Alrus said:
So do you also believe that every rpg should have more "content" that their predecessor?
Not just in a quantitative way, but also and maybe mostly qualitatively. This is a part of what we call improvement after all.
I think that in every field we expect progresses compared to what came before. This is true for movies, technology and even videogames.
Don't get me wrong though: there are games in which content and content improvement is expressed differently, like the Mario games. In that case, improvement is strictly linked with gameplay and creativity. But again, creative puzzles, environments, bosses alongside with an orchestrated ost are also factors that enrich content and quality of content. So, content is not only storyline, but also involves items, soundtrack and structure of the overworld, for example.
About your question regarding RPG: take for example Golden Sun. A great series on the Gameboy Advance. Golden Sun the Dark Dawn on DS was a incredible letdown, because its content was on the same level if not poorer than their predecessors. Storyline boring, linear and disappointing. Non-charismatic characters. Lot of time spent talking about the parents of the main characters and not enough about the latter themselves, limited possibility of explore environments and towns. Side-quests limited to the strict necessary. And a really bad, rushed implementation of 8 main characters. Too fast and too useless for the gameplay and the organization of battles. Yeah, I would say it was even a step-back.
Another example of failing of putting "appropriate" content is Final Fantasy XIII. The large reduction of towns and interactivity with other characters watered the quality of the content of the game, while lack of turn-arounds completed the scenario of disappointment.
Back to the Zelda series: Ocarina of Time had the right content for a N64 game. Even outstanding considering the number of side-quests, characters, dungeons, items, ecc. Majora's Mask was the right step for the series: more characters and more interactions between characters, which is normal after all! If we want to reproduce a fantasy world, of course the main character will encounter lot of people. And every people will have its bit of problem to share. As the capacities of the hardware become larger and technicals walls are overcame, of course I would expect a more "realistic" scenario, which doesn't mean only graphics-wise. It mostly means a situation and an A.I. more plausible and that makes more sense in comparison to what we would imagine as a fantasy world.