Top 10 RPG Cliches @ WatchMojo

There are a lot more - like the 'damsel in distress' theme - or 'I lost all my relatives'.
 
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I don't really see the point of the video, everything is a cliche if you see it more than once?

Maybe be I don't see the funny side of it? :)
 
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Ah, the old 'pointing out the cliches' cliche.
 
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lostforever said:
I don't really see the point of the video, everything is a cliche if you see it more than once?

Maybe be I don't see the funny side of it? :)
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My thoughts exactly. What do you expect when playing a fantasy RPG?
Also, I didn't watch all of the vid, but it seemed to me that most cliches are found in JRPGs.
 
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I expect a few more new interesting ideas for new RPGs - fantasy books for example are full of them.
 
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HiddenX said:
I expect a few more new interesting ideas for new RPGs - fantasy books for example are full of them.
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Any examples we haven't seen in games? I also like to know the titles of these books since I will be interested in reading them. I do read lots of fantasy books but I come across the the same ideas again and again. However I am not really complaining since how good a book is really depends on how those same ideas are presented and executed.

Here in England, there is saying that goes Shakespeare pretty wrote all the stories there is to write about so if you have read Shakespeare then you have read them all :)
 
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The empire trilogy for example would be a great Strategy/RPG mix. There are so many turns and twists in this story - unbelievable good.

Another novel I would like to see as an Adventure RPG is Shogun.
 
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Ah Shogun! First book I attempted to read while learning English. It didn't end up well... :)
 
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Eh...they missed out on that damn annoying "The Villain steals all your equipment!".
 
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http://project-apollo.net/text/rpg.html
some of my favourites:
27.Nostradamus Rule
All legends are 100% accurate. All rumors are entirely factual. All prophecies will come true, and not just someday but almost immediately.
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34.Zap!
Most villains in RPGs possess some form of teleportation. They generally use it to materialize in front of the adventurers when they reach the Obligatory Legendary Relic Room and seize the goodies just before you can. The question "if the bad guy can teleport anywhere at any time, then why doesn't (s)he just zip in, grab the artifact, and leave before the adventurers have even finished the nerve-wracking puzzle on the third floor?" is never answered.
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105.Law of Mooks
Soldiers and guards working for the Evil Empire are, as a rule, sloppy, cowardly and incompetent. Members of the heroic Resistance Faction are, as a rule, dreadfully weak and undertrained and will be wiped out to the last man the moment they come in contact with the enemy.
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143.Falling Rule
An RPG character can fall any distance onto anything without suffering anything worse than brief unconsciousness. In fact, falling a huge distance is an excellent cure for otherwise fatal wounds — anyone who you see shot, stabbed, or mangled and then tossed off a cliff is guaranteed to return later in the game with barely a scratch.
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181.Poetic Villain Principle (Kefka Rule)
All villains will suddenly become poets, philisophers, and/or dramatic actors when a) they first meet the hero, b) they are about to win or their evil plan is finally ready, c) some major event in the game is about to begin, d) right before the final battle, and e) right before they die, when they will frequently be feeling generous enough to reward you with some homespun wisdom about making the most of life while you have it.
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@lostforever
I'm currently reading the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever. Definitely not your standard fantasy fare. No idea how to make a game out of it, though.

And then there is the fantasy series to end all fantasy: the almighty Malazan Book of the Fallen! (I'm sure you have read it already.)
 
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Watched 3 minutes, noticed all video material is from consoles, turned it off.
 
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Pretty good list, although I'm kind of fond of some of the clichés (like the rats one), and find some really annoying ones missing. Like the fact that (especially in linear rpg's and jrpg's) every single village, no matter how big or small, has slightly better equipment for sale. Or the fact that all enemies in the world, even in open world games, seem to get stronger exactly as you do (level scaling FTW?). Here JRPG's are actually much less offensive than western ones. And one for Joxer: Enemies everywhere will start to live again as soon as you leave the room…
 
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joxer said:
Watched 3 minutes, noticed all video material is from consoles, turned it off.
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It shows games like witcher 3 and Planescape torment too; I think maybe console JRPGs just mine the cliches a bit harder.
 
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tomasp3n said:
And one for Joxer: Enemies everywhere will start to live again as soon as you leave the room…
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As I said above… It's console cliches video.
jhwisner said:
It shows games like witcher 3 and Planescape torment too; I think maybe console JRPGs just mine the cliches a bit harder.
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Sorry couldn't bare more than 3 minutes of console crap shown to get to PST. No wonder a game named TORMENT is left for later.
TW3 is also on consoles. TW1 is not.
 
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joxer said:
Sorry couldn't bare more than 3 minutes of console crap shown to get to PST.
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That's ok. I only made it to the first use of the word 'tropes.'
 
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Danger Dolan did it better and funnier a few months back:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKwn24hboYw

Watchmojo is always too unbearably mainstream to be watchable as their pool of resources is so small and so populist. They have great clickbait titles though and I often click them - and usually regret it.
 
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lostforever said:
I don't really see the point of the video, everything is a cliche if you see it more than once?

Maybe be I don't see the funny side of it? :)
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It's just for fun...it isn't trying to be some serious critique. As a big fan of console RPGs (and all RPGs), it was fun seeing some of those old games again...Chrono Cross, FFVI, Secret of Mana (Secret of Mana being the best game ever, obviously!).

Fun news post, thanks.
 
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