What's so great about RPG games?

Serious question, I'm profane of the RPG genre, somehow I watched gameplay videos of some rpg's and they all look unattractive to me, but I cannot pinpoint the reason why, probably the combat system or the fantasy settings with fantasy creatures/monsters don't really attract me.

But, I'd like to know from those people who do like RPG's what makes them like said genre; the aspects that make them wanna play an rpg game?

If you try to get into this genre starting from this gen, you'll have a mountain to climb. There's hardly anything compelling about contemporary RPGs.

So, I guess you used to play rpg's. What's the aspect, or the aspects, that made you like the genre?

I really only play the western style RPGs, which tend to be open world, non linear games. I like the exploration and loot collection aspect. Finding new, more powerful weapons/armor, learning/improving your character skills, etc.

Big sprawling worlds that I want to explore, that will surprise me and make me think "damn, that's sweet". Creating your own character and fighting the style you want to. great battles and fights with demons.

I dunno, I'm just a sucker for fantasy most days.

They once comprised the most popular genre of gaming in the 90s and even today is the genre most associated with gaming's best stories. It's one of the only genres in any medium capable of hooking someone for tens if not hundreds of hours on end.

@aia89: The sense of progression coupled with character upgrade choices that make your decisions meaningful so that you get to experience unique gameplay or dialogue choices when you heavily invest in certain skills. The feeling that all of this truly matters. Besides, the perception that your character has a real influence on the world with their actions. Last, but not least - intricately designed nonlinear world which you can fully immerse yourself in and take pride in enjoying exploring every nook and cranny in an organic way and not as a part of "OCD simulator".

Multiple angles from which you can approach quests is also vital.

The story in the end is important but if there is no good and sound gameplay mechanics behind it, the game won't carry itself with the story alone.

More or less everything.

I was typing it on my phone while walking to work (it is a 23-minute walk but ofc I typed it much faster).

RPGs cross all genres. I think the appeal to them is the gradual increase in your character's ability, and that RPGs can be 100s of hours long; vs something like CoD where the single player can be as short as a few hours.

rpg's are long, have many characters and places to explore. In rpg's you're like part of the world, you live there while on other genres you feel more like you're just a visitor.

why don't you try some? RPG is such a broad term that I can't sum up why I like them as a genre. I could tell you why I like this or that RPG.

Any suggestions to start immersing myself in this RPG genre?

@aia89: Xenoblade Chronicles, its the best and most modern RPG for me.

Me too. I loved Skyrim and The Witcher 3/

I just can't get myself to play RPG's. Most are so bloated, with about 10-20 hours of story & unique gameplay stuffed in a 40-80 hour grinding quest.

I don't see how anyone with a job, family and other hobbies can afford the time.

They are the ultimate genre. Freedom to roam, freedom to explore, freedom to imprint yourself on the game properly.

The more accessible experiences lie in the Elder Scrolls franchise. If D&D fantasy isn't your forte, Fallout 3 and New Vegas are really great alternatives.

Dragon Age: Origins and The Witcher 3 are probably the better options, ff you strive for something a bit more polished and compelling.

One of the last few genres that includes deep games focused around a single player experience.

@drekula2: now that is true. They used to hardly have any filler

I'm not really sure how to explain what's so great about them, considering your distinct lack of experience. It's like telling someone who was born blind what it's like to see.

I love RPGs , im more into oldschool traditional Turn-based JRPG than anything else but either way ...

The main thing i like about them is ...you are part of a big story ... If story is engaging enough you starting care about the character you playing with for the next 70-200 hours ++ ... You want to see whats next , what is happening , why , what the end will be ... If game offers great story , memorable characters and a decent combat system im all over it.

One of the biggest mainstream appeals of RPGs is their uncanny ability of continously rewarding players. Be it through loot, exp and levelling, or any other methods.

For me, one of their main appeals is their ability to immerse you into another world, that doesnt necessarily revolve around you. Problem solving in the context of your character is another huge appeal of the genre. Play as a thief, and you may want to try to avoid combat, unless you like getting your face smashed in. Play as a mage, and find ways to toy around with your enemy.

