6 Games That Are Technically RPGs But Don’t Feel Like It

Defining what puts a game in the “roleplaying” genre is tricky. Any attempt at providing a definition can seemingly be countered with examples of games that incorporate some RPG elements but lack others, blurring the lines and boundaries of the genre. For the sake of simplicity, RPGs here will be defined as games with “choice-driven statistical progression, often with an emphasis on story.”

The choices players make during character creation or throughout the game usually lead to their character’s specialization, limiting their role to a specific area. The rise in popularity of RPGs, especially action RPGs and skill trees, has spawned plenty of games that are technically RPGs but don’t play like them.

6

Dark Souls

Timing Based Action But With Plenty Of RPG in Its Bones

The DNA of Dark Souls can be traced back to the Wizardry series, games that truly emphasize the “crawler” part of the dungeon crawler genre, which were in turn some of the earliest attempts at computerizing tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons. Like this forgotten (at least in the West) series, players choose classes, gain experience points (souls), level up, and customize their builds with gear.

Dark Souls lands squarely in the “action roleplaying” genre, which means there is a heavy emphasis on player skill. However, despite its reputation as one of the hardest games of all time, Dark Souls actually gets easier the more a player engages with the game, so long as they’re grinding and efficiently increasing their character’s stats.

5

XCOM

Tactical Squad Action With Heavy RPG Undercurrents

It is sometimes said that roleplaying in video games, even full-blown, bona fide RPGs, almost exclusively occurs in the player’s mind. If that is true, then XCOM comfortably fits the bill despite being built primarily as a turn-based tactical experience. Players control their party from a top-down perspective, researching alien tech, and upgrading their base. However, soldiers level up, specialize in a specific role, and gain class-based perks.

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The level of detail for each soldier (and not just graphically) gives players a strong emotional connection to their squad, and it is common to hear fans talk about back stories for their favorites, especially those who tragically perished in active service. Outside their bunks, these characters are only ever seen on the battlefield, but in fairness, those early Dungeons & Dragons characters were exclusively tied to the domain of dungeon-delving.

4

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

A Problem Of Definitions

For some gamers, “RPG” is a game where players are given a role to play out. For others, it means being able to create a character and co-writing the story through dialogue trees and actions taken (or not taken). For those who define the genre as the former, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt fits perfectly in, but for those who don’t (who would probably struggle to categorize what might be called classical JRPGs), The Witcher 3 falls more into the “action adventure” box.

It is perhaps because Geralt of Rivia has such a strong characterization that fans of sandbox-style RPGs find some disagreement in viewing The Witcher 3 as an RPG. The writing and presentation are so compelling that there is little space left for players to fill in the gaps with their imaginations. Whether this game feels RPG to the core or an action game hiding behind numbers and branching paths comes down to taste and semantics.

3

Pokemon Red & Blue

More Than Just A Collection Adventure

Pokemon Red and Blue

Systems

Released

September 28, 1998

It may appear to be just a collect-a-thon akin to bug collection, but Pokemon is fundamentally an RPG. Players manage stats, engage in strategic, turn-based battles, and make decisions that influence their team’s strengths and weaknesses. Some gamers would hesitate to label it an RPG, though, perhaps because the core gameplay loop, battling, feels more like a competitive sport than traditional combat, although there are now plenty of examples of sport-themed RPGs.

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Additionally, Pokémon takes place in a relatively mundane setting, with the exception of high-tech features like Pokémon teleportation and storage systems. Unlike most RPGs, which are often set in expansive fantasy or sci-fi worlds, Pokémon focuses on the personal and somewhat intimate journey of becoming a Champion, rather than battling apocalyptic threats or saving magical kingdoms.

2

Assassin’s Creed: Origins

Climbing A Different Tree Of Knowledge

Anyone who played the earlier Assassin’s Creed games of the late 2000s and early 2010s may raise an eyebrow about the addition of Assassin’s Creed: Origins to this list, but after the series’ soft reboot, each subsequent entry featured enough RPG elements (skill trees, statistical gear upgrades, and an emphasis on dialogue and quests) to warrant its reclassification.

However, despite numbers and progression playing a greater role, its parkour and action mechanics still felt rooted in the series’ action-oriented DNA. Because Origins was set long before the establishment of the Assassin Brotherhood it made ludonarrative sense that stealth and social stealth be potentially de-emphasized should players choose to specialize in direct combat via the warrior or the broad abilities of the seer.

1

Borderlands

On The Border Between Buildcraft Roleplay And Pew Pew Shooting

Systems

Released

October 20, 2009

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

Although there are plenty of number-crunching RPGs involving firearms on the market, the idea of squeezing together a first-person shooter and a statistically-based roleplaying game seems absurd on the face of it. Being shot in the face or a major organ wouldn’t reduce hit points in real life but would result in instant death.

Then again, shooting a gun over and over again is fun, and seeing numbers ping off enemies when they get shot rather than instantly dying is satisfying in its own way, as is receiving a better weapon with incrementally better stats. Besides increasing abilities via stats, there are also optional quests as well as skill trees and classes that limit players to one playstyle (or role!).

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