Games

It’s games like the original baldur’s gate and stuff. I think a clear defining thing is that you have a zoomed out perspective and you click where to move

It's an RPG on a computer? Specifically tabletop, like Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder, but on a computer. Example games : Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, The Temple of Elemental Evil, etc.

I think the more contemporary meaning for the word is “classic” rpg. Which better communicates the old isometric view and party-based adventuring.

vs. Tabletop role playing games.

Well back in the day an RPG was DnD.

They made computers and some nerds tried bringing that to computers, so we got CRPGs which helped you know if you meant tabletop or computer, and also that you didn’t mean JRPG.

Now CRPGs are just called RPGs and RPGs are called Table Top RPGs

One tries to recreate an RPG campaign as close as possible to table-top RPG, but on a computer. Was the original definition back when "possible" was very limited.

CRPG = Baldurs Gate 1+2, Icewind Dale 1+2, Neverwinter Nights 1+2, Planescape Torment, Age of Decadence, Nox

Isometric RPG or CRPG, basically the same thing.

Long time ago RPG used to refer to pen and paper RPGs like dungeons and dragons by default. When pc games using these systems got made, like baldurs gate, they were referred to as cRPGs to distinguish them.

Nowadays video games are so popular that when someone says RPG it means the computer game, but due to tradition / nostalgia CRPG is still used to describe the genre of games inspired by the pen and paper RPGs.

Also refers to classic RPG. Usually specifically refers to isometric 'realtime with pause'/plausible realtime games, with 'complex' dialogue options.

It the same as Metroidvania or Soulslike where it's kind of a vibe with sticky design choice but not 100% clear. I remember seeing arguments about whether Divinity Original Sin 2 was one because it was purely turn based

Top down RPGs heavily inspired or influenced by table top RPGs like pathfinder and d&d. Also either turn based and real time with pause. Classic examples include fallout 1 and 2, neverwinter nights and baldurs gate 1 and 2. Modern examples include divinity original sin 1 and 2, baldurs gate 3 and wasteland 2 and 3.

I always see debates about what's an rpg, crpg, jrpg and strategy RPG yet when I hear action RPG I think f allout or elder scrolls, when I hear crpg I think baldurs gate, when I hear jrpg I think final fantasy or persona and when I hear strategy RPG I think fire emblem or disgea.

[It debuted at #1 on The NPD Group's computer game sales chart during the June 16–22 period, and held the position for two weeks, before being displaced by Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. However, Neverwinter Nights continued to place in the chart's top 10 consistently for its first three months of release.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neverwinter_Nights_(2002_video_game)

Agreed about Neverwinter Nights, BG2 was (and remains) one of my favourite games and I remember being super hyped for NWN. Being an earlyish transition to 3D really did hurt it visually, much the same as how Final Fantasy VI has aged much better than VII graphically.

The big letdown for me though was the cut down party size. BG2 was defined by the companions and party banter and I recall NWN feeling extremely lacking in comparison.

The post BG2 hype combined with the move to 3D and the very heavily advertised campaign builder probably built very intense hype though, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if NWN sold extremely well despite not having as lasting of a legacy as BG2 for example.

The /s is not needed. I was quite impressed to hear that EA Sports is one of the main money makers of EA despite having each new game as a buggier version of a previous one, only with an updated roster. I had no idea they were so popular and the last FIFA I played properly was in 2003.
So we are out there and we do think like that.

Dragon Age: Origins had the perfect camera that let you look around like an action game and then switch to the tactical camera. It's astounding that modern rpgs cannot match how good the camera was in a game from 2009.

IMO there's very few instances where an isometric camera makes sense these days unless you're explicitly trying to capture the nostalgia of old isometric games.

Casual players, shorter sessions, rise of first\third person action games like TES\DA targeting the same crowd, acting and dubbing characters to the same standard BG3 just did. Classic CRPGs like NWN do seem risky and expensive.