A Role-Playing Game (RPG) or Computer Role-Playing Game (CRPG) has the player assume the role of a character and controls their appearance, personality, race/gender, choices, stats/skills or any number of other attributes. The player is expected to develop and play this character as they see fit within a narrative. RPGs have traditionally placed a heavy focus on character development, story-telling, exploration and immersion in the world or setting.
Video game RPGs can trace their origins back to pen-and-paper RPGs, and traditionally used status effects, elemental strengths/weaknesses, stats and how one distributed points among their stats in order to build a character. Some games featured "skill checks" which enabled the player to disarm traps, persuade, intimidate, and so on if their skill/stat level was sufficient. Many non-RPG games now include RPG elements to some extent, and most modern RPGs have "diluted" the pen-and-paper RPG elements.
Sub-genres
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Japanese RPG (JRPG) |
Named primarily for it's country of origin. Features a specific gameplay style and mechanics; typically pseudo turn based combat, progression system focused around acquiring better gear and leveling up, multi-character parties with heavy stat management and strategy. |
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Western RPG (WRPG) |
Named primarily for it's country of origin. Features a specific gameplay style and mechanics; various graphical perspectives and styles of play, such as real-time and turn-based time-keeping systems, axonometric and first-person graphical projections, and single-character or multi-character parties. |
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European RPG (ERPG) |
Named primarily for it's country of origin. Older titles are sometimes referred to as "euro-jank" in reference to their generally poorer quality when compared to other game releases of the time. They are noted for being simultaneously archaic and experimental; trailblazing new ideas and mechanics while retaining elements (good or bad) from pasts eras. |
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Souls-Like |
Features deliberate, timing-based combat with a focus on situational awareness. Death is punishing, costing the player money, experience, or something else. A storyline, if any, is often vague or well concealed. |
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Related genres with their own pages
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Action RPG
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Tactical RPG
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Dungeon Crawler
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MMO
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Sandbox
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Roguelike
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Microbadge:
- VGG: RPG genre fan