only. That to me is a interesting story. Much better than most games with the same tire old and worn out storyline that's long over do.

[lord_of_balrogs]

Have you played the original Fallout's? This is supposed to be a post-nuclear wasteland yet you find raiders and cities along everywhere. A wasteland is supposed to be desolate.

Eden wanted to purify the water in a different way not the Enclave. The Enclave like the Brotherhood both wanted release pure water into the Wasteland, yet the duke it out over rights to push the button. I mean you have two groups killing each other on who releases pure water.

[kewlkat007]

I guess it is a dying breed, when Squeenix say this is in, well that's what people will buy...ever since FFXII, well sh!t have never been the same with traditional jrpgs...

No wonder I didn't like FFXII, that much...Action-based Jrpgs remind me too much of butting smashing MMORPGs. But it is, what it is...

[cartman313]

Yeah, I didn't like FF XII either. I think I tossed the disc somewhere. Probably all scratched to hell and wouldn't work if I tried playing it again.

[Pleth]

...should be just fine. Even if they just rehashed Oblivion, I would still take time off work because I stayed up all night playing it.

[chrisjc]

I played Oblivion for 2 days straight. Classic roaming fantasy can't be beat when combined with a robust graphics system.

I will admit I spent 300 hours on Morrowind's expansive globe, however, and I loved that there was no fast travel to tempt me to not explore.

[cartman313]

I used to hate Oblivion. Some reason I went back to it and it's fun again. Especially the PC version. There are a ton of addons for it now.

[Kevin McCallister]

They're not dying and the fanbase hasn't gone anywhere, it's just that there hasn't been a good variety of traditional RPGs this gen. The ones that have been released were average to poor at best, and some of the best companies are still developing on PS2/handhelds or are completely incompetent this gen. I'm sure the RPGs that we're familiar with will come along eventually, but development costs/time and userbase has been an issue up until this point. You could release all the niche RPG titles you wanted on PS1 and PS2, but there's too much risk attempting this approach on the current consoles.

[cartman313]

I want a remake of Shining Force, and Phantasy Star(Not the online one. That one sucks) Screw it. I'll remake them myself, even if it takes me a year or more!!

[Homicide]

Interesting article. I don't think the traditional RPG are dying, but the fanbase is. While there hasn't been many of this gen, so far we have Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon, there are a few gems on the PS2 like the Shin Megami Tensei series.

There are many people who want change in RPGs, and some developers are trying to change the formula, but I don't want that. Give me a turn-based or ATB system filled with random encounters. That's why I like Square, for the remakes :P

[idiealot]

give me a game thats as good and epic as final fantasy 6. best rpg imho.

[SpoonyRedMage]

FFXIII's an attempt to get a more actiony(appealing to newcomers) stuff mixed with the traditional turn based. Don't know how good it'll be but it looks amazing so far.

The Last Remnant is a pretty traditional RPG except in battle you have a mini-army instead of just a squad.

The DQ games are being forced to stay traditional by the fans(DQ IX was supposed to be action style but it wasn't well recieved so they redid it, that's why it's taken so long.)

Lost Odyssey struck me as a game where Sakaguchi was burnt out, there were some really good ideas in there and the fully turn based combats good(except at one part when there's a real time problem) but a lot of the stuff that happened in it had happened in the earlier FFs.

Blue Dragon on the other hand is much better, fun, original but it mixed well with a traditional feel but the main characters looked like an idiot.

I think the DS is where the traditional RPGs are, all the DQ games on it(DQM: Joker is the best looking game on the DS but may be topped by IX) and all the Final Fantasies. It's great for RPGs.

I do agree that the supposed "fans" are ruining it, look at the reaction to multiplatform FF XIII. Many people refuse to get it because it's not just on the PS3 any more, instead of just waiting, playing and enjoying.

And everyone always crticised the combat system that I know, they always took the P**s saying why do they stand in a row and wait to attack. And other people were equally saying they didn't like that FF was getting stale and doing nothing new whilst others were criticising it for changing too much. The fans have put them in an impossible position(I've noticed other companies don't get the same criticisms).

Honestly though I like my ATB style battles and whilst they can do action based keep in the spin offs like Crystal Chronicles, Versus XIII and Kingdom Hearts.

By the way Nocturne is great but it's a bit too hard(for the sake of being hard) for some people.

[Andrew Wiggin]

I do have to agree

[ceiltsei]

This is a strangely controversial topic because of the direction that game reviewers think gaming is going. Sometimes when you are not a very good reviewer you may compare a game to another game, or compare the genre. Since the early 90s reviewers have been writing about the death of the traditional RPG.

Yes, this is true, I am holding an old EGM right now and a guy is complaining about how the rpg genre isn't going anywhere fast.

So not much has changed. There are people who crave a grind, and there are people who complain about the grind constantly. Those who complain about the grind prefer story based action-rpgs and those who enjoy the grind went to play MMOs. There are millions of MMO players out there and very few people are accepting modern action-rpgs. Interesting how that happened..

When you claim the artificial end of something you get an eventual result, and complaining never takes you to any good place. If you want good traditional RPGs go look at the DS releases: Black Sigil, Ys, all of the squeenix releases, etc.

Another theory is, if a game system has a lot of limitations, people are more creative. Well.. this works in any scenario with limitations.