lexcalibur's Blogs

RPG's have been a favorite of mine for years now, it started with the old Phantasy Star games back on the Mega-Drive and has kept true until now. While I know they have been going for longer than that, Phantasy Star was the first RPG game I really got into. I personally don't know any better way to tell a world saving story then with RPG's. Sure it's probably more fun to save the world with one guy and a gun, but I think being a world savior deserves a bit of back story and feeling as well.

This blog, unlike my others will avoid the pseudo-intellectual chatter and focus on my unrequited love for one of my favorite genre's, the good old RPG. I've personally always been a JRPG fan but I think that's due to the fact that I've been primarily a console gamer from a young age and Western-RPG's never really got too much attention on the older consoles. This in a sad way, means I don't really get into Western-RPGs too much. I mean yeah I've played a few hours on Fallout and Elder scrolls, but nothing to the degree of passion I have for those 10 buckle wearing, spiky haired, emo hero's that have provided me with hour, upon hour of entertainment.

Now I can't completely neglect our western friends, I mean in the current generation Fallout 3 and Oblivion trump any JRPG that has come out. I get the attraction as well, I mean you get to create your own person and watch him grow as he makes his way through the expansive world, you can make him a thief, a warrior a mage almost anything you would want him to be, then you can do whatever you want at any time. Feel like killing a deer, just kill it, feel like stealing stuff from a store owner, just steal it, feel like running for miles for no good reason, Just Do It. Imagination is often the thing that restricts people from liking these games. I think it's this imagination that I lack. I mean I like leveling up and stuff, but all I end up doing is hitting guards and seeing how long I can survive. It all feels a little too loose for me.

The reason I prefer JRPG's is because it offers a somewhat linear experience with a beginning, middle and end. You get to take a group of characters through a journey from start to finish. You get to watch them grow into their specialties and become useful to your team in their own way. Most importantly you get to hear wicked awesome battle music. Seriously though I like structure, I like limits, and I like completion, that's why I think I prefer JRPGs.

Character development is another key aspect of RPG's. No games can truly develop the personalities and relationships of its characters like RPG's, and while it may seem sad to invest emotionally in video game characters the fact is, all games are made better when you care about the hero's (or villains).The only game I felt emotionally connected to the characters in the current generation is COD4, weird choice I know, but it is the one game in which I have cared about what happened to its characters. The last game to do that was probably the horse in Shadow of the Colossus, but I digress. When a game can make its characters engaging it all adds to the experience.

The prime reason I enjoy RPG's is the potential to dominate. In RPG's you can choose to train in an early segment of a game and if you put in enough work early on, you can crush every enemy from that point onwards. Then there is the clever manipulation of the leveling systems, where if you know what you're doing you can also make the game a cakewalk. Now it's not that I want my games to be easy, but I take great pride in outsmarting the system, or at least maximizing the strength of my characters. I think it's this that makes RPG's so addictive. Imagine if in a first person shooter, you could make your guns more powerful, you could run faster, and take more damage just by killing enemies.

Well imagine no more. With game companies picking up on the addictive nature of RPG's one trend I have noticed recently is that companies are starting to migrate these "RPG elements" into unrelated games. Borderlands, Batman: AA, Even Call of Duty uses experience points to progress an online character. Why wouldn't developers do this though, increasing the strength of a character is fun, and now you get what you deserve, you work harder on a game and you see benefits, it's great.

Whether it be Action, Strategy, Western or Japanese RPG, I like them all. The Characters, the story, the level maxing grind. It all culminates in a unique gaming experience that is addictive and wholly enjoyable. For outsiders it seems like the stupidest thing they could ever imagine, I mean running backwards and forwards in one spot for hours isn't too enticing. But for those in the know it is gaming nirvana. RPG's aren't for everyone, but if you've never really tried RPG's, give them a go, if you like them it opens up a whole new way to waste countless hours.

P.S. I know I didn't comment on MMORPG's but to be honest I've never really played them, and I don't want to comment on something I know nothing about.