As promised, there’s a little list I have of RPGs that have really altered the RPG formula. None of them have really changed anything yet, but every new innovation paves the way for more to happen. At least, I hope so. o.O

Riviera. (GBA) This game has completely eliminated random enemy encounters, instead making them part of the ongoing storyline. In fact, the storyline progresses though the interaction between the characters, who actually talk and comment on their surroundings as you walk around. This is very refreshing, and gives so much personality to the sprites. Battles are necessary to improve fighting skills though, and the game compensates by letting you fight whenever you feel like it. It’s in the menu.

Guardian Heroes. (Saturn) This is basically a fighting game, only a step or two up from Final Fight or Streets of Rage. The reason I include it here is because I’ve been playing a bit of Advance Guardian Heroes lately, and because it fused an RPG environment and nonlinear storyline with brawler gameplay. And it’s fun. Neither of the two genres conflict, and it can satisfy fans of either style.

Dark Savior. (Saturn) This is more of an action-RPG/platformer, if you only look at the gameplay. But it has a really interesting gimmick: a recursive plot. Beat the game, and it drops you right back in the beginning, where (hopefully) the events will play out in a radically different way. It has 4 parallel plotlines (IIRC!), and they all reveal something more about the characters and events that you wanted to know. It’s really cool, when the last one reveals the fact that there is some sort of space/time anomaly, and the previous 3 playthroughs were NOT a dream. It’s kinda freaky.

Hmm, I was hoping to have more games to list, and that most of them wouldn’t be old Saturn games. I loved the Saturn a lot though. And this isn’t even mentioning the games that took the same old formula and did great things with it. Phantasy Star IV was not all that different from I and II, but it was much better. Disgaea saved tactical RPGs with some very simple and well-done, but old strategy ideas, then Phantom Brave took it further with innovation. And some games that were really weighed down by their oldness. Lunar 1 and 2, the PS remakes, come to mind since the plots were great, but the battle system was sloooooooow and oooooooold. Grandia too had a storyline that I really like, it made me feel like a kid exploring the world. Except that the game was so freaking long. The battles could be fun, but they were slow.

Maybe I’ll think of some more later. ^^