GAMERS DECIDE - Best of

10 Things That Make an RPG Awesome

raineff — Sun, 12 Jul 2015 18:55:43 +0000

Here Are 10 Things That Make RPG Games Awesome

RPG’s - you either love them, or hate them. Either way, you have to acknowledge them. Modern rpg’s can trace their roots back all the way to the dawn of computer gaming, Zork anyone?

There are many things that people love about rpg’s, and many things that make them awesome. If you look close enough though, the best rpg’s have a lot in common. While not every game will be about hostile alien machines trying to destroy the galaxy, and game worth the weight of the box in salt is going to be telling you a compelling story.

They may be greatly separated by time, space, or technology, but the core elements remain the same. Here are 10 things that awesome rpg’s share, and can make an rpg awesome.

10. Awesome RPG’s Have Awesome Character Creation

I know I look good

Most people can spend over an hour in character creation, trying to make sure every detail is perfect,and awesome rpg’s tend to have really well designed character creation. This helps with the immersion by making it easier for the player to believe they are that character. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes, and character creation should be able to reflect upon that.

Creating every detail of your character also helps with making it... your character. In worlds where you can be whoever you want to, why wouldn’t you?

9. Good RPG’s Have Good Side Quests

They should have brought more guys

People like to take breaks from doing whatever they are doing, and side quests need to be there for those breaks. Saving the world all of the time can get repetitive and dull, and going out to a fortress to take care of a bandit leader can be a breath of fresh air.

The thing about side quests is that they should add to the atmosphere and immersion of the game, they make you feel like a person in the game who is basically getting paid to do random jobs. Long side quests, or ones that require many steps to end tend to detract from the main story, and the best side quests are short, but somehow either contribute to the main story, the immersion of the game, or put players in a better position to deal with what lies ahead.

Side quests can be the difference between 40 hours of gameplay, and 400.

8. The Game Reminds the Player That They Are Not All-Powerful

Shouldn’t have left home without my anti-dragon shield...

This is important is helps to provide a sense of where the player belongs in the world. While they do grow in power, and may even become a god by the end, there should be reminders that there are things out there that are more powerful.

This helps with the immersion, and can keep players from being reckless and actually move the story along. As much as they hate to admit it, sometimes players just need to be smacked down off their pillar for their own good.

Taking the character down a few notches can take several forms, from a single person just saying the right couple of words to destroy the character’s ego, all the way to the player being mercilessly beaten by horribly strong bosses. I’m looking at you Dark Souls.

Having to overcome great challenges also gives players a sense of accomplishment, and can be the push over the hill from a good game to a great game.

7. Good RPG’s Have a Sense of Scale

Only way is up

Many rpgs present an entirely different world from our own, and the best rpg’s can put that into scale. How big is the game world? And where are significant events going to take place? Can the player change them?

This doesn’t necessarily mean that the play map has to be huge, but the world should be believable. In a country there should be several cities and towns, all of which are different. Different areas to explore and monsters to fight.

This does incorporate a lot of the world design, and good rpg’s will put effort into developing the world. This also includes the economy, justice system, who is in power, even down to the random npcs that live there.

Great rpg’s will also let the player shape the world how they see fit.

Want to go on a killing spree? Great, just make sure you can pay the fine.

Want to save the poor, lost orphan? Awesome, just make sure you bring enough potions to heal after the bandit ambush.

6. The Game Takes a New Spin on Something Old

Some things never change...

Tried and true concepts will always remain that - tried and true. However, great rpg’s can take that concept and revitalize it.

Everybody has fought the evil warlord to save the world. That theme has been done countless times, however, a good rpg can take that theme and cast it in a new image.

Take Skyrim for example, the evil warlord is a dragon that brings other dragons to life, to basically take over the world. Or Diablo, where Diablo wants to use his demon minions to destroy the entire human race.

5. The Game Has a New, Unique, or Otherwise Novel Idea That Enhances The Experience

Good thing my pip-boy can aim for me...

The best rpg’s will have something exciting that enhances the overall experience, or they will do something new that makes the game just awesome.

In Fallout 3 and New Vegas, as well as the upcoming Fallout 4, your pip-boy is not the inventory/stat menu/journal/life-link to the world, but it also aims for you. If you came up to me and told me that in the future we’d have wrist computers that could help us aim weapons better, I’d be skeptical.

Or in Morrowind, merchants didn’t have unlimited amounts of gold. Crazy to think that every merchant before then had infinite amounts of gold on hand to buy all your useless junk.

4. The Characters Need To Be Memorable

Someone else would have gotten it wrong

Every character that gets introduced plays some role in the story, and their roles need to mean something. Not everyone is going to save the world, but their contributions shouldn't be meaningless.

The best characters transcend even that, and their personalities and quirks become so convincing, it's as if the character actually exists and is your friend. Which, in a good rpg, should happen.

If you’re totally immersed in your character, your character’s friends become your friends. Likewise, you share common enemies. Now you no longer have to feel bad for hating The Illusive Man for almost no reason, because Shephard certainly has one.

3. The Gameplay Has To Be Smooth and Simple

Roll around and block... got it

Choppy gameplay takes away from immersion, and through that, detracts from the story. Nobody wants to sit through frozen scenes and missing animations. Or even worse, completely looped animations.

Additionally, complicated controls are off-putting and make the game feel clunky. If I want to swing a sword, there should be an easy way to do that. Pressing thirteen keys to execute an attack is really just tiresome.

2. Players Have To Be Able To Get Immersed In The World

I swear this isn’t what it looks like

Immersion creates the feel of the game, it should feel like you are actually interacting with the world and characters. If your character is having a hard time with something, you probably are as well. Talking to annoying npc’s should feel as annoying as it does in real life.

When playing an rpg, you have to be able to feel as if you are that character, or the illusion is broken. We play rpg’s to escape from real life and become someone else for a while. It’s like playing make-believe, except we’re not in preschool anymore.

1. It Must Have An Interesting Story

Shepherd could probably take him... probably

The story is by far the most important aspect of any rpg, it forms the heart of the entire game, and it is what gamers play the game for. Everything in the game should reference the story, or add to it in some way. Anything that takes away from the story is something that does not need to be in the story.

This isn’t to see side quests are unnecessary, the good ones do serve a purpose. Sometimes even the more pointless ones, but only if you look at the bigger picture.

In essence, the story is the big picture, and everything else is simply a piece of the puzzle. If you’re missing a few pieces, it’s not as great. However, if you don’t have a picture at all, why bother with the puzzle?

Every gamer has their own opinions of what rpg’s need to have, and which ones are the best. If you feel something is missing or should be honorably mentioned, feel free to leave a comment.

Main Image caption:

Disintegrating skeletons is just one of many pros

Image Gallery:

Which is the best Mass Effect Game? Here, we rank all Mass Effect games from best to worst.

JamesGDAmore — Fri, 29 May 2015 15:22:50 +0000

Nothing is more BADASS than flying from planet to planet and picking fights with huge world-ending foes.

What is Mass Effect?

Bioware is good at telling stories. From Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic to Dragon Age: Inquisition, Bioware is known for creating immersive environments that draw the player in and force them to be a part of their universe.

The Mass Effect series is an epic RPG that centers around Commander Shepard, a human soldier, and is set about two hundred years in the future at a time when humanity is still being introduced to the interstellar community. Like other sci-fi adventures, Mass Effect uses the stellar backdrop to tell a story that is riddled with philosophical questions and challenges to human nature.

Commander Shepard looking longingly down his sights

Shepard’s goal is to eradicate a threat of invasion by a timeless species called the Reapers. The Reapers are a collective of minds that control colossal synthetic ships with the ability to completely wipe out galaxies. Unfortunately, because humans don’t possess much leeway with the ruling bodies of the galaxy, Shepard’s warnings of invasion fall on deaf ears.

