Some Characteristics of RPGs

The Gamer has quite the collection of role playing games, or RPGs. It’s safe to say they are one of his favorite genres. Since being married to him, I found out that I havea fondness for them too. Little did I know, that there are different kinds of RPGs with each one offering different gaming experiences.

First off, there are a few common characteristics among all RPGs. Most of them are set in a fantasy, medieval, sci-fi or futuristic world. The player is usually the hero, leading a party of members that help the player defeat monsters and enemies. Leveling up, crafting and exploring are key factors of RPGs as well.

Now that we have that out of the way, here are some of the main sub-genres of RPGs.

Japanese (JRPG): This sub-genre wasn’t popular until the 1980s with games like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. The best characteristic a JRPG has to offer is its narrative. They tell amazing stories, ones that require lots of dialogue between characters during game play and lots of cut scenes. They tend to focus on turn-based combat as well. But without getting too picky, you could just say that it’s an RPG made in Japan.

Western (WRPG): These have a heavy influence on a real time with pause combat mode. This means that defeating foes does not lead to a different screen with each character taking their turn, but instead gives players the chance to beat monsters at a more realistic rate. The main hero is generally customizable. Most offer a wide open sandbox game experience, meaning you speed through plot missions.

If you ever want to know more differences about these two RPG sub-genres, Extra Credits on YouTube did a great video about it.

Strategy or Tactical (S/TRPG): Exploration is practically non-existent in SRPGs. The main focus is on the player’s choices and how they want to win their battles. One source explained this well, “Players are able to build and train characters to use in battle, and utilizing different classes. Battles will have specific winning conditions, such as defeating all enemies or surviving a certain number of turns, that the player must accomplish before the next map will become available. In between battles, players can access their characters to equip them, change classes, train them, depending on the game” (Wikipedia).

Action (ARPG): Just as WRPGs, real time combat is the sole part of this genre. These games rely on fast gameplay, slaying hordes of monsters, picking up loot and having little to no control on the characters besides moving and attacking. There are some elements of exploration with ARPGs, but it is not as important. Hack-and-slash is another big element that keeps the player entertained and gets them through the game quickly. P.S. It’s my favorite type of RPG.

Dungeon Crawlers: I would definitely say that this is a sub-genre of ARPGs. The main character navigates through an elaborate maze-like environment, aka a dungeon, and battle monsters and collects treasures. This is also a key factor in ARPGs. The Dungeon Crawler is specific to medieval, grittier tales than other ARPGs, making it important to note.

Massive Multiplayer Online (MMORPG): Of course, the main difference with this is the social interaction within the game. Most games involve forming a guild or clan in which many players must rely on each other to complete quests and imerge victorious in battles. To me, this one is the most powerful RPG. The World of Warcraft community alone could form its own country (or two) with how many members it has. People from all around the world have connected and have formed relationships as well.

A lot of these genres have been combined. You find a lot of JRPGs with strategy techniques or an ARPG with an MMO community. It’s really challenging to categorize and explain each genre when many RPG games blending the sub-genres together. With that being said, I find that companies are doing a marvelous job at keeping RPGs alive.

We’ll see you next week!