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Forums - Nintendo - Is Zelda an RPG?

 

Is it?

Yes 43 23.50%
 
No 140 76.50%
 
Total:183
Jumpin on 30 March 2015
archer9234 said:
RPG stands for Role Playing game. You're playing a character. Zelda is a RPG. Unless you want to have a subcategory of Role Stat building Playing Game.

The definition of a role playing game is NOT "playing a character." It is a game whose basis lies primarily in the gameplay mechanics of pen and paper role playing games.

Zelda is an action adventure. Zelda 2 uses some version of RPG mechanics, but is still much more of an action adventure title.

Bottom line: Zelda is most certainly not an RPG, it is an action adventure. Zelda is the definitive action adventure.



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Samus Aran on 30 March 2015
Aeolus451 said:
Samus Aran said:

Zelda doesn't even have one rpg element in it.

Pokémon: has different types ("classes")

Fire Emblem: has different classes

Paper Mario: has different partners with different abilities

xenoblade: has different characters with their own abilities

Bravely Default: has different "jobs" (which basically functions as classes)

Runescape: Magic beats melee, melee beats range, range beats magic

South Park: Stick of Truth: mage, warrior, thief, jew.

Those are the only rpgs I play and they all have classes (except Mario & Luigi franchise).

Frankly, you have an extremely limited experience with rpg's if those are the only you ever played. You don't need multiple characters with different abilities, rock paper sissor combat, jobs, character customization, tactical or turn based combat for a game to be considered an rpg. There are many rpg elements in almost every genre. 

Zelda has rupee grinding, questing, similar combat to other action rpg's, explorable towns, npcs to talk to, shops, sizable game world to explore, dungeons, story is told at slower pace to a singular perspective, longer game play and earning gear/upgrades. That's just some that I can think of.  Not one rpg element, huh? Many genres have rpg elements in them now. 

It may not have a leveling system and stats in the traditional sense but that's not a must have. You do upgrade link's max hp/hearts. Elder Scrolls threw away traditional stats like strength, agility, wisdom, intelligence in favor of a more simplified system of just HP, fatigue and magika. 

Games like Dragon's dogma, souls series, mass effect series stretch what is known as rpg's.

Zelda has more in common with those rpg's than it does with games like shadow of the colossus, god of war, devil may cry, bayonetta, tomb raider, uncharted series and TLOU.

None of those are elements of rpg.

Earning gear/upgrades is one of the main characteristics of Metroidvania games. So is Metroid Prime an rpg now? You upgrade Samus's max HP/energy tanks.

Sonic 2006 has npcs to talk to. So Sonic is an rpg now? In fact, Metroid Prime 3 also has npcs to talk to.

What does longer gameplay have to do with anything? A game's length does not define an rpg. South Park: Stick of Truth is quite a short game.

Rupee grinding? Thanks for letting me know you never played a Zelda game. Rupees are useless in most Zelda games or so easy to come by that you don't need to grind for it. I guess Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is an rpg now because you can spend your banana coins in Cranky's shop to buy items. And obviously GTA games are rpgs too...

Quite frankly, you have a limited gaming experience if you think those are elements exclusive to rpgs. Is every game where you jump a platformer now?



sc94597 on 30 March 2015

You do not get to choose your role in LoZ, so no it is not an RPG (for that matter neither are many "JRPG's" but they do have RPG elements.)



daredevil.shark on 30 March 2015

Zelda used to be unique back in 90s. But now a days we have many games that have surpassed Zelda. Take for the example of elder scrolls or witcher. But if we look in a crude form Zelda is a RPG game. A very good RPG to be precise.



Samus Aran on 30 March 2015
daredevil.shark said:
Zelda used to be unique back in 90s. But now a days we have many games that have surpassed Zelda. Take for the example of elder scrolls or witcher. But if we look in a crude form Zelda is a RPG game. A very good RPG to be precise.

That's your opinion. But those games aren't anything like Zelda where the main focus is solving puzzles in dungeons/temples.



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sc94597 on 30 March 2015
daredevil.shark said:
Zelda used to be unique back in 90s. But now a days we have many games that have surpassed Zelda. Take for the example of elder scrolls or witcher. But if we look in a crude form Zelda is a RPG game. A very good RPG to be precise.

The Elder Scrolls existed in the 90's. It is ridiculous to compare it to The Legend of Zelda anyway. They are vastly different games in vastly different genres. It would be like comparing Wizardry or Ultima to The Legend of Zelda in the 90's. As for The Witcher, it is a great series, and while it is something much closer to LoZ than The Elder Scrolls is, it is still a vastly different game. I don't ever play The Witcher and think, wow - this does what Legend of Zelda does, but better, and I've been playing The Witcher since the first game was a PC exclusive. 

What RPG mechancis does TLoZ have? Can I choose whether or not Link will be primarily a magic user, a sword fighter, or an archer? No, he is a jack of all trades - he can do all of these in different contexts. 

