MM. Role-playing games. This is another very broad genre in the video game world.

RPGs, of course, derive from earlier role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. Most of the earliest RPGs were text-based. In 1980 though, Rogue was released. Rogue was a dungeon crawler, which is a RPG that features randomly generated maps in “dungeons”. Rogue’s popularity spawned a whole mess of clones called roguelikes.

After the great success of Dragon Quest in 1986 and Final Fantasy in 1989 in Japan, RPGs split into two categories. Now there are Western RPGs, or computer RPGs, and Japanese RPGs, or console RPGs. This is mainly due to a difference in culture. At the time, more people in Japan used consoles and other countries used personal computers.

RPGs, gameplay wise, are complex. Like adventures they rely heavily on story and characterization. The interface of many RPGs use windows and menus to progress in the story, although modern RPGs are evolving away from that.

One thing that sets RPGs aside from many other genres is the depth of customization. RPGs often use the experience points system. When a character gains enough, they level up, which increases their statistics like strength and intelligence, which in turn makes them stronger in battle. Accompanying this is often a skill point system. With each level, or after every battle, a character will gain fewer points in another category that may be allocated towards skills or strengthening a character another way.

Combat in an RPG is usually categorized in two ways. Real Time combat is quicker and forces the player to make quick decisions. Turn based is much slower and allows the player to plan and make decisions. There are lots of arguments for both kinds of combat, but for a long time turn-based was the most popular.

There are a lot of different off-shoots of RPGs. Tactical or Strategy RPGs feature a grid that players move characters on.  Several popular SRPGs include the Fire Emblem series and the majority of the games released by Nippon Ichi Software, like the Disgaea series.

There are also Action RPGs. I covered these in one of my other blogs. Basically they’re just RPGs that expand on combat and make a more intense combat system.

There are also MMORPGs. Usually these RPGs feature real time combat and little story, but offer lots of exploration and leveling for the player to do.

As mentioned above there are Roguelikes, or Dungeon Crawlers. These games also emphasize leveling and exploration, though the maps are random.

Several RPGs have made a lot of ground in the genre. Dragon Warrior is a perfect example of a classic RPG: level grinding and questing, but Final Fantasy broke molds with several of their games, including the original Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy VII, and Final Fantasy X, when the game finally featured voice actors.

More on the Western RPG versus Japanese RPGs can be found here.