JRPG's are dead

[noname2200]

dtewi said:

noname2200 said:

dtewi said:

In video game terms, RPGs are games that involve a form of separate battles taking place with a specialized battle system and the use of a system that increases your power through a form of points.

The Secret of Mana series is no longer in the RPG genre then.  For that matter, neither are most ARPGs, including Elder Scroll titles.  That definition is not going to work.

You mean battles that are separate from the main game don't take place?

They don't have to involve a separate screen, just that they are independent.

That's what most people assume an RPG to be. What's your definition?

At least in the Mana series, battles can and occasionally do intermingle with all the other functions (talking to people, buying/selling crap, etc.  It can lead to some funny glitches).  I can't always identify where combat ends and non-combat begins.  That applies also to the Elder Scroll games, especially Morrowind, where you can lure monsters straight into towns and watch the ensuing panic, and where you can always attack NPCs in the same manner that you do monsters, without triggering any separate system.

I understand the difficulty though: I can't come up with any perfect definition myself, especially since there's more and more genre cross-pollinization going on.