An A-Z Guide to RPG Gaming

The RPG genre is chock full of clichés, returning characters, and franchises we all know and love. There are Japanese RPGs, Strategy RPGs, American RPGs, and many many more. The genre is endless and the variation ingenious, so it stands to reason that there are more than a few terms that some people might not have heard or have a grasp of when thinking about RPGs. The traditional gamer's girlfriend or boyfriend might get lost when listening to their loved one prattle on about hit points and chocobos. The role playing game is a language unto itself and fully deserving of an A-Z guide to get the most confused of family members or new fans acclimated to its dialect.

American Style RPG
The Japanese invented the console RPG, partly because they mastered the at-home video game phenomenon. For more than 15 years though, the options were mostly Japanese - Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Suikoden - all Japanese. But, with the rise of American gaming consoles and massive production companies on this side of the Video gaming seas, RPGs are coming out of domestic studios more and more often with a strikingly different take on style. Companies like Bioware and Bethesda put together the now classic RPGs Knights of the Old Republic and Elderscrolls. Often, the American options are more closely related to the classic Dungeons and Dragons style play first born here in the States as well.

Battle system
The most important part of any good RPG short of a hair-brained story line and a cast of oddball, weirdo characters is a decent battle system. There should be a few innovations, a few more unnecessary changes and the staple of any good RPG, the ability to carry a thousand items and weapons somewhere on one's person without even the slightest bulge in those multihued vests and leather pants.