Mini RPG Competition

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The #1 most important aspect of an RPG is its storyline, followed closely by its playability. Music and Graphics tie for third, as both are essential elements...graphics are obviously important for displaying the visual aspects of the story, and music is absolutely critical for either enhancing or instilling the appropriate emotional response to any particular part of the storyline. Sound effects are essential as well, although their usage is very open...some RPGs use a lot of foley effects, some use none and do just fine. Some use off-the-wall sounds which wouldn't stand on their own but work well in an RPG for some reason. But in the end, all the elements have to be present to have success in the modern age. Older games could get away with missing an element or two (MiniRPG 3 for example had no music or sound effects but still holds its own against many of today's indie RPGs) but not games made today. There's no longer any excuse for silent games with crappy stories and zero playability. Eye candy games with "save the princess from an evil wizard" storylines bomb instantly, and a storyline with a gripping plot akin to anything by Clive Barker but with graphics drawn by a three-year-old is also going to fail miserably. Ripping off musics from your favorite Zelda game to put into your FF7 epic that looks like The Secret Of Mana will probably be the laughing stock of all RPGs. And of course...the killer of them all is a game with an average-to-poor storyline and little interaction, bad controls, unbalanced gameplay, or anything along those lines...regardless of how good it looks or sounds.

A balanced game is kinda like a balanced breakfast...best results are obtained when you follow the suggestions of people who know what they're talking about (doctors or game design experts in this case).