D
Darth Tagnan
Guest
I just realised you were actually asking a question as well
Well, then:
For me, it's not so much the genre in itself that sets the tone for what I like the most. There are features and "kinds of games" that I love more than others, and much of what I like seems to be present in a variety of genres.
However, for what I would consider traditional CRPG features - or features originating from CRPGs - I tend to enjoy progression more than anything, I think.
That would be meaningful progression. Not just in terms of my character and his skills, but also in terms of what I call the gameplay horizon and all the tools and toys a great CRPG can have.
But it's funny, it wasn't actually a CRPG that made me realise my love of progression. That was an entirely different game called Civilization.
Civilization was the first game I played that more or less revolved around powerful progression.
I can clearly remember how the game felt like it was constantly evolving, and it wasn't just numbers growing. It was new buildings, new units, new ways to expand, and so on.
I was madly in love with that concept - and I played the first Civilization to death. Thousands of hours of trying out all kinds of tactics and ways to maximise my strategy.
I bring it up to underline my understanding of games - and how I think it's sometimes a mistake to think of genres as "feature holders" - and how the way games appeal to me can carry across several completely different games.
Anyway, if a CRPG has interesting choices and meaningful progression - that goes a very long way to keep me entertained.
Beyond that, I'm a huge fan of exploration. It doesn't have to be huge open world exploration - it just has to be interesting and meaningful.
Again, the best exploration - for me - hasn't really been in CRPGs.
For me, the best exploration I've experienced has been in immersive sims. Games like System Shock, Deus Ex, Dishonored and Prey have the strongest exploration in terms of unique and interesting content with tons of fidelity.
The reason I love games like Fallout 3/4 and Skyrim is because they take that kind of exploration - water it down somewhat based on necessity for content creation - and give me hundreds and hundreds of hours of it, rather than merely 15-20 hours.
Beyond that, Bethsoft games are full of progression - and if you mod them correctly, you can reach a stage where most of the progression is meaningful. You don't even have to mod Fallout 4 much, because Survival takes care of most of it.
Lastly, I'm also madly in love with immersion. To me, immersion is about forgetting that I'm playing a game - and I know I'm immersed when I'm physically trying to dodge arrows or spells - which still sometimes happens to me in certain games.
Yet again, it wasn't a CRPG or an immersive sim that made me realise my love of immersion.
No, the number one influence - for me - that showed me just how powerful immersion can be in a computer games would be MYST.
MYST was the first game I played where I felt truly transported to another place that was actually interesting.
Games like UU and Doom were also very immersive - but MYST felt like a true alternate world, and it still stands out as the most powerful example of that - for me.
So, those are the three most interesting features for me.
The reason I prefer CRPGs to most other games is that it's the only genre that combines all three to a sufficiently interesting extent, for the most part.
Then again, games like Deus Ex, SS2 and Prey also combine all three - but they're much shorter - and so they're not as good at making me feel like I could actually live another life in those worlds. I know they will end.
So, ultimately, if I absolutely had to name a "favorite" kind of CRPG - it would be Skyrim or games like Skyrim - because it combines all three AND make them last for as long as I want to, AND I can mod all the things that annoy me until they more or less go away.
The one way to improve that kind of game for me, would be cooperative multiplayer - because, to me, actually sharing my favorite kind of experience means it's an order of magnitude more satisfying.
Well, then:
For me, it's not so much the genre in itself that sets the tone for what I like the most. There are features and "kinds of games" that I love more than others, and much of what I like seems to be present in a variety of genres.
However, for what I would consider traditional CRPG features - or features originating from CRPGs - I tend to enjoy progression more than anything, I think.
That would be meaningful progression. Not just in terms of my character and his skills, but also in terms of what I call the gameplay horizon and all the tools and toys a great CRPG can have.
But it's funny, it wasn't actually a CRPG that made me realise my love of progression. That was an entirely different game called Civilization.
Civilization was the first game I played that more or less revolved around powerful progression.
I can clearly remember how the game felt like it was constantly evolving, and it wasn't just numbers growing. It was new buildings, new units, new ways to expand, and so on.
I was madly in love with that concept - and I played the first Civilization to death. Thousands of hours of trying out all kinds of tactics and ways to maximise my strategy.
I bring it up to underline my understanding of games - and how I think it's sometimes a mistake to think of genres as "feature holders" - and how the way games appeal to me can carry across several completely different games.
Anyway, if a CRPG has interesting choices and meaningful progression - that goes a very long way to keep me entertained.
Beyond that, I'm a huge fan of exploration. It doesn't have to be huge open world exploration - it just has to be interesting and meaningful.
Again, the best exploration - for me - hasn't really been in CRPGs.
For me, the best exploration I've experienced has been in immersive sims. Games like System Shock, Deus Ex, Dishonored and Prey have the strongest exploration in terms of unique and interesting content with tons of fidelity.
The reason I love games like Fallout 3/4 and Skyrim is because they take that kind of exploration - water it down somewhat based on necessity for content creation - and give me hundreds and hundreds of hours of it, rather than merely 15-20 hours.
Beyond that, Bethsoft games are full of progression - and if you mod them correctly, you can reach a stage where most of the progression is meaningful. You don't even have to mod Fallout 4 much, because Survival takes care of most of it.
Lastly, I'm also madly in love with immersion. To me, immersion is about forgetting that I'm playing a game - and I know I'm immersed when I'm physically trying to dodge arrows or spells - which still sometimes happens to me in certain games.
Yet again, it wasn't a CRPG or an immersive sim that made me realise my love of immersion.
No, the number one influence - for me - that showed me just how powerful immersion can be in a computer games would be MYST.
MYST was the first game I played where I felt truly transported to another place that was actually interesting.
Games like UU and Doom were also very immersive - but MYST felt like a true alternate world, and it still stands out as the most powerful example of that - for me.
So, those are the three most interesting features for me.
The reason I prefer CRPGs to most other games is that it's the only genre that combines all three to a sufficiently interesting extent, for the most part.
Then again, games like Deus Ex, SS2 and Prey also combine all three - but they're much shorter - and so they're not as good at making me feel like I could actually live another life in those worlds. I know they will end.
So, ultimately, if I absolutely had to name a "favorite" kind of CRPG - it would be Skyrim or games like Skyrim - because it combines all three AND make them last for as long as I want to, AND I can mod all the things that annoy me until they more or less go away.
The one way to improve that kind of game for me, would be cooperative multiplayer - because, to me, actually sharing my favorite kind of experience means it's an order of magnitude more satisfying.