Shenmue...

[A Black Falcon]

Did you even click those two images I linked? It looks like a movable camera... but it's just a techdemo so the game clearly has a long way to go. I'm sure that in the final game they'd have a movable, but mainly overhead, camera. They are different ways of displaying the game. You prefer one of them. I think both are good in some circumstances but if you want to be more strategic I think that it's better to zoom it out. Yes, KOTOR worked. But I wouldn't want all RPGs being like that... for one, I greatly prefer mouse control in PC RPGs to gamepads. Third person works best by far with gamepad-ish or FPS-ish controls. I probably prefer, for an RPG, a mouse-click system like most isometric RPGs... I think it works better for the genre. Yes, you can do a decent game with a gamepad. Like Grim Fandango is a fantastic adventure game on gamepad... my favorite in the genre... but notwithstanding that, I'd never want all adventure games to copy it. Not even close. Most are by far best with a normal mouse interface.

Other than better controls, a isometric interface also gives you a better view of the area of combat. Makes for easier strategic gameplay. It also makes a slow paced combat engine much easier. KOTOR has a lot of streamlining so you don't have to do everything if you don't want to, but with a full partybased game with five or six characters... Okay, that doesn't apply to Fallout, since that's a one character game. But... Fallout on a gamepad? :barf: Mouse interfaces are so much better. And a third or first person viewpoint, as I said, just doesn't work for a turnbased game... Okay. You're moving your character FPS-style and then a monster comes into sight. You move closer to it. Suddenly, you stop moving. It's the monster's turn. It moves up to you... now the icon goes green or something and it's your turn. This has a high chance for being non-intuitive and frusterating. But in isometric, it's almost natural...