weird grey ace, four partners, a bunch of headmates.
writes cursed code 24
obviously i'm being a bit facetious, i know what a CRPG is, but assuming you met a person who has been in a coma for the past 50 years, or a 5 year old asked, how would you describe what a CRPG is to them?
i may or may not be asking for shitposting reasons
it's a game with story and numeric combat as the two main drivers of interest. genre conventions dictate that the story is usually about saving the world in some way, and usually follows a small number of characters as they go on Campbell-style epic journeys. magic and other fantasy elements are often involved, even in settings that do not seem as though they should have them.
the game typically switches between two modes, movement and combat; the fluidness of this transition is sometimes a differentiator.
the combat systems vary heavily as new mechanics are a key differentiator, but always draw on traditions stemming from D&D-style dice-rolling. in older games, hand-drawn maps and note-taking on monster statistics and weaknesses were an expected part of the experience, but this did not survive the transition to 3D. almost every game has some taxonomy of elemental powers, extremely loosely inspired by Plato's four elements, which are inputs into the combat mechanics. there are a variety of systems whereby time either stops and waits for the player's decision between turns in combat; proceeds whether or not the player acts; or blends the two.
the locations visited typically include overworlds, towns, and dungeons. themes stemming from Japanese political discourse are extremely common, including elaborations of anti-war and pro-environment positions, as well as opposition to Christian hegemony. well-known mythologies are often drawn on for names, creature types, and other details to add texture to the world-building.
we look forward to your shitpost :D
