(^_^) funnily enough Half-Life seems to be the only classed RPG which conforms to what the older users see as an RPG, taking on the role of a given character.
however you have to actually look sometime at how Zelda makes you interact with the environment, how you can gain power... anyone who reckons that it has and always will be an Action game rather than an RPG is just completely braindead.
the same goes for Final Fantasy though, because its routes are deep seeded in being a role playing - the original pen&paper ones started out as just being a bunch of nerds getting together to pretend to be something else (perhaps with rules and dice too) but you're still just pretending to be something else.
however you have to redefine this for when your using a computer and your other characters can now be defined in realtime rather than need someone else to be sitting there to be them.
the overall point in the pen&paper RPGs was actually just about a few guys hanging out and having some fun playing a game, was more about actually just something to do as a group rather than being about the game. Obviously it grew into a nerd paradise where they could actually be respected for being who they were - but the point remains today in the fact that when they made the translation onto computers we didn't have the internation network, hell you'd be lucky if you even had a home network (or even more than one computer) so when creator made them the idea was to give you the role of playing a character and you play the story as if you WERE that character.
Overtime they've also added the ability for your characters to grow and evolve into more powerful people, suchas was with the point in having the pen&paper with your dice for your D&D games.
However even on your own the most you can ever do is take on the role of a single person and play a story whilst growing to meet the challenges ahead.
anyone who's played D&D will know the main point in having your stats grow was so that when you got into the deeper dungeons with the more powerful monsters you actually had a chance to actually beat them - a level 1 elf never would stand much of a chance against a lvl11 thunder dragon
further still the evolution has gone to the point where we now have Online RPGs which actually finally returns us to the entire point of the RPG ... which is a community game where you can become whatever you want to be.
although the time when you had to actually imagine that you were that Elf taking on the big dragon and prying that the dice rolled just the right way so you could slay it and take the gold, it is in essence the same game - there to build friendships with people who have a common interest.
even better is it is now not just a hobby for the outcasts, but for everyone because of the format it now takes on everyone can now see the appeal and the stigma of it being of just obsessed nerds is lifted.
see thats what is what makes the RPG what it is, you are the character you play - you are playing to a story (which originally would be made up along with special rules by the GamesMaster) - and along the way your improving yourself to meet the challenges you'll face ahead
if there is a perfect example of a computer game which is like that i can't think of anything better than Zelda, so what if you don't have actual levels for your power and such ... the point is still made that by defeating enemy you get heat peices which give you more life - with more cash you can buy better weapons so you have more power and within the quest you get special magical items which can do many things.
just because you don't have a little bar that says your a level 5 Link with 10attack 3defence etc... doesn't make it any less of an RPG - and the online ones are what really makes it true.
i mean if you wanted to actually argue about true RPGs on the PC then really TheSimeOnline would probably one of the best examples of a true RPG - you gain stats, the game is open, you can buy new items for yourself to gain better states and it is a community game.
There is no killing but i don't think killing evil demons is really a prerequist of an RPG is it?
as for FF being an action game... i mean c'mon what kinda stupid parallel universe do you live in. FF is about as much action as the pope is hindu!
it is very very strongly story based, you can grow your stats, you can explore your gaming arena to find new treasures, and you take on the role of the hero - for gods sake even the battling is a hit'n'miss affair and very remanisant of the pen&paper RPGs!
the new FF10, now that would be a hard one to class ... but it is so far removed from the series i don't know what the hell they were thinking, but i'm hoping that they've learnt from thier mistakes for FF11.
Within the Epic battle of the fates the Shadow and the Angel will meet. With it will harbinger the very fight of good vs evil!