The main theme of the Mass Effect series revolves around the cycle of death and rebirth and whether it's better to rebel against nature or allow it to take its course. According to the lore, every 50,000 years, the Reapers harvest and purge all intelligent life from the galaxy. It is revealed that the Reapers are the original creators of the Citadel and the mass relays. The Citadel is a hub for merchants and ambassadors to contact other alien races and is used to conduct many of the political dealings seen throughout the series. Because these are incredibly convenient platforms for intelligent life, all species begin to rely and adapt to the technologies. The Reapers then use this reliance to launch a killing blow to all species in the galaxy… until you show up, that is.

An army of Reaper ships looking generally ominous

At its core, Mass Effect isn’t really about gameplay. It’s about exploring a detailed spacescape and experiencing an epic story that has you at the center of the action. While the games generally allow you to explore planets, the story is somewhat linear with only a small focus on choices (when compared to other RPGs like Fallout or the Walking Dead series). The story is driven by completing specific missions in a specific order.

One of the more interesting set pieces of this universe is the mass relay system. A mass relay is a huge charged accelerator that allows ships to travel at faster-than-light speeds. The relays are connected like a train system, allowing the player to jump between different star systems. This separates the game from the true sandbox feeling of games like Fallout; however, by containing the star systems, travelling is much more streamlined and the player can focus more on driving the story and less on getting from place to place.

Commander Shepard is the only person who’s right for the job. With no one at his side but his team, he’s the galaxy’s last chance. So, let’s jump right in and find out which game is the best Mass Effect game.

Mass Effect 1

Commander Shepard and Ashley Williams

The Story

At the beginning of this story, we discover that the human race are the new kids on the block of the intergalactic community and have not gained much political power in the Council, which is a board of representatives from each alien race. While they also serve as a ruling body to the different Council race, they also operate elite soldiers, called Spectres, that are free to operate outside of the law to maintain order and neutralize threats. Representatives for humanity believe that if a human can clinch the position of Spectre, then humans can begin working their way into relevancy.

That’s where you come in.

Your name has been thrown into the running for becoming a Spectre. Since you are an impeccable soldier with glowing credentials, you seem to be humanity’s best chance at gaining political power.

While being evaluated by another Spectre, Nihlus, you uncover a mysterious plot. A rogue Spectre, named Saren, is using a race of synthetic droids, called the Geth, to destroy all biotic life. When the Council doesn’t believe Shepard’s pleas for help, he decides to take justice into his own hands and take down Saren. Shepard begins building a team of special agents to help him uncover and eliminate the threat.

Here’s Saren with a few Geth soldiers (snarky attitude not pictured)

During your journey, you face many different challenges and meet a ton of new and interesting characters.

You eventually learn that Saren has been indoctrinated and is working for a Reaper named Sovereign. Once Saren’s preparations are complete, he and Sovereign launch an assault on the Citadel. Once you defeat Saren and Sovereign, humanity gains a place on the council and the galaxy keeps spinning.

What Was Awesome

The universe is a vast place and you really get that feeling when playing Mass Effect 1.

All Mass Effect games include a large unique universe that can be explored freely. This first installment cleverly includes small land exploration segments during which the player can go down to the surface in a landcraft, called the Mako, and explore the terrain to find hidden secrets and interesting story supplements. This really helps perpetuate that feeling that the player is just a small grain of sand in a giant sandbox (which is exactly what a space RPG should do).

(These segments are replaced with a resource collection mini-game in later installments of the series.)

The first time I played through Mass Effect 1, I remember being astonished by how well-designed many of the maps were, specifically the Presidium on the Citadel. It really seemed to portray a bustling hub of different alien species. This really granted some depth to the universe by showing the cohesion between the different species which is a component that seems lost in the later installments of the series.

