Originally Posted by Warlocke
Originally Posted by kanisatha
Originally Posted by Dexai
I would argue that the Witcher 3 is not an RPG but an action game with rpg elements.

And I would vigorously disagree. But ultimately what matters is that none of us has copyrights over the term RPG, and, as @Madscientist says very well, the definitions don't matter so much as whether we enjoy a particular game or not. I love the "RPG" genre almost exclusively for my video gaming preferences. Hard to argue Ps:T is not an RPG. And yet, I don't care much for Ps:T and personally view it as an overrated game. We all have our weirdnesses and our peculiarities. smile


Sorry, but this is the internet and therefore I cannot abide your personal opinion on PS:T being considered anything less than a masterpiece. You have offended my good sensibilities and the general standards of public decency. I demand satisfaction. Pistols at dawn.

Anyway, I find the debate over what games are considered to be RPGs generally pretty tedious. Some people say The Witcher 3 isn’t an RPG because it doesn’t have deep mechanics and customization, some say Diablo 2 isn’t an RPG because it doesn’t have an interactive story, and some say Final Fantasy games aren’t RPGs because they have neither of these features. While I wouldn’t say it is always the case, what I generally observe is that what people are really saying is that “the games that others call RPGs and that I don’t like are not RPGs.” I personally don’t like The Witcher games, don’t generally like top-down Diablo style ARPGs and can count the number of JRPGs I like on the fingers of one hand, but I’m very comfortable saying these are all different flavors of a single, incredibly diverse genre, as long as we can all agree that The Legend of Zelda is not an RPG.


I'd say that Witcher 3 is an RPG because you do have customization over Geralt's gameplay and dialogue, albeit less than in a CRPG. Diablo 2 is not an RPG because there are no choices in the story and JRPGs are not RPGs in any sense. Maybe FF1 was, because you could create the party and therefore customize them.