"An RPGrind is like a game in the Final Fantasy Series where there is little or no actual choice or player directed character development, but involves a story which is essentially unlocked by a cycle of leveling up and defeating a boss (aka, Grinding)."
Comments?
posted by Edge @ 1:37 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
By your definition, every RPG ever made with the exception of the ones where monsters gain levels as you level, would be a RPGrind. One of the main parts of a console RPG is to gain experience and get stronger through battles, thus developing your skills. The (normally) linear storyline helps to flesh out other aspects of the characters, such as personality.
Well, I have long lobbied to have the genre "Console RPG" replaced with "Progressive Statistic Driven Story Engine." ;)
What about PC-based RPGs like Baldur's Gate? You practically need to level your characters to get the abilities/feats/etc. necessary to take on the various monsters.
A cleric wouldn't have any chance against the boss of a vampire clan without the spells that a vampire is weak against.
A Thief couldn't unlock a chest that contains a new magic weapon that is necessary to do damage to magic beasts if he didn't have the skill points obtained through levelling.
If you don't like the "grind", as you call it, what's your suggestion for changing the system?
Well, there've been only a few RPG's where that I have heard of that really allow the way the player plays the character to change events in a significant fashion, I've played one of them, Never Winter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark, and I have heard that Knights of the Old Republic II and Fable (Though it is critisized for being too short, so damned short) both were very flexible in giving the player a range of ways to interact with the story line. I dunno, maybe I am just being elitest, but I would prefer it if games would stope using the genre RPG and ressurect the old "Adventure" genre.
I've actually taken to NOT playing RPGs, and if I want a linear storyline I play a FPS. That way I get better graphics and spend less time hearing the chracters moan about who died. I'm sorry, but it's true, RPG's are starting to piss me off, lately and with few exception they're formulaic, repetitive and unoriginal.
I think the major point is that an RPG has ceased to mean Role-Playing-Game in the sense of method acting and player-chosen character development and more Role-Playing-Game in the sense of "You are a Warlock, this is what you must do to be the best Warlock ever".
This is of course in my limited experience with console games. I'm sure Kyle's got a dozen examples I've never even heard of to refute me.
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