What's an adventure? What's a Quest?

[A Black Falcon]

I think the issue of how dumb it is for OB1 to even try to say that text based adventures aren't computer games has been discussed enough.

Anyway, Zelda as an RPG. While it admittedly doesn't have some of the major parts of the RPG genre, like mathematical battle systems or statistical levelling up, it does have things that are definitely derived from RPGs, just made simpler... like the levelling up system of hearts... the battle system though, of course, is a lot like a topdown action game.

Hmm... what exactly DOES make a game an RPG. Yes, I'd certainly agree that D&D is the foundation of the genre. Its grown a lot (in variety) since then, but D&D is still one of the major RPG systems... anyway, things that make an RPG.

Character Selection. Not required for an RPG. While selectable/editable characters is a feature that often shows up, it isn't always present, and RPGs without it are still RPGs. OK, so most RPGs do have some form of either character selection or customization (like Planescape Torment. You can't choose your main character, and since there are only like 7 or so other people who can join your party and you have a party of 6 you don't alter your main party much, you can choose if your main guy will be a fighter, thief, or mage... but still, it is a RPG with less customization that usual (for a D&D RPG), but still a RPG), but IMO anyway that isnt always completely necessary.

Mathematical battle system and statistical levelling up, admittedly, do show up in about all RPGs. Zelda does not have them, and that does definitely help (along with its style of battles) make it not an RPG... but even so, I'd say the influence is clear, given how Zelda has 'levelling up' with hearts. While some action games do do that, most to all don't do it to the extent Zelda does... I'd say it (and the weapons, which really also are part of the 'levelling up' thing in the game) is RPG influence...

How about the quests? RPGs have to have lots of quests... Zelda sure has that part of the RPG genre in it... and more like RPG type quests, not action or adventure type ones... it has RPG-type main and side quests.

I'm not sure exactly what else is in an RPG... but I think that Zelda does have strong influence from RPGs. Not enough to make it an RPG, but definintely enough to call it a ____-RPG.