no, i don't think twilight princess (or most zelda games) are rpgs. the one exception to that is Link's Adventure for the nes, because you actually had an experience point system and the capability to level up your strength, defense, and magic power. the genre action/adventure, however, would be the category the zelda games fall under.
most people would define an rpg by its systematic, move-based battles (even action-rpgs are systematic compared to something more free-flow like an adventure game), the ability to level up and gain experience, and more often than not are party-based (though i'm sure there are some games that don't immediately come to mind that break this rule and are still considered rpgs).
most games of the zelda series do not have any of these elements. link is alone in his quest, inasmuch as he is the only character the player has direct control over; there is no "leveling up" at all, in the sense that link's damage to the enemy never goes up, nor do his defenses or magical powers (unless he gets specific items that do those things); and though link can learn a few special moves (which is a relatively new implementation in the series, barring Link's Adventure again), most of the fighting is either free form (in the 3-d games), or link can only make a forward swinging motion (in the top-down games). the only rpg-type elements that the zelda series has (epic battles, item collection, huge exploration) are found throughout nearly every genre besides games like sports, racing, or fighting games. even side-quests are becoming more ubiquitous outside rpgs, especially in adventure games, or shooters with multiple story endings and the like.
granted, it's hard to narrow a zelda game into a single category because the gameplay is so diverse (that's one of the reasons it's so great), but the one that best fits it by definition would be action adventure.
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No
Practically EVERYONE's Zelda files are the same. There are slim-to-none variances within each persons files by the time they complete the story.
Sure, there are variables in the number of hearts they have, their Arrow Quiver size and Bomb Bag, and even the number of Empty Bottles they can have... but is it really that much?
It isn't like based on your progress in the story, you can unlock secret events that otherwise one would have to replay the game in order to see, different endings, and a LARGE variety of customization and preferences possible on your character or with weapons.
Zelda is an adventure game, Metroid is an Adventure game.
RPGs are Pokemon, Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy, etc.
As someone else here said, only Adventure of Link would be called an RPG.
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You know what? Sometimes I wanna say yea becasue enough people had said that crap, but straight up, HELL NO!!
Zelda is not an RPG. Just because the Legend of Zelda games are long, complex, and engaging adventure game doesn't mean that they are suddenly RPGs. Sure, you go from one place to another trying to get the Biggoron's Sword and do sidequests, but just becasue every clich
