If you’ve spent much time around TSA you’re probably very familiar with our resident lunatic, SolidSteven. He’s decided to grace us with another of his guest articles, this time looking at his love for RPGs.
My love of the RPG genre probably earns me a place in the “geeky” class of gamers. The fact that I split gamers into classes probably shows that I spend too much time with the genre, and invest far too many hours in a single RPG. The question is though why exactly do I love them so much? Well that’s what I’m here to tell you.
Back in my PS2 days I had a rubbish taste in games, my purchases ranging from movie tie-ins to any old FPS. I would play anything except RPGs. The only RPG I had even heard of back then was Final Fantasy, and I didn’t actually know it was an RPG.
This ignorance continued until, one day, I picked up Lord Of The Rings: The Third Age; a game I happened to enjoy. That was the first time I had played an RPG and I didn’t even know it until many years later.
[drop]When I had matured and broadened my horizons I purchased Final Fantasy 7 (FF7) and enjoyed it, losing many hours to it. That was when I became interested in the RPG genre as a whole, rather than individual games. Slowly I started to get more and more RPG games until they’d become the majority of my collection, probably investing 1000+ hours in the genre. So that’s how I got into it.That’s not why I love them though, which is the point of this. The reason I adore them is simple, it’s the long and engaging stories that seem to be a staple of the genre. Final Fantasy has become well known for the quality of its stories (with the exception X-2 which seems pretty awful), and I’m a sucker for them.
Beyond that, I like being able to customise my character and have them specialise in a certain area, as well as being able to control what my character says. At one point I spent 3 months playing nothing but Fallout 3. Before that, I hadn’t heard of the Fallout series, and thus didn’t notice many of the issues that Fallout 3’s critics complain of. This was where I was really introduced to the levelling system that many RPGs use. You put points into a skill, that skills becomes more effective etc…, it was another tool to draw me into the genre.
After a period of focussing on FF7 and Fallout 3, as they were the only ones I owned at the time, I purchased Dragon Age: Origins (DA:O). That was when I really got into RPGs, when my love become a solid thing. The story was excellent and it allowed me to pick a race, customise my character and have a origin as well as choosing what style to use. From the classic sword and shield to the duel wielding style, I’ve experienced it all.
[drop2]It was also the first game that I had played which introduced me to moral choices that weren’t always obvious. For example do I give the throne to Lord Harrowmont King of Orzammer, who is kind, was the previous king’s advisor and generally would be well respected king, or do I choose the power hungry Bhelen, son of the previous king. I chose Harrowmont as it seemed like the best choice at the time, but I was surprised by the ending, when it told me what he had done as king (I won’t spoil it for you). There were plenty of similar choices that I had made where the outcome wasn’t what I was expecting. The result? I started a new game and played it differently.After DA:O, I had become the geeky gamer that I am today. I now generally plan out my characters when I play games like DA:O, Mass Effect 2 and Fallout: New Vegas. For some reason though I never try to create myself in those games, I really don’t know why.
So, am I the only one who is a geeky gamer? And what is your favourite genre? Feel free to tell me below in the comments, or to berate me if that’s more your speed. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to play Fallout New Vegas as a character whose combat style is unarmed.
KeRaSh
Like many others I started with Final Fantasy VII. I love the RPG genre but mostly the JRPG side of things. Not a big fan of the likes of Dragon Age or The Elder Scrolls with occasional exceptions.
It’s the epic stories that set this genre apart from everything else for me. When time allows it there’s nothing better than a 30+ hour game with a great story.
mad_mac_hl
I started with Baldur’s Gate. That series of games is still, imho, one of the most epic rpg stories you can play through. Its a bit dated now mind but I still go back to it every now and then.
I’m not as keen on the more futuristic rpg’s. Don’t know what it is but I just find them harder to get into.
Dragon Age: Origins was brilliant though. The origins aspect was well done and the whole story was fairly epic in scale if you did everything you could – first play through, I managed close to 80 hours. I thoroughly agree with the moral choices aspect too – I really felt that my decisions were having an impact. Shame DA2 was such a let down :(
Haven’t had the pleasure of Skyrim yet but I’ll heartily recommend The Witcher and The Witcher 2. Graphically very nice games. Loved the changing environments – I’d quite happily watch shadows moving along the ground as the sun moved across the sky or laughed as peasant folk run for cover in a rain shower. Little touches like that really make you feel that some effort went into the world!
RPG’s for the win :D
The Lone Steven
DAO is one of my all time favorites. when i first got it, i kept restarting as i couldn’t make up my mind about which race and origin to choose. I couldn’t believe it what Loghain did during the events of the game and despised Howe for what he did in the HN origin.
