The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
Imagine the scene....
You’ve just bought the new big RPG on the day of release.
You run home filled with excitement, and put the disk on.
The opening sequence starts....A young boy is in the village, but..SHOCK HORROR..the village is attacked by a monster/evil troops.
You enter a battle against a tough foe, but you get knocked unconscious, as the enemy is too tough for you.
You wake up hours later in bed. You exit the house only to speak to an old lady who tells you that your one true love was kidnapped when the village was attacked.
However, you discover that the girl was wearing a magical pendant that will ultimately prove to be the key to either saving the world or destroying it. An old man gives you the sword that used to belong to your dead father and teaches you how to use it.
You visit the crazy village wizard who tells you that the girls pendant was one of "the five mystical stones", and in order to rescue the girl and save the world you will be required you to go out and find every last one of them before the baddies do.
And then begins your epic quest....
Have you ever played through a video game, specifically an RPG, but had that underlying thought that you’d seen it all before?
No, it’s not de-ja-vu, it’s the clichés and other anomalies that plague games.
It was whilst playing Golden Sun on the GBA that made me think about the gaming clichés, as although it was a great game, it was riddled with the usual RPG formulas.
Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy 7 & 8 and Golden Sun all display classic symptoms of what gaming experts have dubbed “RPG Cliché Disorder”, and although they’re all brilliant games that give great enjoyment to the player with an eventual happy ending, I wonder if we’ll see any different RPG storylines in the future?
So, lets talk through the typical elements associated with most RPG stories.
1. Characters--
RPG characters are predominantly very young. The usual age for a hero seems to be about 15, or possibly a battle-hardened soldier who may be 17.
Such teenagers often have skills with multiple weapons and magic and years of experience. They set out on an epic quest, even though adults would really do it.
You will accumulate so of these compulsory party members:
The cute princess who’s rebelling against her royal father by running away and also fancies our square-jawed hero.
The reserved, soft-spoken female magic user who specialises in healing magic. She is often the last survivor of an ancient race of magic users.
The tough-as-nails female warrior, possibly a ninja, who often argues with the hero.
The slightly camp gothic swordsman who is driven by inner tragedy and who is a great mystery.
The big tough angry sucka who, deep down like Mr. T, is a total softy.
The self-interested mercenary who over the course of the game discovers what it means to really care about other people (Like Han Solo).
The big cute animal that is fairly useless in all battles but provides great comic relief.
Whenever there is a sequel to an RPG that features the same main character as the previous game, that character will always start with beginner skills. Everything that they learned in the previous game will be gone, as will all their ultra-powerful weapons and equipment. Will this happen with Golden Sun 2? You bet it will!
The good guys always live in small villages in peaceful harmony with nature.
2. Enemies--
You will also face these mandatory enemies:
The remarkably good-looking and evil longhaired Adonis who may or may not be the final villain.
The villain's loyal right-hand man, who comes in two versions: entertainingly inept or tiresomely relentless.
The villain's attractive female henchwoman, who is the strongest and most capable soldier in the army but always lets the party escape because she's actually not as good as people think she is.
The honourable foe that you never actually kill because, upon discovering the true evil nature of his superiors, he either gallantly sacrifices himself or joins your party.
The mad scientist who likes creating evil creatures and powerful weapons because he has nothing better to do.
Many evil soldiers and a variety of monsters must be overcome to win the day.
You will have to kill the main evil villain at least twice at the end of the game. First the villain will look like a person or some winged creature and be somewhat easy to kill. Then he will grow to about 100 times the hero's size and be much harder to kill.
Technology is mostly evil and is the usual haven of the baddies. They have giant robots, factories and floating battle stations.
At the beginning of the game, rather than kill you when they have you at their mercy, the villains will settle for merely knocking you down to 1 hit point and leave you in a messy heap while they run off, laughing.
3. Levels—-
There's always a fire dungeon, an ice dungeon, a water temple, a sewer network, a mysterious misty forest, a creepy ghost ship, a shimmering crystal maze, an ancient aztec temple full of traps, a magic floating castle, a technological dungeon, a cave or underground tunnel system and a large boat like the desert ship in Mana or boat level in Golden Sun.
