Oh hey look — Brendan’s talking about RPG’s again. I can’t help it, there’s just too much to be excited about these day. Thanks to things like free 2 play, indie development, and Kickstarter, the gaming industry has seen an influx of fresh, creative minds as well as the return of legendary game creators, able to finally create the worlds they’ve been wanting to for years, but that have been pushed aside in favor of the cash-cow, AAA first person shooters and action games we’ve been buried under for the past couple console generations.
Look I know: RPG’s have been around for ages and have evolved with the times to remain relevant while still providing the types of experiences people have come to expect from the genre…
…err, sort of. I’m a huge fan of the Mass Effect series — arguably the biggest RPG franchise of the current console generation — but it’s not really an RPG. It’s a great, great series — truly — but compared to even some of its contemporaries it’s not much of an RPG. It’s also not the only series shifting away from role playing game’s origins.
While I’m not a big fan of JRPG’s, I can’t deny that the Final Fantasy XIII series (that sounds weird) has been a major departure not only from the roots of past FF games, but from JRPGs in general. And I recently vented my frustration with Blizzard, but it’s worth noting that Diablo III, despite remaining true to much of what’s great about the Diablo series, is missing that “RPG” quality. When I say “RPG’s are coming back,” I mean the old-school, hardcore RPG’s of yore.
To be fair, there’s still a fair amount of Old-School RPG DNA in some of the biggest games today. Besides the few games still adhering to the old school formulas (Dungeons of Dredmor, The Dark Spire, Etrian Odyssey series), there are several titles that appeal to those who were gaming in the 80’s/90’s, or appreciate their legacy. The Witcher 2 is a great example of a game that balances the cinematic, character-based story of games like Mass Effect, with deep combat, skill systems, and character building of true old-school RPGs; Bethesda’s games offer massive worlds filled with quests, dungeons, and NPCs to create your own story — not to mention games like Fallout 3 and Skyrim prove you can evolve character building without sacrificing depth. And, of course, it wouldn’t be an article about RPGs if I didn’t mention Dark Souls, and it’s predecessor Demon’s Souls: truly hardcore RPGs of the modern era.
But when it comes to real old-school RPGs utilizing the same design of classic titles like Wizardry and Ultima, the industry has been in a bit of a drought. There’s always been a small, cult following around a few underground niche titles, but now there are a few projects brewing that will hopefully usher in a new surge of old-school RPGs.
Legend of Grimrock
Developer: Almost Human
Released: April 11, 2012
Website
We reviewed this game back when it was released earlier this year. It remains one of my favorite indie games of the year. Despite middling reviews from some critics, for many gamers like myself Legend of Grimrock was a great throwback to the dungeon crawlers of the 19980’s/90’s, tweaked and modernized for more accessibility. More importantly, it set the ground work for future sequels, and opened the door for new games in the genre to flourish.
Shaker
Developer: Loot Drop
Estimated Release: January 2014
Kickstarter Page
Being developed by Tom Hall (co-founder of id Software), and Brendan Brathwaite (Wizardry, Train, Dungeons & Dragons), Shaker is currently being funded on Kickstarter. The duo started the studio Loot Drop Games, and together with a highly qualified team, are looking to create a game in the same vein as the classic CRPGs of yore a la Wizardry, Lands of Lore, Ishar, etc.. Personally speaking, this is probably one of the few currently funding Kickstarter projects I’m really, really excited about. Check out their Kickstarter page and please back it! We need more games like this.
Project Eternity
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Estimated Release Date: April 2014
Website
Obsidian games are a studio well known to any RPG fan. Recently, the company was able to fully fund a brand new party-based RPG in the vein of Icewind Dale and Baldur’s Gate. This is another project I’m super excited for, and I’m really happy to see that they exceeded their goal and will be making this game. There is quite an impressive pedigree here, and some of the ideas being talked about remind me a lot of Planescape: Torment, one of my personal favorite games of all time. The success of this project gives me high hopes for the future of the genre.
Wasteland 2
Developer: InXile Entertainment
Estimated Release Date: Oct. 2013
Website
Before there was Fallout, there was Wasteland. In the wake of the massive success of Tim Schafer’s Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter, Brian Fargo decided to reboot his post-apocalyptic RPG Wasteland, and launched the Wasteland 2 Kickstarter. The project has been fully funded, and work is underway. Check out the video above for a small glimpse of what we can expect from this project. I never got a chance to play the original Wasteland, but as a huge fan of Fallout and Fallout 2 (games directly inspired by Wasteland) the footage has me jonesin for some top-down, post-apocalyptic roleplaying insanity.
Ultima Forever
Developer: Bioware,
Estimated Release Date: Winter 2012
Website
Speaking of well known developers, Bioware is resurrecting one of the oldest and most influencial Role Playing series with Ultima Forever. Essentially a remake of Ultima IV, this new title is going to be entirely free to play (or, as Bioware calls it “Play4Free”) and will be playable on PC, as well as iPad. According to Bioware, the game will feature many of the old mechanics of the Ultima series, while combat will be positional and action-oriented, comparing it to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Definitely on my list of need-to-play games — I mean c’mon, free Ultima!
That list almost sounds too good to be true. So many great names and developers are behind these projects, and my hopes are high. And these are just classic RPG’s; we’re also seeing the return of point and click adventure games (thanks to Tim Schaefer and Double Fine’s highly successful Kickstarter campaign), mech games (MechWarrior Online, Hawken), turn-based strategy (The Banner Saga, XCOM: Enemy Unknown), and of course Chris Robert’s return to gaming and the long-forgotten space-combat sim with Squardron 42. It’s almost too much to handle! With such bright prospects like these, it’s hard to argue we’re not in a new golden-age of videogames. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a basement to return to.
Power Cords 
Funny that you’d classify Mass Effect “not really an RPG” when it’s one of a very few computer games which is actually, indeed, an RPG, i.e.: a game where you play a role.
Most so-called RPGs are just action-adventures where you manage differently skilled assets to overcome challenges and go through the game. There’s no playing of a role, at all.
But with Mass Effect you actually play a character: you have ethical and moral choices to make (will you act ruthlesy to pursue your goal, or do you think that there’s more than ends and goals, and people deserve respect and justice? Will you choose duty over love? Vengeance over justice?), you may choose how you interact with other people (will you be mean? Gentle? Will you help others even when you have nothing to gain at the moment? Will you keep your word? ).
It’s not like an actual role playing game where you interact with real people to create a story, granted. The A.I. is still not that good, but it’s surely the best attempt at the real deal I’ve seen up to now.
The problem with Mass Effect is that, while it definitely offers the player options, they are all binary. There is usually only a “good” and “bad” option, and perhaps a neutral option that usually just filters you back into the binary decision. Only the first game really offers you the ability to really manipulate the story; 2 was almost all binary options that affected 3 in ansilary ways, and 3 was essentially a linear narrative withe a 3-pronged fork at the end. Plus, combat is a must in the game; most old-school RPGs usually offer non-violent methods of play (Fallout, Planescape: Torment, etc).
When I decry Mass Effect for not being a great RPG, it isn’t because it’s a bad game. The entire trilogy is fantastic, and perhaps one of the biggest triumphs of this generation. However, compared to other games in the genre, Mass Effect comes up short in almost every respect aside from polish and gameplay. That said, I will agree the series does allow for perhaps the most role-playing of any other major AAA franchise today. But dig a little deeper, and you’ll find far great examples of a modern RPG.