Taking it "down to the café", Paul Michael and Craig Harwood give their insight into the future of console RPG's with some intentionally lame humor for your reading enjoyment.
Featuring Paul Michael, with Special Guest GWX Editor Craig Harwood.
Tonight’s Topic: The RPG (R)evolution in Consoles
Paul: First off, thanks for doing this Craig. I cannot think of another gamer with a more voracious appetite for console RPG's. Whenever we get to discuss a recent game we're both into, it seems like I barely break into the story and you are already on the final boss!
Craig: Well, it all started when I first picked up Final Fantasy VII. From that day I was hooked on the genre and can't stop playing RPGs even 5 years later.
Paul: Indeed, you are a bona fide RPG addict. Or should I say RPG master? Anyway, don't be shy Craig. Pull up a chair. I have a nice strong pot of organic Mexican roast. How do you like your coffee?
Craig: Well, I prefer tea, but Mexican roast sounds just dandy. Oh, and it's RPG Master (sly wink).
Paul: Actually, I think I have some Lipton bags around here somewhere, or are you one of those snobby British types?
Craig: Well, living in the UK slots me into the "snobby British" type. I'll have a PG Tips, milk and no sugar.
Craig: Yes I have milk in my tea.
Paul: Right. We'll have a warm cup for you in no time. But we do prattle on. Enough small talk, our GWX readers want some content!
Is The Future Online?
Paul: As a veteran of such overwhelming RPG classics like Suikoden and the Final Fantasy series, what online RPG's on the horizon tickle your fancy, Craig?
Craig: Well, Final Fantasy XI catches my eye most definitely. I'm really looking forward to it, but I can imagine there would things about it that would annoy me. I wouldn't mind having a shot at EverQuest Online too. That's about it really. But I'm sure that once the online scene gets moving more and more interesting online RPG’s will spring up.
Paul: You mention some things about FFXI will probably annoy you?
Craig: Yes. I would imagine that after playing all the previous FF games for so long as a single player experience, online Final Fantasy will take time to get to grips with and won't feel like a standard FF game. Also, as with any online game, you get players who don't necessarily play the game, instead they ruin it for everyone else.
Paul: Yes, yes, but even beyond the "cheat factor," you are really touching some issues that resonate with me about current online RPG's. FFXI most definitely will NOT be a standard FF game. The standard for online games right now are EverQuest, Phantasy Star Online, even Diablo, correct?
Craig: That is correct. Those are the style of RPG I commonly recognize as being an online title. It is hard for me to understand how Square intends on keeping the same feeling represented with any FF game and take it into the online world without slotting it into the same group as the titles mentioned above.
Paul: Exactly. I think you see what I'm getting at. All online RPG's are action-oriented dungeon crawlers. And before I get armies of our readers (and some of our own staffers) chasing me about with torches, I challenge you to show me something more substantive that happens in these online RPG's right now. (Other than: "Kill some monsters, collect treasure and items, level up, kill some more monsters....")
Craig: The only real excitement I will get from FFXI will be centered on the ability to communicate with other gamers. Of course this is "as standard" with any online RPG, but something that differs from previous episode of FF. I look forward to be able to play a FF game with pals, rather than the premise of the game itself.
Paul: No doubt, playing with friends is something that has been sorely lacking from offline RPG's. All the good ones, (like FF) on consoles are interactive for one only. That's why I have always been so desperate for (offline) multi-player RPG's to play with friends. Baldur's Gate was a good one, but again, just a dungeon crawl. Nothing with the scope and depth of a Final Fantasy title. Do you think FFXI online will offer more (gasp) plot, narrative and character development for the gamers?
Craig: From what I've seen, FFXI will have a great deal of character development giving players the opportunity to change there race, gender and other attributes. I don't really know what to expect of the story line in FFXI. Let's just hope it’s good enough; otherwise I'll be sourly disappointed!
