Usually I don't post observations on the main page that I have about individual games, but after starting to play it, I think that White Knight Story (白騎士物語 -古の鼓動), a recently released (in Japan...for the moment) RPG for the PS3 by Professor Layton developer Level 5 deserves a look for a very particular reason.
As far as JRPG's (Japanese Role Playing Games) go, White Knight Story is fairly standard fare except for the way that the narrative is presented to the player.
This is where the really interesting twist comes in. First off, JRPGs (Any Final Fantasy) and Western RPGs (Baldur's Gate, Fallout) differ the most narratively in one key way:
JRPGs are laid out with the player as a 3rd person "observer" guiding the main characters through the story. The story in Western RPGs are presented with the player assuming the role of the main character.
This presents a problem with each type of RPG, JRPGs don't let the player feel like they are a commanding force driving the story, and Western RPGs disconnecting players from the narrative of the world when they are unable to leverage actions that they believe their in-game persona would have been able to complete.
What White Knight Story does is that the player actually assumes the role of an observer, a friend of the main characters, with a parallel, yet personal agenda and a unique personality and look that the player can mold. While the player accompanies the main character through the main story, the actions that the player's avatar makes is separate from the trials and tribunals of the main character.
The White Knight Story Avatar Creation System
While not wholly granting the player complete independence from the main character's tale, it allows enough leeway to let the player feel that they are a separate, yet related entity. To me, this is huge leap forward in the way that narrative is presented in RPGs. While this won't allow for complete autonomy of the player character, it allows the main character to make key decisions in the story that won't make the player feel that their character's personality is being compromised.
My main beef everytime I play a Western RPG and assume the actual role of the main character, when I am forced to make choices that go against my character or what my character knows in-game (For example, in Fallout 3, I had the mutant with me at the end of the game.), it completely destroys the game narrative for me in an instant.
This melding of cultures seems like the logical next step in the evolution of the RPG, the question now is where this will take us. Parallel storylines? Games where the player can be the last boss for the main character? It'll be interesting to see what will be coming up in the next few years.
-Al