andri_g posted...
Guy, Zelda is an Action RPG.
The only exception, here, is if you strictly use the definition Gary Gygax (TSR's D&D co-creator) used for tabletop Role-Playing Games, which are group-based, cooperative, and face-to-face live.
"If you are not role-playing as a character to another person [in the same game], who are you role-playing to?"
It also means you also accept that, to-date [as of 2024], there are no video game RPGs--only simulations.
Zelda 1 took after Adventure, the 2600 game that combined the action and adventure genres. Action being the genre in which you fight/avoid stuff in real time, and adventure being the genre all about finding items to get past obstacles.
A typical action game for 2600 might be
Aquaventure
:
https://youtu.be/WhG4C8XIXzA?si=_p3fcYNOqFDT3SG6
And a typical Adventure might be
Swordquest
:
https://youtu.be/9uS36IYKbpY?si=GyzdWqiIPUzVICfm
And as the combination of the two,
Adventure
:
https://youtu.be/LQZDRELOqoI?si=hsGblAYbIZwJ3hTc
The fact that both RPGs and action adventures have things like NPCs and upgradeable stats is largely by coincidence. RPGs get them from their tabletop origins, while AAs get the pickups because, well, it's an item you pick up that helps you with action gameplay. Just like the square guy in
Adventure
picks up the sword in order to fight the dragon (yes, that arrow is supposed to be a sword), except you don't have to put it down. And the NPCs are just well-polished means of giving the player direction on where to do/what to do and story stuff.