Why Zelda is not an RPG
Over the past 15 years or so, the gaming industry has seen the decline of platforming games and the rise of RPGs and FPS games. Some gamers who grew up during this rise of the RPG genre began to identify themselves as "role playing gamers" as a quick way of summing up their taste in video games. This has sadly led to many people tacking the RPG genre onto any game that vaguely resembles an RPG. Such victims include Metroid, Castlevania, and -- you guessed it -- the Legend of Zelda series.