Hello and good day. I know most of us all here know what is RPG stands for, but what really is RPG?
RPG is a very broad genre of playing that dates back to the days of the pen-and-paper type of gaming, Dungeons and Dragons. And now, it refers to any game that where a player, is the one controlling the game, as he/she is playing the role of the main character and decides the actions that the character should take, within the given gameplay and storyline.
RPG is a very wide and broad topic, so I'm going to narrow it down and with the help of some people(which apparently are all secret), I, in their behalf will show our own console RPG timeline:
1980's to early 1990's: The birth of RPG's
Some of us didn't grew up in this times, where AD&D(Advanced Dungeons and Dragons), Dragon Stomper debuts and made an impact to the gaming world. Also, in this time also where the famous "Final Fantasy" and "Zelda" series had their start under the NES console. I, to be frank, had no idea about AD&D(Intellivision) and Dragon Stomper(Atari 2600) is, maybe it's because before the early 90's came to dawn, the consoles and the games came obsolete. Hardcore old school gamers, especially the literally old ones, used to enjoy these RPG's during it's prime.
1990's to 2004: The evolution, revolution and the golden age of RPG's
In the early 1990's to the early parts of 21st century, the console RPG's skyrocketed to new heights. Final Fantasy, keeps on making their sequel games better and better as years past. Final Fantasy, after it's debut in 1990, released 6 more sequel games under the NES(later SNES) console.
And also, Fire Emblem, Luna, Breath of Fire, and SaGa series starts to emerge from the market as well. Consoles like NES(SNES), MSX2, SCD, GB and other console companies keeps the competitive fire alive, by releasing their console RPG's of their own, every year just to keep up within the market.
This all fell when Sony, one of the electronic appliance giants, released their own console, the "Playstation". This console sold twice or thrice that the Sony company sold their other appliances(TV, Fridges etc.) in years.
Some of the games, like Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen had been remade to fit in PS1. This is also the time where, epic RPG's, like Wild ARMs, SaGa Frontier(debut since the crappy SaGa in Gameboy), and the most recognized RPG of the decade, Final Fantasy VII. Who could forget the hate between Cloud and Sepiroth? The romance story of Cloud and Aerith. And Wild ARMs, that for some, inspired by the story, the characters, and had the epic opening theme song that every time they hear the song, makes their tears drop from their eyes to their cheeks.
What other RPG's got their reputation in Playstation years? Valkyrie Profile(debut and the prequel of Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria), Xenogears(followed by Xenosaga in the early 2000 in PS2), Legend of Legaia, Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, Castlevania: SOTN(the first Castlevania game that goes into the RPG concept), Lunar(Eternal Blue and Silver Star Story), Legend of Mana, Suikoden(1 and 2), Persona, Parasite Eve, Star Ocean and many more(sorry if I cannot type it anymore, they're just too many ^_^).
Hmmm, what else comes after the Playstation era? Let's see, portable consoles! Remember Gameboy? We know it's crappy. Well it also had an improvement, the Gameboy Color, and later came the GBA(Gameboy Advance). Many famous games also had their remakes on the GBA console. This is where, Lady Lyndis of Fire Emblem 7: Blazing Sword, Soma Cruz of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, and the Pokemon series went ballistic!
There are lots of memories in this era, where some games for the first time, really went 3D(unfortunately, some of them are really, really bad for your eyesight), and different styles of RPG emerged. Turn based, tactics, charatcer turn-based, even first person.
And PS2, the much, much better version of the famous PS1 took off in the early 2000. Games back in PS1, are way better in the sequels to come in this console. Like the game Final Fantasy X and X-2, followed the trend of Final Fantasy, VII, VIII, and IX.
Dante everyone? This also debuts the game, that features the white haired, rock star looking, ricocheting gunner, Dante of the game "Devil May Cry".
RPG's in PS2, turned 3D and made a quantum leap. Making the 3D characters look like they are real. And peeps, they're very good looking! If you're a guy, you maybe drooling at Yuna, and envying at Dante's looks(like me, haha!).
Truly, the golden age of console RPG came from these years. No doubt and everyone will surely agree on this. This decade changed on how RPG's supposed to be played and looked upon. There are hearts and minds being inspired, and people, well, passionately amused by it.
2005 to present: RPG: A great leap
Console RPG's keeps on making their sequels, even better, and wants to surpass what the prequels have done before. Still the main players are still there, like "Final Fantasy", Final Fantasy XIII(which features Ivalice in its old form, which is different in FF Tactics), Devil May Cry, and many more.
All we can say is, the RPG's nowadays brings "ohhhhhh"'s and "ahhhhhhh"'s but sometimes it's been overdone. But who cares? At least the console RPG concept is still there and many people enjoy playing it.
Final Thoughts
No matter what age of console RPG we used to see when we grew up, it's a matter of enjoying our need to press the buttons, make our characters safe and finishing the story.
That is console RPG's are all about, making us think, and making us enjoy every moment of our gaming pleasures every time. It doesn't matter what generation are you when you started playing RPG, X or Y, throw that outside of the window. Console RPG's revolutionized our way of games to be played. And that is fact.
"Have a Vicky-Free SUMMER!", everyone!^_^
Last edited Sun, 21 Feb 2010, 6:54pm by HomerRugliaBeoulve
"You think video games were bad? That's what they said about rock and roll."
-Shigeru Miyamoto, father of modern video games, and the creator of Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, and Starfox.