What Was Lame

While the vehicle sections did lend a sense of hugeness to the world, they were one of the most frustrating components of the game. Some of the missions revolved around navigating difficult terrain in a vehicle that handles like a drunk elephant. These segments were designed to be realistic as on-foot travel is not the ideal way to explore a planet, but at what cost? If the handling was better or if these segments were few and far between, it’d be much more reasonable.

Conclusion

Could this be the best Mass Effect game? Probably not. It seems like Bioware was still testing the waters and this first run has some kinks to work out.

My rating for this game: 4.4/5 stars

Mass Effect 2

Commander Shepard squaring off against a horde of "husks"

The Story

After Commander Shepard saved the Citadel from a full-out attack and defeated Saren, he continues to travel the stars. Twenty years pass when Shepard’s ship is attacked by a mysterious vessel. The dramatic sequence ends with Shepard sacrificing himself to save some of his crew and drifting in space to his/her death.

Once the title fades, we see discover that Shepard’s body has been recovered and he/she has been resurrected by a mysterious entity who we will later know as Cerberus, a pro-human coalition that some consider a terrorist group. Shepard awakens to an attack while on a Cerberus ship. Once he fights his/her way out, meeting Cerberus officers Jacob and Miranda along the way, he/she is treated to a meeting with the Illusive Man, a strange man who only communicates through hologram correspondences. The Illusive Man enlists the help of Commander Shepard to take down a giant threat by an alien race called the Collectors, who become the big bad guy of the second game.

The dramatic space dogfight cutscenes are really exciting and impressive

Once Shepard assembles his ragtag team of skilled fighters from different races and classes, he enacts a suicide mission to the head Collector ship through the Omega-4 relay, a previously deactivated mass relay. The climax requires Shepard to make a few decisions regarding what team goes where and, based on your attention to upgrades, who survives the suicide mission. In the end, you discover that the Collectors are using biotic life forms to feed a giant synthetic monster. This ending has that epic feel that you want in a boss fight ending.

What Was Awesome

The developers of Mass Effect 2 really seemed to put effort into fixing the issues of the first game. The gameplay was much cleaner and the graphics showed much higher resolutions on the models. You could really tell that they wanted to drift into the look of the other AAA shooter titles. The environments were polished and really added to the gritty tone of the series.

The character stories in this game have a little more depth than the first game. The dialogue and animation for the characters seemed more natural than the first game and didn’t try too hard to spout exposition every five seconds.

What Was Lame

Of course, the vehicle exploration of the first Mass Effect game was very difficult and tedious, but it’s almost like Bioware wanted to give us a time-out for being critical of those sections.

So, they gave us the resource scanning system.

Basically, you scan the surface of a planet looking for different elements. When an area of the planet has the substance, a graph responds accordingly and you can launch a probe to add the substance to the supply stores on your ship. The elements are then used to upgrade weapons, armor, abilities, and the ship itself, which then decide how successful the final mission of the game is. So, basically, Bioware managed to create an exploration mechanic that is more boring and tedious than driving around a desolate planet in a barely-drivable vehicle.

Also, the combat environments. Much of the combat is fought with the same chest-high walls in the same metallic corridors facing one of the same familiar enemies. Mass Effect 1 really paid attention to making the encounters feel fundamentally different. In Mass Effect 1, one minute you’d be fighting strange insect-like creatures on an ice planet that perpetually snows, the next you’d be surfing through the home of the deadly Thresher Maw, desperately trying to land a couple shots before dying.

Yet another mech fight where Shepard must spend 99% of his time behind a wall

Conclusion

Mass Effect 2 was a little rough around the edges, but it made some much-needed improvements to the original game. Of all Mass Effect games, this seems to be the one that lost touch with the initial feeling of an action space odyssey; however, this tone returns in the final installment of the game.

