| Sure, ComRPG's might not have been isometric traditionally, nor would ConRPG's, but the *best* ones are that way.
Fallout 1 and 2, Baldur's Gate (not 2, as far as I'm concerned, it bit), Planescape:Torment (one of the best and most underrated games ever, I believe, this game had a golden plot, replay value, and some moments where you just wanted to stand up and cheer), Arcanum, etc. I defy anybody to match these games for plot depth, humour, etc. I would gladly accept a sharp kick to the groin, one for each of the games, in exchange for being allowed to wipe them from my memory so I could play them again, fresh. Hell, two sharp kicks. At least.
The first-person ComRPG's are hardly the most characterful games. Morrowind is a bleak and desolate wasteland when it comes to feeling something about your character. Wow, he's got so-and-so weapons and armour. Wow, he's a vampire. Doing things is not the same as feeling things.
A lot of the games on consoles (thus ConRPG's) are pretty rubbish too. They may have more *character* than first person ComRPG's, but that character is often expressed through irritatingly stereotypical characters with huge hair. I am, of course, speaking of games like Final Fantasy (what are they up to, number 12 or something?) and other "RPGs" made in Japan. They usually feature shockingly similar plots, a combat system that has been used a jillion times (your guys line up, the enemy lines up, you make your moves, they hit each other, you have health and mana, there are a few variations, etc), and are generally an expression of the social problems Japan faces, foremost among them stultifying conformism. When was the last time a really *original* game came out of Japan? A game that did something that had never been done in the same way before? There is a difference between rehashing games for reasons of profitability (that's what game companies in the West do) and rehashing games because nobody really thinks of doing anything else.
It's also interesting to note that the best ConRPGs, KotOR 1 and 2, are both American, both over-the-shoulder, and both very similar to ComRPGs. These are other games I would take blows to the balls for.
But, to bring this rant to what I wanted to say before I got onto the subject of the way that anything with spells and characters and crap gets called an "RPG" and Japanese social problems: Bethesda does not have what it takes to make Fallout 3, if Morrowind is any guide, especially when you consider that Fallout 3 is supposed to be using the same engine as the next Elder Scrolls game. Fallout 1 and 2 are known for their humour, their quirkiness, their way of making you feel interest. Morrowind didn't do those things for me. Morrowind was like running errands for people who can't leave their houses. Morrowind was like a big empty stadium. Fallout 1 and 2 were like medium-sized houses, but full of people who are interesting and fun things to do.  |