Zelda Is Not An RPG

[teisjm]

The games are mostly linear, ofc theres upgrades which are optional, such as bomb bags, arrows hearth pieces/containers etc.
But mainly your character evolves at predetemined points, by gauining new weapons fixed in the dungeons, not by leveling which is one of the more significant parts of RPG's though it has speread to other games (COD for insatnce)

Theres no dialogue, you just listen to people, this is very different from RPGS and leads to:
Theres no sort of choice, while a game doesn't have to have the good/evil paths to walk, but most RPGs offer differetn solutions to your quests or your battles, bosses and lots of mobs have to be killed in one specific way, puzzles usually only have one solution (unless theres some unintentional way to do it)

I'd say that most of teh elements LoZ have in common with RPG's are stuff a whole lot of other gebnres haev as well.
WC1/2/3 had elves, goblins, potions and magic, but it's an RTS. Fantasy setting =/= RPG
Most shooters grant you new weapons, weapon upgrades and max health at fixed points, and they have inventory health packs (potions in LoZ) but they're still FPS. Upgrades =/= RPG
Most action/hack 'n slash games like Ninja gaiden, No More Heroes, God of War etc. lets you upgrade/get new weapons and abillities etc. They're still not RPG's

I like RPG's and i really like LoZ, but i don't think the 2 are the same.

 

[Thaius]

It's an action game with very, very mild role-playing elements. But it is first and foremost an action puzzle game. What do we remember most about Zelda? It's the epic boss battles and the mind-bogging dungeons. Just because we have like two swords to choose from and can equip different items doesn't mean anything: mindless hack n' slash games have more RPG elements than that.

There are considerable difference in gameplay and structure.

Snipped for longness, but what he said.

 

[crypt-creature]

I don't agree with the OP that a game has to have 'grindable' features or content to be considered an RPG, mainly since not everyone is going to have to grind in a game and any game of any genre can have 'grindable' features. It's not a defining feature of RPG's, it's just more common.

Example; Dynasty warriors 6 has you grind major generals (most of them real and from history) for certain items, and the warriors you play level up in rank, stats, horses, bodyguards, weapons and the stats of those weapons (that change constantly), and trinkets that increase your stats further. You also play out the stories from 5+ kingdoms and unlock more stories, characters and levels after achieving certain feats.
The game is a hack-and-slash or military game, not an RPG.
According to you, it should be an RPG. At the very least, an ARPHG (the H stands for history).

 

[KeyMaster45]

Dude it's Zelda, when I think about it I really don't care what category it fits into, Zelda sits in its own genre in my mind. If I must pick a category I lump it in with games like Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, etc etc, and just call them all Adventure games. For me what sets RPG and Adventure apart is that one has a fuck ton of stats to keep track of and the other doesn't.

I think you're getting worked up over nothing man.

 

[crystalsnow]

Oi. Buttmunch.

RPG = Role Playing Game

In Zelda, you're role playing as a fairy boy with green tights and a sword.

Talk out of your mouth next time and not your rectum.

EDIT: If you think that RPG's can only exist with grinding, then you should go grind your own face into the cement, since you don't even know what rpg stands for.

 

[KillerH]

In Zelda games, you role-play as Link as you follow his story. This is by definition role-playing.

Exactly. RPGs are games that are driven by the story. You couldn't call modern warfare an RPG just because it has a story, and you couldn't say monster hunter is an RPG just because of the grinding aspect either. If the game is driven by the story rather than the actual playing, it's an RPG, regardless of how good the playing aspect is.

 

[Signa]

Wouldn't saying that kind of be like calling my bike a car just because I put a steering wheel on it? No a true RPG to me is a game where you can create your own character and actually make the choices for his or her behaviour throughout the game.

I agree with you 100%, but the problem is that by your definition, games that are commonly accepted as RPGs don't meet that criteria. Almost ALL JRPGs don't give you any sort of customization for your main characters, and you just walk them through their story. Personally, I'd like to make your definition of RPGs be the definition of RPGs, but we have nearly 30 years of various gameplay styles to set what a RPG is.

 

[LeonLethality]

-snip- Merry Christmas!

I agree with you here completely. An add on (from someone who has played all the Zelda games games) is that the 3D Zelda games are just 3D versions of those 2D games, they are in the same core just a shinier exterior with another dimension.

 

[manbearpig91]

Who cares its still amazing in every possible way.

