Old vs. New RPGs

[Naoko]

I thought it would be interesting to remember some of the older RPGs out there and see how well they stand against today's RPGs in a contest of originality or style. But if needed, you could pit the newer RPGs against each other or just talk about them...
(So i guess this could be either a debating contest or just reminiscing while looking ahead ;D )
So i guess I'll start, one of my first rpgs i played was the .hack series. It's an older series made in about 2003/4 that took over four games (infection, mutation, outbreak, and quarentine) and was about an 80 hour trip in total minus extras. Although now the graphics are laughable, the originality stays interesting...although i suggest playing it on mute or switch to japanese dialogue because the english voice overs are really dated now. It's about a game called "The World"...real originality there for ya, but on a more serious note, the game was built on a program that consisted of one of the most interesting idea...a mother and a daughter. basically saying the program was its own AI that could play the game...and it was being hunted by the game itself and put people into comas in the process. there was more to it than just that but that's a basic overview...
In short, it was one of the more original things I've played in my life...even though i didn't know it at the time

[Dragon Yoshi]

. hack infection is the only one i've ever played. It's really good but all you had to do was trade with outher players.

How about Final Fantasy... If you don't know about FF you are living under rock.

[Naoko]

hahaha, yea this is true. I've almost finished FF12 now, at first I absolutely LOVED the game...then i started playing Kingdom Hearts again, and the new .hack series...and a few others I'm a gamin-holic. And yet I still can't get my hands on the 360 or PS3 FF12 was, and still is, one of the most difficult rpgs I've stood to play in a while now. Have you seen the hidden boss? Yiazmat, I think. The thing is HUGE! I'm not going to go after that thing at all...it's too much.
Graphics on that was really amazing for the ps2 i have to admit! but still nothing compares to FF13 when it comes to graphics (they're probably already on FF32 in japan)

[Scarecrow]

first RPG I ever played was called Ys III: Wanderers from Ys.
released on consoles in 1991, but I don't think I played it on my sega genesis until 1995 at least, considering my age. Yup, I was playing games when I was 4, and I haven't stopper since.

What newer RPGs lack is depth. They may have classics beat out in gameplay, but when it comes to the storyline, for the most part they don't even come close.

I did enjoy .HACK however. I played through to the end of mutation before I couldn't take the gameplay anymore.

[Naoko]

yea i know what you mean, i tried to play through a second time about a year after i beat quarentine because the story was really nice but i just couldnt do it

[Daniel Tak]

What happened to story-making anyway? I would have thought that, as the years go by, people think of better stories to include in games.

Just a thought.

[Naoko]

Yea, my view is that a lot of what you see today is all very predictable at times (not always) Sure there are some people who've stepped out of the norm (things like bioshock i guess...not a fan of horror) but there are things that make and break games. 1) Gameplay, if its crap; you better hope that your story get's them from the opening. 2)Story, mainly seen as unimportant or sometimes not even well put together, almost an afterthought in many games. I think the designers are having a tough time focussing on the fact that gameplay isn't all there is. But say you DO have both good gameplay and story in hand....3) Voices in the game....one of the most annoying things to go wrong...if people can't stand to hear the game...they most likely arent going to be too happy with it. I hope someone out there can pull together groundbreaking graphics and gameplay while still getting a good sound experience.