Quote Originally Posted by FoxNtd View Post
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I don't see the relevance of the magnitude of the complexity, sophistication, or customization of the characters or decision-making regarding whether the game is role-playing or not. If there is role-playing then the RPG title fits, doesn't matter how much or how little your role goes/can do. Why am I seeing Western RPGs being elected as the only type of game that earns the title? Because it's older? Because that's what we were used to before higher degrees of exposure to Eastern RPGs? Sounds like favoritism and old habits, not logic. If you want to refer specifically to the subgenre of Western RPGs then call them exactly what I just did instead of trying to throw everything else out of the genre illogically.
I think there are such things as RPGs coming out of Japan. Certainly, games like Wizardry which continued to be developed in Japan long after the Western market moved on would be a good example. There are a number of RPGs available on Japanese computers from the 80s and 90s which were developed in Japan. I just agree that what Square and a number of the more prominent companies have been releasing on consoles are not RPGs, but rather adventure games more akin to the Lucasarts games or the King's Quest series with combat and some limited customization thrown in.