 

[Velocity Eleven]

Dynasty warriors 6 has you grind major generals (most of them real and from history) for certain items, and the warriors you play level up in rank, stats, horses, bodyguards, weapons and the stats of those weapons (that change constantly), and trinkets that increase your stats further. You also play out the stories from 5+ kingdoms and unlock more stories, characters and levels after achieving certain feats.
The game is a hack-and-slash or military game, not an RPG.
According to you, it should be an RPG.

indeed

 

[tmujir955]

http://ign64.ign.com/objects/000/000437.html

It says action-adventure. ACTION ADVENTURE!

Now you can stop arguing.

 

[Jennacide]

Zelda is an adventure game. The one that irks me is JRPGs being called that. They are fantasy games. Just because they simulate the very barest of bones in old pen and paper RPGs in that they have stats and levels, all you're doing is following a predetermined path and not role playing the character at all.

Now Mass Effect, Fallout 1-3, the Elder Scrolls and Neverwinter Nights series? THOSE are roleplaying games. There is an overall story, but how you get there is your choice. They are YOUR characters that you roleplay. When was the last time you thought "hey, I'm gonna make Cloud be a evil badass this time around"? Never. But Fallout 3 character to be an evil sociopath? Almost everyone has tried that.

 

[asinann]

Zelda was originally classified as an adventure game, ignorant masses have since started calling it an RPG because they have no clue what an RPG is.

Any "rpg" that has a linear story (every final fantasy since 10 for example) is a VISUAL NOVEL. But in the US this isn't a classification for a game, but is only something that is seen over here for those hentai dating "games" so can't be used for anything else.

 

[crypt-creature]

Dynasty warriors 6 has you grind major generals (most of them real and from history) for certain items, and the warriors you play level up in rank, stats, horses, bodyguards, weapons and the stats of those weapons (that change constantly), and trinkets that increase your stats further. You also play out the stories from 5+ kingdoms and unlock more stories, characters and levels after achieving certain feats.
The game is a hack-and-slash or military game, not an RPG.
According to you, it should be an RPG.

indeed

"The lighting-fast fighting and Tactical Action come to the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and Windows-based PC November 2008. Visit the minisite to get the free demo for PC."

http://www.koei.com/games/index.cfm

Yeah, but it isn't. Not even according to the company that made the game.

So, no. You definition does not work with the 'grindable content'.

 

[Velocity Eleven]

but when a game is advertised they need to target the general conceptions that is held by average gamers

 

[Mr.Squishy]

The only thing I have to add to this discussion is the fact that there are like, what, 13 Zelda games? There's bound to be some differences in-between the original Zelda for the NES and Twilight Princess - or I will eat my left shoe

 

[SantoUno]

Of course Zelda isn't an RPG, I don't know why people called it an RPG either.

Then again, ever played Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link? That one actually was sorta like an adventure-RPG because Link actually had stats like Life, Sword, and Magic, and you could level them up. Other than that though Zelda has never been an RPG.

 

[Velocity Eleven]

I'd say your definition of RPG is a little wonky, but Zelda is more of an archaic RPG. It doesn't have a leveling system per se, but you accumulate greater health and magic as well as abilities and items (it just doesn't happen automatically through exp. like most games). It very much fits the RPG genre in my opinion, but not everything needs to fit a genre exactly. Since you can't seem to place it in a category it makes it "different" at least.

of course no game is 100% RPG, its just I dont see how zelda is even remotely close to being an RPG

in theory you could have a game that is a very strong RPG with no character development and have all improvements based on items that you find... but it all depends on how the item-collecting mechanic is implemented

with Heart Pieces, I see that as just a adventure-game enhancing mechanic as it rewards players for exploration and you cannot "grind" these improvements. I see this no different to finding a weapon in a tomb raider game, as you simply gain an enhancement as a reward for finding them at fixed locatons

whether the reward is "to your character" is irrelivent, that's just a means to flavour the game... again take tomb raider for example, you collect guns, the guns dont "enhance the character" but if you were to change the falvouring of the game whereby lara collected guns to attach to her "robotik arm" you have not changed the gameplay only the way the player percieves it.

Of course Zelda isn't an RPG, I don't know why people called it an RPG either.

Then again, ever played Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link? That one actually was sorta like an adventure-RPG because Link actually had stats like Life, Sword, and Magic, and you could level them up. Other than that though Zelda has never been an RPG.

not played that one, though I've heard that it is an RPG from people that agree with me about the others not being rpg... though i dont know enough about the game to make a judgement on that one