Seasoned RPG devs from Obsidian and Bioware blame the temporary death of the isometric CRPG on 'vibes-based forecasting' from retailers
Seasoned RPG devs from Obsidian and Bioware blame the temporary death of the isometric CRPG on 'vibes-based forecasting' from retailers
"I can't stress enough how often I'd hear a retail rep declare a genre/style/look was dead with zero supporting data."
"I can't stress enough how often I'd hear a retail rep declare a genre/style/look was dead with zero supporting data."
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CRPG apparently translates to "Computer RPG"
I'm still not sure what it means
It’s games like the original baldur’s gate and stuff. I think a clear defining thing is that you have a zoomed out perspective and you click where to move
Like Club Penguin.
Close, but that's a CMMOPRPG
Found the bard.
The combat has to be turn-based or it becomes an ARPG like Diablo/Dungeon Siege/Titan Quest/Torchlight
Most of the CRPGs are RTWP rather than turn based though. Though I personally prefer turn based.
RTWP = Real-Time with Pause, in case you were confused like me
Although under the hood they were still turn based. The turns just kept on running unless you paused. I recently started BG2 and set it to automatically pause after every turn, which effectively made it turn based.
Contrast this with Diablo, which also had turns under the hood but they are abstracted so far away as to be almost meaningless. I think people speaking about this even use frames as the timing reference instead of turns.
Although under the hood they were still turn based
There's a really big difference, the tactic of having whoever has aggro run away while everyone else shoots projectiles doesn't work at all in an actually turn based system.
So, Kings Quest 1-8 were CRPGs?
Kings quest didn't have character progression or choices to be made (at least in the ones I played). That's pretty core to qualify as an rpg
Some of the KQ games had choices, but no character progression (one of the last ones if I recall, but it sucked). The QFG games had character progression and more choices than most RPGs.
Did they have a leveling system, class system and virtual dice rolls (explicit or implicit)? If they did, then yes, they were CRPG-s.
I still have no idea what the definition of a CRPG is, thank you
So XCOM is a CRPG?
You can call it a Tactical RPG in some sense, although I can't remember more Role-Playing components than any other strategy have.
Why even ask this?
They are nightmares
I mean one could argue that you do play a role in them, but I don’t think they fit the general definition of a role playing game.
Think their genre is graphical adventure game (as opposed to a text-based adventure game). Can’t recall if any of the KQ games have mouse support, but in that case they’re point-and-click adventure games.
Roleplaying games I think imply a bit more agency for the player, usually manifested in the ability to tackle problems in multiple ways, like maybe talk your way through something instead of a battle. Etc. I seem to recall the Kings Quest games were fairly linear.
The Quest For Glory games are a real genre-bender there, but one could say an RPG is defined by a feel and not just a specific subset of the RPG mechanics.
It's an RPG on a computer? Specifically tabletop, like Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder, but on a computer. Example games : Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, The Temple of Elemental Evil, etc.
More recent examples include Dragon Age Origins, BG3, Pillars of Eternity 1/2, Tyranny, and Wasteland 1-3
Listing wasteland 1 is kinda funny since it came out back in 1988.
Right but I thought if I just said 2-3 is get a comment like "Wasteland 1 is a CRPG too!"
Fair enough, but you did specify age and wasteland 2 and 3 are definitely modern CRPGS. While Wasteland 1 while good is anything but modern.
I think the more contemporary meaning for the word is “classic” rpg. Which better communicates the old isometric view and party-based adventuring.
vs. Tabletop role playing games.
Well back in the day an RPG was DnD.
They made computers and some nerds tried bringing that to computers, so we got CRPGs which helped you know if you meant tabletop or computer, and also that you didn’t mean JRPG.
Now CRPGs are just called RPGs and RPGs are called Table Top RPGs
Now CRPGs are just called RPGs
IDK, when I hear "RPG" by itself, I think of a Bethesda-style RPG, so first person, real time, and little if any party mechanics. A CRPG, on the other hand, is party based, combat is either turn-based or real-time with pause, and usually top down or isometric.
Wizardry, undoubtedly one of the biggest CRPG franchises in history; 3D open world, Bethesda (well at least up until Daggerfall) style RPG.
Now we only use CRPGs to refer to a small niche of retro feeling RPGs, but they can still be diverse in form.
Ah, good exception, I'd definitely call that a CRPG, I think because of the types of encounters and style of combat. So I guess camera angle isn't as important.
CRPG = Baldurs Gate 1+2, Icewind Dale 1+2, Neverwinter Nights 1+2, Planescape Torment, Age of Decadence, Nox
Isometric RPG or CRPG, basically the same thing.
One tries to recreate an RPG campaign as close as possible to table-top RPG, but on a computer. Was the original definition back when "possible" was very limited.
Also refers to classic RPG. Usually specifically refers to isometric 'realtime with pause'/plausible realtime games, with 'complex' dialogue options.
It the same as Metroidvania or Soulslike where it's kind of a vibe with sticky design choice but not 100% clear. I remember seeing arguments about whether Divinity Original Sin 2 was one because it was purely turn based
Long time ago RPG used to refer to pen and paper RPGs like dungeons and dragons by default. When pc games using these systems got made, like baldurs gate, they were referred to as cRPGs to distinguish them.
Nowadays video games are so popular that when someone says RPG it means the computer game, but due to tradition / nostalgia CRPG is still used to describe the genre of games inspired by the pen and paper RPGs.
Top down RPGs heavily inspired or influenced by table top RPGs like pathfinder and d&d. Also either turn based and real time with pause. Classic examples include fallout 1 and 2, neverwinter nights and baldurs gate 1 and 2. Modern examples include divinity original sin 1 and 2, baldurs gate 3 and wasteland 2 and 3.
I always see debates about what's an rpg, crpg, jrpg and strategy RPG yet when I hear action RPG I think f allout or elder scrolls, when I hear crpg I think baldurs gate, when I hear jrpg I think final fantasy or persona and when I hear strategy RPG I think fire emblem or disgea.
There's also JRPG
Wouldn't it then be JCRPG?
I think the idea was to differentiate it from tabletop back when they were a lot more like tabletop RPGs than most of today's RPGs -- they were either turn based or pausable, party based, and involved, you know, playing a role. This was way back before basically every third person hack and slash was called an action RPG and the acronym lost all meaning. I realize that it makes me sound like a bitter old man, and I loved Nier Automata, but it ain't an RPG.
It means people wanted a way to separate JRPGs from western fantasy RPGs and tabletop or pen-and-paper RPGs.
Off the top of my head I'm struggling to remember if the term caught up per opposition to pen and paper being the default RPG or to JRPG first, because JRPGs didn't get popular everywhere at once, but CRPGs were big in all Western territories pretty much right away.