And, as usual, the commentator has no clue what an RPG is.
The game has stats, it's an RPG !
So true.
A game like Shenmue with no stats and barely any inventory has more RPG to them that some games that says they are.
It's not the stats or the skills that matters, but how deep the game world is and how far you can live a story (with multiples sides of it) inside it.
Even if you follow a single story line, the world is deep enought so you can lose yourself in it, and discovers hidden stuff inside it (like the duck race, etc...)
A game like Deus Ex with skills somewhat but only a "one rail" story isn't an RPG for me, even Fallout strayed away from the RPG scene since New Vegas (you can do everyshit you want, you'll always follow a single track). It's not because hardware limitation, but because they want you to stick on your rollercoaster-rail from A to B.
Where New Vegas was a TRUE RPG in the "Roleplay" meaning, lots of branchs to explore and the world would reacts to the stuff you did, so you felt in control of your own story even tho you just pushed the main story further.
I really hope Cyberpunk 2077 will keep that sense of "control" over our own game story, not forces us on a path, now yep it would break the "RPG" point.
