EVOLUTION OF THE RPG (Gamer Nation)

"An interesting thing is that, nowadays, it seems like [in] almost every game, the RPG element of leveling up or improving your skills or what have you, and it's I think it's because, for some reason, when you have that element of 'I'm earning this new ability' it's that much more rewarding when you actually get it."

- Sohinki

EVOLUTION OF THE RPG is the 10th episode of Gamer Nation, hosted by Jovenshire, Lasercorn, and Sohinki, who discuss the history and impact of role-playing games. It was released on December 1, 2012.

Description
Role playing games have been more influential than you may think.

Joven gets a slap!

Slap Bet
At the start of the video, it is explained that Jovenshire (who is wearing a Twilight shirt as part of another bet) thinks that there is some technical difficulty with the microphone, when in reality it is all a ploy to make Jovenshire distracted to that Sohinki can slap him as part of this other bet. Sohinki goes off-camera, making it seem like he is helping the crew. Joven is asked by one of the crew members to do a soundcheck and starts, when he is interrupted by Sohinki running up to him and slapping him across the face, much to everyone else's amusement. Joven is at first confused and asked if the camera was rolling during that, until this:

Discussion
The first RPG Sohinki remembers playing was called Betrayal at Krondor. He compared parts of it to Final Fantasy and other RPGs.

Lasercorn likes turn-based strategy games. He is a fan of Final Fantasy and Pokemon. They discuss the effect Pokemon has had on RPGs. Lasercorn suggest Joven pull his sleeves on his collar down and do a little spin.

Joven mentions Final Fantasy 10 and moves the discussion to action RPGs. Lasercorn and Sohinki mention World of Warcraft and TERA as an example of action RPG. Sohinki references something and Joven begins to dance, but Lasercorn asks him to not dance in the Twilight shirt. Joven refuses when Sohinki asks him to start dancing again to someone can make a gif out of it.

Lasercorn asks if Joven or Sohinki have played Parasite Eve. Joven had and talked about it for a bit. Lasercorn also brought up Chrono Trigger and they discuss it as well.

Sohinki asks their opinions on modern RPG, specifically if they are too "watered-down" as opposed to "pure". Joven asks what makes a "pure" RPG, and Lasercorn and Sohinki list a few criteria. Joven suggests that most of today's gamers prefer faster-paced games instead of turn-based. He and Sohinki discuss Final Fantasy Tactics.

Sohinki talks about the leveling up and unlocking new abilities. Joven talks about similar things in Dante's Inferno. Lasercorn states that RPG elements work in a lot of games of all genres, and Sohinki mentions first-person shooters as an example.

Ian was never able to play many RPGs as a child. On a different note, he is unsure if Pokemon counts as an RPG, but changes his mind after Anthony lists why it counts. Anthony likes both modern and older RPGs and mentions that he is a fan of Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG. Anthony also talks about how recent Paper Mario games have lost some of the common RPG features. Ian summed it up by saying "RPGs, old or new, they're all good, let's keep playin' them."

Joven read a tweet that caught his attention from @Tweeterkat44 who stated that the changed in the RPG genre makes a new genre of game, e.g. Mass Effect being an 'RPG shooter'. They discuss this for a bit, listing Borderlands as another example of an RPG shooter. Sohinki says that the action RPG is another example of a subgenre of RPGs, like Far Cry 3. Lasercorn mentions that Warcraft III counts as an RTSRPG. Sohinki also mentions that sports games also technically count as RPGs.

Trivia

 * This is the third and final episode of the Twilight shirt bet.
 * This is the first of three episodes involving the slap bet.
 * Jovenshire reveals that he is on Team Jacob.