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nightrnr wrote:I like this article. It echoes back reasons why I don't get into RPG's much anymore; especially the part about how the genre didn't need to be that way...or rather need to stay that way. It's like most rpg's stagnated because it's what gamemakers thought it's what we wanted (and maybe we did).

Anyways, I still like RPG's, just don't play them much. Action is often more satisfying. But whether I play Doom, Castlevaia, Zelda, or Final Fantasy (heck even Mario and Mega Man), they all have the one element at their core that I will always love: exploration. Let me explore a world, find treasure, and manage my resources. For me, that quality will never get old.

I haven't played my last RPG...

Apparently we are not the only ones who feel this way. Many have sent me their thoughts via comments and Twitter and they feel similarly. I'm not much into exploration, though!

Ack wrote:I think the most interesting part is that you bring up Wizardry as an example of how to nail the combat. Have your opinions on WRPGs changed in relation to your declining view of JRPGs?

That's an interesting question, Ack.

The main reason I bring up Wizardry is that it is, for all intents and purporses, a JRPG. I mean, there's not much of it that's different from Phantasy Star and Dragon Quest, beyond the perspective. So I think, hey, if Wizardry, which is the series that birthed the genre can do it, why can't JRPGs follow suit? And Wizardry is far from being perfect, mind. As cool Wizardry 8 might be, its balance issues, huge lenght and positively terrible graphics really do a number to it.

Regarding WRPGs, I think the underlying issue is that this article didn't need to be about JRPGs at all. It could be about all those games that are about combat, but don't offer it in an interesting way and whose narrative is mostly told through clichéd characters and cutscenes. So, in that sense, I think many of my grivances apply as much to Dragon Quest as they do to Oblivion or any other computer RPG. Or the average game, really

I weight in the difficulty debate surrounding Sekiro, arguing for the artistic value of difficulty and the need of mantaining artistic integrity when attemping to make a game more accessible. I feel most of the debate has been centered on angry people on the internet so I wanted to give a view beyond that.

Often, games must be difficult