(Before we get started, there’s another comic hidden in this thing, but the ‘Read More’ button isn’t appearing, so hit the comments link if you want to read it…and you do. Mecha, little help here?)
At last, I was able to sneak my way into the Break Cave to have this week’s content scanned. Break is still under the weather, though, so wish him well and fingers crossed that I didn’t breath too much of his germ ridden air into my lungs.
Moving on…
There’s been a lot of discussion the last two weeks about Lost Odyssey on the 360. If you didn’t get the gist of it, its a pretty safe bet to say that Break enjoys this game. Richie and a few of you from the boards have agreed that this is a fine game with a deep, moving storyline. But some critics have complained that the game contains little that is new, and that it is a return to an old, outmoded gameplay style.
Break’s defense has been that this is a traditional ‘Japanese’ stye of RPG. I don’t know that ‘Japanese’ style is the right term for it, personally. I mean, for a long time, all RPG games were this fashion, and its not like Kingdom Hearts and its real-time battle system didn’t come out of Japan. No, I think its correct to say that this is an ‘old’ style RPG.
Its interesting how the genre developed. The desire was there as
early as the Atari 2600 to make an epic, story-rich game (see the
Swordquest series) but the system was just never up to the task of
creating a Lord of the Rings style journey into a digital experience.
The potential was further realized on the NES with Final Fantasy and
Dragon Warrior (or Quest, whatever you prefer). Utilizing limited
character animations, and lots of text, a game could be made to feel
epic with little to no development. I mean, lets face it, Dragon
Warrior is only programmed as four screens: Outer world, castle/town,
cave/dungeon, and the battle screen. Heck, even the creatures are
limited to about 12 models, but change in color palette to give the
illusion of diversity.
From this mold was an entire genre
formed. Its interesting that the limitations of the systems were what
birthed the format of the RPG, and even as the systems became more
powerful and capable of creating fully realized, interactive, 3D
worlds, the genre stayed the same, preferring to maintain a more
limited, text based world. Until the PS2, the only change in the RPG
format was the addition of cinematic chapter breaks.
And yet,
when told that the criticism of Lost Odyssey was that it was old
school, my friend Joe said "Yeah so? Who cares?" The other interesting
development of the RPG is that despite the fact that the newer consoles
can handle a more interactive globe-trotting experience, there are many
that don’t care to see it evolve in that manner. There are still many,
myself included, who enjoy the more tactical, turn-based, board
game-esque experience that a traditional RPG can offer. Now in my mind,
an RPG doesn’t HAVE to follow this format (though to some, it seems
that a true RPG must adhere to this rigid format) as its all about
living out a story more than limiting myself to text based adventure,
but there is something unique about the gameplay of that style which
remains. Its a subgenre all of its own. And while the game world may
have evolved into bigger, more flashy displays of digital daring, Lost
Odyssey proves that there is still merit in looking back at old play
styles, and applying fresh outlook onto them in order to create a
superior product. A superior art form.
I’ve said it before, I’ll
say it again, I’ve always wanted Nintendo to go back and see if this
same principle can’t be applied to the 2-D, co-op, beat em up fighter
that was so prevalent in the late 80’s early 90’s. What new, cool
freshness could a company make from that genre, armed with hindsight
and a little creativity. Godhand and the new Final Fight were attempts
at this, and they were OK, but lets let Nintendo and their awesome
track record for re-invention have a stab at it. I’ve got a particular
game in mind…
