RPG Podcast Episode 1: Let Me Introduce Myself...and RPGs

Theo Smith · RPG Podcast Episode 1

This is the first podcast episode of my blog. In this episode I formally introduce myself, explain RPG impact on gaming society, and a few reasons to start playing RPGs. 

What I Play

 

Here I am talking about what it means to immerse yourself in RPGs and yet I haven’t explained the ones I play.

I have played my share of RPGs through the last 5 years but there are some that made an impact on me that I never thought possible. And I’m not talking an entire series, I mean specific games that I can’t stop thinking about them.

Take Your Heart

I became interested in the “Persona” series because of Persona 5 Royal, mostly because I simply gave in to temptation. I wasn’t sure what to expect the moment I started playing it but after the first hour I knew I was in for a wild ride. The villains were unlike anything I’ve seen in other games and the Tokyo setting was breathtaking. The best part were the protagonists The Phantom Thieves of Hearts, a gang of oppressed adolescents who rose from their own hells to seek revenge on a deeply corrupt society.

The Phantom Thieves initially became my favorite game characters of all time with their unique backgrounds and their own story arcs on how they changed after meeting the protagonist Joker. The story and gameplay were masterpieces but engaging with multiple characters who have their own traits to offer was my favorite part of the game. The best part was being in a relationship with best girl Ann Takamaki.

 

 

Glory To Mankind

Nier Automata the very game that set me on the RPG path few years back, there are times that I want to play it one last time.  I couldn’t decide what got me so addicted to it the ruined world, the quests, or the music. It’s more accurate to say that I was more interested in the concept of multiple endings something I haven’t been introduced before that game. I had to play through 4 different routes between three characters to get the true ending.

Each character’s routes had hidden details that weren’t shown in the previous route, details that reveal shocking truths that’ll prove relevant in the next game. Above all every single song I heard kept me going whether it had lyrics or not. Each track pierced my soul in every area I visited and different circumstances I witnessed.

 

 Hey Paimon Wants to be Showcased Too!

 

 

Of course, how can leave the one game I literally can’t take my eyes off. Genshin Impact is basically what all RPG fans are playing to this day. Every day I log in to a constantly changing world with so much to do from daily quest, character stories, and waiting to get my paycheck to pay for primogems. What I mostly do in that game is strengthen my favorite characters to their peak levels.

Genshin Impact – Step Into a Vast Magical World of Adventure (hoyoverse.com)

It’s too bad that the game isn’t completely finished but the devs make sure that there is plenty content to offer. I’m always playing the newest for the sake of the game’s ongoing story and to keep interacting with the game’s colorful characters.

 

To be continued . . .

 

Be Yourself, Be Someone Else

RPGs give people chance to be something they can never be in real life, but at home, on a gaming console.

RPGs really don’t stand out when it comes to being different video game characters, games of different genres offer the same luxury. What’s different is that the RPGs out there that let gamers choose a character that’s unique to them.

 

Who you are, Who you want to be.

Specifically, RPGs let you customize your own character that looks and acts the same as the gamer himself or completely different with looks and personality. Regardless of how the character is made what happens next once the game begins is up to you. There are even RPGs that don’t have customization options and let gamers choose the name of the character they’re playing. With character design being the first step, gamers must choose their lifestyle in the game as well. The determined lives or job classes will affect the created character throughout the game albeit positively or negatively.

 

They must keep in mind that the person in they are in real life and the person in they made based off them in the are completely different people with different lives. Separating oneself from reality and fiction can be trying for people who want to live in a fantasy and that can be a good thing. However, it’s always important to remember who someone was in the real world, so they don’t lose their grip on life.

 

Interactions Will Define You and Others

It’s commonly known that no man is an island, and the same logic can be applied to the player’s RPG character. Activity with non-player characters is the key to becoming a better person. As I said in the previous post RPG party members have their own backstory, the main character engaging with help them to become better. In the custom character’s case, the party members are NPCs and they’re non-party members who have just as much to offer.

NPCs can impact the character inside and outside the game narrative and the more the player interacts with them the more they understand each other. With these NPCs come choices, carefully chosen voice interactions that will determine the player’s and NPC’s growing or diminishing intimacy towards each other. Some NPCs have major impact on the game’s true story while some have minor influences for the player. The player receives rewards, gets more character story depth, and if they’re feeling lucky, a little romance.

The You From Reality vs The You From RPG

Why do people want to fashion a character with similarities and differences with their real selves? Why do they make friends and romances with people who don’t exist in reality? Why do people want to indulge in a realistic, fantasy world that has so much to offer than the real world?

The answer is simple, you can’t do many of those things in real life. I’m not saying all people including RPG fans, but some people just want to escape to the confines of the RPG world. Some people are unfulfilled in their normal lives while in RPGs their characters accomplish so much more. Once they see that life in a RPG is better they would start playing for hours on end without grasping the time of the day. However, there are some who play RPGs and still cling to reality because they feel like they already have everything they ever wanted.

JRPG Beginnings

 

Where would the gaming world be without games being given the anime touch?

Japanese Role-Playing Games (JRPGs) are games that are published, developed, and released in Japan then later released here in the West. JRPGs are set apart from other JPRG genres because they’re uniquely designed like an anime or manga series.

Many fans of anime and manga flock to JRPGs for several reasons but it’s to mostly engage in a fantasy world with memorable characters on a home console.

From One Protagonist to Multiple Protagonists

JRPGs always start with a central protagonist, the hero of the story or gamers preferred favorite playable character however they want to call it. Protagonist starts of game with some life changing ordeal, chance encounter, unspeakable tragedy, probably no different than heroes of different game genres. The difference is the hero is thrust into a journey he/she didn’t ask for and it helps them grow and become someone else along the way. Someone who they never thought they’d become.

The hero isn’t the only shining star, the allies, teammates, or party members are all playable characters and have prominent roles and backgrounds of their own. They’re drawn to the protagonist which inspire them to find their own answers in life or gained new resolve after a lifetime of failure. The friends and comrades help the protagonist grow and he/she does the same and spoiler alert: you get plot armor.