That's news to me as it's basically plays like Fallout with a squad instead of a single chosen one. Maybe I should remove the older Fallout games also.
I'm just kidding as everyone is entitled to an opinion.
(Doesn't mean I always agree with everyone)
I had this discussion before here, but, as I've been misunderstood before I'll have it again.
I played real RPGs (when I say real I mean the pen & paper kind) for quite a long time. Even before there was such a thing as cRPGs (or maybe I started playing P&P by the time the first "computer role playing games" appeared. Those were little more than text-based adventures, anyway). So, when I talk about RPGs, I always talk about RPGs in general, and there are cRPGs that are more in touch with the spirit of a P&P RPG (I will exclude Dungeons & Dragons and it's clones from true pen & paper RPGs, as they were mostly played as a mix between RPG and board game - or, in fact, as tactical party based games...).
Maybe there are one hundred other reasons why the old-school RPGs are almost all tactical games (yes, the original Fallout is one of those, as is the sequel and, of course, Fallout Tactics, as the name implies). For one thing they are the product of a time when D&D was still THE game and the idea of playing an RPG for.. well, role playing... was still in it's infancy. Fortunately that changed quite a lot in the following years. But in the late 80s, and mid 90s that was accepted as quite normal. Also in that time (ancient, when we speak about computer games) it was much easier to adapt the mechanical part of pen & paper RPGs than the immersion bits, the playing a role bits. So, old-school RPGs turned out to function as a Dungeons & Dragons game session, even when their setting was sci-fi ou whatever. It made sense. It makes no sense nowadays.
Wasteland 2, being faithful to the old-school tradition, is mostly about combat, but in a tactical way. The isometric perspective alone does tell a lot about the true purpose of this kind of game - it does not mean to immerse in the game world, it wants to give you the tactical distance so you can choose the most effective way to defeat your foes. The same applies for the turns and the importance given to management of equipment and assets. It all has the strategical state of mind flavour, even if it is served in a squad based form, and not in the epical battle way.
This said, I obviously can't deny that the original Fallout and it's sequel and Wasteland 2 and a lot of other games have also been added an extra touch. The characters can be customized, they have skills, attributes, sometimes perks or quirks, they have equipment, they can learn things, they can have dialogues. Sometimes there are even more options than in other more immersive games (but I bet that's just because they saved money skiping most voice acting).
So, are they RPGs? In the true sense they are not, they are tactical based games with dialogues and character customization. Like Dungeons & Dragons, but that's a poor excuse for a role playing game (and, I know, this is a matter of opinion). Without real immersion there can be no role playing (again this is an opinion, of course, a question of preference). BUT if you say they are old-school RPGs well, in that point I couldn't agree more. Indeed, they are old-school RPGs.
Anyway, for what I've seen (and also red about) this one, for an old-school RPG which meant to follow in the foosteps of all the classics, didn't quite achieve the bold promises it made. Again, an opinion.
