by Rob Kentworth

Created on: September 24, 2010   Last Updated: September 25, 2010

RPGs are often lengthy games (in comparison to others) and by extension, they are more worth the money you spend on them. However, some of them you may only play once because there isn’t much replayability, as some are quite linear and don’t offer you any reason to play through them again unless you want to see the story unfold once more.

Then there are also different types of RPGs that you can buy and play. So, the different types will appeal to different people at the end of the day.

The Japanese roleplaying game

The Japanese roleplaying games tend to be quite linear; their stories don’t always tend to be great either. However, they can still be enjoyable and they do at times feature optional content, like hard dungeons you can work your way through to get extra special items. They can also be grindy though, as you will need to kill monsters in order to acquire the experience points needed to level up. This also applies to killing monsters for item drops.

In addition, it’s important to note that some of the characters in these games can be cheesy, as can the lines they deliver, and the stories the games contain, but not always.

The western roleplaying game

Western roleplaying games are a favourite of mine. By and large, they tend to have good stories and characters and they’re made by companies like BioWare. A lot of Japanese roleplaying games are very statistic heavy and their combat system is turn-based a lot of the time. However, western roleplaying games have looked to differentiate themselves recently. With regards to BioWare, they’ve been making moves to streamline the RPG systems employed in their games by giving them a more cinematic feel and making the combat more exciting and less statistic heavy (Dragon Age was still statistic heavy though). In addition, western roleplaying games tend to have a fair bit more replayability than Japanese roleplaying games because they offer the freedom of choice. And likewise, this freedom of choice in what you do can affect certain dialogs or even what happens during the game from a story perspective. So, you’re encouraged to replay the game and try different decisions to see what happens. The Witcher is one great example of this thanks to the morally grey decisions you make having an effect on alliances and what happens several hours down the road.

The strategic roleplaying game

These games follow a storyline and see you levelling up characters like other types of roleplaying games do. However, they place a more heavy emphasis on thinking about your moves in order to get through the game and this doesn’t just apply to orders you give to characters in combat. This can also apply to thinking hard about the equipment you give your characters.

MMORPGs

These are the games for social people, though you need to take care about becoming addicted to them and neglecting other things that are important in life. These come in two flavors; one type requires you to pay a subscription fee for one or several months to play and one is free-to-play, with you paying as you go if you want to access extra content or get some beneficial items.

Mainly though, while they do offer extensive character customisation options and levelling, they are played a lot for the social aspect as you will need to band together with others to overcome specific challenges, though the games can be played solo at the same time (most can at least). It’s just that if you play solo, you will miss out on the best rewards.

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