You will always hear about a fighting tournament or contest of skill, you will eventually be forced to enter and win like the coliseum in Golden Sun.
4. Inherent Kleptomania—-
In all RPGs, you’re nothing more than a dirty little thief. You can walk into just about anybody's house and start pilfering stuff. Anything you can find that's not nailed down is yours to keep. You will often walk into perfect strangers' houses, purloin their valuable artefacts, and then chat with them like you were old friends. Unfortunately, you can’t do this in the shops as all the items are hidden.
5. Weapons & Items—-
No matter when the game is set in, be it past, present, or future, the main hero will always use a sword for a weapon.
Just as the main male character will always use a sword or a variant of a sword, the main female character will always use a magical rod or a staff.
The big tough character will have a huge gun.
In every town, you will be able to buy items (usually potions) that instantly heal any wound. Despite their amazing and implausible power, these healing items are conveniently cheap and light, allowing you to purchase and carry loads of them at one time.
All enemies you kill will give coins, even small bugs that don’t have wallets.
6. Supporting Cast—-
You will ever encounter many other characters in the course of your adventure: The royal family, its untrustworthy advisor, the occasional mad scientist, government workers such as guards & kitchen staff and loads of old codgers or tiny kids in the villages.
No matter how many times you talk to them, the average passer-by will always say the same thing,
Nobody ever seems to be worried that a group of kids are wandering around villages armed with loads of weapons, and people never avoid you or seem to be especially shocked or alarmed when a heavily armed gang bursts into their house during dinner, searches through their possessions, and demands to know if they've seen an evil looking villain recently.
Although RPG games are the usual offenders, there are other genres that include the odd cliché or nitpicking oddities:
In first person shooters, you can carry absolutely loads of firepower. The character must have a big backpack or strong arms. (Although in Halo can’t you only carry 2 guns?)
And again in FPS games, guards pile through the door and get cut down by the hero, yet they persist in still coming through to their inevitable death.
The over use of flashy lens flare in racing games.
When confronted with locked doors, like in games like Resident Evil, why can’t you just shot the door with a shotgun or rocket launcher to open it?
Walk through a door or up stairs, and the pursuing enemies don’t bother to follow you. For example, in alert mode in MGS2 when guards are chasing you & the zombies in Resident Evil that can’t walk up stairs.
In many action games, the main character can take loads of hits before dying, but enemies go down in 1 or 2 shots.
In shoot ‘em ups; giant enemy crafts ALWAYS have weak spots. It’s almost like the baddies designed them with the weakest spot exposed on purpose, and it always flashes to show the good guy where it must be hit.
How come the police in GTA3 don’t chase other criminals, only you?
What about those guns that never seem to run out of ammunition like in Contra?
Why is it that characters like Mario can touch an enemy and die, but enemies only die when you step on them?
How can a simple Herb cure zombieness in Resident Evil, and rations in MGS are able to heal gunshot wounds.
How the heck do floating platforms work??
And no matter how many coins Mario collects, he never has a large bulge in the pocket of his dungarees :)
You’ve just bought the new big RPG on the day of release.
You run home filled with excitement, and put the disk on.
The opening sequence starts....A young boy is in the village, but..SHOCK HORROR..the village is attacked by a monster/evil troops.
You enter a battle against a tough foe, but you get knocked unconscious, as the enemy is too tough for you.
You wake up hours later in bed. You exit the house only to speak to an old lady who tells you that your one true love was kidnapped when the village was attacked.
However, you discover that the girl was wearing a magical pendant that will ultimately prove to be the key to either saving the world or destroying it. An old man gives you the sword that used to belong to your dead father and teaches you how to use it.
You visit the crazy village wizard who tells you that the girls pendant was one of "the five mystical stones", and in order to rescue the girl and save the world you will be required you to go out and find every last one of them before the baddies do.
And then begins your epic quest....
Have you ever played through a video game, specifically an RPG, but had that underlying thought that you’d seen it all before?
No, it’s not de-ja-vu, it’s the clichés and other anomalies that plague games.
