Classifying Games

[Rob]

Just a quick question for you guys. I'm bickering with a guy over at DP who claims that Fallout 3 and God of War are both RPGs. I say that Fallout 3 is mainly a FPS with elements of RPGs, and that God of War is a standard action/adventure title. Am I wrong in my assessment?

My argument is that despite having RPG elements to a game, you have to draw the line somewhere. Is a game truly an RPG because you have to solve puzzles and level up in some way? By that classification every single Mario game and 90% of the other games on the market are RPG's. An RPG to me is Final Fantasy, Legend of Zelda, Secret of Mana, Earthbound, Phantasy Star, etc. When you start suggesting that the newer Prince of Persias, Bioshock, God of War and and GTA are all RPG's, I call BS.

[Jakenut86]

Those are definitely not RPGs.

[Zap!]

Just a quick question for you guys. I'm bickering with a guy over at DP who claims that Fallout 3 and God of War are both RPGs. I say that Fallout 3 is mainly a FPS with elements of RPGs, and that God of War is a standard action/adventure title. Am I wrong in my assessment?

My argument is that despite having RPG elements to a game, you have to draw the line somewhere. Is a game truly an RPG because you have to solve puzzles and level up in some way? By that classification every single Mario game and 90% of the other games on the market are RPG's. An RPG to me is Final Fantasy, Legend of Zelda, Secret of Mana, Earthbound, Phantasy Star, etc. When you start suggesting that the newer Prince of Persias, Bioshock, God of War and and GTA are all RPG's, I call BS.

Never played Fallout games, but God of War is no RPG. Hell, even Zelda games like Twilight Princess aren't true RPG's, but at least with those games I can understand why someone would think they are.

[Carlos]

Fallout 3 = RPG with FPS elements. Hell, it's made by the same company that did the Elder Scrolls series.

God of War = action/adventure

An RPG to me is Final Fantasy, Legend of Zelda, Secret of Mana, Earthbound, Phantasy Star, etc. When you start suggesting that the newer Prince of Persias, Bioshock, God of War and and GTA are all RPG's, I call BS.

I agree. Although I consider Bioshock an RPG with FPS elements like Fallout 3.

[Rob]

Fallout 3 = RPG with FPS elements. Hell, it's made by the same company that did the Elder Scrolls series.

I respectfully disagree. I played through this game in a few days in FPS mode before I realized that people were claiming this was an RPG. I scratched my head in wonder before I realized that you could play it as an RPG if you wanted to, but it plays like a standard FPS if you don't. But still, to claim that this is a 100% RPG is ludicrous. I still feel it's a FPS unless you choose to play it as an RPG.