lackblogger
SasqWatch
- Joined
- November 1, 2014
- Messages
- 4,778
I suppose the 'real' big story of 2015 was Undertale. So what can we learn from Undertale?
Well...
1. A game doesn't need to be graphically perfect. Rubbish graphics do sell. Just as long as you're providing people with something new to look at, from a design point of view. Something new, not seen before.
2. Your game doesn't need to be open world nor have crafting. Just because some big games have used these features, does not mean your RPG needs these features to get noticed.
3. You don't have to provide a known generic universe. Go ahead, invent your own creatures, set it in no-one-knows-what-this-is-land, and make people fall in love with your world, not rely on them re-purchasing worlds they already know about.
Now, I've had a look at Undertale and while it looks like a fun game, it's not what I would call an RPG, it messes with so many conventions that I think it's too derivative to be a genre-specific entity. I also suspect it lacks replayability aside from good/evil runs, and I also think it would likely become boring very quickly if everyone copied it de-facto like they do with open-world and crafting.
So I'm not saying we should all rush out and copy Undertale and be hyper-derivative, but I'm saying that the 3 key principles which cloud most of the banal games we see sold as RPGs are all false flags from the respective marketing departments. People don't 'demand' familiarity, they demand originality within the confines of traditional User Interfaces and basic gameplay rules/traditions.
Well...
1. A game doesn't need to be graphically perfect. Rubbish graphics do sell. Just as long as you're providing people with something new to look at, from a design point of view. Something new, not seen before.
2. Your game doesn't need to be open world nor have crafting. Just because some big games have used these features, does not mean your RPG needs these features to get noticed.
3. You don't have to provide a known generic universe. Go ahead, invent your own creatures, set it in no-one-knows-what-this-is-land, and make people fall in love with your world, not rely on them re-purchasing worlds they already know about.
Now, I've had a look at Undertale and while it looks like a fun game, it's not what I would call an RPG, it messes with so many conventions that I think it's too derivative to be a genre-specific entity. I also suspect it lacks replayability aside from good/evil runs, and I also think it would likely become boring very quickly if everyone copied it de-facto like they do with open-world and crafting.
So I'm not saying we should all rush out and copy Undertale and be hyper-derivative, but I'm saying that the 3 key principles which cloud most of the banal games we see sold as RPGs are all false flags from the respective marketing departments. People don't 'demand' familiarity, they demand originality within the confines of traditional User Interfaces and basic gameplay rules/traditions.
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2014
- Messages
- 4,778