My rating for this game: 4.2/5 stars

Mass Effect 3

The Reaper invasion of Earth

The Story

Mass Effect 3. The epic conclusion to an epic adventure. The game begins with an all-out assault on Earth by the Reapers. Commander Shepard manages to escape but is there to witness the total destruction of his home. Shepard then moves to acquire an ancient alien weapon, called the Crucible. As always, Shepard must go around and recruit all the special agents he can if he hopes to stand a chance against the strongest force in the universe.

Of course, the Council is not willing to cooperate with Shepard leaving him, once again, to take matters into his own hands. Shepard travels the universe requesting the aid major alien civilizations to protect Earth from the incoming attacks. After a lot of back-and-forth and running around, Shepard can finally respond to the Reaper attack.

The Crucible must be connected to the Citadel to use. While Shepard and his team are en route to the Citadel, many are fatally-wounded. Once inside, Shepard is forced to confront his old commanding officer and friend, Anderson, who has succumbed to the influence of the now-hostile Illusive Man. After defeating the Illusive Man (and losing Anderson in the process), Shepard moves to the spire of the Citadel. There, Shepard is greeted by a child who tells him/her about the process of purging life and the cycle of nature. The child then offers Shepard three choices. One of the options would eradicate all synthetic lifeforms. This would include much of Shepard’s crew and Shepard him/herself. Another option would give Shepard the ability to control the Reapers. This was the intention of the Illusive Man and would require the sacrifice of Shepard’s human form. The last option is to synthesize a new strain DNA that combines synthetic and biotic code into one cohesive structure. This choice would destroy Shepard in the process.

Regardless of your decision, the mass relays are destroyed and some of the crew crash-lands on an unidentified planet. After that sequence ends, we are treated to sentimental moment between an adult, identified as “stargazer”, and a child. It is shown that the story of Commander Shepard lives on to become legend.

What Was Awesome

As the last installment in the series, it’s expected to be graphically-superior, but this game looked absolutely incredible.

Shepard about to turn some soldiers into ragdolls. This game really does look this good.

As far as gameplay, the mechanics felt much smoother and more natural. Take a look at this if you don’t believe me.

Combat was quick and required the player’s full attention. The enemy AI was obviously upgraded. It didn’t feel like you were fighting cardboard cutouts anymore. It really felt like every enemy was desperately trying to keep you from reaching your goal. When you combine such immersive gameplay with the already immersive story, you get an incredibly full experience. This is how an action RPG should play. In the Mass Effect 1 and 2, combat felt like a formality. You could tell that the developers really wanted to tell a story and they felt like the action segments and combat were par-for-course. In Mass Effect 3, you feel like combat and story are working together.

What Was Lame

I don’t even think I have to say it.

The ending.

For a game that touted itself on being choice-driven and epic, the series, unfortunately, ends with not even a whimper, but a death rattle. The player doesn’t get that fuzzy feeling of having resolved anything. Side-by-side, the endings might as well have been copied-and-pasted, with minor color changes.

Of course, you can get a more fleshed-out ending if you have the DLCs installed, but many fans feel shorted by the vanilla ending. Imagine if Star Wars just ended with Luke killing Vader, then going home, making some tea, and taking a nap. That’s what the Mass Effect 3 ending is.

Conclusion

While Bioware may have scuffed their knee on the ending, Mass Effect 3 is still a solid game. It’s fun and easy to make fun of the non-existent ending, but for what it was (up until the last five minutes of the game) it really knew how to integrate action and story while still giving the player a voice. Plus, if you do have all the DLCs, the ending is a little more fleshed-out and conclusive. So, in my opinion, the best Mass Effect game is Mass Effect 3.

My rating for this game: 4.6/5 stars

So, the winners are *drum rolls*

1. Mass Effect 3

2. Mass Effect 1

3. Mass Effect 2

However, this is just one man’s opinion. I’m a big fan of story and while Mass Effect’s story was incredible, the gameplay, at times, missed the mark.
So, what do you guys think?

Main Image caption:

Commander Shepard in Mass Effect 3

Image Gallery: