"What is an RPG?"

Aubrey Norris, Product Marketing Manager at SouthPeak Games, recently posed me this question during a demo of Risen. The question sounds like a simple enough one, but I found myself stumped. Back in the days of the 8 and 16-bit side-scrolling platform games, knowing the difference between an RPG (role-playing game) and any other game was simple - you just looked for the game with 40-plus hours of gameplay, a long story and characters you could build up from scratch. For gamers it was a rudimentary approach to a genre filled with numerous levels of depth. In today's world of robust sandbox games, build-your-own-character titles and MMORPGs it's hard to decisively state what makes an RPG an RPG.

RPGs found their foundation in the paper-and-pen games made popular through Dungeon's and Dragons. A group of gamers would create characters based on several races and professional trades. You could be a human-warrior priest, an elf mage, or a half-elf rogue with mage tendencies. The possibilities were limitless. Gamers would roll dice to build their player's stats. Once the characters were made, the players would gather around a table and a Dungeon Master would introduce them to their quest. The Dungeon Master knew everything about the world they played in, but he or she didn't necessarily know what would happen. The Dungeon Master could add Non-player characters (NPCs) into the foray to help or hinder the players. But at the core of the game, the players were the one's who made the decisions on how the quest played out. They acted out the lives of the characters they created. Much like a theater improv show, they role-played.

When the Internet gained momentum through America Online, various online message boards and chat rooms gamers were able to simulate this community gaming experience online. There was no clear goal, so the possibilities for adventure continued to be limitless.

Translating the world of paper-and-pen into a single player game was more difficult. In 1997, Square-Enix released Final Fantasy VII, argued by some to be the best RPG console game of all time. You didn't create your own player, but through a gradual unfolding story, beginning in memory-loss, you did live inside a character who was more or less a blank slate. By going on missions, adding teammates to your "party," interacting with NPCs who needed help and dungeon crawling to build up your character, you found yourself in a game with a fully developed story. It was like playing through a novel.

Games like Chrono Trigger and Phantasy Star III, released prior to Final Fantasy VII, made it popular to have multiple endings within a single-player game. So even though the main character was not of your own design, your personal decisions directly impacted how the game would play out. In saying this, I'm vaguely reminded of Johnny Cage's quote in the original Mortal Kombat movie. "This is OUR tournament, remember? Mortal Kombat. WE fight it!" That's how gamers felt, like they weren't hindered by restrictions. Gamers finally had choice, and were able to choose how the game would end. The only problem was, gamers lost the ability to communicate.

When World of Warcraft stormed through the Internet in 2004, RPG gamers fully embraced the chance to do what they do best: role-play in a world of seemingly limitless possibilities with a community of living players, while choosing their destiny. Coincidentally, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was released in the same year. The levels of depth Rockstar added to the franchise elated gamers. The game was marketed as having RPG style elements. Gamers could build up the main character, CJ. Anything from CJ's clothing to his interaction with NPCs affected his relationships throughout the game. There was also a degree of customization to your character. So you could improve attributes like firearms proficiency and driving. You may not have been able to choose your final destiny, but you did have choice in how your player got to his ultimate destination.

Games like 2009's Demon's Souls from Atlus, demonstrated that a community could exist in a single-player game without necessarily interacting within each player's game. In Demon's Souls, gamers could view deaths of past players, leave hints for other gamers, work cooperatively or invade another player's game. This showed us that you could still have an excellent single-player RPG without the need to be a fully loaded MMORPG.

So what is an RPG? An RPG can be all of these things. However, two things must always be present: choice and possibility. Gamers want to have the ability to choose. That choice can be anything from what type of person his or her main character will be to how that gamer will interact and, more importantly, affect the world about them. Games need possibility. Even if there is a finite ending, the game must present players with a world that is so engrossing that they start to believe that their actions matter. Once that player is indelibly tied to his or her character, the role-playing and dream of limitlessness can begin.