doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
There are a ton of good games right now. Vanishingly few of them are from the big studios, but I guarantee Tell Tale could make a crazy good dnd game, for instance.
I say its because a D&D game would be, by nature, tied to D&D's system itself, which, when all is said and done? Is actually not that great of a system for video games.
Maybe the urge to codify the D&D mechanics to a computer is a pitfall. Maybe the next D&D video game shouldn't have any of the D&D mechanics.
It's only been three months since [MENTION=6716779]Zardnaar[/MENTION]'s last thread on this topic (see here). I didn't realize it was time for another one already.
IMO, why they haven't had a good recent D&D video game is because they insist on making them action RPGs and not turn based RPGs. D&D is a turn based game, and if you have to completely rewrite all the skills, powers, and spells to work on a timer countdown or something like that, it doesn't feel like D&D. It's just another action fantasy RPG.
The video game genre of RPG is recognized by the degree to which it resembles classic D&D. It's defined by its mechanics. The class and level system, HP, spell slots, random encounters, and abstract turn-based combat are the foundations of the genre. The further you get away from those things, the less the game is even recognizable as an RPG.But maybe it's time to go at a D&D video game from a different angle, maybe the "RPG" is a pitfall that we gravitate to because it seems like a Table Top RPG and an Action/Adventure RPG would be the obvious fit. They both have the word RPG in them after all. Maybe the urge to codify the D&D mechanics to a computer is a pitfall. Maybe the next D&D video game shouldn't have any of the D&D mechanics.
I don't know; I tend not to like the D&D games without D&D mechanics. The only exception I can think of is Planescape: Torment, which was great, even though it took liberties with the mechanics for the main character. But then again, Planescape is a D&D IP setting that is more amenable to separation from D&D mechanics than most.