Characteristics:
Generally, the player controls a small number of game characters, usually called a party, and achieves victory by completing a series of quests. Players explore a game world, while solving puzzles and engaging in tactical combat. A key feature of the genre is that characters grow in power and abilities, and characters are typically designed by the player. RPGs rarely challenge a player's physical coordination, with the exception of action role-playing games.
These games usually have a highly developed story and setting, which is divided into a number of quests. Players control one or several characters by issuing commands, which is performed by the character at an effectiveness determined by that character's numeric attributes. These attributes increase each time a character gains a level, and a character's level goes up each time the player accumulates a certain amount of experience.
Role-playing video games borrow their genre terminology, settings and game mechanics found in early role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons. However, at least as of 2006, computers do not yet have the power to simulate nonplayer characters with the skill of a human game master. The behavior of these characters is instead hand-coded using scripts. Thus, role-playing video games borrow more of the core mechanics from early role-playing games without as much of the role-playing activity and character freedom.
When compared to other gaming genres, role-playing games have a tendency to become more in-depth and complicated because of their levelling and skill systems. For example, the Pokémon series of games has a vast economy of users who actually use mathematical calculations and various other obscure, hidden methods to give their Pokémon team an advantage over others. This likely was originally used by the game creators to support the shallower levelling. This behavior is most commonly seen in online battle veterans.
