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What Should We Expect From RPGs In The Next Generation?

Considering that the next generation of gaming is looming large, I figured I'd dedicate at least one topic to all you avid role-playing buffs out there.

There's no denying that RPGs have undergone continual transformations over the years. This will undoubtedly continue as the industry keeps shifting about; Japanese developers continue to try to cater to growing Western audiences, old-fashioned mechanics are dying (or dead), and the current trends include social/multiplayer elements, open-world and sandbox constructs, and choice and freedom superseding linearity and storytelling.

So that being the case, what should we expect from the next-gen RPGs? Should we simply anticipate something larger and more detailed than The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim ? Will they continue to expand in terms of size, scope, and lore, but at the expense of a central plot and a protagonist that actually develops? See, you can't really have a character with no writing behind him; if it's all up to the player, that character must be faceless, so we can have the most amount of freedom possible. The more we script that character, the less the player will be able to do. I like that, but most don't.

And what about gameplay? It seems that just about every genre has elements from other categories of gaming, which is why the genres seem to be bleeding together. My guess is that it will become increasingly difficult to correctly apply the "role-playing" label in the new generation. Then again, maybe they'll be so markedly different from other titles, it still won't be that tough to spot an RPG. What say you on this subject?

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WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
11 years ago

I say Fallout 4 is gonna rock my caulk off with the greatest foray into post-apocalyptia ever imagined and my homeboy 3Dawg will be in my ear once again while I rock through the retrofuture wasteland and make my mark in Bosssstooonnn like nobody ever has.

And then, Japanese companies will look back on the debacle that was the last generation, the successful sales of PS1 classic JRPGs on the network, the success of HD Final Fantasies, and the all out demand for and love of Ni No Kuni and a resurgence of JRPG love will flourish throughout all lands so that magic sword-wielding teenage heroes again rule the imaginations of the bold gamer!

And I want Two Worlds III for fun.

Corvo
Corvo
11 years ago

Mayne, Fallout 4 is going to be the reigning king of RPG's for a loooong time.

Beamboom
Beamboom
11 years ago

Fallout 4 is, for me, a much bigger event than GTA5 even.

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
11 years ago

GTA simply pales in comparison and ages drastically upon inspection.

Beamboom
Beamboom
11 years ago

GTA is just a mini-game on the Pip-Boy 4000.


Last edited by Beamboom on 2/19/2013 2:02:06 PM

Vitron
Vitron
11 years ago

I want good RPGs, with a J

Bonampak
Bonampak
11 years ago

LOL I remember when the term RPG back in the SNES/PS1 era was pretty much synonymous with JRPG.

These days, people look to Western devs for their RPG fix. Since S-E dropped the ball and the only way you could've enjoyed a good new JRPG game at present, was actually on last gen hardware – example: Wii with Xenoblade, The Last Story, Pandora's Tower.

Things aren't likely to improve either for console JRPG's. Most Japanese devs are making their games for handhelds. Since those are the platforms that dominate the Japanese market.

Lets hope the PS4 brings with it a new golden age of JRPG's on home consoles.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
11 years ago

If they continue evolving the way we have seen this generation, there will be more guns, more blood, more gore, more foul language, more sex and nudity, more action more demonic monsters, and more twitch action crap. To me, that takes RPGs further and further away from where traditional RPGs and in particular the JRPG exists, and where games exist. I don't know what to call that new genre, I suppose it'll be called the RPG, though I personally don't see much game left in the experience.

LimitedVertigo
LimitedVertigo
11 years ago

I feel the same way, I see more advanced technology continuing to reduce the content I love in RPGs.

ProfPlayStation
ProfPlayStation
11 years ago

Well said. I truly don't understand what happened during this generation. When was the collective decision made that every high-profile, big-budget production had to include untold amounts of gore, swearing, sex, and all manner of disreputable content? This isn't what I have ever wanted from gaming. I only hope that the few bright lights that are left, such as Ni no Kuni, can help lead developers back into making games that don't make me feel ashamed to be associated with this industry.

Akuma_
Akuma_
11 years ago

Highlander, one can only hope.

Gordo
Gordo
11 years ago

Yes Highlander. You make that sound like a bad thing.

I played Mass Effect 2 for 25 hours basing all my decisions on "who I wanted to knob", and at the end all I got was a bit of dry rubbing and a glass of wine.

Robbed I tell ya!

CrusaderForever
CrusaderForever
11 years ago

@Gordo

Now that was funny!!! 🙂

JROD0823
JROD0823
11 years ago

Highlander,

I don't see there being anything wrong with having mature/graphic content in an RPG.

