RPGs - Part 1

No, not that kind of RPG...

When I was a little kid, we had some table-top role playing games and some Nintendo cartridges. Do you remember the joy of the original NES games?

Blow on it, put it in, doesn't work, push it up and down repeatedly for twenty seconds, doesn't work, take it out and blow again, doesn't work, push it in and out five times, light some incense in front of Nintendo Power Magazine, say a prayer to the Game Master, turn it on, and finally rejoice! After 30 minutes of hard labor you can enjoy your video game of choice. Kids today are spoiled.

Anyways, RPGs generally had some basic elements: levels, experience, hit points, statistical values representing strength, intelligence, etc. They tended to be fairly linear, and usually involved an entire planet to explore.

Nowadays, the label RPG has evolved to take on a plethora of meanings. We have FPS-RPGs, Puzzle-RPGs, MMORPGs, Sports-RPGs, and I could go on. What ever happened to a good old fashioned game of Fighters and Red Mages who are trying to save the world?

It seems like the idea of what an RPG is continues to evolve. I find myself less interested in playing the latest offerings, such as Final Fantasy 13. I just don't want to feel like I'm on rails, watching a story unfold while fighting a bunch of bullshit random encounters in between cut-scenes. I'll watch a movie if I want to see a story unfold.

No, what I enjoy are games where you truly have choice. Where your actions impact the world. I'm a fan of the open-ended sandbox style of role-playing game. Apparently, there now exists two camps in the world of RPG creation. There are the highly linear, rigidly defined J-RPGs (so called due to the Japanese inception of this design), and there are the open-ended, loosely defined Western RPGs.

We'll take a closer look at the differences next time.

For now, I must go and prepare for the coming storm. Upon wings of liberty do Heaven's Devils approach.