Summary
Although the RPG genre has actually been around since the late 1980s, it wasduring the 90s and early 2000swhen it really started to take off in terms of popularity and critical acclaim. As with any genre, though, RPGs needed to adapt and modernize with the times in order to draw in new audiences; otherwise, these sorts of games could have easily become nothing more than stale iterations of one another without anything setting them apart and making them unique.
Thankfully, though, this didn’t end up being the case due to a few very important titles that helped to innovate the genre in numerous different ways. Whether it’s throughthe gameplay mechanics, the sense of freedom granted to the player, or even just the setting of a game, there are a handful ofRPGs that took a bold riskin trying something entirely new and different from their predecessors, and it’s these games that this list is going to analyze today.
Although it was being made very clear that Atlus was trying something new with the first twoPersonatitles, they managed to nail down pretty much every aspect of the series in the third game, especially with the introduction of Social Links. This refers to the relationship that players can have with charactersoutside of Tartarus, which is the game’s dungeon, and by speaking to these individuals and growing closer to them, the Persona that they represent will be buffed. This means that they are directly tied to the battle system and make the player stronger.
BeforePersona 3, many RPGs followed a simple formula of traveling from A to B and picking up weapons and items along the way to become more powerful, but Atlus made the clever decision to actually tie this to regular NPCs, encouraging players to take a break from the constant fighting to hang out with friends from time to time. On paper, tearing the player away from the core RPG battle experience to pursue a normal everyday life sounds like a disastrous idea, but Atlus managed to execute this to perfection withPersona 3’s Social Links mechanic.
AlthoughFinal Fantasy 7didn’t exactly change the turn-based gameplay much at all from its predecessors, one department where it was a massive step up was in its visuals. It can’t be underestimated just how groundbreakingFinal Fantasy 7’s graphicswere for the time, to the point where it actually helped bring a lot of legitimacy to a genre that had, for a very long time since, been seen as something more fantastical and niche.
The 3D character models felt much more believable and real than the pixel art that was being used for RPGs at the time, and this certainly applied to the Summons, each of which looked absolutely incredible when entering the battlefield to help out the party. Another key area whereFinal Fantasy 7innovated the RPG genre was through its Materia system, which allowed players to customize their character’s playstyles in a plethora of different ways rather than confining them to a single job, something that would become a much more prominent feature of futureFinal Fantasytitles and other games within the genre.
WhenEarthBoundfirst released back in 1995, it was surrounded by RPG games that were all firmly rooted in fantasy, with many people seeing the genre as being synonymous with worlds of dragons, wizards, and elves. In stark contrast,EarthBoundwas based in a pretty normal modern town while also embracinga very goofy tone. For example, while swords and potions were pretty standard for the RPG game,EarthBoundinstead featured items like the pencil eraser or soccer ball, all of which acted in similar ways to their traditional counterparts but were obviously much goofier iterations that almost felt like parodies.
Its tone and presentation may have been very different from what many people were used to, but at its core,EarthBoundstill told a very serious and heartfelt story that includes some pretty serious themes about individualism, friendship, and protecting the planet. It completely changed the popular view of the genre, and its influence can still be felt in many modern RPGs today that take a more modern approach to their visual style, such as the immensely popularStardew Valley, for example.
AlthoughBaldur’s Gate 3is a much morerecent RPG title, it’s hard to deny just how innovative the game is already proving to be, to the point where it’s pretty much guaranteed that all future games within the genre will begin to follow its lead in one way or another. While the point-and-click formula had already been used in the first two games, Larian Studios really went above and beyond withBaldur’s Gate 3in allowing the player to investigate almost anything and everything within the environment.
Sometimes, this can result in nothing more than a quick bit of dialogue, but other times, it can lead to a whole new quest that can take numerous hours to complete. It’s honestly staggering just how much care and attention to detail has been put intoBaldur’s Gate 3, and it’s undoubtedly going to encourage plenty of developers to also try and incorporate some of these more subtle elements into their RPG titles to make the game as much of a role-playing simulator as possible.
At a time when the RPG formula of killing endless hordes of faceless enemies for EXP and taking on evil bosses felt like it was becoming a little worn out,Undertalecompletely flipped the template on its head, and as a result, changed the way people would view the genre forever. On the surface,Undertalecan seem like a pretty lighthearted and standard indie RPG title, but it soon becomes obvious that the game is trying to say something a lot more profound about the genre it’s based in, and more specifically, the patterns that players find themselves falling into while playing.
For example, rather than the weak enemies being random monsters with no real purpose, every opponent inUndertaleis made to feel like a real person with at least some sort of personality, making the notion of killing them just for EXP seem a little more unnerving. While consistent grinding had become a normal part of the RPG gameplay loop,Undertaleactually starts to react to this ina much more negative light, with characters being afraid of the player if they go on killing sprees, and the music becomes much more unsettling, too. Ever since its release, there have been a plethora of indie RPG titles that have also tried to dissect the genre, such asAstromedaandIn Stars and Time, for example, which are all heavily inspired byUndertale’s unique writing and gameplay.
Although RPGs are all about letting the player make their own choices to forge their own story, developers would always need to insert some sort of restrictions to keep gamers on the beaten path, ensuring they don’t do anything that could be considered too outlandish.Fallout: New Vegas, though, does things a little differently, allowing the player to tackle every mission in any way they want without punishing them for their decisions. What’s more is, because there isn’t technically one definitive plot line sincethere are so many factions, it literally means that the player’s actions will dictate the story as they go.
For example, while players will be invited to attend Caesar’s Legion at a certain part in the game, the game won’t tell them how to interact with the group and will simply leave it up to them on whether they feel like following, killing, or eventually betraying the Legion. The fact that Skill ratings could also influence what players could say in conversations also helped to add yet another layer of immersion that other developers just weren’t paying much attention to at the time. Many RPGs are still trying to pull off this sense of unlimited player freedom as well asNew Vegasdid back in 2010, with the game still standing the test of time to this very day for how flexible and utterly replayable it is.
Chrono Triggerhas influenced RPGs in so many ways, it could be argued that it is essentially the game that single-handedly birthed the ‘modern’ RPG that so many gamers know and love today. Not only was it the first of its kind to feature multiple endings and branching storylines, something almost every other future RPG would copy, but its usage of time travel asa gameplay mechanichas also been replicated both within the genre, with games likeRadiant Historia, and even outside of it, too, as seen inOcarina of Time.
Additionally,Chrono Triggeralso set the precedent for how to utilize music to elevate an RPG experience, using slow and somber tracks in between action set pieces and then ramping up the melodies when a battle is about to take place. Plot-related side-quests were also something that had never been seen before, which have now become a staple of triple AAA RPGs likeCyberpunk 2077andThe Witcher 3. There’s a huge list of ways thatChrono Triggerinnovated the RPG genre, with the game undoubtedly laying out the blueprint for all future games to build upon and learn from.
