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Since RPGs became a worldwide success, there were many genres that borrowed elements from them. This ultimately ended up blurring the line between RPG and a game that simply has certain aspects and mechanics of it. Is there really such a thing as an RPG anymore? Let’s try to find out!
The core parts that make up the RPG are originally coming from the TTRPG genre, which basically cemented the concept as one of the first true RPG experiences.
The most important parts were the character creation where players could use the existing system of attributes, classes, skills, traits etc to craft their alter-ego within the campaign.
The characters also have an ability to become more adept in their craft, find better equipment and overall improve themselves further.
The players and their characters are the main focus, their exploits can and will shape the world, player party focus is also important as it allows everyone to get a bit of a “spotlight” and have their very own character arc.
TTRPG is interactive storytelling after all and it is quite an important part of the RPG experience.
To expand a bit further about character creation, TTRPGs attempt to make sure every time you play a different character, you could experience a different game altogether, while still being able to grasp how to best utilise each one.
To take the customisation even further, you can (and even should) give the character a backstory. There’s a very good reason for it too!
The characters you create aren’t meant to be carbon copies of you as a person. It’s not impossible to self-insert but that’s a bit of a wasted opportunity.
The main essence of RPGs IS the role-playing part. You can become someone you are not, you can play out just the coolest fantasies with this new version of “yourself” and the backstories themselves are a pretty big part of it.
You’re basically giving the DM something to work with, so that he can craft a unique in-game experience for you specifically based on what you yourself created! If done correctly, this not only elevates the story but definitely gets you fully invested in it.
As your character takes part in their adventures, they become more capable, better equipped and more understanding of the world they inhabit. This is often represented as levelling up, which basically allows picking up new skills, spells, abilities, talents etc. In many RPGs, the PVE aspect plays a crucial role, providing a structured environment where players can test and enhance their characters' abilities against AI-driven challenges.
It is quite an important part of the RPG, as levelling up opens up new possibilities for the characters. New arsenal to unleash on your enemies, new ways to tackle tough challenges and of course more story relevant quests to further immerse the players.
It’s all tied to a very simple concept of progression and growth.
We all enjoy our games allowing a certain level of… immersion.
If the game addresses how our actions affect the world, it can be a real awesome experience. Imagine playing a video game where doing even the basic quests has some larger impact on the world.
Town becoming more prosperous? New shops opening up due to the increase in safety introducing new wares, which can then increase enemy factions interest in the region!
You take part in the world and the world reacts to your actions, giving you an opportunity to dive deep into it.
The main purpose of quests is to basically give the player things to do. If you’re not doing quests right that is!
Quests are an amazing way for the DM and game developers to teach us something about the world while setting up a pace for the players. There’s a reason why virtually nobody chases the main quest first.
Side quests serve as a great way for the player to learn of surrounding areas or even the lore of the world. It could be a fetch quest but you could end up being pulled into some complex intrigue that involves multiple sub-tasks to flesh out the world even further!
Well, the experience and gear is a welcome addition too, let's not pretend we’re doing things out of the goodness of our heart all the time…
It’s not an easy thing to create a completely new world that doesn’t exist anywhere else. It’s also probably NOT the best thing to do either.
As much as players enjoy exploring an alien world, if it’s “too” alien or requires too much learning of even the most basic concepts, it tends to sap the fun of discovery quite rapidly. This can be mitigated by slowly injecting the more exotic concepts, while focusing on things that players should be comfortable with.
Like slaying monsters or saving damsels (or princes) in distress. The lore of your world IS important, so make sure you present it in a way that makes the player think “That’s cool, I want to know more!” rather than “Oh, lore/info dump, where’s the skip button?”.
It's a balancing act but it can really enhance the whole experience.
RPGs were quite keen on keeping the players on their toes with resource and inventory management. Maintaining your gear, food rations, potions, arrows, spell ingredients all the while making sure you can actually carry all of it.
Everything costs money so you can’t just take everything. After all, one misadventure can put you in the red (especially if you need to revive a fallen comrade!).
Of course, the longer the adventure lasts, the more… tedious this becomes. So items like bags of holding or other carry capacity items make their debut to ease the micromanagement nightmare of higher level adventures.
Once it stops being a “challenge” it’s best to introduce ways to mitigate these problems.
It’s no exaggeration to say that finding new equipment is a core mechanic of an RPG.
A single piece of gear can add an immense amount of utility to your current build or simply look way cooler than your previous armour piece! Who doesn’t like to be rewarded for their efforts?
It’s encoded in our very being and RPGs absolutely take advantage of that. Whether it’s our innate need to hoard as much stuff as possible or simply keeping everything that “could” become useful in the future, loot is simply a great concept that RPGs successfully encoded into gamers' brains.
Sometimes it makes the RPGs a little too compelling…
Crafting has become one of the most used systems across almost every genre.
Combining resources into something useful is quite a compelling mechanic for sure. It gives the player a choice as to what he’ll do with the ingredients and leaves the decision entirely up to him.
Plus it solves the problem of players not having access to the gear they want to use but couldn’t find or purchase anywhere within the game that plagued certain CRPGs.
RPGs didn’t always have crafting, it developed over the years as they became more and more complex and today it’s hard to find titles that don’t include it.
Be it creation of new items or improving the existing ones, it’s definitely a worthwhile ability to implement, especially if you’ve got skills that your characters can specialise in!
With everything else that was mentioned in the article, what really makes an RPG an RPG? Well, possibly the intent of whoever created the game. Bear with us…
Baldur’s Gate 3 is an RPG, it was meant to be successor to the Baldur’s Gate franchise and the developers used their previous experience from games like Divine Divinity to achieve that.
A game like Vermintide is NOT an RPG, since the developers weren’t trying to make an RPG but a horde shooter with RPG elements. You have gear, levelling up, multiple characters and subclasses, a storyline that unfolds if you’re keeping track but no one in their right mind would actually call it an RPG.
The difference is again, the original intent of the developers.
It may seem like a cop-out but today the line as to what is and what isn’t an RPG just blurs further and further. Just look at the Idle RPGs.
After playing some of them yourself, you’ll be able to distinguish them yourself, so that you can join the never ending bickering sessions on the internet as to what is and what isn’t an RPG in your most “humble” opinion!
Ah, RPGs are just a gift that keeps on giving…
Character growth, immersive storytelling, enjoyable dialogue and of course shiny loot to collect. By combining these into one game, you can get plenty of enjoyment!
Sure is! If you stretch the definition of “role-playing” far enough, even Tetris could be a story of heroic blocks staving off the apocalyptic event by sacrificing themselves.
But honestly, that definition wouldn’t help anyone find RPGs to play, now would it?
By any metric other than “you actually play some sort of role”? No, not really. Especially if you take GTA 1 and 2 into the account.
Later instalments also only have some “RPG elements” at best.
Less and less every year. Narratively focused storyline, levelling up, classes, loot, inventory management is used in non-RPG titles.
“You will know it once you see it” is unfortunately the most agreed upon definition.
