How do we make the blue parts less repetitive

You fix it by adding actual good dialogue that (important) with actually good voice acting (important) with interesting characters (important)
ME2 is regarded as the best in the series literally just because of the team and their stories

good dialogue that actually has depth and isnt reddit tier*

Do what jrpgs do and make the "action" boring so it makes the blue part seem good and make that 90% of the gaym

By not being a child with ADHD.

action gameplay

???????

Voice acting is cancer, zoomie. Learn to read.

You're probably playing witcher/Skyrim like rpg
Play arpg like nioh 2

What are you on about lmao

fighting games and rhythm games are the only real games. Just be honest and stop fooling yourself with these main hero wank games and just enjoy

By integrating them together.

nigga you ever eaten a sandwich?

Good writing.
This

This works too but it's inmoral.

This.

Tfw you barely make it to a town after dungeon crawling for hours

Tfw out of potions and 1hp left

Tfw hitting up the inn for much needed rest for your party and then resupplying for the next quest

A break in the action is a necessary part of any good rpg, even action RPGs like drank souls have safe areas.

ME2 is regarded as the best in the series

play icewind dale

there's no way he's talking about Mass Effect, right? ME2 is the awkward stop gap in the series, a side plot that feels like a "spinoff movie" of sorts. it also ruined the combat mechanics and removed space exploration completely. its legacy is giving the chick from Chuck a big ass ingame.

1 has no gameplay. 3 plays well but the ending ruins it.

Play dungeon crawlers.

boring

Retarded ADHD zoomer midwit "criticism"
Disregarded every single time

That image is older than you.

But that said the answer is actually very simple.
Just don't split the game in that way, make the narrative follow the gameplay and only stop for actual long cutscenes when something important happens. Old FF games already had mastered that, shit is kept in a few textboxes and happens along the road until you have a big event coming up.

Yes I am talking about it

it also ruined the combat mechanics

The combat is much better in ME2 lol. Do you remember ME1 had cover mechanics, or that you could crouch in combat? Sure the missing power points and missing diablo loot are noticeable but they arent that important

removed space exploration completely

This has got to be bait or you're just retarded, exploration is infinitely better in ME2 than in ME1. The only real worlds to explore in ME1 are the Citadel and Noveria, the rest are just not that good or linear, or they are recycled worlds. ME2 has actual side missions scattered around, some that dont even appear in the journal so you have to search them yourself, and you have actual interesting worlds like Omega, Illium, Tuchanka which all give depth to the world and has a lot of content and shit to do there

A lot of people like the blue part but we really need a new Etrian Odyssey for the people who only want the red.

counter point

Depends on what kind of RPG we're talking about, something like Fallout 1 and 2 has roughly the same controls and approach to combat and dialogue so it feels natural, whereas the 3D ones let you go ham with action and then bring it to an abrupt stop so you can talk and do chores and shit. Interestingly enough I can't remember a single 3D RPG that lets you walk and talk and make choices so you could e.g. ask an NPC to follow you while you're doing shit around town and talk to them at the same time.

visual novels are not games

Uh, I dunno dog, I like the blue parts well enough. As long as the game has good world building I'll get my ass lost in it and enjoy every moment.
The Octopath games cheated by giving every NPC some hidden lore text but I think all games should do that. It certainly elevated that game experience for me, reading about every NPC's daily routine and how their neighbor fucked their wife once and a blood feud started (but they can't let it show since the village is 20 people strong and a loss of hands could lead to a total collapse). Maybe I'm simple.

agree, now back to the subject

jokes on you OP, I love the blue downtime sections. Especially if they're fully separated from the action gameplay. I'm a sucker for that D&D style "prepare in town as much as you can before diving into brutal unforgiving labyrinthine dungeon" system. The dichotomy appeals to me, similar to how horror games aren't at 100% spoop all the time, they give pockets of downtime to release tension and let the player breathe before diving into the scary sections again

this formula has yet to be topped

You can't have the highs without the lows

RPG

The only major interactive mechanic is combat

Yeah, no. Final Fantasy is not an RPG. Elder Scrolls is barely an RPG. Most "RPGs" are just shitty games that use the title as an excuse for their fucking God awful combat design and balancing.

One hub and one multilayer dungeon?
Yes but that's more typical of a specific subgenre rather than how it works for the majority of RPGs.

Diablo 1?

EO1 works too

Find an audience that isn't afraid of reading NPC dialogue

this man gets it. It's the lows that give the highs their "high" and vice versa