More or less you are right, and not, at the same time ! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" />
That game (I hate writing that name, so I don't) definitively takes some of it's replay value from those items - it's a very big appeal to the collector in every one of us (or at least almost).
The other thing is, that with the RPG-typical elements, it's still some kind of RPG game (I write "RPG games", although that's not correct, from a literal point of view).
So - there are at least two parts making that that "phenomenon D." : Collecting and Roleplay in form of the "Hack 'n' Slash" sub-genre.
When you find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it. --Dilbert cartoon
"Interplay.some zombiefied unlife thing going on there" - skavenhorde at RPGWatch