It was whilst playing Golden Sun on the GBA that made me think about the gaming clichés, as although it was a great game, it was riddled with the usual RPG formulas.
Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy 7 & 8 and Golden Sun all display classic symptoms of what gaming experts have dubbed “RPG Cliché Disorder”, and although they’re all brilliant games that give great enjoyment to the player with an eventual happy ending, I wonder if we’ll see any different RPG storylines in the future?
So, lets talk through the typical elements associated with most RPG stories.
1. Characters--
RPG characters are predominantly very young. The usual age for a hero seems to be about 15, or possibly a battle-hardened soldier who may be 17.
Such teenagers often have skills with multiple weapons and magic and years of experience. They set out on an epic quest, even though adults would really do it.
You will accumulate so of these compulsory party members:
The cute princess who’s rebelling against her royal father by running away and also fancies our square-jawed hero.
The reserved, soft-spoken female magic user who specialises in healing magic. She is often the last survivor of an ancient race of magic users.
The tough-as-nails female warrior, possibly a ninja, who often argues with the hero.
The slightly camp gothic swordsman who is driven by inner tragedy and who is a great mystery.
The big tough angry sucka who, deep down like Mr. T, is a total softy.
The self-interested mercenary who over the course of the game discovers what it means to really care about other people (Like Han Solo).
The big cute animal that is fairly useless in all battles but provides great comic relief.
Whenever there is a sequel to an RPG that features the same main character as the previous game, that character will always start with beginner skills. Everything that they learned in the previous game will be gone, as will all their ultra-powerful weapons and equipment. Will this happen with Golden Sun 2? You bet it will!
The good guys always live in small villages in peaceful harmony with nature.
2. Enemies--
You will also face these mandatory enemies:
The remarkably good-looking and evil longhaired Adonis who may or may not be the final villain.
The villain's loyal right-hand man, who comes in two versions: entertainingly inept or tiresomely relentless.
The villain's attractive female henchwoman, who is the strongest and most capable soldier in the army but always lets the party escape because she's actually not as good as people think she is.
The honourable foe that you never actually kill because, upon discovering the true evil nature of his superiors, he either gallantly sacrifices himself or joins your party.
The mad scientist who likes creating evil creatures and powerful weapons because he has nothing better to do.
Many evil soldiers and a variety of monsters must be overcome to win the day.
You will have to kill the main evil villain at least twice at the end of the game. First the villain will look like a person or some winged creature and be somewhat easy to kill. Then he will grow to about 100 times the hero's size and be much harder to kill.
Technology is mostly evil and is the usual haven of the baddies. They have giant robots, factories and floating battle stations.
At the beginning of the game, rather than kill you when they have you at their mercy, the villains will settle for merely knocking you down to 1 hit point and leave you in a messy heap while they run off, laughing.
3. Levels—-
There's always a fire dungeon, an ice dungeon, a water temple, a sewer network, a mysterious misty forest, a creepy ghost ship, a shimmering crystal maze, an ancient aztec temple full of traps, a magic floating castle, a technological dungeon, a cave or underground tunnel system and a large boat like the desert ship in Mana or boat level in Golden Sun.
You will always hear about a fighting tournament or contest of skill, you will eventually be forced to enter and win like the coliseum in Golden Sun.
4. Inherent Kleptomania—-
In all RPGs, you’re nothing more than a dirty little thief. You can walk into just about anybody's house and start pilfering stuff. Anything you can find that's not nailed down is yours to keep. You will often walk into perfect strangers' houses, purloin their valuable artefacts, and then chat with them like you were old friends. Unfortunately, you can’t do this in the shops as all the items are hidden.
5. Weapons & Items—-
No matter when the game is set in, be it past, present, or future, the main hero will always use a sword for a weapon.
Just as the main male character will always use a sword or a variant of a sword, the main female character will always use a magical rod or a staff.
The big tough character will have a huge gun.
In every town, you will be able to buy items (usually potions) that instantly heal any wound. Despite their amazing and implausible power, these healing items are conveniently cheap and light, allowing you to purchase and carry loads of them at one time.
All enemies you kill will give coins, even small bugs that don’t have wallets.