Paul:Phantasy Star Online has that sort of "character modification". You can alter appearance, you have a slew of races and genders, and you can massively customize your character's appearance, for example. But that's not what I mean by "character development" (and I'm not talking about leveling up either!)
Craig: What the hell are you talking about?
Am I Playing a Game, or Watching a Movie?
Paul: Think of all the great characters we have come to know and love from console RPG's the last couple of years: Squall from FF VIII, Ryudo and Millenia/Elena from Grandia II, Tidus and Yuna.…...any you would like to add, Craig?
Craig: Well, due to my love of Suikoden it has to be the main protagonist from Suikoden II. His default name is Riou, but most players would change the name suiting theirs. He's quiet, but cool. I've also started to like Sora, again a main character, but this time from Kingdom Hearts. Oh and there's Tidus as well. He's a cool dude, who reflects the average "teen" in our society, that's why I can relate to him.
Paul: Didn’t I mention Tidus? And notice, these are all dynamic characters that you identify with. While playing, you take a character like Riou through an epic-enfolding tale. Do you think the evolution of RPG's to something like FFX, where the plot is more linear, but the cinematic qualities like voice-acting and animation are highly emphasized, helps this experience?
Craig: To a certain extent it does, but with FFX I found myself getting to know the characters, as one would with a movie. But with RPG’s such as Suikoden and Breath of Fire I found myself actually becoming the characters and playing the game how I would, but with the more cinematic RPG (FFX) I felt as though it was deprived of that true RPG convention.
Craig: Well we can talk a little more about "true RPG convention" later, (because for an old dude like me, that convention would be dice, paper and pencil!) but now we have arrived at what the Greeks would call an agon. The struggle between those who want their games to be more like movies, and those who want their games to be more like games.
Craig: I played Final Fantasy X and thought it was an exhilarating RPG experience, but there were too many points in the game were I was thinking to myself "I want to play more, not sit here watching". If anything I prefer the simple 2D sprite graphics of yesterday and text based stories. None of those great cinematics and voiceovers does it for me. Don't get me wrong I still enjoyed FFX.
Paul: Cut-scenes. Of course, these aren't restricted to RPG's, adventure and action titles are notorious now for long cut-scenes to advance the storyline. TechTV's Adam Sessler recently did this hysterical segment, where he was trying to play Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance. He kept leaving the room, getting a bowl cereal, popcorn, he even dosed off during one of the cinemas.
Craig: Yes. I was going to refer to Metal Gear Solid 2, but that would have obviously distracted from the topic at hand. But what you have just mentioned is exactly the problem. Games are beginning to turn into movies and before long people will be watching their RPGs, much like and Anime movie so to speak, and not playing them, which really destroys the term "Role Playing Game".
Paul: Maybe someone should tell Hideo Kojima to just go ahead and make a damned movie! It gets worse too. You know the highly anticipated game from the former Square Xenogears’ team, Xenosaga features some cut-scenes that are almost 30 minutes in length?
Craig: That's astounding! But with the previous title, Xenogears, which is also a well known RPG, the developers can afford to push the boat out that far knowing that fans will be flocking in that direction to purchase the game. I must admit though, 30 minutes is a bit much. Suikoden II doesn't even feature 30 minutes of cut-scene throughout the entire game!
Role Playing? But Where are the 20-sided Dice?
Paul: You know Craig; I'm really torn about this aspect of RPG development. I mean you mention that more cinemas make them less than RPG's. Yet, my core idea of playing an RPG is a group of people around a table, using a set of rules, pencil, paper, dice and their imagination! But I also love Anime, and when Japanese game designers began creating what we now know as the console RPG genre, I was hooked. And I have to admit, at this point, I enjoy the games loaded up with cinemas and voice acting. I think I am more caught up in the narrative charms of these games than the remnants of "traditional RPG" elements.
Craig: That's quite some jump, from pen and paper to cinematics and voice acting! Mind you from my experience I believe the only premise still included in online RPG’s is the menu screen, featuring stats, and equipment lists. This is what I imagine a pen and paper RPG to be like.
