Forums > MobyGames > Action RPG?

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Indra was here (20756) on 5/23/2008 6:57 PM · Permalink · Report

Action: Any game where action (movement, quick thinking, reflexes, etc.) is the main focus of gameplay.

Do hack-and-slash RPGs (ie. Diablo, etc.) really qualify for the "action" sub-genre. One has got be pretty "slow" if clickety-click RPGs are considered action...but we don't have a formal policy on this one as of yet...

Personally, tetris has more action going on.

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Ace of Sevens (4479) on 5/25/2008 6:07 PM · Permalink · Report

Considering last time we discussed genres many RPG snobs were saying that they shoudl be listed as action games and not even considered the same thing as a "real" RPG, I'd say yes.

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The Fabulous King (1332) on 5/25/2008 6:13 PM · edited · Permalink · Report

Diablo is a RPG, and it's an important one because it made the word "action rpg" popular. Nowadays, games as fundamentally different as Gothic 3 and Jade Empire are called action rpg's. Bloodlines, even more fundamentally different from these and from Diablo is also an action rpg. Heck, if Realms of Arkania were to be released today without changing anything in it, it would be marketed as an action rpg. Thus Diablo is an important game in the history of rpg's, because it influenced an entire decade of how publishers market rpg's.

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DreinIX (10472) on 5/25/2008 9:42 PM · Permalink · Report

Why would they not qualify for the action sub-genre? The way I see it, hack and slash only defines the kind of action you'll find inside the game. But the action sub genre for RPGs is not there to describe the kind of action that takes place (whether it is brainless or includes thinking) it's there to state that everything is happening in real time and also to separate it from the turn based RPGs.

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Indra was here (20756) on 5/26/2008 7:29 PM · Permalink · Report

[Q --start DreinIX wrote--]Why would they not qualify for the action sub-genre? The way I see it, hack and slash only defines the kind of action you'll find inside the game. But the action sub genre for RPGs is not there to describe the kind of action that takes place (whether it is brainless or includes thinking) it's there to state that everything is happening in real time and also to separate it from the turn based RPGs. [/Q --end DreinIX wrote--]

Understoond. The problem with our current messy genre system is that differ one type of "action" subgenre with another type of "action" subgenre.

But if your saying it's to separate the "real-time" RPG's, we already have the "real-time subgenre".

Now the problem for us is do we want to use genre definitions that has been accepted by the gaming community but tend to be confusing since gamers don't take definitions seriously, or do we want to create our own terminilogy....so you know what to look for when you're looking for "action RPGs" like Diablo and end up finding 100 more search results that have no resemblance to Diablo.

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Kabushi (260849) on 5/26/2008 8:08 PM · Permalink · Report

Real time RPG's and action RPG's are not the same thing. They could be (and most often they are), but it doesn't have to be that way. Planescape: Torment for instance, is hardly an action RPG.

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Indra was here (20756) on 5/26/2008 8:37 PM · Permalink · Report

Aye...the core of the problem really is how to come up with a genre system that can identify which is which....as spesific as possible. We really need some new definitions going on...

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Alaka (105836) on 5/26/2008 9:10 PM · Permalink · Report

i think we would first have to see exactly how many different types of rpg gameplay exists and give an example of the types of game that use that system of gameplay,

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Ryu (50) on 7/3/2008 6:58 AM · Permalink · Report

if you really want to get technical, most games could be defined as an RPG, as you are usually playing a game through a character's eyes. I would describe Diablo 2 as an RPG because it contains the requisite RPG elements:

1.) Multiple character classes with unique skill/spell sets

2.) Your character grows in power and can increase stat and skill power

3.) You can purchase improved weapons that affect said stats/skills

4.) There is a fairly developed storyline (though there are fewer characters than your traditional, slower paced RPG)

So yeah, I believe the Action-RPG label would be accurate, as it is clearly action packed and contains said RPG elements.