4 ms·
Zelda is definitely not an ARPG
by zeroonetwothree 6y ago
Zelda is definitely not an ARPG
- anon73044 6y agoYeah, more on the Action/Adventure side than RPG. Though the modern ones do have a lot more RPG elements than the old school NES games.
- bodhiandpysics1 6y agoA good way of thinking about this is that the Zelda games are genetically rpgs, in the sense that Miyamoto was doing his spin on the style of game that Nihon Falcom had introduced. Obviously, the absense of numerical character abilities in LoZ makes it feel somewhat different than quintessential Japanese ARPGs like YS or Seiken Denetsu (Legend of Mana).
- mouyes 6y agoZelda II can be considered an action RPG, but the rest of the series is a bit light on RPG elements.
- kbenson 6y agoWhy don't you think it qualifies? You have an inventory, you have money and buy items, you advance your character (not through experience points, but through finding secrets and beating major enemies). What specifically do you think it's missing?
- whateveracct 6y agoI think some people think RPGs need to have numbers on the screen?
- bodhiandpysics1 6y agoThose numbers are important! In classic rpgs, both western and Japanese, skillful play consists in strategically manipulating those numbers to defeat challenges. It's a very different feeling than in an action game where skillful play is about manipulating the virtual physics of your avatar.
- whateveracct 6y agoPaper Mario is clearly an RPG, but it has a similar amount of numbers backing it's system as your average Zelda. It's just that Zelda hides the numbers from you and Paper Mario does not.
- henryfjordan 6y agoYou don't really make choices in most Zelda game. All the character advancement is coupled to story progression (you get an item in the 1st dungeon that lets you access the 2nd dungeon and so on). I think that reduces the "role playing" that goes on and makes Zelda more of an Action/Adventure series.
- merb 6y agonot true for botw
- duskwuff 6y agoIt's not even true for many of the "classic" Zelda games like Link to the Past or Ocarina of Time. Sure, there's a series of mandatory quests with associated items -- but there's also a bunch of side quests to pick up optional items, like extra heart containers, additional bottles, and various tools (like the Cape of Byrna in LttP or the masks in OoT).
- xsmasher 6y agoDiablo is the ur-ARPG on pc, and it doesn't have any choices to speak of; the story is completely on rails.
- hedora 6y agoI’ve beaten zelda without picking up the sword on the first screen. There are definitely more “normal” choices to be made. Should you level up with heart containers, or get better at not dying, for example?
- krapp 6y agoZelda was pretty much the standard for "Action RPG" until the Souls games overshadowed it.