What constitutes an RPG?

Okay, I'm setting the record straight once and for all. I've heard far too many people using the term "RPG elements" to describe games that have no resemblance to an RPG, whatsoever! The Legend of Zelda series is not an RPG series! It's a fucking adventure series!! Devil May Cry does not have "RPG-like" elements to it!! It's a fucking action game!!

These are the three rules that determine an RPG. No RPG must have all of these rules, but an RPG must have at least one of these things.

1) Combat is turn-based, allowing for greater depth of strategy and focusing on tactical maneuvers moreso than quick-response or hand-eye coordination.

2) The combat is handled in a multi-character party configuration. The management of a party of individuals, their equipment, stats and abilities is a focus of the game.

3) Character-building is based on experience points or some similar derivative (like FF10's skill grid). Character levels are the standard method of improvement, but other methods do exist.

Those are the three cardinal rules of an RPG. Without at least one of those rules, the game is not a fucking RPG.

Devil May Cry does not have "RPG-like" elements just because Dante can purchase new abilities with Red Orbs. Devil May Cry is an action game. The focus of the game is on, you guessed it, action. Not strategy, stat-building, party-management or story.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is not a goddamned RPG. It is an adventure game. It focuses on exploration and puzzle-solving, not strategy, stat-building, party-management or story.

STOP THROWING AROUND THE TERM "RPG" JUST TO DESCRIBE SOME GAME YOU LIKE. YES, WE UNDERSTAND THAT YOU'RE A FAN OF FINAL FANTASY 7, BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT EVERY OTHER GAME YOU LIKE IS A GODDAMNED RPG. STOP IT. NOW.