Question of the Day, September 6, 2010

[greenslade]

Wheres Baldurs Gate? influential storytelling, customisation, and variety combined with a number of direct spin-off's, NeverWinter (bioware) was just one of the spin-off's

 

[Super Toast]

Final Fantasy. Though not in a good way.

 

[Daniel Ferguson]

I'm going Final Fantasy, though Zelda as a close second. They were really, ridiculously popular when I was a teenager - their target audience - at a time when being realy, ridiculously popular helped shaped the gaming industry today. In third, I'd vote Baldur's Gate. That should be on there instead of Neverwinter Nights. VERY popular with people old enough to buy it out of their own money - ie: adults with jobs - before this whole "teenagers drive the consumer market" thing.

 

[vxicepickxv]

D&D?

You didn't say it had to be a videogame...

Seeing as how D&D is referenced in the mechanics of the original Final Fantasy, I would say that you are correct. I'm not talking about the re-makes where MP replaced the original mechanic, which was spells per day.

In terms of far reaching, I would still go with D&D, which has the largest selection of computer based games, ranging from before standard gaming systems (PLATO) in 1975 to 2009, not counting Cryptic's abomination coming out in next year.

 

[SwagLordYoloson]

Morrowind, Oblivion didn't do squat, it took half the good things from morrowind, added some enhanced graphics and republished it

 

[MintyGreth]

POKEMON!

 

[P47R1CK]

Final Fantasy? RPG?
HAHAHAHA OH WOW.
And it's first? Seriously what the fuck.

 

[faranor]

being annoying as I am, I would say DnD. and then I mean the board game. all the stats and workings of almost all rpg games are based on the basic principle of DnD. so why isn't this an option!

 

[morkalavin]

I think you have to differ between JRPGs and western RPGs. JRPGs, I definitely go with the Final Fantasy Series since it's one of the oldest and the early instalments all had the same combat system as all the other JRPGs have. With time came experiments on the combat and levelling systems and that kept going up til now.
When considering western RPGs I think it really is difficult since there are so many that influenced the genre. I'd personally go with the Ultima Series or Diablo since they basically laid down the groundworks for the western RPGs as we play them now. Even though it began as a Pen'n'Paper RPG one should not forget D&D. It's impact on RPGs was greater than most fan's dare to admit.

 

[blalien]

The fact that Dragon Quest doesn't have a unanimous vote makes me die a little inside. I am willing to forgive the people who voted for Final Fantasy because they might not have known Dragon Quest came first. But there is no excuse for voting for a game released after 2000 on any of these "most influential" polls. Come on, people.

 

[TheBaron87]

Why are people still calling Zelda an RPG? It's action/adventure. You might as well call a game like Ratchet and Clank and RPG because they're practically the same gameplay anyway.

Anyway, the smart answer is other: Dungeons and Dragons, because EVERY OTHER GAME ON THE LIST IS BASED ON IT IN SOME WAY.

 

[dragonslayer32]

Oblivion obviously, that game is epic. Final Fantasy has too many cut scenes, if it were not for this, I would choose final fantasy.

The question was "Which of these is more influential?" not "Which do you like the most?"

I hate Final Fantasy and everything related to it, but I can still recognize that it was one of the key turning points in RPGs.

I know what the question is and I answered it accordingly, Oblivion was more influential because it didn't have any cut scenes and still was a great game, meaning it focused all on gameplay. It was the first RPG I am aware of to do this.

That's really not 'influential' since there AREN'T a lot of RPGs that do this.

No, their aren't a lot of RPGs that do this, but the ones that do are all modern RPGs with more following in their footsteps. It has shown the RPG genre that cut scenes aren't needed, thus changing the genre, MAKING IT MORE INFLUENTIAL.

You do realize that Final Fantasy only started it's 'cut-scenes' with #7, right? Before that the characters would simply move around and talk without the player being in complete control, or they wouldn't talk at all (silent protagonists) and the story would evolve around them. Oblivion (though I love it) was not the innovator here.

It was for current gen consoles. Final Fantasy evolved with adding cut scenes and RPGs followed this. Oblivion however, went against this changing how we play RPGs today.

What was "for current gen consoles"? You said 'it'.

Oblivion, you said it was not the innovator here, I said it was for RPGs on the current gen consoles because it was the first to go back to no cut scenes.

 

[are.you.the.god.its.me.vader]

The Pokemon series has brought the genre to so many people, but the same could be argued for Final Fantasy...

it's a tough one!

 

[kingcom]

Baldur's Gate series?.....

 

[Vzzdak]

The available choices are clearly aimed at the munchkins. Here are the real heavy hitters:

Oubliete (full party management with open-ended exploration, aging of characters)
Ultima IV (personality test to determine the virtue that your character would represent, ability to board and capture pirate ships)
Bard's Tale (Gregorian monk chant)
Dungeon Master (atmospheric sound effects, character training through practice)
Eye of the Beholder (decent D&D feel, ability to allow nemesis to backstab you...i.e., test your critical thinking)

 

[stephanmartins]

Baldur's Gate. If not it, then Planescape: Torment!

 

[LitleWaffle]

I guess Final Fantasy.
Influenced the genre? Heck yeah.
Influenced me? Well, I never played one.(Don't beat me)

To me personally, it would be Zelda, but I doubt Zelda did more than Final Fantasy to the genre as a whole.

 

[OceanRunner]

Obvious but Final Fantasy. Ever since FF7 introduced the series to the west, we were given a passion for the RPG genre.

 

[Zydrate]

I chose "other"

the RPG's that I feel made a bigger impact on the genre are Fallout & Diablo.

I, and everyone I know, didn't even hear about the Fallout series until the FO3 came out.
If it was 'influential', it didn't do a good job.