by Joel Brewer

In recent years, the video game world has exploded in popularity. New technology has made the games much more realistic, in-depth, and believable then the old arcade games like Donkey Kong. With its increasing size, the world of video games has grown into several different genres to satisfy the desires of the players. However, one genre of video game is vastly superior to the rest: Role Playing Games, or 'RPGs' for short. Aspects of the RPG genre has taken over almost every corner of the gaming world. From character customization, to simply allowing the player to make choices that affect the storyline, RPGs have a firm grasp on the gaming world.

An RPG is a story-based game where the player assumes the role of the character, as if they were the same person. RPG's are full of choices the player can make that change the world through a series of choices that affect the gameplay and how the story plays out. 'Skill-trees', and customization of a player's skills and abilities are also what makes an RPG. The great part of RPGs is that is allows the player to play the way they want.

While most games do not openly admit their RPG aspects, most games that become very popular have these kinds of game mechanics; that make the player feel like they have control. The First-Person Shooter's Call of Duty series, the Strategy game's XCOM series, and even Action/Adventure games like the Dishonored series are all very popular franchises that successfully added these RPG game-mechanics into their gameplay.