I still feel betrayed for what EA did to DA2(i know Bioware developed it but EA gave them a deadline, i can’t believe how much they stripped from DA2 and the combat system makes the tatics useless. I’m not going to speak about DA2 as i may start ranting about it.
I do plan on picking up all of the Baulder’s Gate games as well as a lot of classic RPGs once i’ve built myself or bought a decent gaming rig. :) I’m hoping that the Witcher 2 will come to PS3 at some point.
Jones81
great article Steven, you a legend. i also popped my rpg cherry with FF7, what a classic, just bought the psn version so hope it stands the test of time also just purchased FF13-2, haven’t started yet though, how are others finding it?, is it worthy of the FF name??
hunterstryfe
My first EVER rpg was Dungeons & Dragons on the Megadrive. It was top down view like most of the early FF’s, but went First Person in a maze similar to the early DOS based Dooms as well as the Legend of Zelda (on the original FAT greyish/white Gameboys. Later in gaming life I bought FF7 and got as far as Materia Keeper (I kept dying)- back then I did not know it was an RPG and got rid. I rebought it in 2000 and had a new found love for the game – then it became my favourite followed closely by DA:O (I don’t regard DA2 much of a game).
freezebug2
Well written article, you are full of surprises fella, good job! I’d still like to see the occasional community round up though in the style of Steven, if you don’t mind!
hazelam
i think RPGs have always been my favourite genre.
i suppose even before i got any kind of console there were the choose your own adventure books and the fighting fantasy series, they were kind of like RPGs in book form.
i never got to play a Final Fantasy until the SNES game Mystic Quest, what with living in the UK and Square not releasing any FF games in europe before that one.
i do remember an Ultima game on the Master System though, that was pretty good.
i’ve played RPGs on just about every console i’ve ever had.
Phantasy Star on megadrive, that D&D one, also on megadrive, where it was top down when you’re outside, but first person Dungeon Master style in the dungeons.
ahh, Dungeon Master, the time i spent playing that game.
i never did finish it but i had loads of fun playing it.
i don’t think listing all the RPGs i’ve played would be a good idea now i think about it, the list would be HUGE.
i don’t know what it is i like about them, it’s not just one thing, there’s the epic storyline, the casts of colourful characters, the fantastic creatures you will encounter.
i think the thing that draws me to these games the most is taking a character who will likely start out just being good with a sword, and seeing them grow throughout the course of the game, they go from being accomplished warriors to being able to summon godlike beings, control the earth beneath their enemies feet and pull meteors down to use as weapons.
that’s why i like non RPGs that include some sort of character leveling system, where you can increase the power of your character.
but a well written Rpg won’t just be about leveling the characters skills and strength, but taking the character from their humble beginnings and simple quest to find their loved one or protect their village up to the point where the fate of the world rests in their hands.
oh, and one other feature i do like that many RPGs feature, at least these days they do, is being able to choose what your character wears.
yes it’s the dress up thing.
there have been times when i’ll get a piece of armour much better than what i’ve currently got equipped and not use it because i don’t like the look or it doesn’t go with the rest of my armour.
yes, i’m that shallow. ^_^
the RPG selection is a big factor in my choice whether to buy a certain console.
the wii has been a little lacking on that front, but now there’s a game like Xenoblade
i’ve started playing that recently, and wow.
one of the best rpgs i’ve played in years.
an RPG is also at the centre of my biggest disappointment in gaming.
not because it’s a bad game, if it was a bad game it wopuldn’t be a disappointment, it was a bloody fantastic game, it’s just i’ll probably never get my hands on a copy.
that game is Panzer Dragoon Saga.
the worst thing is, i know how good it is, i’ve played the entire first disc, they gave it away on the official saturn magazine, what must be the biggest demo ever, i managed to get a good 12 hours out of it.
but then they released so few copies that the game itself was virtually impossible to find, back before ebay and online stores.
TSBonyman
Solid article, Steven. ;)
I’ve tried a few RPGs over the years but never really cared for the genre until fairly recently. I gave up on Oblivion after a few hours but really got hooked on Fallout 3 and Skyrim and sank many hours into both, along with ME2 which is possibly my favourite game ever – oh jeez, my favourite game ever is a RPG – how did that happen!? :/
The Lone Steven
I personally think ME2 borders on the border of the RPG/action genre as there weren’t many RPG elements. Still is one of my favorite games though. I see what you did there. I think Oblivion is one of those games where if it fails to hook you in after a few hours, then you will never get into it. Glad you liked the article. :)
Roynaldo
One thing that was not mentioned was bang for your buck… an RPG generally keeps you playing the story for 40+ hours whereas all other genres are likely to be at least half that.
Even after the story there is always so much you can be getting on with. I hear Skyrim has endless missions!
I love RPGs because i like a game to be long, make you think hard about strategy in terms of levelling up and abilities etc. Its a brain game, not a twitcher.