Bioware really needs to play more action games before making Mass Effect 3

[Scoobes]

rocketpig said:

Scoobes said:

This really does come down to what defines an RPG. Those factors are essential in an RPG, or are they? I would say they are but then JRPGs don't adhere to this formula 9 times out of 10. Is Heavy Rain an RPG? Or Farenheit (Indigo Prophecy to some)? By your definition they'd be more an RPG than any of the Final Fantasy games. You might think the traditional aspects are unnecessary, but they are what has defined RPGs for a very longtime now, and are actually what makes the game more fun for certain people. The "stats" are less of an issue in a game like Mass Effect 2 where shooting is very important as it's more about the player's shooting ability than improving your characters stats and overall strategy, but some people still want them.

And that's fine if you like those components. I have no problems with that. Personally, I don't... where I disagree is how some of you are saying Mass Effect is "not an RPG" or it's "watered down" simply because BioWare chose not to use those components in favor of going a different route with ME2. It doesn't make it less of an RPG, it just makes it different. And some of you don't like that difference. More power to you but don't go around trying to diminish its role-playing elements just because it doesn't suit your preferences.

I wouldn't go as far as saying it's not an RPG but I could understand why some might say it's "watered down" although I prefer the term "refined". As far as I can tell Bioware wanted to bridge a gap and get shooter fans to play something slightly more sophisticated in the storytelling department. To do this however they had to "refine" some of the traditional RPG elements so some RPG fans might not like it as much. I know I would personally like the RPG systems to be more like the original whilst retaining the new shooting dynamics. Overall, I think they bridged the genre gap brilliantlly and I hope the action elements really do improve in the next iteration as the improvement from 1 is really quite something.