These days, what isn't an ARPG? Seems like every game that has action and even a tiny sliver of a customization system is referred to as an ARPG. This got me thinking: by today's standard, my Subaru Outback might be an ARPG. -It has action? Check! -It can be somewhat configured? Check! (auto-start stop not withstanding) -You can live the fantasy of a 4x4 off-roader even though you really aren't? Check! -Is it really a Git Gude game where success is 95% inputs but f**kit, let's call it an ARPG? Check! Yep. Totally an ARPG. What else is an ARPG?
A Starbucks coffee cup. I can give it any name, it lives in an open world. Customized skins, I can choose the class and add trait points to create a "sub-class"
Mobile phone. While also playing ARPGs
Might as well add Souls-like and Metroidvania to that list. Jargon is strong in your field lol
This is kind of why I feel like a better term for games like Diablo, path of exile, torchlight, etc. would simply be “Diablo-like” since they all play somewhat similarly. A game like Skyrim could absolutely also be called an ARPG, but I think most people would agree that it is not similar to those games at all.
The more game designers blend genres, the less genres, at least the old one's, hold their original meaning. RPG elements seem to show up everywhere. I found some in my coffee maker this morning. Mastering the perfect brew is definitely a high-skill, high-reward situation. 😂
I was just discussing with Ash and Designer last week that it’s become a meaningless label 😅
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life itself is ARPG, but with Roguelike elements like permadeath
Co-Founder at Moon Beast Productions
3moWithout progression, it’s no ARPG