Bungie - Working on an Action/RPG?

At least, GameSpot thinks it's possible. Based on job ads asking for experience with "branching or non-linear narrative" and "worlds imbued with real value and consequence", GameSpot suggests Halo masters Bungie might be working on a Mass Effect style action/RPG.
More information.

Maybe they'll do the opposite of Bioware and make it more RPG than FPS.

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Halo Effect?

Be great if true, but it's a long way from "branching narratives" to an RPG.

Yeah, but it's not too far from "branching narratives" to the realm of "games Zloth likes"!

Bungie: Myth 4 plz. Myth 4 plz. Myth 4 plz. Or, alternatively, stick your cinematic, gameplay-free, over-hyped "next-gen" FPS so far up your collective rectums that it won't see daylight until I'm ninety-years-old and then it'll still be too soon.

Originally Posted by Anderson
Be great if true, but it's a long way from "branching narratives" to an RPG.

Just out of curiosity: name a video game with branching narrative that was *not* an RPG (or adventure game)? Can't really think of any right now.

(And don't come with the Oblivion! Mass Effect! Those were action games, anyway arguments )

I can't think of many examples, but Bioshock comes to mind. I guess some people consider that an RPG, but I never did. There are probably other examples of games that give you alternate endings but aren't really RPGs, though they aren't coming to mind right now.

I probably didn't phrase my comment correctly, though. What I meant to convey was that there is a lot more to an RPG than just branching narrative. e.g., XP, levelling up, character customization, choice/consequence, etc. I didn't mean to say that branching narrative wasn't essential.

Onimusha 2? Quite a lot of little branching (nothing overly dramatic, but then again, you could say the same about a lot of really loved and hyped RPGs like Baldur's Gate 1 & 2), mostly but not entirely dependent on a gift system IIRC.

For me Bungie made a great first game, Pathway Into Darkness, if the technological comparison to Doom was a little pathetic for PID, PID had an amazing story and merging of Story/Action/Quest/Puzzles. Then they made Marathon trilogy, certainly their grand oeuvre but if the story was more ambitious and the game quite more evolved they didn't succeed to reach the magic quality of PID.

Branching narrative could not be the right approach. I mean it's not the right way to see it because with this vision you end in a weird tree design.

The key point to look at is too offer choices that have consequences and that doesn't mean branching narrative.

Originally Posted by Thaurin
Just out of curiosity: name a video game with branching narrative that was *not* an RPG (or adventure game)?

Some strategy games go down that route: the first Age of Wonders, Warrior Kings, King Arthur: The Role-playing Wargame. Warrior Kings has about twenty different missions, but only about eight will be available on any given walkthrough.

Oh, and Heavy Rain and Fahrenheit (Indigo Prophecy) would be two other examples, unless you consider those adventure games.