Fallout in Gamasutra "RPGs that advanced the genre&quot

[Brother None]

In a recent feature that's a repeat of a similar feature done with FPSs, Gamasutra has made a list of cRPGs that advanced the genre (voted by users) in aptly named "quantum leaps". Number one (though I'm not sure if it's just a group of winners) is Fallout:<blockquote>Fallout, because it proved that gameplay and story can make a financially successful RPG in the age of the dawn of obsession with 3d graphics, because it proved that brand new gameplay mechanics (i.e. the SPECIAL system) can be far superior to existing D&D systems slavishly adhered to by less adventurous developers. In short, because it innovated in all the areas that make a game different from its counterparts and sold enough copies to warrant a sequel!

(...)

Fallout - this rpg really has everything a great rpg needs: incredibly robust player character development, not just combat skills; great original story and setting, not just another rpg with elves and orcs; a great turn based combat system for people who like to think, but yet has some of the most rewarding critical death animations that rival any game, not just rpgs; a rich world full of interesting npc characters, enemies and places; functional UI, and great character dialogue system; because the game was open ended and the character development was really deep, it is actually replayable more than 3 times.</blockquote>The list's honorable mentions include Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy IV, Everquest and the Ultima Series. Winners, other than Fallout, are Chrono Trigger, Deus Ex, Oblivion and, of course, Planescape: Torment.

Link: Quantum Leap RPG page: Fallout
Link: Quantum Leap RPG article

Thanks The Badge

 

[Roshambo]

And then...irony as Bethesda does everything opposite from what made Fallout stand out.

Chrono Trigger, the first game that gave you the choice to avoid fights. The first game that had multiple optional features including several endings. One of the best stories of all rpg games.
- Idiot

Wizardry, and avoiding fights was often not possible in CT, while other games had the ability to avoid fights long before.

Oh! These kids meant the first console game...

Deus Ex: What the FUCK are these crackheads smoking? It did nothing to the CRPG genre except help bastardize the meaning of CRPG, and with a crappy ending tree at best. It was a hybrid FPS, but didn't even come close to making any improvements upon the genre except be a hybrid of two genres. Whoopie! Let's give an award to every game that hybrids genres!

Ultima as an honorable mention:
Fuck you and goodnight, GamaSutra. Great way to lie down and take it like a whore. Ultima had far more impact than ChronoTrigger or anything else on the list besides possibly Fallout and PS:T in recent terms, essentially creating the entire CRPG genre from the Adventure/Dungeon Crawler main genre with Ultima IV (where choice and consequence have importance), but then again, I have to remember that the industry for these children started with the SNES and games where you don't have to have a brain to play, just mash the button for the next move or speech tidbit.

Speaking of which...

Oblivion as number 3. Slurp, slurp, slurp. Half of the idiots who they cite on their page wouldn't know an RPG if they played it, and they probably never have.

Aside from the undeniable champions of the genre of Fallout and PS:T, it seems that GamaSutra is more concerned with how noisily people can verbally masturbate about a game rather than what is important. Take a look at the articles of Ultima and Fallout, and then compare the jollywashing of Oblivion. It's fucking weak by comparison.

 

[Ratty Sr.]

Great news. It's nice to know that Fallout still continues to gain recognition throughout the game industry and community. It's also nice to know that the industry still realizes that branching quests, consequences of choices and turn-based combat constitute the optimal formula for a superb roleplaying experience. It would be even nicer if they had the spine to actually *implement* these concepts in games instead of bringing forth one linear action-adventure game after another.

I'm also delighted to see that Planescape: Torment came in second. Former members of the Black Isle Studios will surely appreciate this. How ironic that both Fallout and PS:T were produced by now-defunct teams.

The fact that Oblivion, Deus Ex and Chrono Trigger even made it on the list is simply baffling. I mean, come on, those games aren't even real RPGs, let alone innovative ones. Deus Ex innovated the FPS genre (though not as much as System Shock did years earlier), not RPGs, Chrono Trigger is a fairly generic JRPG and Oblivion is utter shit.

It's unfortunate that Ultima only got an honorable mention, but understandable, because votes were heavily divided among various instalments. Collectively, I'm confident that Ultima got more votes than any individual game, even Fallout. If you ask me, Ultima IV alone should have gotten first or second place, as it practically defined the RPG genre as we know it. Ultima VII probably deserves a place in the top five as well.

A number of excellent RPGs are inexplicably missing, but I guess today's developers simply don't remember Darklands or Betrayal at Krondor. Daggerfall deserves a mention as well, because it was open-ended and massive on an unprecedented level, even if it focus disproportionately on dungeon crawling.

What really thrills me is that *no* BioWare games made the list *or* the honorable mentions. *Not one*. I guess exponentially less work equals exponentially less long-term recognition. In words of BioWare's most persistent fan: R00FLES!!! I attribute this anomaly to the fact that true RPG experts don't hold BioWare's action/adventure/RTS efforts in particularly high regard, whereas their BioWare-loving peers are the kind of folk that are quick to turn their attention towards the latest shiny turd, leaving space for little else in their underdeveloped minds; currently, that turd is Oblivion, whereas KotOR and NWN lie collecting dust on a shelf somewhere... at least until their respective sequels come along and reap all the BEST GAEM EVAR badges that are so lightly awarded by idiotic gaming press.

In fact, if you look at the results, you will notice that only two titles - Deus Ex and Oblivion - were released in this century. Gee, with all the "RPGs" coming out every year, selling millions of copies and getting rave reviews in PC Gamer and IGN, you would think more than two would be recognized as important for the genre.

All in all, I would say that these awards are a positive indicator, as they show beyond doubt that, despite the impression one gets from looking at store shelves and reading gaming press, majority of people in the gaming industry still have a clue about CRPG design. It's a shame, however, that this fact doesn't project into games that get produced.

 

[Roshambo]

What really thrills me is that *no* BioWare games made the list *or* the honorable mentions. *Not one*.

Actually, BG II is right under Evercrack, and NWN is under Final Fantasy IV. Again, a game only on the list due to being representative of when the kiddies at GamaSutra joined gaming. Hell, all of them are.

 

[mortiz]

Yeah, the list is pretty fucked up. But at least Fallout and PS:T had some deserved recognition. So when the Oblivion fanboi's log on tomorrow expecting Oblivion to have hit no.1 spot convincingly they'll see Fallout and PS:T above it and say to themselves "Omg, liek what are they lol?" and perhaps educate themselves in the games, instead of thinking Bethesda have decided to start their new I.P. at no.3.

 

[Ratty Sr.]

Actually, BG II is right under Evercrack, and NWN is under Final Fantasy IV. Again, a game only on the list due to being representative of when the kiddies at GamaSutra joined gaming. Hell, all of them are.

Oh, crap. I stupidly assumed there was only one honorable mention per page. This is depressing.