6. Supporting Cast—-
You will ever encounter many other characters in the course of your adventure: The royal family, its untrustworthy advisor, the occasional mad scientist, government workers such as guards & kitchen staff and loads of old codgers or tiny kids in the villages.
No matter how many times you talk to them, the average passer-by will always say the same thing,
Nobody ever seems to be worried that a group of kids are wandering around villages armed with loads of weapons, and people never avoid you or seem to be especially shocked or alarmed when a heavily armed gang bursts into their house during dinner, searches through their possessions, and demands to know if they've seen an evil looking villain recently.
Although RPG games are the usual offenders, there are other genres that include the odd cliché or nitpicking oddities:
In first person shooters, you can carry absolutely loads of firepower. The character must have a big backpack or strong arms. (Although in Halo can’t you only carry 2 guns?)
And again in FPS games, guards pile through the door and get cut down by the hero, yet they persist in still coming through to their inevitable death.
The over use of flashy lens flare in racing games.
When confronted with locked doors, like in games like Resident Evil, why can’t you just shot the door with a shotgun or rocket launcher to open it?
Walk through a door or up stairs, and the pursuing enemies don’t bother to follow you. For example, in alert mode in MGS2 when guards are chasing you & the zombies in Resident Evil that can’t walk up stairs.
In many action games, the main character can take loads of hits before dying, but enemies go down in 1 or 2 shots.
In shoot ‘em ups; giant enemy crafts ALWAYS have weak spots. It’s almost like the baddies designed them with the weakest spot exposed on purpose, and it always flashes to show the good guy where it must be hit.
How come the police in GTA3 don’t chase other criminals, only you?
What about those guns that never seem to run out of ammunition like in Contra?
Why is it that characters like Mario can touch an enemy and die, but enemies only die when you step on them?
How can a simple Herb cure zombieness in Resident Evil, and rations in MGS are able to heal gunshot wounds.
How the heck do floating platforms work??
And no matter how many coins Mario collects, he never has a large bulge in the pocket of his dungarees :)
Page:
There have been no replies to this thread yet.
Imagine the scene....
You’ve just bought the new big RPG on the day of release.
You run home filled with excitement, and put the disk on.
The opening sequence starts....A young boy is in the village, but..SHOCK HORROR..the village is attacked by a monster/evil troops.
You enter a battle against a tough foe, but you get knocked unconscious, as the enemy is too tough for you.
You wake up hours later in bed. You exit the house only to speak to an old lady who tells you that your one true love was kidnapped when the village was attacked.
However, you discover that the girl was wearing a magical pendant that will ultimately prove to be the key to either saving the world or destroying it. An old man gives you the sword that used to belong to your dead father and teaches you how to use it.
You visit the crazy village wizard who tells you that the girls pendant was one of "the five mystical stones", and in order to rescue the girl and save the world you will be required you to go out and find every last one of them before the baddies do.
And then begins your epic quest....
Have you ever played through a video game, specifically an RPG, but had that underlying thought that you’d seen it all before?
No, it’s not de-ja-vu, it’s the clichés and other anomalies that plague games.
It was whilst playing Golden Sun on the GBA that made me think about the gaming clichés, as although it was a great game, it was riddled with the usual RPG formulas.
Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy 7 & 8 and Golden Sun all display classic symptoms of what gaming experts have dubbed “RPG Cliché Disorder”, and although they’re all brilliant games that give great enjoyment to the player with an eventual happy ending, I wonder if we’ll see any different RPG storylines in the future?
So, lets talk through the typical elements associated with most RPG stories.
1. Characters--
RPG characters are predominantly very young. The usual age for a hero seems to be about 15, or possibly a battle-hardened soldier who may be 17.
Such teenagers often have skills with multiple weapons and magic and years of experience. They set out on an epic quest, even though adults would really do it.
You will accumulate so of these compulsory party members:
The cute princess who’s rebelling against her royal father by running away and also fancies our square-jawed hero.
The reserved, soft-spoken female magic user who specialises in healing magic. She is often the last survivor of an ancient race of magic users.
