Quote Originally Posted by Gabriel View Post
But what about storyline? I'm sure we can all agree that storyline is a key element of an RPG,
No we can't. Most of those "founding fathers" didn't really have storylines that served more purpose than framing the action. Some still don't. And as you said, other genres have storylines. Ninja Gaiden had a storyline. King's Quest had a storyline. Neither are RPGs.

......

And if I may go off on a tangent...

I'm seriously thinking that all our old genre titles need to be replaced. They're outmoded, outdated, and generally too vague. "RPG" Especially--as we've all noticed, the term is meaningless because you don't really "role play" (or, if you look at it from the opposite perspective, ALL games allow you to role-play).

In the place of old, outdated genre classifications, I propose the following:

A&E (Action and Exploration) = Legend of Zelda, Metroid, SOTN

Action = Super Mario Bros. Mega Man II, Ninja Gaiden

Collect n' Explore = King's Quest, Zork, Sam n' Max

Duel game = Street Fighter II, Tekken 4, Rise of the Robots

Pure Exploration = Myst and its clones (they lack an item collection/usage aspect and thus are different from Collect n' Explore)

Real Game = any game that simulates a real-world game. For example, sports, or Yu-Gi-Oh.

S&E (Statistics and Exploration) = Dragon Warrior, Wizardry, Lufia II

Whack 'em Sack 'em = Double Dragon, Final Fight, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV