Most important aspect of RPGs?

[PGerman]

I wondered, "What could I do to improve my game? What makes an RPG good?" and I thought about it for a while. Before we continue, I want you to ask yourself this question "What makes an RPG good?" I bet most of you would think about graphic, story and gameplay. and those are all perfectly fine answers. Everyone has their own opinion. I think that those 3 core aspects are all important, but we need to take a closer look. let's start with the graphics. Most people would say, better resolution=better graphic. And I agree with that a little bit. I think it's about HOW you use it. Graphics are strongly based on opinions, just like genre. Some love 4k some Pixelart and some love to use their imagination in text adventures. Both all those 3 graphic styles have one thing in common. One aspect that shouldn't be missed in any game. And that thing is,the love for details. No matter what you like, details need to be inclueded. Details show the player that the Dev worked hard on the game and that they took their time to design a wonderful world for the player. Next up is gameplay. Gameplay is important, the game should be fun and easy to play. And it should be fair and balanced. Nothing more to add here.

Now to the final aspect: Story.

We usually see storys as a curve with 3 main aspects.

The start, the climax and the end.
But alot of people forget character developement. It's an important part for me in an RPG. And I think you know what I mean, so lets continue. Another important part for me is the journey.
Imagine watching your favourite Movie/Tv Series/Anime etc that made you cry when you first watched it, for the first time, but now only the first 5 minutes, the climax of the story and the ending.
The story would feel incomplete
And you won't really cry that time. It would feel uncompleted and boring. Because it is missing Character developement and the journey leading to the end.

Well thats all I have to say. I just wanted to get this out of my mind and share it with you. I would like to hear your feedback about my text in general, what was ok, what could I do to improve myself etc. And also to my question "What makes an RPG good" what do you think? I would be happy to know.

 

[TheoAllen]

When u say RPG, and story, it's general aspect that even RPG with barely has any story can still be enjoyable with fun gameplay. No, character development is not really necessary. But it does become necessary when u want to tell a story. Does an open world RPG becomes bad without character development (in story wise)? No, the game is still good.

Now, why would you want a character development? why is the goal you're trying to achieve?
In my opinion, it's all because you want your game to leave something for the player, something memorable.
If you're writer, you want to tell your best story and peoplel would say "hey, this game has awesome story!"
If you're designer / coder, you want to bring your best gameplay to people so they would say "hey, this game has awesome gameplay!"
So I'd say the important aspect is to focus on your game selling point.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

A good RPG needs a balance of those characteristics to be on point, in my opinion. I'll struggle to play through bland gameplay, and I'll struggle through cookie-cutter stories and characters; even if there are clear strengths presented throughout the game. Having a focus isn't out of the ordinary, but enough thought and input should be used in the other elements so they are designed and intentional.

 

[Rook47]

I think what makes the RPG's i have played so fun is the combat system and balancing. For me having some sort of interesting story line as well is really important and a diverse set of playable characters , classes, and spells.

 

[OmnislashXX]

There are certain games that are devoted to one aspect than the other. For instance, a dungeon crawler might be more focused on gameplay than story. Depends on what you want the game to do.

That being said, all of those aspects are important. It's also important to find a balance between each. Too much story but not enough game can bore some folks, not enough story and then you run the risk of the player wondering what is the point.

Tell a story but let players play.

Graphics, well that's the icing. Certainly, they can separate your game from others and can show you put effort into making something, though they aren't the end all, be all. A game can have awesome graphics but still suck a big load of awful.

 

[Wavelength]

Like any other game, I consider an RPG good if it compels me on a visceral, emotional, or intellectual/strategic level. I consider it great if it compels me on more than one of those levels.

 

[Frogboy]

Fun. Plain and simple. If I have fun, I'll keep playing. If I don't, I'll turn it off.

 

[Seacliff]

Flow.

You could have a solid battle system, creative dungeons, and an engaging story, but if you have random encounters every seven steps that can take over five minutes with the last cutscene occurring over three dungeons ago, it really doesn't mean much.

 

[VisitorsFromDreams]

Being interesting seems to be where most RPGs either JRPGs, WRPGs or indie RPG's fail for me. Id sooner play through Space Funeral or Hylics 50 times than I would play through most RPG's (AAA or indie) out there for an hour. The genre has become very heavily bogged down in tropes and its all gotten kind of dull for me.

I can deal with dull mechanics if the universe and characters are good and interesting (The original Nier being a good example).

Pacing is another issue. RPG's tend to be incredibly long (usually because its just expected by the genre) but few actually have a narrative that can carry that length. This leads to padding, dull side stories, all kinds of things that get in the way of the games pacing. Telling a big epic story is a great ambition but I see a lot of games trying to tell a story that could be told in 5 hours over 50 hours and it drives me nuts (don't even get me started on long exposition dumps at the start of games which is something a tonne of RPG maker games do for some reason).

 

[Kes]

Your poll doesn't allow for any differentiation if the reader wants to say only one of these is important or some are more important than others.

