Video Games Is Zelda an RPG?

hmmmmm

id have to say its half RPG.... its got all the elements of anf RPG except the battle system and the levels and experience...

 

Here is my theory behind every (other... some say) RPG:

RPG:
- Seperate battle screen.
- Seperate Battle system.
- Characters gain experience after every battle
- Backed up storyline that sometimes gets you thinking... (FFVII)
- Characters have more than three weapons over the game.
- Characters have a special attack that takes time to aquire


Zelda, I do not care how many people say different, is an action/adventure game!!!!!!! Not an RPG

Action/Adventure:
- Stay in same screen when you enter battle.
- Gain no experience
- Not a great storyline
- Special Attacks just take the right combonation of buttons

 

BakaMattSu had the best post so far which, summed up, says "We can't tell if Zelda is an RPG unless we can tell what an RPG is." Most of you present pretty faulty backings to what is and is not an RPG. I hardly even play videogames anymore, but I've played enough to know some things.

Some of you say that an RPG has leveling up, lots of weapons, gaining experience.....well, space-shooters have those too, so are space-shooters with a lil tiny spaceship that shoots huge ships (Gradius, Philosoma, Thunderstrike, etc.) considered RPG's? No. Some of you say that an RPG has a different screen when you battle. So do fighting games! You think an RPG is when you control a character on a quest? Then I guess ParappaTheRapper is an RPG too? (No, it's a rhythm game.) Maybe you think an adventure where you "play the role" of a character is an RPG... hmmm, cuz when I play Silent Scope, I really do feel like I'm "playing the role" of a sniper. Ah, now it gets tricky! So is Silent Scope an RPG cuz I'm "playing the role" of something (a sniper)? No, it's a gun/shooting/action game.

So now that I've given examples on how some of your reasons aren't that good, let's take a look at what I think DOES make an RPG. Now that I think about it, all the games that I thought were RPGs when I played them years ago, probably work better under the "adventure game" category. Especially since BakaMattSu whipped out the dictionary definition of RPG. I think the fault in that definition is that it immediately stirs people to think of dice, but otherwise, I think RPGs do, must have an element of chance. When you think about it, in playing the role of a pirate or a swordsman or a bread boy, whatever, the element of chance gives the experience a lil randomness. That randomness happens in real life anyway (somedays you just happen to stumble upon a dollar bill in the ground, or a neighbor suddenly needs your help), and adding randomness to an RPG adds to the playing of that character's own life. Plus, in an RPG, skill alone won't give you a perfect game, because of the element of chance. That's why turn-based/command-based battling seems to fit well with RPG's, rather than eye-hand coordination.

But most videogame RPG's have become subject to marketing competition....the heart of RPG playing has been covered up with tons of visuals, sidegames, colorful characters, fancy spell systems, the inclusion of action-based fighting, etc., all in hopes of having a better game than the other game developers. By the time a game "has it all," it's hard to categorize it.

A "pure" RPG is extremely rare these days. Probably back in the days of paper and pencil (and real life costumes), you had 100% RPG's.

 

Back in the day? you say it like no one plays them any more.
But your right, the more traditional style RPGs are really only available for the PC. There are hundreds of them on the PC. Like Morrowind, which is what I'm playing at the moment and of course all these online RPGs that have come out recently.

 

zelda isn't rpg game if it's a rpg game there will be turns in each battle like ff games.zelda is an adventure game.

 

That's the problem these days. People think that the FF series defines RPGs. You don't need turned based battles and all that other over used FF stuff to make an RPG.
While I think the Zelda games are not RPGs it is certainly not for this reason.

 

*thinks back to the days when Zelda was considered an "RPG" and not just an Action/Adventure (RPG)* Though I'm sure I'm the only person that really remembers that.

And to Bounty Hunter, in the original NES Legend of Zelda, Link did have more than three weapons (Two or three different swords, two different boomerangs, bow & arrows and bombs. Add that up ). And if you compare the original Final Fantasy to the original Legend of Zelda... well, I don't see HOW your "backed up storyline" theory really stands then. At least Link was saving a Princess. Final Fantasy characters just thought they were big and bad. Though really, s'all the same. NES and SNES Zelda games I'll still consider RPGs, as that's what they were always considered, but not those new, bastardized N64 and GameCube games. They ruin the name of Zelda, as do most of you.

For shame.

For... shame...

 

Like it has been already said, the only true roleplaying games are the ones you play with pencil & paper. There is people who do not call Final Fantasy games roleplaying games, but adventure games. That is because a true pencil & paper RP would give players much more chances of making decission for the players and other things like that.

Anyway, I call Final Fantasy games RPGs and so I do call Zelda games RPGs. Zelda games just have more adventuring and they are not turn-based.

 

its not a RPG it a Adventure game and its rocks to

 

for goodness' sake, its both adventure game and rpg! it has the qualities of both!

 

I think it leans a little more towards action adventure, not as much RPG. Though I don't think RPG should be defined by turn-based fighting.

And as for the person who said that "it's a role playing game because you play as someone", well, that's rather stupid. Ever played a game where you didn't "play as someone"?

If you ask me, action/adventure is just a looser form of the FF type of RPG. And like people said before, if you want a pure RPG, get a pencil, a paper, and some friends. ^^

 

Now here's a related question that is worth asking.

Does it matter?