“Role-playing is when you make poor gameplay decisions on purpose,” Dan Bruno writes over at Cruise Elroy. It’s not a bad definition, though it could be refined into “when you make decisions regardless of gameplay implications.” I certainly know what he’s talking about. Every time I finished a plot segment of Mother 3, I returned to the graveyard and checked my father’s cabin — not because I expected anything to happen or new content to necessarily appear in either place, but because it felt right.
What is role-playing?
April 12th, 2009 by Chris Klimas
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April 12th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Yeah, your refinement is more accurate; it’s not a requirement to act in a way that hinders your progress, punchy as my definition sounded. :-) I would say, though, that it’s those moments of divergence which throw the practice into sharp relief. It’s one thing if your character’s motivations align with the gameplay goal, but quite another when they conflict and you willingly opt for the former.
And it’s funny that you mention Mother 3 — I played that game very similarly!