Unfortunately, modern "RPG"s usually fail to immerse me in a world like this and fail at the problem solving. With the only solutions to problems being choosing the highlighted speech dialogue or smashing everyone's face in, even if I am a thief. And a mage is by all means, just an archer without a bow >_> Which is why I stopped caring for AAA wRPGs.

As good as the genre can be at times... the experience had in cRPGs still pale in comparison to tabletop RPGs.

it's the prospect of becoming a complete badass with all your high ranking gear, levelled up skills, for like the last hour of the game. Then you complete it, and start all over again lol.

Hmm....Diablo 1 & 2 flashbacks.

RPGs used to be my favourite genre up until the PS2 era... But after that, I slowly started losing interest in the genre. I still play them once in a while, but nowhere near as much as I used to.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr0J2mQRWqs

I find most of them pretty boring as well. There's only a few that actually have a compelling enough story or enough action to trudge thru all the grinding for me.

What's so great about RPG games?

Got me there kemosabe, I still don´t find what´s so great about them and I´ve tried a few just to see what do other people find interesting, I get bored, for example, I purchased the Mass Effect collection ( ME 1-3 ), the only time I had fun was when there was trouble and I had to shoot my way out, something that only took place like in one 20% of what I played, the rest of the time it was boring as hell, most recently I tried with Bloodborne, I rented it at Blockbuster, played it maybe 3 hours and returned it the next day.

RPG's are the ultimate genre in escapism entertainment when done right.

This can be said for most genres this gen.

I'd say RPG is actually above most so far.

A good RPG gives you meaningful choices, whether it's in how you build your character or how you proceed through the world. Each choice should have its drawbacks. Most RPGs don't do this, and are just open worlds filled with fetch quests and other boring missions, with grinding thrown in. JRPGs tend to be better than WRPGs anymore, but we still get the occasional gem from the west. I really despise RPGs that are action-focused, since if you are good enough at playing action games, nothing else you do in the game matters. Those games would all be much better without a leveling system and with a more structured, linear campaign.

Its mostly about interacting with and affecting the environment around you depending on the choices you make as opposed to just rushing along from 'A' to 'Z.'

The discussion about what makes, and doesn't make, a rpg,

RPGs have many attributes that carry over into more action oriented gaming, especially with acquiring of better gear, leveling up skills and special attributes, special stat based attributes. More so games have taken lots from traditional RPGs but still maintain an independence from being identified as such. I'd say character creation is largely an attribute of some RPG games that I find I like quite a bit regardless of being in a traditional RPG or not.

+1

When done right they are expansive gaming experiences, with a variety of choices, and a reasonable amount of tactical gameplay. One that revolves around not just your decision making in terms of which stats you want to upgrade, but also what gear you are using, and then using the games mechanics and rules in your favor, with a touch of random gameplay to make sure not everything is a cake walk.

It's not always the cleanest gameplay experience, RPGs tend to be bloated, poorly paced, poorly directed, and tend to have bad game feel. And if it's a would be classic of western rpg, and you at least are hoping for some polish? LOLWHATPOLISH?

And the notion that they have great stories or the best stories this medium has to offer, or the most diverse stories this medium has to offer? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA in what fucking world?

A: The adventure genre exists
B: The very nature of what crpgs and wrpgs aim for sort of stops them from having a clean plot, good story telling, not necessarily a good story (rare exceptions like Planescape aside), and jrpgs? It's anime bullshit for the longest time. Even with the bar for video game story telling being buried in like this 80 mile cess pool, even with that low of a bar, jrpgs would be beneath that shit. Just because they have "more story" doesn't make it good, Mother 3 is like the one thing that genre can hang its hat on, and I played that game as a fan translation on PC, so for all I know that story is bullshit too.

But yeah proper escapism and freedom, or straight up tactical gameplay is what the better rpgs can offer, in the case of Souls games they just provide actual satisfying combat. At their worst? They are compulsive wank.

