This blog is about me cataloging the RPGs I play as I play them. To thoroughly do that, I must establish exactly what qualifies as a game I will pick up and play. I want to do this so that I am clear on what you can come to expect from this blog.
Let me start by saying what I am laying down is my opinions. Everyone has their own opinions. This is just what I am basing the blog around. And some might be a pretty hot take... in particular...
What do I consider an RPG anyway?
I've spent a lot of time over the last 15 or so years trying to nail down exactly what an RPG is. RPGs have become increasingly vague and hard to pin down because most genres have picked up many telltale signs of an RPG. For instance, most games have a story these days. There are a great many games that incorporate stats, loot, and levels. These are standard functions of modern games, but they don't tell us whether the game is an RPG.
It also matters to me how we qualify RPGs because I like RPGs and want to play them. I get very disappointed when I purchase a game and anticipate sitting down to an RPG only to find out that this isn't even remotely a game I want to play. A good case and point for me has always been Borderlands. I respect Borderlands a lot, but it isn't an RPG. It does many things an RPG does, but it isn't an RPG. And so much of what I do to qualify what a Roleplaying Game is comes down to defining it through the lens of what I know is not one. So here are my general rules:
- Characters have statistical characteristics that dictate their physical and/or mental attributes.
- These stats grow as the game progresses.
- The character executes commands by the player using the character's skills and abilities, not the player's. For clarification, I choose a character to attack an enemy's head, and the character uses its skills to hit. If I also have to aim or click really fast to actually hit the enemy, it no longer is an RPG.
- Some semblance of a story must exist more than get to the end or save the princess. (A game can have save the princess be the primary storyline, but there needs to be more to the story than just that statement.)
- The player can make choices in the character's development.
Game Selection
- The game can be from any system I own: PC, Console, or handheld.
- No mobile-only games.
- The game itself must have been legally purchased. Emulation is fine as long as I actually own a copy.
- Availability Clause: For PC or digital-only console games, if it is 15 years of age or older and unavailable for purchase, emulating without ownership is OK.
- Included RPG sub-genres:
- Turn-Based
- Real-Time
- Action
- Tactics
- Strategy
- Western
- Japanese
- Excluded RPG sub-genres:
- Visual Novels
- MMOs/MUDs/MOOs
- RPG Maker. At least generally, I am going to avoid RPG Maker games. There are a few worth playing, and I won't go out of my way to figure out if a game was made using RPG Maker. This is more included as a catch-all so that I can feel free to not play the overload of RPG Maker games.
- Porn. I am OK with "Mature" games, but games designed around porn are not what I am willing to cover here.
- I will also exclude games with an original MSRP under $5, adjusted to the 2023 dollar. Another rule that won't likely be hard and fast geared to get rid of shovelware.
- The year a game is released will not be considered when selecting a game. I am not playing in chronological order.
- Franchises will be considered when selecting a game. If I start a game franchise, I will continue through the franchise in reasonably short order. I may, however, have non-franchise "break" games so I don't get overdone on a franchise by the end.
- Non-English Games are fine if there is an English Translation, or I magically learn other languages quickly.
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