A reader tries to imagine what role-playing versions of famous games would look like, from Tomb Raider and Call Of Duty to Street Fighter.
I was amused to read the boss of Sonic Team saying how he’d like to make a Sonic the Hedgehog role-playing game before he retires and that he can’t believe he hasn’t done it already (he seemed to not count Sonic Chronicles because he wasn’t involved). I have little interest in Sonic but it got me thinking how this could be applied to other series and, frankly, I’m not sure there’s any that I *wouldn’t* want to have a role-playing spin-off.
The first one that came to mind, for some reason, is Resident Evil. Probably because the next game is rumoured to be open world and I’m not very excited by that. But also, because they’ve got a ton of different characters now and they’re never all in the same game. They can’t really be if it’s an action game or it’d just be weird having all these super skilled fighters wandering about but it’s only you that ever gets anything done.
With a role-player you can have teams of them fighting together and have more meaningful dialogue between them, to try and get a bit of character development. Maybe we could even learn something about the world of Resident Evil. Do ordinary people even know about BOWs and zombies? It seems like they pop up all the time but how does society function with that sort of danger lurking everywhere?
You don’t want all that stuff in an action game, but a role-playing game could be something different and allow for a slower and more thoughtful pace. Also, I want to see if someone can make a role-player that’s scary. Although I suppose there’s already Parasite Eve, so the answer is probably yes.
But Resident Evil is just the first game that came to mind, just think of any game with even a bit of a story to it and it’s fun to imagine how it might work. The Sonic guy obvious got the idea from Paper Mario and the other Mario role-players but what about a Zelda spin-off? The story and characters are always pretty thin in Zelda, because who’s got time for that in a game like that, but a role-player would allow things to open out a bit.
The combat’s pretty basic in Zelda too, so expanding the options for some turn-based combat would also be interesting. A role-player doesn’t have to be turn-based, of course, but I always think of them that way. It can be real-time or half-and-half but, to me, the Like A Dragon games prove that turn-based can be fast and modern while still keep the basic style of older games.
So what about a Metal Gear role-player? Or Half-Life? Or even Call Of Duty or Street Fighter? The benefit is that a turn-based role-player doesn’t have to be that expensive, not compared to the main games. You could even choose to do it retro style, with pixel art, if you wanted and that would be fine. Who wouldn’t want to see little 2D versions of Tomb Raider or Overwatch characters fighting it out in a turn-based role-player.
It’s just a silly little thought of mine but the more I think about it the more reasonable it sounds, especially as a way to put out new games in the big gaps between maline sequels. Plus, they can, and probably should, be done by different teams than the main games. So what would you like to see as a role-player?
By reader Grackle
The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
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