Hybrids

[The Z]

To tell the truth, I'm becoming very concerned about the RPG genre. The amount of real RPG's is dwindling quickly, and is being replaced by some Action game using experience and stats. Just take a look at one of my friends for example. He considers BG an inferior RPG than Dungeon Siege, because the combat is not as fun. Granted, Dungeon Siege combat is supposed to be great, but really is that what an RPG is supposed to be? Hack 'n Slash until you level up, so you become better at Hacking and slashing? Although the RPG genre has been revived of late since '98's BG 1 I find that more of these RPG's are filled with more combat than decision making and actually 'taking on the role of the character'. I'm trying to hammer these sort of hybrids, but I'm just thinking that maybe these sort of games shouldn't be classified as an RPG but more as an action game.

I consider Planescape: Torment as possibly the only true RPG that I've played out of the games I've played. Why? The dialogs have much more to them than just steps needed to proceed to the next quest, or to finish something off. I mean, I actually felt like I was this lost soul, searching for answers, and the interaction with the NPC's were surreal. I actually had feelings for the people like Dak'kon, and Morte, genuine emotions, and if they died I would actually be pissed rather than the normal 'oh, i'll reload the auto-save and pre-buff' sort of thing. Alignment actually was based on actions, not pre-determined. Items were not the key way to beat the game, it was interaction and brains. And to top it off, the ending didn't have to be combat-oriented. Did I mention that the plot was phenomenal? I actually feel kind of sorry that Diablo 2 was more popular than this game. The only thing I got out of D2 was adreneline rush and massive anger at the enemy. I could do that by going and grabbing some friends to play a game of soccer. In other words it was an action game, not a game to get lost in like PS: T

What I'm trying to say is that the RPG genre is slowly becoming more and more about combat and less about tales of woe, and a land to escape to. I'm not saying that those above listed games are bad. They're great games. For what they were meant to do. Back to my main point...ok nevermind I'll go off topic again and remind everyone of what happened to the Adventure genre as soon as Tomb Raider came along. Suddenly old things like Myst become the past and everyone thinks adventure is exploring places with guns. I just hope that RPG's don't take the same turn and go from interaction to swords and magic. But anyways, this is just my opinion, and I had some English homework. Had a leftover writing spurt, and decided to talk about something. Just felt like writing a lot.

If you got anythin to say about this go ahead and spit it

[Eerhardt]

I agree that it seems Dungeon Siege leans more towards Diablo, than towards Baldur's Gate. Which is not to say that those are bad games, but they should indeed be considered more hack 'n slash than RPG's. I can only wonder how Neverwinter Nights will turn out, but I expect it to be more of an RPG than Dungeon Siege is, to say the least.
As far as the Myst series is concerned, I'm a huge fan of them and have Myst, Riven and Exile at home (haven't been able to play Exile yet, though). I believe the boundries of the Adventure genre are fading too: ask three people to define the Adventure genre, and you'll get three different answers. But I don't think anyone disagrees on the "classics" like King's Quest or Monkey Island.