With the recent releases we’ve seen in the last few years with Baldur’s Gate 3, Metaphor Re:Fantazio, and what many have tipped for an early contender for Game of the Year in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, many people have stated that ‘Turn Based RPGs are back’, but the real question is: Did Turn Based RPGs ever leave? Let’s look into that shall we?
Rise of the Turn Based Games
If we go back to the year of 1975, we can see the first instance of a turn based combat game by the name of Dungeon. This drew from and went hand in hand with the tabletop board game Dungeons and Dragons, of which you take turns with actions across a campaign, birthing the genre we know and love. If we fast forward to classics like Final Fantasy VII and Chrono Trigger, we see some of the first instances of heavy commercial success within the genre.
Turn based RPGs fit perfectly with its time, as the time we’re looking at here from the 70s to the late 90s, turn based was the limit to what the existing technology was able to withstand, as we just didn’t have the graphic and computer ability to process and play anything that much grander.
Was there really a resurgence?
Back to modern times, everyone and their dog seems to have played, or at least seen the seemingly meteoric rise of Clair Obsucre: Expedition 33. The AA game, made by ex- Ubisoft employees who formed Sandfall Interactive, have made a considerable splash in the game market- selling over 2 million copies within its first 2 weeks of release. Me being one of them. Review coming soon in case any of you want to know what I think. With one article I read quoting that Sandfall’s COO- Francois Meurisse ‘was immediately on board with Broche’s passion for revitalising the kind of flashy, 3D, turn-based JRPGs that had long gone out of fashion’ (source: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/the-big-clair-obscur-expedition-33-interview-sandfall-and-kepler-on-team-size-the-return-of-aa-games-and-whats-next#:~:text=%22There%20will%20be%20another%20video,throughout%20production%2C%22%20he%20says.)
Long gone out of fashion? Is that truly a fair comment to say? While yes, the game has undoubtedly made turn based gaming ‘in’ at the moment, and you can’t say it hasn’t been a hit, it seems unfair to say that to the many number of games using and keeping the turn based combat system alive. We don’t even have to look that far back but the last 2 Game of the Year awards has seen titles such as Metaphor Re:Fantazio nominated, and Baldur’s Gate 3 win in a clean sweep of the awards in 2023. Even further back, Atlus’ smash hit Persona 5 and subsequent Persona 5 Royal has the argument of being the JRPGs Grand Theft Auto V, selling over 10 million copies across its titles and spin offs.
We can see a curve in the prevalence of turn based games, peaks and troughs throughout the life of gaming media, and as you see, we can see something similar in the music world as well.
Winding up the Jukebox
Vinyl had an earlier start (obviously), with the first showings in 1887, with its 78rpm discs, able to play a single song. Imagine the mind-blowing reaction when we get to 1948, where the first issues of a 12 inch, 33 1/3rpm disc made waves, going from one song at a time, to a whole album on one disc! These discs (Long Plays) are pretty much standard setting in the records we see for album releases today, with their also being 7 inch, 45rpm discs (Extended Plays) being released for single or dual track releases, these terms we still use today in LPs and EPs!
Losing its Groove
Pardon the above pun, but for the juggernaut in the early days of music consumption that vinyl was, much like turn based games, the leaps in technology led to the inevitable decline for the vinyl.
1979 would begin to change the life of music listening with Sony’s launch of the Walkman. This gave listeners the opportunity to do something that was not possible before: listening on the go. This exploded onto the scene, selling more copies than records within its first 5 years of release. From there, the writing was on the wall as technology only went further, as next came CD’s, then in the 2000s brought the rise of the iPod, ending in what we see popular now with the emergence of streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and the three people that use Tidal.
The Revynval
God I’m on fire with these headings. Anyway, the real question is when did vinyl’s become cool again?
Well dear reader, when looking into this, I found an article tracking it to 2008, when a ‘Record Store Day’, which ultimately led to the first time since 1984 that LP sales rose, by a staggering 89%. (source: https://victrola.com/blogs/articles/beyond-the-needle-history-of-vinyl-records#:~:text=In%201948%2C%20backed%20by%20Columbia,of%20(almost)%20uninterrupted%20music!%3F)
Where does this all lead to?
But Dink, you silly bastard, what do these two have to do with one another? I know, it looks and sounds like I’ve waffled for some time. But when we look at both mediums, both gaming and vinyl, we see striking similarities.
Both were pioneers in their early industry days, both saw a dip in its popularity, and both are your typical swarmy choice for the ‘cultured’ person who thinks it is ‘out there’ to actually like ‘proper games’ or the ‘best way to listen to music’, sliding their glasses up their nose with their middle finger. I say this whilst actively admitting I love both of these, but that’s beside the point.
Putting on my tinfoil hat we can even look at the ways to listen to music, and link them back to games in a certain point. If turn based games are our vinyl, then is it such a stretch to say that the hack and slash genre are video games’ Walkman? Games like Devil May Cry, the OG God of War trilogy, Dynasty Warriors, even Final Fantasy came round to this trope.
Game equivalent of CDs? Well I don’t think its too far to say that could be the rise of FPS games. Call of Duty especially taking combat in games and running away with it. iPod’s equivalent to me would be the rise and yearly iterations of sports games, as it seems with every new iPod or Apple product, there was always a new FIFA, a Madden, NBA2K game, you get the gist, it also works cos it seems with the new version of each thing, iPod or sport game, if we’re being real, nothing really changed with it.
And so leads us to today, and this is where this one is up in the air. I go back on forth on what gaming’s streaming service would be, flipping between souls-like games, and battle royale games. With the large listener count being able to link with the player count and ease of access as a Fortnite or a PUBG, I feel like this encapsulates the modern way of listening and gaming to a T.
But what do you all think? Am I waffling? Yes, but I’d love to know what you think on this little take. Are turn based games the vinyl records of gaming? Were either of these ever truly ‘dead’? Let me know your thoughts and I hope you look forward to my next post!
DinkDot Games 