Final Fantasy?

[Squeek]

Originally Posted by Homicidal Cherry

The emboldened shows a total and complete lack of understanding when it comes to the genre. Not all WRPG's are Titan Quest-esq click-fests. In fact, I would say the majority aren't. They too are frequently story driven epics, except it is the PC who drives the story, not set cut-scenes. Rather than being forced upon a linear story, as in JRPG's, however, you are given choices. They can be a select number of choices, as in something like Mass Effect or The Witcher, or they can be almost infinite in a game like Oblivion (which fits your definition better than most WRPG's, though I would hardly call it a time-waster). As with JRPG's, not all WRPG's have brilliant stories (some aren't meant to), but many many do. Mass Effect was easily the best science fiction story in any media (be it movies, books, video games, or TV) in the last five years. If the story of The Witcher doesn't suck you in (can't see why it wouldn't), the incredibly grey moral choices that will have you questioning your sense of right and wrong will. Go back in time a bit, and you will find Kotor, which contained the best Star Wars story outside of Empire. Go back a bit further, and you will find Planescape: Torment, which was one of the most character and story driven games ever made (literally, conversations frequently moved the game forward more than the "mindless hacking and slashing" that you feel to be the meat of most WRPG's).

I am willing to admit that some WRPG's have weak stories and focus more on combat than anything, but there are many many others that have stories that easily equal or surpass those of JRPG's.

I didn't say there weren't any story-driven games. I implied that WRPGs are more focused on killing things and JRPGs are more focused on story. You'll find examples that break the mold from both sides of the spectrum, but the over-arching standard remains that in the West, we like to kill baddies more than read about things and in the East, they prefer a narrative to endless enemy-slaughter.

Also, you probably assume I don't like WRPGs. I love them. I've probably put more time into Dark Alliance 2 than I have any other game.

Finally, The Witcher? Boring as hell. KOTOR was okay. One plot twist at the end doesn't do it for me though. Also, I hate Star Wars to begin with. KOTOR II was horrible and left a black mark on the series for me. Oblivion was fantastic, but Morrowind was better.

My ideal WRPG is a game like Dungeon Siege or Champions of Norrath. I can't even tell you the story in these games and I've beaten them multiple times. But they were really, really awesome games.