What's The Most Important Features of RPGs?

Character creation, exploration, and setting/lore. If those are done right, your story emerges from them as you play.

Of course, the game still needs to function as a game without those, so you can't skimp on the basics like controls, combat, etc.

Story
C&C
Character Creation & Customization
Combat System
Game Length

1) exploration
2) story
3) setting and lore
4) graphics and music (mostly music)

I guess gameplay is too generic a choice but stuff like save options, stable engine and fun is also important to me. I could put up a lot if the game is fun so help me Fallout-Vegas.

Be that as it may, I feel so dirty voting for eye and ear candy but I played more than my share of low rez, no sound games back in the day. And if a new RPG wants to grab my attention, I want to hear some decent and appropriate sounds and music. That's just how I roll . . .

1. Setting and lore.

This is the single most important thing to me. The core of the game has to be built on solid ground. The game's over all setting has to make sense to me. Skyrim for example while not winning the most orginal story of the year awards, shines creativity when it comes to world design and lore. Elder Scrolls is such a vast and rich setting…

Fallout new vegas was an other game that really sucked me in. Many say that fallout 3 has more intresting gameworld to explore and that I do not disagree, but its a messy gameworld which at times makes little sense. Obsidian understood the core of fallout better and thus built a more memorable game.

Star wars, Divinity: Orginal sin, Wasteland, Mass effect, baldur's gate, Gothic, Arx Fatalis, Deus ex are also examples of strong settings.

2. Exploration

I wish to stray away from the beaten path and It always feels slightly dissapointing when a game doesn't let me do that. I can enjoy more linear games, but only if the game compensates it's linearity with good story or great combat mechanics for example.

3. Npc interaction. If characters are writen poorly, the plot of game rarely matters to me. If i don't care about the characters, why would it matter what happens to the world where they live?

4. Character creation. While Witcher, Deus ex and Gothic series prove that great rpgs are possible with preset characters, but its usually for a reason considered one of the core pilars of a rpg.

5. Story + choises & consequence. The dream of mine is ofcourse that a memorable story which is both dynamic and reactive to player's choises is built on top of those four pilars.

As the explicit absent option in the pool: absence of roleplaying.

When a games has roleplaying in it, it is a clear sign it cant be a RPG, therefore it is the most importance feature of all: absence of roleplaying.

The words were English but the sentence structure was from Uranus. Chien should post in his native language and then ask someone else to translate for him. Goodness!

ChienAboyeur said:

As the explicit absent option in the pool: absence of roleplaying.

When a games has roleplaying in it, it is a clear sign it cant be a RPG, therefore it is the most importance feature of all: absence of roleplaying.

Click to expand...

If I understand him, he's missing C2, C7, E8, S4

C2: you can progressively develop your characters' stats and/or abilities (-> e.g. through an in game value (usually exp. points) gained by quests, exploration, conversation, combat, …)

C7: the primary means of problem solving, gameworld interaction and overcoming challenges is the tactical use of character/party skills/abilities (-> the player's physical coordination skills are secondary)

S4: the story is influenced by your decisions and your characters' actions and stats/abilities/skills.

E8: there are initially inaccessible areas in the gameworld that can only be reached by enhancing your characters' abilities, solving quests or puzzles (-> e.g. unlock locked areas, overcome obstacles, repair bridges, dispel barriers, …)

<=> influence of character progression (stats, skills) and player decisions on the gameplay
<=> playing a role

I've always interpreted 'choice' more broadly to include character customization, exploration, and even combat tactics. Here it looks like it mostly means dialogue choices.

It's more than dialogue choices tho, it's being able to choose different paths. Good vs evil, that sort of thing. Joining faction A will make faction B unavailable, and maybe even make them your enemies in time. And so on.

I picked three or four here (won't elaborate) but could have ticked every box since each and every one has an important role.