Just because a game is a fantasy setting with an open world or semi-open world does not mean it is a Role-Playing game. In a Role-Playing game the player gets to choose his or her role, not the game's setting. It is how it worked with Dungeons and Dragons, then the text-based Computer RPG's, then the graphics-based ones which released on computers and consoles, and ever since then. Some games have mixed said elements with action or strategy games, but they still contain them .



Aeolus451 on 30 March 2015
Samus Aran said:
Aeolus451 said:

Frankly, you have an extremely limited experience with rpg's if those are the only you ever played. You don't need multiple characters with different abilities, rock paper sissor combat, jobs, character customization, tactical or turn based combat for a game to be considered an rpg. There are many rpg elements in almost every genre. 

Zelda has rupee grinding, questing, similar combat to other action rpg's, explorable towns, npcs to talk to, shops, sizable game world to explore, dungeons, story is told at slower pace to a singular perspective, longer game play and earning gear/upgrades. That's just some that I can think of.  Not one rpg element, huh? Many genres have rpg elements in them now. 

It may not have a leveling system and stats in the traditional sense but that's not a must have. You do upgrade link's max hp/hearts. Elder Scrolls threw away traditional stats like strength, agility, wisdom, intelligence in favor of a more simplified system of just HP, fatigue and magika. 

Games like Dragon's dogma, souls series, mass effect series stretch what is known as rpg's.

Zelda has more in common with those rpg's than it does with games like shadow of the colossus, god of war, devil may cry, bayonetta, tomb raider, uncharted series and TLOU.

None of those are elements of rpg.

Earning gear/upgrades is one of the main characteristics of Metroidvania games. So is Metroid Prime an rpg now? You upgrade Samus's max HP/energy tanks.

Sonic 2006 has npcs to talk to. So Sonic is an rpg now? In fact, Metroid Prime 3 also has npcs to talk to.

What does longer gameplay have to do with anything? A game's length does not define an rpg. South Park: Stick of Truth is quite a short game.

Rupee grinding? Thanks for letting me know you never played a Zelda game. Rupees are useless in most Zelda games or so easy to come by that you don't need to grind for it. I guess Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is an rpg now because you can spend your banana coins in Cranky's shop to buy items. And obviously GTA games are rpgs too...

Quite frankly, you have a limited gaming experience if you think those are elements exclusive to rpgs. Is every game where you jump a platformer now?



Those are some RPG elements typical in most RPG's in zelda games and there's enough there for it to be considered a action rpg. I'm trying to have a sensible discussion with ya and you're bring up games that have nothing to do with this. "Metroid is a rpg. donkey kong tropical breeze is a rpg. GTA games are rpg's." We're discussing RPG's and not nintendo's line up.

outlawauron on 30 March 2015
archer9234 said:
RPG stands for Role Playing game. You're playing a character. Zelda is a RPG. Unless you want to have a subcategory of Role Stat building Playing Game.

EVERY GAME EVER CREATED IS NOW RPG.



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daredevil.shark on 30 March 2015
Samus Aran said:
daredevil.shark said:
Zelda used to be unique back in 90s. But now a days we have many games that have surpassed Zelda. Take for the example of elder scrolls or witcher. But if we look in a crude form Zelda is a RPG game. A very good RPG to be precise.

That's your opinion. But those games aren't anything like Zelda where the main focus is solving puzzles in dungeons/temples.


Off course that's my opinion. Who else put on my behalf. And if you look at other games they are no longer behind.



Samus Aran on 30 March 2015
Aeolus451 said:
Samus Aran said:

None of those are elements of rpg.

Earning gear/upgrades is one of the main characteristics of Metroidvania games. So is Metroid Prime an rpg now? You upgrade Samus's max HP/energy tanks.

Sonic 2006 has npcs to talk to. So Sonic is an rpg now? In fact, Metroid Prime 3 also has npcs to talk to.

What does longer gameplay have to do with anything? A game's length does not define an rpg. South Park: Stick of Truth is quite a short game.

Rupee grinding? Thanks for letting me know you never played a Zelda game. Rupees are useless in most Zelda games or so easy to come by that you don't need to grind for it. I guess Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is an rpg now because you can spend your banana coins in Cranky's shop to buy items. And obviously GTA games are rpgs too...

Quite frankly, you have a limited gaming experience if you think those are elements exclusive to rpgs. Is every game where you jump a platformer now?


Those are some RPG elements typical in most RPG's in zelda games and there's enough there for it to be considered a action rpg. I'm trying to have a sensible discussion with ya and you're bring up games that have nothing to do with this. "Metroid is a rpg. donkey kong tropical breeze is a rpg. GTA games are rpg's." We're discussing RPG's and not nintendo's line up.

If Zelda is an rpg, Metroid is as well. You can't have one without the other.

Zelda is not an rpg and never will be. The makers consider it an action adventure. The reason why it has things in common with an action rpg is because those games both have action elements.

In any rpg you increase your hp by getting experience through battles. You can grind how much you want in a Zelda game, it won't increase your hearts.

The reason I'm bringing up other games is to show you how ridiculous it is by stating those elements are only found in rpgs.

It might help in this discussion if you ever played a game I brought up. But you clearly haven't considering you can't even get the names of the games right. Tropical Breeze? Really?