What defines RPG in video games?

[TheoAllen]

After reading Tai_MT's reply in other thread, that left me a question. What defines RPG?

But this is specifically for video games, not for a table-top RPG or so. In a complex video game (which in this case, a RPG), at what point if you gonna stripped it down until it's not a RPG anymore? or... what a critical element(s) you add into a video game so that the game is defined as RPG?

From the wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_video_game
There're many aspect including story, inventory, stat progression, etc, packed together, and it's RPG. There're sub genre too like Tactical-RPG, action-RPG, etc. But some people does only include stat progression on other game genre, tagged it RPG, and called it a day, and not everyone agree with that, despite there're many sub-genre of RPG.

Story alone would lead you into a visual novel or adventure game. Gameplay alone would lead you into a beat-em-up type of game (Action for example). If customization is a critical aspect, then why people call J-RPG as RPG while it locks you into a preset party members and skills? If a game has a linear story, not much (or not at all) stat progression, action gameplay (or maybe, puzzle, because you hate the math of battle system), but has story, would you call it RPG?

And (probably the most) fundamental question. If a game is tagged RPG, what you would expect?

edit: bonus question
For those who develop a game, are you actually making a RPG?

 

[Nightblade50]

That's actually a good question. I'll have to think about this!

 

[l8rose]

I always assumed J-RPG was Japanese RPG... that being said, an RPG is any game that you step into the role of the character. A Linear story can still be an RPG provided I'm playing the character and getting to make choices. Even a visual novel is still an RPG to some degree. Even if I can't choose every little detail, having some manner of input into the game makes it more of an RPG for me.

Now if I'm shoe-horned in to following a set story without being able to choose anything... that's more what I would call an Adventure. Take the Legend of Zelda games for example. I wouldn't really consider the earlier ones to be RPGs (NES games are more adventure), then it starts to change around Link to the Past and now it's full on RPG with Breath of the Wild.

And my current project is an RPG, originally with the goals of being close to Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 in terms of play style but it's gradually becoming more story oriented (cause I suck at planning fights and love writing dialogue too much for my own good).

[edit] Cause holy crud did my keyboard ever skip letters when I was typing this.

 

[TheoAllen]

@l8rose so in your case, the choices matters more when it comes to RPG in video games? Which mean you can strip down a battle in a game and still call it RPG?

 

[l8rose]

@l8rose so in your case, the choices matters more when it comes to RPG in video games? Which mean you can strip down a battle in a game and still call it RPG?

To me, yes. A bare bones battle system can still work for an RPG or none at all for that matter. I've played some really fun games that don't even have a battle system. As long as I feel like I'm immersed in the world and genuinely feel like my choices are impacting the role I'm playing, then it's an RPG to me. It could be all text but if there are choices, it's all good in my book.

 

[Rhaeami]

My interpretation of the genre is that the game needs to be driven primarily by what the character (the "role") can do, rather than what the player physically does in the real world. Stats are the best example - it's about how strong, fast, or smart your character is, not just your own ability to manipulate the game.

The key word is here "primarily." In a fighting game, different characters have behind-the-scenes stats, but the MAIN reason you play is to show off your REAL skill at playing, not your character's. I wouldn't call Zelda an action-rpg because, although your character has some rudimentary stats, the focus is on your real-world capacity for puzzle-solving or combat. Monster Hunter just barely counts as action-rpg because the stats on your gear are a major driving force in the gameplay loop, despite how much real skill is required to defeat monsters.

Exact gameplay mechanics are largely irrelevant, I think, because the genre can so easily be hybridized with others (my own examples are action hybrids). Story is totally irrelevant, since the majority of games these days have story elements; if everything is an RPG, nothing is an RPG.

I think this definition draws on what really set the original Role Playing Games on tabletop apart from the war games they spun off from - while both involve playing pieces that do stuff as well as real-world skill at playing the game, the FOCUS is completely different.

 

[JtheDuelist]

@Rhaeami

 

[sura_tc]

I don't think the meaning of RPG is the same as the current definition of RPG about 2 or 3 decades ago.

Thinking back, when I was teen, playing a RPG meant one thing: Playing as the main character and see its game world through his/her eyes. Back then system limitations meant there was only few kind of RPG genre.

One of the prime examples would be FF 7 where Sephiroth murders you-know-who. I was genuinely, royally, pissed at the event that I was - personally - seeking out her vengeance on Cloud's behalf. I was role-playing as Cloud and his desire to exact revenge was mine.
That's role-playing and that's what a RPG is about.


It's not so clear-cut nowadays because of extraterrestrial obstructions: Achievement trophies, game guides, beta play, DLC, or even early access, and most importantly the internet.
Back when FF7 rose to its fame, I don't think I cared for any of above. I simply played the game.

RPG of this era, to me at least, seems to mean high-end graphics, blood & gore, and mini skirts.

 

[DeeDee]

To me an RPG can be about a couple of things. I really like games where I can create my own character, then get thrown into a world where I can really immerse myself and thus "becoming" an inhabitant of that world and then make my own story within the boundaries the game gives me. The Elder Scrolls series would be a good example of that (Modding yay! ). But I also like the very narrative/story driven RPG's where the character and his/her personality is already defined. I get less immersed into those, but they often offer less freedom but they can offer something a game like Skyrim struggles with. And that is conveying emotion. I mean I like both but you can't really compare a game like Legend of Heroes and say Fallout. Well I guess you can but you get my point they're both striving to achieve completely different things. Anyways that's just my opinion