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battle - in other words, no transition screen. These games can range from minimal adherence RPG elements and more on adventuring, running and jumping (Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy Crisis: Core) to strict reliance on menus and statistics for pretty much everything beyond fleeing (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic).

SRPGs: Standing for strategy role-playing games, these titles incorporate RPG elements into a tactics-based environment. Usually these games feature battles on large grids and you move a party - or sometimes army - around on them, trying to outmanoeuvre and trounce an enemy force. Often proper character placement is key to victory, making these games good for fans of military tactics.

MMORPGs: Multi-player online role-playing games plant a character in an online world and allow them to level themselves up via a series of quests and endless battles against monsters. MMORPGs stand apart because you're only allowed to control one character, and must rely on either that character alone or a party of similarly player-controlled fellows. MMORPGs are typically highly social and have no discernible end point: indeed the point of playing is usually competition with other players to see who can become the strongest.

Catch-Em-Alls: Most people probably wouldn't make this a separate genre, but I feel the need to. Catch-em-alls are typified by Pokemon: you're put in command of some character who builds up a collection of monsters or warriors and then trains them in an effort to be better than the rest. The title for these games refers to the overall goal of collecting at least one of every monster or character found in the game, and are good for perfectionists.

Beyond these many different genres also make use of RPG elements, mainly items and statistics, to bolster the normal experience. As such it's not difficult to find some form of RPG that appeals to your tastes, regardless of what they may be. Just test a wide variety of them and soon enough you'll come across the brand that's right for you.

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