I was never a fan of Role Playing Games as a kid. Some people consider it sacrilege when I say that I never played and have never had an interest in Final Fantasy IV. I never played (and have never played) Dungeons and Dragons, but I would love to!
It wasn’t until I was in 9th Grade that I jumped into Final Fantasy VII. The only reason I made the plunge was because I had some extra money and picked it up at Electronics Boutique in the local mall. I was hooked from the start. Something about the story grabbed me. Was it the underlying politics or corrupt energy company (I’m looking at you AEP >:{ ) taking the life-force of the planet? Was it the ability to rename Cloud (and every other character) as I saw fit? Who knows… all I do know is that I loved the stories that all came together like Pulp Fiction. (Virtually the same thing can be said for Final Fantasy VIII in my case as well)
This brings a new conversation almost 15 years later.
Why haven’t I played/enjoyed a turn-based RPG sense FFVII and FFVIII?
Have tastes changed?
The most successful RPGs in recent history have been The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series from Bethesda Studios (at least from a sales perspective). The entire focus of gaming has gone first person. Whether it is shooters or journey games like Borderlands or the aforementioned titles from Bethesda.
Are we so obsessed with shooting things and having real-time control at all times to that we have forgotten what it is like to play a turn-based game with an amazing story?
What happened to great stories?
The downfall of Bethesda’s titles is that they are so predictable that by the time you play them for 30 minutes you can pretty much figure out how it ends.
The last game that provided me with an ending that I found satisfactory was Red Dead Redemption. While that doesn’t really fit this RPG discussion, it does add to the fact that we really don’t have a single turn-based ‘typcial’, ‘old-school’ RPG that reaches a massive market of gamers.
Any suggestions?
So, the question is out there for the NTTV readership/community. Actually, there are two questions –
- What is your favorite turn-based game?
- What are the best turn-based RPGs out on current gen systems (360, PS3 and PC)?
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