LogFAQs > #974746213

Tyranthraxus posted...

Literally not even Rogue lacks a story. It's not a very complex one, but it's still got one.

A slightly more fleshed out story in a roguelike would be something like Ragnarok:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnarok_(video_game)#

I'm referring to more the act of having a fleshed out, constantly active story. Not the ability to throw a blurb on the screen/user manual. Rogue gave you a reason as to why you were dungeon-delving, it's hard to say that it wasn't substantially less meaty than an RPG. That was sort of the point.

Tyranthraxus posted...

It's got much more going on for it than just random dungeons. It's got the signature turn based movent from rogue and the combat system is nearly identical. There are many permanent consequences for dying you just don't start the entire game over from scratch which is basically just them trying to make it easy/accessible.

Many old RPGs from the era had a similar combat system. And having carryover stuff is more a roguelite thing than a roguelike thing, though that matters little for what we're talking about as Mystery Dungeons tend to have you playing as the literal some character and there is a non-trivial chance that your stuff isn't going to be completely gone regardless.

Tyranthraxus posted...

This is a bit unusual but doesn't conflict with anything established about roguelikes. Lots of roguelikes feature an area with nothing but friendly NPCs though it's usually a secret and not a main menu type area.

Having an area with friendly NPCs is not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about having an actual substantial amount of area space devoted to having a world outside of the dungeon. Like in PMD there is a lot of story and space devoted to the town in which you live in, compared to Rogue's "lol, go gettum tiger" nothing.

And I suppose I should say it as it will clarify my stance on this a bit better: Mystery Dungeon is a subgenre of roguelike in the same way that CRPGs and JRPGs are in the subgenre of RPGs. They have considerable similarities, but the distinction is relevant because of the generally different end feel that comes about due to the alterations in gameplay/narrative structure.