Gaming is one of the most popular hobbies, if not the most popular one. The video gaming industry today is a mammoth among entertainment industries. New video game providers are looking to make a name in the industry with indie titles and established providers looking to keep their fans happy.
One might ask oneself where do they look for inspiration? And the answer would be anywhere. They go for history, science, film, television, and more. The range is so wide that even casino games have appeared in video games.
The casino industry is pretty similar to the gaming industry as it’s mostly online nowadays. In other words, casino players from all over the world can visit a variety of casino sites to play their favorite games. For example, players can visit Australian casino sites, like the ones on AustraliaOnlineCasinoSites.com, to see if they accept international players, the top payouts available and more.
The one thing that separates the video game industry from others is the array of games it offers. You can split them into the online and offline categories, but there is just one genre that takes the top spot. These are RPGs and they can take the first-person and third-person perspectives. These are the most common kinds of games produced and they’re never out of season.
In the vast array of RPGs, certain titles have created an impact felt in other games and in that way shaped other titles. In other words, these are influential games that made the RPG genre that it is today. Here are a few such titles:
Assassin’s Creed II
Assassin’s Creed II is one of the most influential RPGs of the 2000s and the critics at GameSpot will agree with this. The first aspect that makes this game amazing is the story. You’ll get to meet a young and brash character called Ezio Auditore. He’s a native of Firenze and is looking to live the good life when he’s not helping his family with chores.
But all this will come to an end when his father and brothers are arrested for treason. Ezio manages to get in touch with his father and he tells Ezio that there’s evidence to contradict their sentence. When Ezio gets it, he gives it to the judge and the next day is the last day he sees them as they’re hanged.
Ezio dons his father’s clothes and exacts his revenge by murdering the judge in plain sight. He, his sister, and his mother leave Firenze and on their way are reunited with his uncle, after a scuffle. Ezio finds out that his father is an Assassin and he was taken out by Templars, the enemies of the Assassins. His death was just another piece of the puzzle as both factions are looking to control the whole of Italy.
Besides the fact that it’s set in Renaissance Italy, this game has a certain mechanic that you can see in various other games. This is the climbing mechanic that lets you get on top of any building. Also, it’s a mechanic you’ll see in Hitman Absolution, Middle-Earth Shadow of Mordor, and Shadow of War, as well as other titles.
Dark Souls
You’ll need to get good if you’re looking to succeed in Dark Souls. You can create a character in the game and pick a class. Then you’re just dropped into the world with some instructions as to how the controls work. Then you’ll face your first opponent and you’ll find out a skeleton can kill you with a swing of its sword. Then you start again.
This tells you that Dark Souls is a hard game to beat. Any enemy you encounter can be the death of you which is why you’ll need to make your way to bonfires that serve as places you can rest. But if you rest, then these enemies will respawn. You might not have a clear objective and roam the map as you please, but the wrong turn will have you facing a boss that’s a hundred times tougher than any other enemy.
This RPG has spawned an entire sub-group of games that belong to the “Souls-like” genre. These include the sequels to Dark Souls as well as Bloodborne and Elden Ring among others. These are the kinds of games that will have you grinding to improve your character as much as possible to beat the game. And they’ve got quite the fandom. In a way, Dark Souls managed to create a new genre in a time when it was difficult to do so. That’s why this RPG is so influential and why it will continue to grow.
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
When it comes to chronology, KOTOR originated before the previous games. So, you will see elements of it in them. One such element is a dialogue with options. You will get this in Dark Souls although it doesn’t play a critical role. In other words, the dialogue in KOTOR shapes the way the game plays out, and your choices in dialogue nudge the gameplay in one direction or the other. These are the Light and Dark choices that will give you one of the endings in the game.
The mechanics aren’t that impressive compared to games of today, but the story is which is probably why Assassin’s Creed II has a strong story element. KOTOR is another superb according to Metacritic and anyone that has played it. You’ll get to step into the world of Star Wars and visit multiple planets.
You can see the influence in Star Wars Fallen Jedi as this game also takes you to several planets. Moreover, you’ll get to choose where you go first, just like in KOTOR. The influence of this game stretches to the Dragon Age and Mass Effect franchises.
These three are only some of the RPGs that took the RPG genre to new heights with their revolutionary features.