r/gaming • u/Asianboiforwhitedad • 10h ago

Kingdom Come Deliverance studio co-founder says a lot of RPGs are 'still games for teenagers,' and that he's 'tired of all the RPGs where you are this chosen one'

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/kingdom-come-deliverance-studio-co-founder-says-a-lot-of-rpgs-are-still-games-for-teenagers-and-that-hes-tired-of-all-the-rpgs-where-you-are-this-chosen-one/
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210

u/RogerMelian 10h ago

And where is the problem in that? Not every rpg has to be about a medieval random dude or a depressed adult team.

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u/ProoniusFizzle 9h ago

Luckily, there's only like 10 of those and the entire rest of the genre should cater to your taste.

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u/_trouble_every_day_ 9h ago

Exactly. EVERY RPG has a chosen one plot. It’s the laziest trope in any genre.

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u/Key_Amazed 9h ago

Every RPG? Really? Geralt isn't a chosen one in Witcher. Dragon Age has a new "special" protagonist in each game. Souls games make it a point that you aren't special in any way. Mass Effect Shepard isn't a chosen one by any pre-ordained destiny, but through his hard work. Plenty of RPGs out there where you aren't a chosen one. Having a special role in the universe, being part of a special organization, etc etc is not the same thing at all.

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u/CrusaderLyonar 9h ago

People's definition of this trope is way too broad. I once had an argument with someone who said all the dragon age protagonists are chosen ones and so was mass effect because you become a spectre.

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u/anGub 7h ago

Agreed. Being the character that "does the thing" doesn't make them a Chosen One. Being the only character possible of "doing the thing" does.

Shepard was made a spectre because s/he was the best, if it wasn't them it would have been someone else, thus not a chosen one.

The dragonborn in Skyrim is the only character able to suck out the souls of the returning dragons and is part of the Alduin prophecy, thus is a Chosen One.

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u/TheCleaverguy 6h ago

I think Shepard is a bad example; they become the chosen one by interacting with the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime that becomes immediately inert afterwards.

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u/anGub 6h ago

That would have happened to whoever the spectre on the mission was, wouldn't it?

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u/TheCleaverguy 6h ago

There were three people there and none of them were spectres at that point.

If Kaiden got mind warped by the beacon instead of Shepard, he would have become the chosen one. It was also a pretty important theme that Anderson was equally qualified to be a spectre, but passed over due to xenophobia and Eden Prime forced the council into appointing Shepard as the first human spectre.

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u/anGub 6h ago

If Kaiden got mind warped by the beacon instead of Shepard, he would have become the chosen one.

If it's only circumstance, then it's not enough to be a chosen one imo. Otherwise all protagonists are chosen ones because they're the ones the plot revolves around, making the trope meaningless.

Anakin Skywalker is a chosen one because of being fathered by the Force and has way more force microbes than everyone else.

Link is a chosen one because he's intrinsically tied to the Triforce of Courage and the only one that can defeat Ganon.

Desmond Miles is a chosen one because it's his genetic memory that the Knights Templar need to try and find the artifacts.

Shepard is just a really good soldier, no special powers that no one else has, no special ancestors or prophecies s/he's specifically tied to. The Council could have gone with their 2nd candidate and the plot could have continued anyway.

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u/TheCleaverguy 5h ago

I think I interpret your definition differently then.

We're just reaching the chosen one pathway at different points in time; I don't think a character becoming the chosen in the first mission or two is that different to them starting as one.

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u/CrusaderLyonar 6h ago

That's not what being a chosen one is, the beacon doesn't oradain anyone, it's just information. Saren uses it right before Shepard does.

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u/TheCleaverguy 5h ago

It blows up without any outside influence after Shepard uses it, neither Kaiden or Ashley get to use it. Maybe it doesn't make any sense, but Shepard becomes the chosen one due to happenstance instead of Kaiden or Ashley.

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u/Unrelenting_Salsa 2h ago

Mass Effect is a bit hard because Mass Effect 1 is so radically different from the other entries. That said, there isn't a chosen one in Mass Effect 1. At it's core Mass Effect 1 is a lovecraftian short story with the Hero's journey snapped on. The core of the story is that people find artifacts of the old, all powerful genocidal gods which makes them go crazy and try to bring back those gods. You're in the wrong place at the wrong time as the best spec ops soldier humanity knows, so you're left in charge of fixing the mess not knowing that your actual enemy is an ancient, all powerful genocidal god.

ME2 messes things up a bit by making humans special. ME3 makes the Hero's journey more explicit by retconning Shephard to being much more emotional than his backstory and the other games actually are/were. At the end of the day, you have no special powers. You're just a damn good soldier. That's not a chosen one.

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u/Unrelenting_Salsa 3h ago

Anybody who says the trope is common has a definition that is just the hero's journey. Literally the most common story ever told by a mile.

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u/Crash4654 9h ago

I legit cant think of any ive played in a godawful long time where this is actually the case.

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u/gamegeek1995 7h ago

Play Tales of Berseria. After the prologue, you're very much not the Chosen One, you're not even really the main villain of the Chosen One. You're an already defeated mini-boss/slave of the Chosen One.