This.

At some point, you're preaching to the choir. I don't understand your long rants about video game stories. Pretty sure most people here don't think video games are currently competing with movies or books in storytelling. Even if video games don't have the best stories, the still offer experiences that are on par or even superior to what you find in books or movies.

@drekula2:

< Job, family, other hobbies, plenty of time for RPGs

@JangoWuzHere: You are absolutely correct about the some point part, not today though.

I personally prefer western RPG's. Less grinding. You tend to naturally level up as the game progresses. Boss battles are more in sync with this and the option of a difficulty level also helps. I prefer to play RPG's on easy because with 80 hours of game time I don't have the time to die over and over again.

With that said...what I love so much about the SOULS games is they are more western RPG than JRPG. Less filler, all gameplay, no yack yack yack, but you still get the beautiful expansive world to explore. (Dark and depressing can still be beautiful lol.)

RPG games combine many aspects of different genres and lets you be the main character in a huge story that spans more hours of playtime than most other genres.

It requires more of an emotional investment from the players and it is certainly not for everyone. For me, when I embark in a new RPG, I have to think about it and make the decision....a good RPG can suck a lot of time and energy out of you. One of my favorite RPG is Dragon Age Origins.....such a great story, fantastic character development and the combat is fun as well.

You can generally build upon them in more meaningful ways than other genres. More games are adding building elements for more depth, thanks to RPGs.

The Souls games would be better if you didn't have to grind so much to use or upgrade any of the gear you find. If they would just create a straight action game where you start with a halfway decent character and could just use all of the weapons and armor sets as you find them, the games would be much, much better.

The problem with most WRPGs anymore is that they are open world action games with role-playing elements. Leveling up doesn't really do anything for you because the enemies level with you. They are just action games with pointless leveling systems tacked on and a sea of side quests that you don't really benefit from. I like my RPGs to be stat-based. Give me a percent chance to land a hit with various attacks and a range of damage that each attack will perform, with a critical chance and put it into a turn-based format. That way everything I've done up to that point actually matters and I don't end up just circle-strafing my way through the game.

Hey man. I could ask why some people like sport games, cause I hate them. Its just whatever you enjoy playing really.

@Bigboi500: Except a shit load of them didn't add "depth"; they added bullshit. And if anything they out the depth and turned it into a bar filling chore.

@jg4xchamp: They don't always work out, well duh. Most of the time it does though. Take Rage vs Fallout 3 and NV, for instance. One series is deep and the other is over in the blink of an eye. One series is still talked about regularly and seen favorably while the other is all but forgotten.

How about Mass Effect ?

Its one among several RPGs that is not in the "Fantasy" Genre.

Sadly thats the only one that comes to mind right now.

@Bigboi500: Other than New Vegas being an actual good game, the things with Rage weren't it's length or its lack of depth, it was a FPS, it nailed the shooting. It just had shit design, driving combat that was pointless, side quests ripped straight from rpgs that waste the players time as opposed to actually being fun like an action game, more derivative shooting built on modern design sensibilities to reward hiding behind cover and regen health, with a health system that doesn't give you enough shots to take to even take advantage of what is the positive of a regen health system. Repeating levels that showed the game was completely out of ideas. It doesn't matter what cues they take from rpgs, it would have been a bad action game regardless.

Flip this script a bit and lets compare Doom to a Fallout 3. Doom is a classic that is incredibly satisfying to play today. Fallout 3 was a lobotomized abhorrent borefest. Whose claim to fame is that its modern fanbase likes hiking more than playing a video game.

I like number crunching and hence I like DnD based games as there is a strong reliance on number and leveling up actually matters. Some DnD games also have an alignment system where we can choose our alignments (good/evil etc) This is why I like some of the older RPGs. The contemporary ones I am still trying to come up with compelling reasons to like them. But to a large extent most of these have left me disillusioned. The only recent game I had fun with was the Witcher 3 and even there I thought calling it a "RPG" was a bit of a stretch. It played more like an action game with RPG elements tacked on.