"Borderline" RPGs

by Alex Weitzman 

Along with being an avid RPG player and Square advocate, I like to be what I call a "hype tester". It's pretty self-explanatory, but to set people on the right path, I rent games that have been hyped like hell and see how well they live up to it. I just recently rented Metal Gear Solid, and it's still here. I haven't finished it just yet, but I'm at what I expect to be the last boss, so I know plenty about the game. First off, it's a fantastic game, and "hype-tester" approved.

But you may be asking why I'm talking about this on RPGamer. Fact is, the amount of character depth and storyline in this game rivals some Final Fantasies. And isn't that what RPGs are about? Storyline and character development? I always considered an RPG to be a game that has more character development than your any day platform game, a deep storyline, and (if they're good) emotion manipulation. This game has all of that. Just because it's real-time battle means nothing. Ever heard of Zelda? Yes, no towns, but certainly plenty of character interaction. But the best part is the character depth. The bosses have full pasts, the generic soldiers have personalities, and Snake, our hero, goes through plenty of character development. Even a character you expect to not have any depth eventually does. The amount of emotion manipulation is shocking, as well. You snipe a sniper, then regret it.

If this game sets a standard for future 3D games like this, we could have a whole new set of games on our hands: "borderline RPGs". Games that rival classic RPG super products like Final Fantasy with storyline, but still aren't really RPGs. Like Metal Gear Solid, games could begin to show real creativity in how they are written. Metal Gear Solid is a message to game companies everywhere, RPG makers or not. A message that a real character can be created in any game. Heck, I'll bet that with some serious ingenuity, even sports games could get some real characters. Something of a game version of Jerry Maguire. But that's not the point. The point is, games may be seeing a new light, and we had better be ready to enjoy it.