.: The genre that never grew up - the decline of the RPG

By Charles Mallison - June 20, 2005

Narrowing down the problem

Speaking as a gamer who doesn't do MMOs, over the past few years I have gotten the vague, unsettling feeling that console RPGs have been going through something of a lull as of late. In preparation for this article I pondered the question, "Why?” The problem is not, I don't think, in mechanical or presentational issues. On the contrary, RPGs have been so successful with developing rich and rewarding game mechanics that they have influenced game designers grounded in other genres. Indeed, games from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas have received effusive critical praise for incorporating RPG-like elements into genres better known for headshots than hit points. RPG mechanics have influenced other genres to the point where there is now a gray area around what you would call traditional RPGs where hybridized games that are not quite RPGs but not purely another genre like Deus Ex (Shooter-RPG) and Fire Emblem (Strategy-RPG) reside.

So if the problem isn't the nuts and bolts of the genre, then what is it? It think that it very much has to do with one of the idiosyncrasies of Console RPGs compared to practically every other type of game on the market: their emphasis on story. Console RPGs have long been concerned with storytelling, developing characters and crafting storylines sometimes so intricate even to the point of complaint. But while the presentation and design aspects of console RPGs have evolved over time, in the realm of storytelling, the genre has stood still. RPGs, traditionally the most story-driven of video game genres, have run out of interesting things to say with the stories they tell.

RPGs are sometimes compared to novels, loose baggy monsters that combine video game mechanics with the development of vivid settings, huge casts of characters, and fat stories. RPGs completion times usually add up to around 40-50 hours, playtime divided between dungeon crawling and plot development. While some RPGs generate complaints from gamers that they emphasize story too much (Xenosaga comes to mind), I would say that too often game developers take the task and art of creating an interesting story for granted.

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.: Comments on The genre that never grew up - the decline of the RPG

b3n (June 21, 2005):I've never been real big into the storylines anyway. It takes me too long to play, so I always forget whats going on.

rpg guy (June 21, 2005):The simple fact is that RPG writers are generally not very good as actual writers. They are gamers and fans and some of them are old game designers, but almost none of them know anything about real storytelling, let alone interactive storytelling where the player actually affects the outcome through his or her own actions.

As an example, look at Half-Life (the original installment). No game has ever made me feel so "in the story" as that did. Even the sequel kind of feels like every other "Action until cutscene" excuse for an pseudo rpg/fps.

So if you want to see better stories in your games hire professional storytellers.

strapp (June 21, 2005):well if thats the case, then why don't they? with multi-million dollar budgets, surely they could throw a few grand at someone to come up with a decent script.

yea (June 21, 2005):If a good RPG was as easy as hiring a AAA movie director there would be a lot more good RPGs.

The simple fact is that a good writer doesn't necssarily = a good RPG and a good RPG = difficult to make.

Dougie (June 21, 2005):I like peanuts.

Jerry (June 21, 2005):Knights of the Old Republic (and the sequel if they had ever finished writing the plot).

X (June 21, 2005):Lack of writing is a problem, but combined with the focus on fluff and graphics, it means that ressources are being channeled away from improving the gameplay and thus we will not get better RPGs anymore - only prettier and shorter.

Steve (June 22, 2005):What about the morrowind series? You cant just dismiss all of the rpg's out there. yeah there are alot of borring and confind rpgs out there. But the great rps like morrowind cant be dissmised. there absoultly open style of play is amazing. and the next morrwind should be another in a ground breaking series.

Chris (August 16, 2008):df52d5774451e2c83c53cde98232b4ef
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