The most unambitious genre is the action adventure game. When studios and their bankers aspire to take advantage of film or the cartoon the common peddle is action adventure game. As a template with changing skins the base hack and slash combos are familiar and predicable. Even the handful that I may declare decent or good succeed with polish and aesthetics over innovation.
Usually when an RPG takes on the action prefix its does nothing but adopt the slothful idleness of the action adventure genre. I could see this pattern rearing in 2000-2003. With 3D graphics, multiplayer, the need to branch to consoles and the overall boost in hardware gumption, combining the vigor of action combat and the character development of an RPG was sound strategy. With games like Shenmue and Deus Ex I was not at issue with the transition.
I don?t care about the style as much as quality. It just hasn?t gotten better. With the exception of some of the shooters that are saved by the aiming recticle Action RPGs are no better than the come lately movie games. The Dark Alliance/Diablo ilk made no bones of their simplicity. I say they are not worth playing when games like Ninja Gaiden offer just as much character development and thrice the gameplay.... in my opinion at least. I wont question those that like them or offline multiplayer with restricted cams. I do wonder if a game like Shenmue could be played with a Diablo style cam.
That begs the question. If EA, Atari and others are going to attempt to garner the casuals with action combat how about they take the time a develop a real fighting engine to be what Virtua Fighter was to Shenmue? Else what we are getting is second rate shit that is certainly worse than the TB and realtime pause games of the past. I spit on DA 2, and Daggerdale and any other game that passes on decent strategy for 3rd rate action combat with the same sloth of Sega?s Thor or whatever film game. At least with Shenmue and the Way of the Samurai the Japanese were able to take their expertise with a fighting game and a long running stealth/action series. If the developers in Japan weren?t so out of touch they would have never lost market to the western RPG. They had the better action combat. Unfortionatly so much else was left to be desired.
Then you have Daggerddale. Atari has done nothing with the D&D license. Their last RPG to grace a console was Pool of Radiance on the NES. No Baldurs Gate DA was not an RPG. With Daggerdale We went from a Pool of Radiance to a puddle of piss.
Usually when an RPG takes on the action prefix its does nothing but adopt the slothful idleness of the action adventure genre. I could see this pattern rearing in 2000-2003. With 3D graphics, multiplayer, the need to branch to consoles and the overall boost in hardware gumption, combining the vigor of action combat and the character development of an RPG was sound strategy. With games like Shenmue and Deus Ex I was not at issue with the transition.
I don?t care about the style as much as quality. It just hasn?t gotten better. With the exception of some of the shooters that are saved by the aiming recticle Action RPGs are no better than the come lately movie games. The Dark Alliance/Diablo ilk made no bones of their simplicity. I say they are not worth playing when games like Ninja Gaiden offer just as much character development and thrice the gameplay.... in my opinion at least. I wont question those that like them or offline multiplayer with restricted cams. I do wonder if a game like Shenmue could be played with a Diablo style cam.
That begs the question. If EA, Atari and others are going to attempt to garner the casuals with action combat how about they take the time a develop a real fighting engine to be what Virtua Fighter was to Shenmue? Else what we are getting is second rate shit that is certainly worse than the TB and realtime pause games of the past. I spit on DA 2, and Daggerdale and any other game that passes on decent strategy for 3rd rate action combat with the same sloth of Sega?s Thor or whatever film game. At least with Shenmue and the Way of the Samurai the Japanese were able to take their expertise with a fighting game and a long running stealth/action series. If the developers in Japan weren?t so out of touch they would have never lost market to the western RPG. They had the better action combat. Unfortionatly so much else was left to be desired.
Then you have Daggerddale. Atari has done nothing with the D&D license. Their last RPG to grace a console was Pool of Radiance on the NES. No Baldurs Gate DA was not an RPG. With Daggerdale We went from a Pool of Radiance to a puddle of piss.