As long as game studios realize that people also want to experience the more traditional style RPG, like what Studio Ghibli did with Ni No Kuni, then I don't see why both kinds of RPG can't be made in order to cater to all types of gamers.


Last edited by JROD0823 on 2/19/2013 11:07:47 AM

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
11 years ago

@JROD0823

That's not gonna cut the mustard either. Ni No Kuni has a very young art style that does not appeal to everyone. Look at the typical JRPG, Ni No Kuni looks (artistically) like it's aimed at an audience that is younger than typical JRPGs go for. It's almost the diametric opposite to the trend I referred to and the extreme ends of the spectrum do not illuminate the middle ground of the spectrum where most people are looking. If all we had was a choice between Ni No Kuni clones and the much more mature and graphic (as in explicit, not graphical) RPGs I would leave the genre all together.

JROD0823
JROD0823
11 years ago

@Highlander,

I get your point, so I'll word it a bit better.

Developers could offer the extremes of RPGs with mature/explicit content or more child-like appeal content to those that want that sort of thing, while also making RPGs that lie in the middle ground that would appeal to the traditionalist group that yourself and many others on this site fall into.

That way everybody can have something that they want, without compromising for the other demographic.

I hope I clarified what I was trying to say little better.


Last edited by JROD0823 on 2/19/2013 1:45:39 PM

Corvo
Corvo
11 years ago

Well start with finishing an RPG and i would be happy. But i guess if i had to say it would be story, character developement, music, and larger variety of things to do. This gens definition of side quests has been ridiculous. In FF12 there was 4 different types of side quests. I had really though FF13 would have taken that further but haha! How wrong i was…

I dont mean to sound bitter but the RPG's this gen just have not been the same to me as they were last gen. I just want what we had in yesteryear and have them expanded on and improved in every area they felt broken or boring.

Akuma_
Akuma_
11 years ago

More skyrim please.

Haha. Which is kind of like "Be careful what you wish for". Because Skyrim stole 150 hours of my life over several months, I don't know how more of that could be healthy for me…..

Speaking of Skyrim, has anyone played Dragonborn? Dragon mounts aren't as cool as they should be 🙁

EDIT: I agree with the comment above, MORE 3DAWWWWG!!!! Can't wait for Fallout 4.


Last edited by Akuma_ on 2/19/2013 12:36:56 AM

bigrailer19
bigrailer19
11 years ago

The dragon mounts are not very cool. But the actual idea is. I think everyone was just lead to believe it was something maybe like LAIR. I dont know. What I do know is I still play the game when I want to sit down for a couple hours and have the time too. Its just an awesome game.

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
11 years ago

The 3Dawg actor said he would be coming back on his twitter, so it's either Fallout 4 or a F3 movie.

Beamboom
Beamboom
11 years ago

What I am hoping for is much more persistence in the game worlds, both physically and that the NPCs remember what you've done and relates more natural to you based on your actions.
That would be an advantage for most genres, but especially the RPGs.

Also, with the new machines comes the capacity to have more going on on the screen at the same time. Places can hopefully now be a bit crowded at times. Not all quiet and deserted, even in the city centres.

But more than that, what I really sincerely hope for with the upcoming new RPGs is *much* more diversity. Please, God of Gaming, make that happen.
It's ironical that RPGs of all genres, who has such a focus on story and roleplay, are *so* plaged by cliche stories and cookie cutter characters.

Where are the steampunk themed RPGs? Vampire RPGs? Gothic RPGs? Cold War RPGs? Internet Age RPGs? Where are all those RPGs whose settings we can't think of now?
Where are they?!


Last edited by Beamboom on 2/19/2013 2:11:34 AM

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
11 years ago

They are in my head waiting to be written!

Beamboom
Beamboom
11 years ago

Then write them down boy, and do it now! The world needs you! Get'em out there!


Last edited by Beamboom on 2/19/2013 5:16:35 PM

Vivi_Gamer
Vivi_Gamer
11 years ago

See this is the big question for me next gen too. Looking at how the PS3 has handled JRPG's (My favourite genre) I have to say I have not been impressed. Now this is not to say I have not enjoyed some of the changes. Fallout 3 was a very thrilling experience I had never played anything like it previously. Exploring a vast wasteland at my own pacing was exciting. But as much as I enjoyed the game I had no interest in playing its followings (Rage, Borderlands) As I felt Fallout 3 handled the new genre well enough, I just had no interest in playing them.

