Magic_Of_Light: RPG stands for role playing game. It is a story driven game, where magic, weapons, and training will make you stronger over time. Some people call mass effect a shooter, because it has shooting elements. But the core of the game is rpg, just as it is with skyrim and oblivion. Action combat does not make it any less rpg than say wizardry 7 with its turn based combat.
There is casual rpg, and action rpg, and strategy rpg, and shooter rpg, and first person rpg, ect ect ect. But they are still rpgs. Just because they arent your style doesnt mean they are not rpgs. You just prefer the casual or strategy kinds like fallout, or baldurs gate.
Just to solidify my point here, here is a list.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_role-playing_game#Early_1980s They date way back, its not like its new.
Going by your logic the legend of zelda was not an rpg. Even though you grind for money, buy things, collect health magic weapons, find secrets, battle bosses, ect ect. Adventure rpg, action rpg, rpg is the core mechanics of how characters progress, not the combat alone.
Whether a game is story driven does not affect the genre, nor do magic (absent in Wasteland/Fallout), weapons (absent in Quest 64), and training (absent in Legend of the Ghost Lion) define the (game) genre of a game. On the other hand, the main gameplay style (in this case, turn-based menu-based combat) *is* what defines a genre. Therefore, action combat *does* make a game not an RPG; said games are action games which just happen to have borrowed elements that are commonly seen in RPG.
With your Zelda example, I have never considered any of the games in the series to be RPGs; they're action games with some adventure elements. (I note, in particular, that "find secrets" and "battle bosses" aren't even RPG elements; finding secrets is native to the Adventure game genre (but it widespread in other genres; even Super Mario Bros. has secrets to find), and boss fights are extremely common in pure action games). Also, I believe the original Space Quest has you grind for money at one point (saving in case the slot machine decides to annihilate you).
The progression mechanics are not a factor in the genre at all. I could point out that, for example, in Touhou 12.8: Great Fairy Wars, you level up by freezing enemy bullets, but yet nobody would think of that particular game as an RPG. Then there's also Ghost Lion, which I mentioned, that lacks typical RPG progression mechanics but is still an RPG. I could also mention Wizardry 4 here, for another example of non-RPGish progression in a game that is generally considered an RPG.
One more thing: My classification of games is not related to my preferences. For example, I definitely enjoyed Shovel Knight, which is a game that people tend not to classify as an RPG. I also have Crimzon Clover, though I have never finished it. Also, challenging turn based RPGs are definitely *not* casual; just look at the Wizardry series, for example.
I honestly stopped reading your post when you still decided to ignore the definition of an RPG game. And the fact that there are different kinds of RPGs that are still in fact, RPGs. You obviously did not read the link i sent, that shows many examples and explains the definition of the RPG. In fact, ill copy it to here so you can read it for yourself, and stop making yourself look stupid.
Action role-playing games (abbreviated action RPG, action/RPG, or ARPG) form a loosely defined subgenre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat. These games often use combat systems similar to hack and slash or shooter games.[1]
And there you have it. Its still an RPG, but its an action, or adventure rpg. Or even a strategy RPG where positioning counts like fallout, while its turn based, because its not first person turn based and locked into that spot during combat, it is a strategy rpg. Just looking at your reputation, you have -99, there is good reason for that most likely. And most likely things like this post are why.
Bouchart: Incidentally, FF8 is one of my favorites. It takes 2, maybe 3 playthroughs to fully appreciate the game though.
I found FF8 to be the worst of the franchise between 1-9 honestly. The way you have to hunt for the items to make your good weapons, and then you get overleveled, and monsters level right along with you. I got to level 99 maxed at the beginning of the 3rd cd out of 4. And i put it down, and never wish to see that abomination again. FF10 also strayed away from the open world way final fantasy games used to be. You are locked onto a certain path yadda yadda, and it sucks to be on rails in any game. It may have eventually taken you off the rails and let you explore, but i got tired of it and put it down. FF7/9 were the last greats I played of the FF series. Both are amazing. 9 especially was very memorable for me. 7 was amazing, but 9 had far superior graphics which was a huge bonus.
