Do We Really Want Movie-Like RPGs?

by John Miaso

The title of "Role Playing Game" is self-explanatory. We assume the roles of our favorite characters and live out the game in what is quickly becoming an increasingly immersive experience. More realistic graphics. Orchestrated, compelling background music sets a mood and adds flavor to the plot. More controls for increasing different actions of characters are becoming available as well.

Square has seemed to take a step in a different direction, however. By setting a goal for more movie-like games, Square seems to take a bit of that immersive experience away. When I watch a movie, I don't usually assume the roles of the characters on screen. I merely observe. Role-playing has always been a much different experience for me than watching pre-produced stories complete with images, sounds, and independence. If Square produces an RPG like a movie, we don't assume the role of that character any more, we just observe the character as he/she becomes more independent of the player's actions and doesn't allow us to shape the characters as we would.

Perhaps the term "RPG" is applied loosely to these games. Is this genre evolving towards observation and not interaction? I do not see this as a welcome change. In the beginning, with the first Final Fantasy, we made our characters (though the classes were limited), named them ourselves, and customized them with building however many levels we wanted and by buying equipment. For this very reason I loved Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy V. I was able to tailor my army to suit my needs, and I had incredible flexibility.

The most recent step in the movie direction has been the adding of voices to our beloved characters. This has already been done in Xenogears. With the old text boxes, I imagined my character's voice, and his/her actual looks in the old days where graphics were not as sharp. For this very reason books are incredibly popular. We create our own image of the character based on the author's often loose description. I will not enjoy a movie-like RPG because of this concept. Think about it, RPGamers. Do we really want to head in this direction?