I suppose it depends on which game we’re talking about and how broadly we each apply the term. San Andreas was a lot heavier on the stat leveling for example. I consider anything with breadcrumb quests/missions that drives a main plot and optional side missions/quests to get stronger to be an RPG. If you disagree though that’s valid, it’s not a hill I’m willing to die on.
San Andreas had that weird getting strong or fat thing I never really used when I played it and I didn’t really get negatives from it tbh
For me an example of an actual action RPG would be Cyberpunk more so than GTA since it has skill trees and such. In GTA you just get a few new guns or something and that’s about it, no levels or upgrades except for cars.
The argument would probably start with defining what RPG means. My local gaming journos for example used ‘rpg elements’ to describe multiplayer progression in CoD: MW games. Some people call Far Cry 3+ a sandbox\RPG.
In a sense, topping the numbers may be seen as a sign of an aRPG like Borderlands\Diablo that do no involve roleplaying, but rather a munchkin reduction of the genre to stats, loot, etc. There are a lot of these numbers to empower your MC, including solid perks to acquire - like better weapon handling or rewards for working as a first responders. Nothing we haven’t seen in arcade or action games, but either way people do consider this as a RPG influence at the very least.
Actual roleplay, or rather choices defining your journey, like in choose-your-own-adventure books, are seemingly non-existent. You don’t pick your character like you don’t pick Geralt, but at the same time, you have little to no agency over what happens, unlike what’s seen in Witcher. There are strict win and fail conditions, you can sometimes equip yourself better or pick your route from A to B, but from that understanding of RPG, it isn’t one.
What gives it a fleur of freedom is it being a big ol’ sandbox where you can play with multiple toys and bend it’s rules.
I, therefore, would insist on calling it a sandbox action game with rpg-lite mechanics.
I suppose it depends on which game we’re talking about and how broadly we each apply the term. San Andreas was a lot heavier on the stat leveling for example. I consider anything with breadcrumb quests/missions that drives a main plot and optional side missions/quests to get stronger to be an RPG. If you disagree though that’s valid, it’s not a hill I’m willing to die on.
San Andreas had that weird getting strong or fat thing I never really used when I played it and I didn’t really get negatives from it tbh
For me an example of an actual action RPG would be Cyberpunk more so than GTA since it has skill trees and such. In GTA you just get a few new guns or something and that’s about it, no levels or upgrades except for cars.
The argument would probably start with defining what RPG means. My local gaming journos for example used ‘rpg elements’ to describe multiplayer progression in CoD: MW games. Some people call Far Cry 3+ a sandbox\RPG.
In a sense, topping the numbers may be seen as a sign of an aRPG like Borderlands\Diablo that do no involve roleplaying, but rather a munchkin reduction of the genre to stats, loot, etc. There are a lot of these numbers to empower your MC, including solid perks to acquire - like better weapon handling or rewards for working as a first responders. Nothing we haven’t seen in arcade or action games, but either way people do consider this as a RPG influence at the very least.
Actual roleplay, or rather choices defining your journey, like in choose-your-own-adventure books, are seemingly non-existent. You don’t pick your character like you don’t pick Geralt, but at the same time, you have little to no agency over what happens, unlike what’s seen in Witcher. There are strict win and fail conditions, you can sometimes equip yourself better or pick your route from A to B, but from that understanding of RPG, it isn’t one.
What gives it a fleur of freedom is it being a big ol’ sandbox where you can play with multiple toys and bend it’s rules.
I, therefore, would insist on calling it a sandbox action game with rpg-lite mechanics.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.