What Are RPG Video Games?
The role-playing game (RPG) is one of the oldest genres of video games, and one the most popular, with many different video games and franchises belonging to this genre. Over time, the RPG video game genre has vastly expanded, and it spawned several subgenres of RPG video game, that focus on different aspects of the gameplay and provide different and unique experiences.
Players that are new to the RPG video game genre, or who wish to learn more about this genre in order to discover their own preferences and find more games that they enjoy, often wonder about the extent and differences of each RPG video game subgenre. In these article, this will be discussed.
What Are RPG Video Games?
RPG video games are video games in which the player controls one or more game characters, in which these characters can be developed in numerically-relevant ways (even if the numbers are not shown) and in which the player is immersed in the game world through world-building and lore. The immersion in the game world of of RPG video games, through world-building and lore, can be achieved in a variety of ways, and in most cases, it is achieved through dialogues and cutscenes, although it could also be achieved by certain elements of immersion in-game such as journal pages, logs, and other elements.
Examples of RPG Video Games
Some examples of RPG video games are Diablo, Dragon Age, Dragon Quest, Dungeons & Dragons, Final Fantasy, Mass Effect, Might and Magic, Persona, Phantasy Star, Shin Megami Tensei, Star Ocean, The Elder Scrolls, The Legend of Heroes, The Witcher, Ultima, Wizardry.
The Variety of RPG Subgenres
While the elements that all RPG video games share tie them together in the RPG video game genre, such as the ability to control one or more game characters, the ability to develop the game characters and the immersion in the game world through world-building, there is a variety of differences in the gameplay aspects of different RPG video games, and these differences are often described through a variety of different RPG video game subgenres.
While there are many RPG video game subgenres, some famous subgenres include cRPG (computer role-playing game), action RPG, open world RPG, monster tamer RPG, dungeon crawler RPG, MMORPG.
Examples of Action RPG Video Games
Some examples of action RPGs (or ARPGs) include Borderlands, Dark Souls, Diablo, Grim Dawn, Mass Effect, Tales, Titan Quest, Torchlight, Ys.
Action RPGs, or ARPGs, are RPG video games in which the combat gameplay is usually in real-time, as opposed to turn-based RPG video games, and in which there are often several ways to develop the game characters in regards to combat prowess. In this video games, there are often skill trees in which the player can develop the main game character for better skills, better passive abilities such as increased damage, damage reduction, health regeneration, and so on. Likewise, there are also loot systems in which the game character is able to collect progressively better loot and equipment, which effectively increase the combat abilities of the game character, such as weapons that deal more damage, armours that increase defense, and so on.
Traditionally, action RPGs were known for their isometric camera perspective, popularized by the Diablo video games, which are often praised and credited for popularizing the action RPG subgenre. Over time, the action RPG subgenre expanded and spawned new subgenres such as looter shooter video games, which often are first-person shooter (FPS) action role-playing video games in which many traditional action RPG elements are also present, while the gameplay is in first-person camera perspective. Moreover, the action RPG also spawned the soulslike subgenre, which is usually credited to the Dark Souls video games, hence the name, with third-person camera perspective and hack-and-slash gameplay, somewhat similar to third-person action-adventure video games.
Examples of cRPG Video Games
Some examples of cRPG video games include Baldur's Gate, Divinity: Original Sin, Pathfinder, and Pillars of Eternity. cRPG video games most often than not are RPG video games that provide a traditional RPG video game experience in the sense that the gameplay camera perspective is often from above, the player often controls a party of characters instead of a single character, and dialogues are often text-based, although these dialogues may feature voice-over.
Examples of Dungeon Crawler RPG Video Games or Party-Based First-Person RPG Video Games
Some examples of dungeon crawler RPG video games include Elminage, Etrian Odyssey, Legend of Grimrock, Might and Magic, Operation Abyss and Operation Babel, Stranger of Sword City, The Bard's Tale, Wizardry.
The dungeon crawler RPG video game subgenre is one of the oldest subgenres of RPG video games. Like the name suggests, dungeon crawler RPGs are video games in which the focus of the gameplay is in adventuring in dungeons. In these games, there are often large and expansive dungeons, and most of the gameplay takes place in these locations, as opposed to other RPG video game subgenres. Moreover, most often than not, these games feature grid-based movement and first-person camera perspective, and often feature a party of main game characters. The classic style of dungeon crawler RPG video games is also often referred to as party-based first-person RPG, due to these characteristics being generally present in most of the video games of this genre.
Examples of MMORPG Video Games
Some examples of MMORPG video games include Allods Online, Anarchy Online, Black Desert Online, City of Heroes, Conquer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, EverQuest, Guild Wars, Kal Online, Knight Online, Lineage, Mabinogi, MapleStory, Mu Online, New World, Perfect World, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Priston Tale, Ragnarök Online, Rappelz, Requiem, Rift, Rising Force Online, Rose Online, Shadowbane, Shaiya, Silkroad Online, Tales of Pirates, Tibia, Torn, Tree of Savior, WildStar, With Your Destiny, World of Warcraft.
Some examples of text-based MMORPG video games include eRepublik, Renaissance Kingdoms, Torn (also reffered to as Torn City) and Vampires Dark Rising.
Some examples of sandbox MMORPG video games include Albion Online, Eve Online, Mortal Online, Perpetuum, Ryzom, RuneScape, Salem, Vendetta Online, Voyage Century Online, Wurm Online, Xsyon.
MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) video games are RPG video games that feature the possibility of playing together (or against) other players, either in PvE (player-versus-environment) content or in PvP (player-versus-player content. MMORPG video games often feature social gameplay aspects, such as forming parties and groups of players to adventure in dungeons, the possibility of forming clans and guild, which are groups of players which can help each other in several ways, and these video games often also feature virtual economies in which the game characters are able to trade items between themselves. In other words, in these games, players are able to trade game items between themselves, rather than only being able to trade with NPCs (non-player characters).
Sandbox MMORPG video games are games in which players are able to craft most of the game items, or in which players can effectively alter the shape of the game world or game universe, either through faction wars or other gameplay systems.
Examples of Monster Tamer RPG Video Games
Some examples of monster tamer RPG video games include Coromon, Digimon, Monster Sanctuary, Nexomon, Pokémon, Yo-Kai Watch.
The monster tamer RPG video games subgenre is often referred to in different ways, such as monster tamer, monster catcher, monster catching, creature collector. Despite the different names for the subgenre, the monster tamer RPG video game subgenre describes games in which the main character is able to tame, or catch, different monsters that become allies, and help this game character throughout the gameplay and story.
Examples of Open World RPG Video Games
Some examples of open world RPG video games include Cyberpunk 2077, Dragon's Dogma, Elex, Fallout, Gothic, Risen, Starfield, The Elder Scrolls, The Witcher.
The concept of open world video games is often debatable and there is not a clear consensus that is accepted by the majority of players. Some players consider large environments to be open world, while other players consider boundless environments to be open world. In this article, regarding the open world RPG genre, I considered open world RPGs the games that do not feature loading screens or games that do not feature the transition of one game area to the other through some kind of portal, teleportation or transportation system, but rather through some form of seamless gameplay, such as seen in classic open world video games such as Grand Theft Auto. However, if RPG video games in which there are multiple large environments and in which there are ways to transport from one environment to the other in several points of the gameplay, then more video games could be considered, such as Deus Ex, Dragon Age, Final Fantasy, Mass Effect, among other RPG video games.
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