The tough-as-nails female warrior, possibly a ninja, who often argues with the hero.
The slightly camp gothic swordsman who is driven by inner tragedy and who is a great mystery.
The big tough angry sucka who, deep down like Mr. T, is a total softy.
The self-interested mercenary who over the course of the game discovers what it means to really care about other people (Like Han Solo).
The big cute animal that is fairly useless in all battles but provides great comic relief.
Whenever there is a sequel to an RPG that features the same main character as the previous game, that character will always start with beginner skills. Everything that they learned in the previous game will be gone, as will all their ultra-powerful weapons and equipment. Will this happen with Golden Sun 2? You bet it will!
The good guys always live in small villages in peaceful harmony with nature.
2. Enemies--
You will also face these mandatory enemies:
The remarkably good-looking and evil longhaired Adonis who may or may not be the final villain.
The villain's loyal right-hand man, who comes in two versions: entertainingly inept or tiresomely relentless.
The villain's attractive female henchwoman, who is the strongest and most capable soldier in the army but always lets the party escape because she's actually not as good as people think she is.
The honourable foe that you never actually kill because, upon discovering the true evil nature of his superiors, he either gallantly sacrifices himself or joins your party.
The mad scientist who likes creating evil creatures and powerful weapons because he has nothing better to do.
Many evil soldiers and a variety of monsters must be overcome to win the day.
You will have to kill the main evil villain at least twice at the end of the game. First the villain will look like a person or some winged creature and be somewhat easy to kill. Then he will grow to about 100 times the hero's size and be much harder to kill.
Technology is mostly evil and is the usual haven of the baddies. They have giant robots, factories and floating battle stations.
At the beginning of the game, rather than kill you when they have you at their mercy, the villains will settle for merely knocking you down to 1 hit point and leave you in a messy heap while they run off, laughing.
3. Levels—-
There's always a fire dungeon, an ice dungeon, a water temple, a sewer network, a mysterious misty forest, a creepy ghost ship, a shimmering crystal maze, an ancient aztec temple full of traps, a magic floating castle, a technological dungeon, a cave or underground tunnel system and a large boat like the desert ship in Mana or boat level in Golden Sun.
You will always hear about a fighting tournament or contest of skill, you will eventually be forced to enter and win like the coliseum in Golden Sun.
4. Inherent Kleptomania—-
In all RPGs, you’re nothing more than a dirty little thief. You can walk into just about anybody's house and start pilfering stuff. Anything you can find that's not nailed down is yours to keep. You will often walk into perfect strangers' houses, purloin their valuable artefacts, and then chat with them like you were old friends. Unfortunately, you can’t do this in the shops as all the items are hidden.
5. Weapons & Items—-
No matter when the game is set in, be it past, present, or future, the main hero will always use a sword for a weapon.
Just as the main male character will always use a sword or a variant of a sword, the main female character will always use a magical rod or a staff.
The big tough character will have a huge gun.
In every town, you will be able to buy items (usually potions) that instantly heal any wound. Despite their amazing and implausible power, these healing items are conveniently cheap and light, allowing you to purchase and carry loads of them at one time.
All enemies you kill will give coins, even small bugs that don’t have wallets.
6. Supporting Cast—-
You will ever encounter many other characters in the course of your adventure: The royal family, its untrustworthy advisor, the occasional mad scientist, government workers such as guards & kitchen staff and loads of old codgers or tiny kids in the villages.
No matter how many times you talk to them, the average passer-by will always say the same thing,
Nobody ever seems to be worried that a group of kids are wandering around villages armed with loads of weapons, and people never avoid you or seem to be especially shocked or alarmed when a heavily armed gang bursts into their house during dinner, searches through their possessions, and demands to know if they've seen an evil looking villain recently.
Although RPG games are the usual offenders, there are other genres that include the odd cliché or nitpicking oddities:
In first person shooters, you can carry absolutely loads of firepower. The character must have a big backpack or strong arms. (Although in Halo can’t you only carry 2 guns?)
And again in FPS games, guards pile through the door and get cut down by the hero, yet they persist in still coming through to their inevitable death.
The over use of flashy lens flare in racing games.
