Role-playing games showcase videogaming at its most ambitious, placing you in the shoes of a protagonist who must grow, interact with other characters, battle monsters, learn skills and explore the landscape. They offer everything from high-fantasy epics to science-fiction showstoppers and take you on adventures that can move you to your core. Here, we will celebrate everything the genre has to offer, from its small but ambitious beginnings to the world dominance it holds today.
Welcome to The RPG
Retro Gamer Presents: The Ultimate RPG Handbook
The Bluffer’s Guide to RPGS • With obsessive fans, a slew of subgenres, locations ranging from high fantasy to hard sci-fi, convoluted stats and a range of combat systems, RPGs truly come in flavours to appeal to all tastes. Let’s look back over the decades-long history of one of gaming’s most revered genres
CLASSIC RPG CLICHES
NO IMPORT? NO PROBLEM • The hardcore fans who are providing solutions to Japanese exclusive RPGS
Q&A: JOSH SAWYER • Josh Sawyer (Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars Of Eternity) on creating RPG magic
RPG Legends • We reveal some of the best RPG adventurers from four decades of gaming. If you’re heading out on a dangerous quest then these are the heroes you should add to your party
THE STORY OF MUD: THE ORIGINAL DUNGEON DELVER • THERE WERE ONLY A HANDFUL SEMINAL TITLES AT THE DAWN OF VIDEOGAMING AS WE KNOW IT, AND MUD – WITH ITS VAST AND ECLECTIC COMMUNITY OF VIRTUAL WORLDS – WAS ONE SUCH GAME, A CONCEPT EMBEDDED WITHIN THE MMOS WE PLAY TODAY
The Legacy of Mud
Playing Dirty • Active MUDS you can join right now
Mud Style • The distinct forms of MUDs that evolved from the original
The Complete History of Ultima • Arguably the most innovative, most in-depth and, for its time, the most advanced role-playing game series there had ever been, Ultima holds an important place in the gaming hall of fame. We chat to creator Richard Garriott about his epic series
The Ultima Timeline
Rpg History 1980s • How transitioning away from text took computer RPGs from the mainframes to the mainstream of gaming
The History of The Bard’s Tale • As one of the most popular RPGs of its time, the story of The Bard’s Tale’s was at risk of being forever lost to history. Let’s recount how this beloved series came to be, and how it made its return
Rogue’s Gallery A-Z
You Are Here • Ten of of the the most interesting locations in in Skara Brae
Conversion Capers • The bard’s tale is one that’s been told many times…
Out Of Tune • The 2004 game marked a different direction for the series
THE HISTORY OF DRAGON QUEST • Final Fantasy may be bigger but Dragon Quest is equally important. Enix’s seminal RPG kickstarted a genre in Japan and is as beloved by the nation as no other game. We speak to creator Yuji Horii about the making of a legend, and inspect each game in the main series
ROGUES’ GALLERY
SPIN-OFFS • Dragon Quest has quite a few spin-off games, and some of them are actually quite good
DEVELOPER PROFILES • More developers than you might think have been involved in the making of Dragon Quest. Here’s the lot of them…
Dungeon Master • When tiny San Diego studio Faster Than Light released Dungeon Master on the Atari ST in 1987, they knew they had created something special. What they couldn’t have predicted was the tremendous worldwide success the game would achieve and the impact it would have on future videogame design. We speak to the creator of this legendary title
THE HISTORY OF FINAL FANTASY
FANTASY ON FILM • There’s more to Final Fantasy than videogames – check out these excursions into the world of cinema
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