Paul: And dice rolling, don't forget about the dice rolling! But your right, considering my traditional RPG past, it seems contradictory that I should enjoy these new cinematic console RPG's. But this leads me back to the problems I have with current online RPG's -- they have all of the stats, equipment, level advancement, but the plots are generic and characterless. Your characters are characterless. In the old days your imagination and a dungeon-master could do this for you!
Craig: I wouldn't really know considering my lack of dice-throwing RPG experience, but I can see what you're getting at. I find examining player stats and altering them accordingly an interesting part of RPGing. Maybe that's a good sign for me to pick up the dice throwing kind.
An RPG Fork in the Road: Online or Offline? Paul: Well, believe me Craig, even in a cinema rich title, like the forthcoming Xenosaga, you'll get plenty of equipment and player statistics -- but it's all about the emphasis. I think we are at an offline/online fork in the road with the genre. RPG's featuring elaborate epic plots, with apocalyptic storylines and a movie like experience will feature in offline titles, and those looking for the pleasures of item collecting, slashing hordes and hordes of monsters, and making their Barbarian Fighter level 99 will find themselves online.
Craig: Well, I believe I will enjoy the online experience because of that, the item collecting etc, but the lack of cinematic will make it a dry RPG experience, which is something I don't necessarily mind.
Paul: Playing with your friends makes a huge difference. Online games are going to be great, don’t mistake me. I just fear that the online (r)evolution will kill off some of the great storylines which have made the RPG genre so outstanding. Do you think online gamers will ever experience a scene like (*spoiler*) "The Death of Aeris" (in FFVII)?
Craig: Oh, hell no! I remember seeing that and thinking, oh my God! There is no way the online (r)evolution will be able to capture such RPG finesse as that. However, we are only witnessing the birth of online RPG’s in the gaming community, so maybe there will be something in the future...or maybe not.
Paul: Perhaps someone will figure out a way for characters in an online RPG to advance the plot, actually affect the progress of the story. But with multiple players in an online environment I don't know how that can be managed.
Craig: At this very moment, I don't feel very happy about online RPGs, but yet I still look forward to them. Backing up what you said, I don't know how they will manage to put across characters interaction within an online world. But then again, it more about the coming together of gamers rather than storyline and progression, it's all about team management and friendships I feel.
Paul: Hey, aren’t people saying the same thing about Socom and Battlefield 1942? Maybe you should go shoot some stuff instead of worrying about "the chosen one" all the time. I heard Brendon wants to start a Socom party.
Craig: Isn't that changing the subject, Paul?
Paul: Well, I have to admit I'm being a little facetious, but perhaps there isn't that much a difference between playing an action game and an RPG game online right now -- or do I go to far?
Craig: I guess there isn't really. I mean, instead of running around landscapes with huge maleficent swords and staffs RPG style, you'll be wielding an M16 rifle and grenades running through trenches. I guess RPGs are much more than that deep down though, taking into consideration the stats and experience points etc.
Paul: Yes, item collecting, treasure hunting, there are at least a few differences that separate the genres online. But the fact that I could take such a silly position signifies how far online RPG's will have to develop to reach the deep, complex gameplay we get out of the elite offline games. But my cup is empty friend; perhaps it's time to end this little dialectic exercise.
Craig: That is true, my coffee guzzling companion. I feel refreshed and almost confident about the whole online RPG situation after our in depth chat. We should do this again sometime, Paul. Bring along some nibbly bits next time next time perhaps? I make a mean treacle tartlet!
Paul: Tarts... mmm... now you get to come back as often as you like. Well, there is indeed a Brave New, Broadband Equipped World, on the horizon. Whatever happens with console RPG's in the future, I can safely predict it will not involve the throwing of any dice!
So, until next time, GWX readers or any unfortunate lost surfers who have stumbled into the Cafe, on behalf of my guest Craig Harwood, this is Paul Michael saying "Valete."