When confronted with locked doors, like in games like Resident Evil, why can’t you just shot the door with a shotgun or rocket launcher to open it?
Walk through a door or up stairs, and the pursuing enemies don’t bother to follow you. For example, in alert mode in MGS2 when guards are chasing you & the zombies in Resident Evil that can’t walk up stairs.
In many action games, the main character can take loads of hits before dying, but enemies go down in 1 or 2 shots.
In shoot ‘em ups; giant enemy crafts ALWAYS have weak spots. It’s almost like the baddies designed them with the weakest spot exposed on purpose, and it always flashes to show the good guy where it must be hit.
How come the police in GTA3 don’t chase other criminals, only you?
What about those guns that never seem to run out of ammunition like in Contra?
Why is it that characters like Mario can touch an enemy and die, but enemies only die when you step on them?
How can a simple Herb cure zombieness in Resident Evil, and rations in MGS are able to heal gunshot wounds.
How the heck do floating platforms work??
And no matter how many coins Mario collects, he never has a large bulge in the pocket of his dungarees :)
You’ve just bought the new big RPG on the day of release.
You run home filled with excitement, and put the disk on.
The opening sequence starts....A young boy is in the village, but..SHOCK HORROR..the village is attacked by a monster/evil troops.
You enter a battle against a tough foe, but you get knocked unconscious, as the enemy is too tough for you.
You wake up hours later in bed. You exit the house only to speak to an old lady who tells you that your one true love was kidnapped when the village was attacked.
However, you discover that the girl was wearing a magical pendant that will ultimately prove to be the key to either saving the world or destroying it. An old man gives you the sword that used to belong to your dead father and teaches you how to use it.
You visit the crazy village wizard who tells you that the girls pendant was one of "the five mystical stones", and in order to rescue the girl and save the world you will be required you to go out and find every last one of them before the baddies do.
And then begins your epic quest....
Have you ever played through a video game, specifically an RPG, but had that underlying thought that you’d seen it all before?
No, it’s not de-ja-vu, it’s the clichés and other anomalies that plague games.
It was whilst playing Golden Sun on the GBA that made me think about the gaming clichés, as although it was a great game, it was riddled with the usual RPG formulas.
Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy 7 & 8 and Golden Sun all display classic symptoms of what gaming experts have dubbed “RPG Cliché Disorder”, and although they’re all brilliant games that give great enjoyment to the player with an eventual happy ending, I wonder if we’ll see any different RPG storylines in the future?
So, lets talk through the typical elements associated with most RPG stories.
1. Characters--
RPG characters are predominantly very young. The usual age for a hero seems to be about 15, or possibly a battle-hardened soldier who may be 17.
Such teenagers often have skills with multiple weapons and magic and years of experience. They set out on an epic quest, even though adults would really do it.
You will accumulate so of these compulsory party members:
The cute princess who’s rebelling against her royal father by running away and also fancies our square-jawed hero.
The reserved, soft-spoken female magic user who specialises in healing magic. She is often the last survivor of an ancient race of magic users.
The tough-as-nails female warrior, possibly a ninja, who often argues with the hero.
The slightly camp gothic swordsman who is driven by inner tragedy and who is a great mystery.
The big tough angry sucka who, deep down like Mr. T, is a total softy.
The self-interested mercenary who over the course of the game discovers what it means to really care about other people (Like Han Solo).
The big cute animal that is fairly useless in all battles but provides great comic relief.
Whenever there is a sequel to an RPG that features the same main character as the previous game, that character will always start with beginner skills. Everything that they learned in the previous game will be gone, as will all their ultra-powerful weapons and equipment. Will this happen with Golden Sun 2? You bet it will!
The good guys always live in small villages in peaceful harmony with nature.
2. Enemies--
You will also face these mandatory enemies:
The remarkably good-looking and evil longhaired Adonis who may or may not be the final villain.
The villain's loyal right-hand man, who comes in two versions: entertainingly inept or tiresomely relentless.
The villain's attractive female henchwoman, who is the strongest and most capable soldier in the army but always lets the party escape because she's actually not as good as people think she is.
