iakus wrote...
Character class is a broad term, imo. And it's purpose in an rpg isn't always important. Customization, however, is. Two warriors in DAO, even if they pick the same origin, can still play out very differently, for example. Then there are classless rpg games, such as Fallout, Alpha Protocol, and Jade Empire. And in Mass Effect, what class Shepard plays is meaningless to the story.
But you have an implied premise here. You've assumed that the rpg just means 'character, dialogue, behavior'. Often enough,it's true that character class has no meaning to those elements I just listed. But from a gameplay perspective, they mean a world of difference.
I offer the DnD example (again). The game is called a 'Role-playing game', not a 'role-playing/statistics' game. An applicable definition needs to take this into account.
I should clarify: I find most of today's non Bioware rpg games can't really compete...
Then I shall modify my previous claim!
Even non-Bioware rpgs are not always trying to compete. Diablo, Warcraft, and Final Fantasy being chief amongst those. They are games with radically different focuses.
Yes in BG it would have been great to have more dialogue with your companions (especially Minsc) the dialogue you do get sets it above mere sword&sorcery adventure games like Diablo and makes it an "rpg" in my book. On more than one occasion Minsc will speak up on the righteousness of a given cause, particularly when children are involved. ANd you can respond with varying degrees of enthusiasm. I believe in one case you can ask him if he's thought about having some restorative magic performed on his head...
But I think you're missing the point here. It's not just about "well, it would have been great for Baldur's Gate to include more dialogue". The game is classified a 'role-playing game' by Bioware. Yet, if you compare the amount of combat/exploration vs. the dialogue and choices, it still comes out heavily favoring the combat which hasn't affected the genre label.
Let me give you another example:
When Bioware released Mass Effect, the game was labeled an RPG/TPS hybrid. When Baldur's Gate was released, the game was labeled 'role-playing game'.Mass Effect has a far greater emphasis (imo) on story/dialogue than does Baldur's Gate, yet the former is labeled a hybrid while the latter is called rpg.
I agree with you that the story, interaction, and dialogue are all more important. I'd prefer Bioware to make more simple systems (akin to Jade Empire) if it would give them more time for the elements I prefer. I favor pretty much every Bioware game (including Neverwinter Nights) over games like Diablo/WoW. But the elements that appeal to me are not necessarily the only parts of the definition.
Retour en haut
if that image is legit.. humanity is as good as ****ed.. unless it's going to be a Suicide Mission 2.0 and we'll have to infiltrate that thing.. blow up some a Reaper organs.. Seriously, even Harbinger, the "boss", can't even compare to this colossal beast.. I'm looking closely at the middle of the structure. It looks like a bird head. The body is like a hermit crab.