You mention details and give it an unqualified approval. However, even here there are limits. I've played games where there is an incredible amount of detail, lots of eye candy - and where the maps have utterly failed as maps. Function comes first. If all your incredible detail mean that I have a hard time navigating my way around, then I end up hating your detail. If all your detail means that the one important thing there doesn't stand out because it's overwhelmed by everything else, then I end up hating your detail. If all your detail means that you didn't put enough effort into gameplay so that I'm bored, then your detail has achieved nothing. I write this as one who does put a lot of detail into my games, so it's not that I have anything against it. But it is the case that "more" does not automatically translate into "better", which is what you implied.

I also disagree with this claim.

the game should be fun and easy to play.

Why is a game obliged to be easy? Do you mean that the battles must be easy? That's going to bore a lot of people. Do you mean that the mechancis must be easy? That means that anything other than the default battle system has to be thrown out of the window. Does that mean that the player has to be hand-held through everything? That's going to be boring for a lot of people as well.

Maybe I'll come back and post more, but right now I have to go.

 

[VisitorsFromDreams]

Why is a game obliged to be easy? Do you mean that the battles must be easy? That's going to bore a lot of people. Do you mean that the mechancis must be easy? That means that anything other than the default battle system has to be thrown out of the window. Does that mean that the player has to be hand-held through everything? That's going to be boring for a lot of people as well.

Maybe I'll come back and post more, but right now I have to go.

I dont think they mean the game needs to be easy in terms of difficulty but rather in terms of accessability. Few people going through hours of tutorials on the mechanics of a game before they can actually enjoy playing it will stick with a game. Theres definitely a niche for games that are difficult to learn AND difficult to master but your average consumer generally wants something easy to learn but difficult to master.

 

[Dark Horseman]

What you can do to make your RPG good? Stand out somehow. You need to excel in at least one or two categories while being tolerable in others. Like a non-traditional story, interesting battle system, or great artwork. Be great and original at one and just don't be awful in others.

Like I can tolerate "Kids Use the Power of Friendship to Beat God XVIII" writing if it's got great custom artwork or an engaging battle system. But I'm totally going to quit out if it's unremarkable in every category.

Also golden rule: no exposition dumps. Always show, don't tell. Exposition dumps demonstrate that the developer has an idea they want to express but don't have the commitment to do it in a meaningful way. Having 5 minutes of text is easy, whereas creating an interactive story sequence is not.

 

[PGerman]

I dont think they mean the game needs to be easy in terms of difficulty but rather in terms of accessability. Few people going through hours of tutorials on the mechanics of a game before they can actually enjoy playing it will stick with a game. Theres definitely a niche for games that are difficult to learn AND difficult to master but your average consumer generally wants something easy to learn but difficult to master.

My general idea was that,if the game wasn't supposed to be a relative of darksouls it should have things to help cusual players enjoy those games without frustrating them too much. For example easier controls and less information about advanced machanics at the start of the game, just like you said. But also a good difficulty for everyone or multiple difficulties to choose from. Devs could add things like challenges or even a new game+ feature. Or something Undertale did.A neutral route for normal people who don't know better, pacifist for people that want a happy ending and genocide for the try hards. Undertale is playable by everyone, but this methode will most likely only work on straight forward, story driven games. Other games will have to use different methodes.

 

[Tai_MT]

The most important Aspect of any RPG (every RPG, since we're using the actual definition of Role Playing Game and not the new-age "I have a progression system, therefore, RPG nonsense) is the Story, Characters, and of course... Playing a Role.

Okay, so what is an actual RPG? It's a game where you make decisions, develop your own character (means of doing this may vary, but it is most commonly done via a stat progression system), experience a story, and get to know all the other characters in the same story.

A game where you level up, gain stats, fight monsters, and has no real story or characters to speak of is just called "Dungeon Crawler". A game where you make no real decisions about your character is just an "Adventure Game". Yes, even if it has "stat progression" mechanics.

See, everyone thinks that just by adding in stat points, weapons, and such, it instantly turns your game into an RPG. It does not. Sure, some lazy people (or ignorant people) may call it that, but that's not really what it is. All you have is a "Progression System" and nothing more. It's more complicated than most games, but it's still a Progression System. Dark Souls is an RPG while Bioshock is not. Both have Progression Systems where you "gain power". But, one is an RPG while the other is a simple Shooter with Progression Mechanics.

The aspects of a game that make it an RPG are usually meaningful character customization (distribute stats, make gameplay choices, choose one skill or perk over another, choices impact story or characters), a story you need to play out (which can be linear or full of choices, so long as you're fulfilling the role defined by the character you are playing), meaningful character interactions and character arcs (you can get to know your companions or people along the road to the end), and a vast world full of Lore (even if the player never sees the lore, if it's obvious there's a lot of it out there, then you've probably got an RPG of some kind).

Most of these quickly and easily separate action/adventure games from real RPG's. Or, "Dungeon Crawlers" from RPGs.

But, that's the definition of an RPG. Role. Playing. Game. It means you're taking on the Role of someone in the Story and deciding how it goes down for that character. Whether you turn that character into you, or whether you're turning that character into a better version of themselves. You must interact with the world or other characters in meaningful ways. I'm not talking about "kill 20 Slimes" kind of ways either.

An RPG is not "I'm in a party of people and we gain levels". That's just you interacting with a Progression System. Something so superfluous that Shooters like Call of Duty have adopted it. Is Call of Duty an RPG because you gain levels, gain power from those levels, and play with a group of friends (your party)? No. Therefore, levels and stats do not make an RPG at all.