The honourable foe that you never actually kill because, upon discovering the true evil nature of his superiors, he either gallantly sacrifices himself or joins your party.
The mad scientist who likes creating evil creatures and powerful weapons because he has nothing better to do.
Many evil soldiers and a variety of monsters must be overcome to win the day.
You will have to kill the main evil villain at least twice at the end of the game. First the villain will look like a person or some winged creature and be somewhat easy to kill. Then he will grow to about 100 times the hero's size and be much harder to kill.
Technology is mostly evil and is the usual haven of the baddies. They have giant robots, factories and floating battle stations.
At the beginning of the game, rather than kill you when they have you at their mercy, the villains will settle for merely knocking you down to 1 hit point and leave you in a messy heap while they run off, laughing.
3. Levels—-
There's always a fire dungeon, an ice dungeon, a water temple, a sewer network, a mysterious misty forest, a creepy ghost ship, a shimmering crystal maze, an ancient aztec temple full of traps, a magic floating castle, a technological dungeon, a cave or underground tunnel system and a large boat like the desert ship in Mana or boat level in Golden Sun.
You will always hear about a fighting tournament or contest of skill, you will eventually be forced to enter and win like the coliseum in Golden Sun.
4. Inherent Kleptomania—-
In all RPGs, you’re nothing more than a dirty little thief. You can walk into just about anybody's house and start pilfering stuff. Anything you can find that's not nailed down is yours to keep. You will often walk into perfect strangers' houses, purloin their valuable artefacts, and then chat with them like you were old friends. Unfortunately, you can’t do this in the shops as all the items are hidden.
5. Weapons & Items—-
No matter when the game is set in, be it past, present, or future, the main hero will always use a sword for a weapon.
Just as the main male character will always use a sword or a variant of a sword, the main female character will always use a magical rod or a staff.
The big tough character will have a huge gun.
In every town, you will be able to buy items (usually potions) that instantly heal any wound. Despite their amazing and implausible power, these healing items are conveniently cheap and light, allowing you to purchase and carry loads of them at one time.
All enemies you kill will give coins, even small bugs that don’t have wallets.
6. Supporting Cast—-
You will ever encounter many other characters in the course of your adventure: The royal family, its untrustworthy advisor, the occasional mad scientist, government workers such as guards & kitchen staff and loads of old codgers or tiny kids in the villages.
No matter how many times you talk to them, the average passer-by will always say the same thing,
Nobody ever seems to be worried that a group of kids are wandering around villages armed with loads of weapons, and people never avoid you or seem to be especially shocked or alarmed when a heavily armed gang bursts into their house during dinner, searches through their possessions, and demands to know if they've seen an evil looking villain recently.
Although RPG games are the usual offenders, there are other genres that include the odd cliché or nitpicking oddities:
In first person shooters, you can carry absolutely loads of firepower. The character must have a big backpack or strong arms. (Although in Halo can’t you only carry 2 guns?)
And again in FPS games, guards pile through the door and get cut down by the hero, yet they persist in still coming through to their inevitable death.
The over use of flashy lens flare in racing games.
When confronted with locked doors, like in games like Resident Evil, why can’t you just shot the door with a shotgun or rocket launcher to open it?
Walk through a door or up stairs, and the pursuing enemies don’t bother to follow you. For example, in alert mode in MGS2 when guards are chasing you & the zombies in Resident Evil that can’t walk up stairs.
In many action games, the main character can take loads of hits before dying, but enemies go down in 1 or 2 shots.
In shoot ‘em ups; giant enemy crafts ALWAYS have weak spots. It’s almost like the baddies designed them with the weakest spot exposed on purpose, and it always flashes to show the good guy where it must be hit.
How come the police in GTA3 don’t chase other criminals, only you?
What about those guns that never seem to run out of ammunition like in Contra?
Why is it that characters like Mario can touch an enemy and die, but enemies only die when you step on them?
How can a simple Herb cure zombieness in Resident Evil, and rations in MGS are able to heal gunshot wounds.
How the heck do floating platforms work??
And no matter how many coins Mario collects, he never has a large bulge in the pocket of his dungarees :)
Page: