RPGs: How Far Have We Come?

Hellforge has published an interesting article titled “RPGs: How Far Have We Come?” that analyzes a number of recent RPGs by which role-playing elements they did right and wrong.

As anyone can tell you, some of the most important features to an RPG happens to be the quests found within the game, and that they can virtually make or break the entire game. I definitely agree on this notion. I do not agree, however, when the oldies get together and talk about how only the “classics” were doing this correctly. You see, in most RPGs, the main storyline is always supposed to be epic in some way. it involves royalty, it involves the fate of all humanity, it involves saving the world. You know, typical plot elements that happen every day. The execution on how to include your character, however, is always the wonder of how to mix plausibility with bull****tery.

Of course, here comes the difficulty to an RPG, however. Most purists will explain how an RPG should allow for any character of any setting to be played in it. Neverwinter Nights tried this pursuit; you can have a Chaotic Evil sorceress in the original campaign, but it doesn’t actually make any sense as to why your character is actually there helping people. Neverwinter Nights tried to offset that little tidbit of information by offering different options through dialogue; evil characters are helping the good guys because they want wealth and power. And rather than offer the idea of ransoming the plot items that you rescue to the good guys for that wealth and power, or even joining the bad guys, the game’s only outlet to pursuing your most evil pursuits come from the side quests in the game. Neverwinter Nights even taunts you with dialogue options when facing bosses, pleading with the boss to join forces with them, or serve under them, or something to that affect, but no matter what your modifier may be in bluff or charisma, the outcome is always the same: “Nope, time to die.”

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Considering we won’t actually be able to play a true role to our liking in an RPG video game, the only offset to this is to provide choices for your character to make. These choices can possibly influence the ending to the game, but, more than likely, they influence each specific quest they are on. However, the question is how many choices do you include so the player feels like he is in control of his character instead of the other way around?

This is why I understand Planescape: Torment is hailed as a great game on this remark. You are offered a number of different choices to pursue and complete quests, including my favorite, completing a quest without the resort to violence. You can talk your way out of things, use your intelligence modifiers to use logic in situations, or even tell white lies to avoid a violent outcome. Of course, Planescape: Torment doesn’t really aim at you playing your character that way. There are plenty of “snap his/her neck” dialogue options in the game as well. And given the setting of the game, where the law is kill or be killed, it’s a bit silly to expect your immortal character with battle scars all over him to resort to peaceful solutions.