In my opinion, gameplay is without a doubt the most important factor of a game, far higher than graphics or story, even in rpgs. But sadly, many people obviously disagree with me as games such as the Metal Gear Solid series and Xenosaga feature a focus on story, not on gameplay. Personally, I don't think a cutscene should ever be longer than a couple of minutes, and the gameplay following the cutscene should be at least an hour before another cutscene. But with Metal Gear Solid 2, you could get cutscene after cutscene which will take you almost an hour of cutscenes interrupted by about 5 minutes of gameplay. This is just sad, and the complete opposite of how a game should be. I remember the first time I played Metal Gear Solid, whenever my codec would beep I would groan. Whenever a cut scene would start I would groan as well. The reason is pretty simple, I knew that once it started there was most likely going to be a very long period without gameplay.
In contrast, look at an rpg like Morrowind. There are very few if any cutscenes, and the interaction with characters is not in a scripted movie-like scene, you can actually choose what to say and do in such a fashion that the results of your actions have a long-ranging impact and your quest features such leeway that you can play basically any way you want. That's the way a game should be, I shouldn't have to follow a set path with little to no character customization (Final Fantasy, I'm looking your way). With the popularity of gameplay based games like Grand Theft Auto, I hope this trend of cinematic slightly interactive games just goes the way of the dodo. I blame this trend on Final Fantasy 7, a game that made rpgs popular again but featured some pretty goddamn lengthy story segments which was only exacerbated by the follow-ups.
In contrast, look at an rpg like Morrowind. There are very few if any cutscenes, and the interaction with characters is not in a scripted movie-like scene, you can actually choose what to say and do in such a fashion that the results of your actions have a long-ranging impact and your quest features such leeway that you can play basically any way you want. That's the way a game should be, I shouldn't have to follow a set path with little to no character customization (Final Fantasy, I'm looking your way). With the popularity of gameplay based games like Grand Theft Auto, I hope this trend of cinematic slightly interactive games just goes the way of the dodo. I blame this trend on Final Fantasy 7, a game that made rpgs popular again but featured some pretty goddamn lengthy story segments which was only exacerbated by the follow-ups.
