@Khuutra
I agree, which is I guess what I failed to express in my rush to expound on other points. I consider the World Ends With You, for example, to be one of the greatest games in recent history because, among other reasons, it had both a great story AND awesome gameplay. Mother 3, also, was a blast to play largely because of its battle system. And ideally I wish the genre at large would realize this and start offering us fresh, innovative experiences that are actually fun. Might go a long way to shaking up my recent RPG laissez-faire
I suppose it would be a strength of the genre, then, that for every all-around awesome RPG I've played, there are just as many that are, at their core, simplistic and boring, yet have managed to string me along to the end thanks to the characters and story.
I'm lamenting this fact, not celebrating it, as it allows rampant laziness on the part of JRPG developers: aware of the fact of how integral a role the story and characters play, they (usually ineptly) focus on those aspects, and throw together some generic (but wordily and novelly named) battle system. Since story plays such a strong role in RPG's, these games will often, regardless, be played through and very well-liked. Thus my original point: great gameplay is not essential to a great RPG--though, when it's there, it only serves to make it even better. A story-less RPG, on the other hand, would be more frustratingly boring than playing tic-tac-toe for 30 straight hours.
Crusty VGchartz old timer who sporadically returns & posts. Let's debate nebulous shit and expand our perpectives. Or whatever.
