Dungeons and Deathstars
We observe the many defining qualities of RPGs, and the need for a change of pace
This doesn’t mean that games with this setting are bad. Some of the best games I’ve played such as Elder Scrolls, Dragon Age, and Mass Effect conform to this archetypal setting, the story, characters and mechanics make up for the scenery. My problem is having the genre in such black and white divisions. Why not have an RPG set in the 18th century with people wearing six-foot wigs, and your main quest is to woo a young debutant at a ball with a side-quest of not dropping your embroidered hanky and looking like a tw*t. Battles could be turn-based insults using incomprehensible gibberish ending in a finishing move where the enemy is disgraced and hangs himself from a chandelier and we all share a laugh.
Looking at this from a commercial point of view there are obviously advantages in choosing either the black or the white. Some people’s pants tighten so hard at the Middle Ages that all the blood drains from their faces and they collapse in a pool of their own saliva. Due to the fact that RPG’s took their influence from D&D which in itself was mainly centred on a Tolkien-esque setting, this then transferred over. When these games were first being developed it was a large community of D&D developers and enthusiasts that were called in. Also we can see a direct influence from films like Star Wars in any RPG set in space. Due to the fact that this had become the staple so long ago their repercussions are still being felt today. This is not only because of RPG’s that preceded them but also in TV and literature. These settings have stood the test of time and therefore have become bankable and visually imaginable situations that developers can work with. Perhaps in envisaging a new and imaginative setting an artist would immediately skewer his eye with a pencil at the sure incredulity of the brief. This gives credence to the fact that most studios and investors want to go with a game that has the makings of something that has been tried and tested.
There have been exceptions to the rule though. When I think of games I have played that have chosen to break this archetype and done so successfully, there are only a handful and all batting from the J-RPG corner. Final Fantasy VII would be a prime example that pulled this off flawlessly. It gave the audience an imagining of a contemporary dystopia that drew on gothic and cyber-punk influences. Up till that point, I had played various other RPG’s over different platforms but none of them had the visual presence that game still has. In those terms it broke the mould for me. This contemporary visual style lasted for Final Fantasy VIII, which mixed some more archaic architectural styles which changed the visual feel nicely. This, however, didn’t last and got drawn back into the same stone houses and greenery which sucks. The games were still good, but visually they fell into an all too familiar category.
Good games are still being produced but the only problem is that they all start to look the same; there is nothing visually there to distinguish them. Stand Neverwinter Nights, World of Warcraft and Baldur’s Gate next to each other and although they may be good games, the buildings look the same and everyone dresses like a farmer. The same could also be said for Sci-fi games. I see so many monochromatic grey sliding doors and space cadets that I’m convinced the game companies are selling me the same product with a different title. If this keeps going on, I feel at the first chance I get, I’ll take my avatar and open the blast doors hurling them and the whole brigade of marines out into oblivion. That’ll teach ‘em.
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Feb 19, 2010 11:33:16 (Feb 19, 2010 11:33)