But as far as accepting this Fallout3/Elder Scrolls as the new RPG – That I have a big problem with. While these games are great, they just simply lack the personality of a JRPG. As you create your character you don't really have a main character to follow. I know you're meant to step inside their shoes but to be I just see a transparent Avatar rather than a character. While in a classic Final Fantasy the characters were bursting with passion and motive and if not they're anxieties were explored. These western RPG's simply lack character which is one of the most memorable features of a JRPG.

Then of course there is the gameplay. Now I have spoken previously about how the Platforming genre was ruined with guns by Ratchet & Clank then Jak II to follow. The game thing has happened in the the horror genre, getting to focused on shooting and your arsenal that there really is no reason to fear as you're a powerhouse. Now with Fallout, it is so difficult to define as it has swallowed up so many genres in one. But I cannot help but think of it as an open world FPS rather than an RPG. To me the biggest feature is the sense of adventure and these games just fail to capture that.

Now regarding the future of the RPG genre… I think it is going to disappear even further into the abyss. At least with the Playstation. We have just had Ni No Kuni which looks like a fantastic game which brings the JRPG back to form for the PS3 but is it too late? Maybe next gen Level-5 will continue to produce such High class titles like that but is it enough.

I have to say, I have been playing my Wii over the last year more than my PS3. With the release of Pandora's Tower, The Last Story & Xenoblade the console which I once found laughable has really given me some of the most enjoyment from this gen. Xenoblade captures the essence of what a current gen JRPG should really be like. Once you get over the PS2 graphics it really excels. The environments are so huge and diverse and even so the story is not compromised and progresses at a frequent rate(Unlike a certain FFXII…). I highly advise any JRPG fan who feels they have been missing out this gen to play it. I see they're planning another 'Xeno' title for the Wii-U and I have to say the thought of that is so SO appealing I may have to put the Wii-U before the PS4. Obviously we have the announcement very soon, I will wait until E3 to see what the console really could have to offer and by then I am sure I'll have made up my mind.


Last edited by Vivi_Gamer on 2/19/2013 3:25:08 AM

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
11 years ago

I don't think going to the Wii is the answer here. Besides the Vita, like the PSP before it, is likely to get the most attention (for Sony platforms) from JRPG developers.

___________
___________
11 years ago

skyrim, but much grander in scale?
i cant see the genre changing too much.
its already evolved so much from RPGs strictly being adventure games, to RPGs being such a large spectrum it almost counts anything!
so what else can it change?

berserk
berserk
11 years ago

Hope they know that focusing on content , gameplay and story is more important then graphics .Would nt minf if they stayed like some of the best looking out there ( i guess that would mean more resource to concentrate more on gameplay/story/content ) .

Ultima
Ultima
11 years ago

I don't know what we "should expect" for RPGS this rounds, but I HOPE that JPN companies pay close attention to what Monolith Soft did with Xenoblade (a Wii game which curbstomped everything [J]RPG related for the past ten years), and what they're doing with the new Xeno game, and rip them off accordingly. As it is, I'm going to have to get a Wii-U just to play the new Xeno game, and I'd prefer not to, but eh.

Also, I actually hope they complete the trend they started in the last cycle, and move their JRPG development permanently to handhelds. Obviously, I hope the PSV is the successor of the PSP in this regard.

While I would -love- to see a boss uber JRPG on PS4, if it takes 6 years of development time and costs ungodly amounts of money to development and possibly bankrupt the company, I'd rather do without it. I'd gladly take something smaller scale on the PSV if it means games will actually get done in a reasonable amount of time and won't break companies in the process.


Last edited by Ultima on 2/19/2013 10:41:15 AM

JROD0823
JROD0823
11 years ago

I hope that the JRPG the fans out there (I'm talking to you, World, Highlander, Vitron, Ultimadream, etc, lol) get a true return to form to the play style and stories that you guys reminisce over from the good old PS1 days, just with updated graphics

For western RPG fans, I hope that Fallout/Elder Scrolls style games can get bigger in scale without sacrificing playability and content.

I also hope to see the death of the loading screen when transitioning from exterior to interior environments, or vice-versa.

It would be tough to eliminate loading screens if you fast-travel to another part of the game world, since that would require too much data to be cached at once.

However, if you're anywhere nearby an exterior/interior transition, then the game should have all of that data cached and ready so that the transition resembles what would happen in real life if you were to walk through a door or walk in/out of a cave, mine, or whatever.


Last edited by JROD0823 on 2/19/2013 10:52:24 AM

Underdog15
Underdog15
11 years ago

No freeze issues, please.

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