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It's apparent that the majority of RPG's released are set in the fantasy sub-genre. We have Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Elder Scrolls, The Legend of Zelda,World of Warcraft and so many others. But, as time passes, stories get retold over and over again. So many RPG's feature orcs, dwarves, elves and dragons. So many recount the tale of a young boy from a small town who dreams of a greater life, and somehow he gets the opportunity and becomes the world's savior. There's only so much you can do with the same theme. I believe it'd be amazing to see RPG's experiment with other subgenres, such as sci-fi, western, action, etc.
Of course, not all RPG's are fantasy. The Wild Arms series actually takes place in the Wild West. This fresh setting bestows the series with a sort of newness, even if it does tells some of the same stories. Just changing the setting is enough to make it unique. There are also a few sci-fi RPG's, such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the upcoming Rogue Galaxy, and Mass Effect. Setting an RPG in space opens up a great many opportunities for story depth and gameplay. Gamers would no longer be confined to the same old forests and ice caves. In their stead a gamer would find vast galaxies with a variety of different planets to explore. Mass Effect looks to be an awesome game experience because of the sheer ambition of the project. There will be so many different worlds to explore and so much freedom. Such a thing is more difficult when confined to a single world.
Nevertheless, fantasy RPG's can be appreciated because they are tied to the roots of role playing games. RPG's began as the simple table top games of Dungeons & Dragons. When RPG's went digital, the same qualities remained. Instead of imagining swords and sorcery, gamers were actually able to see everything onscreen. So, RPG's understandably cling to their roots. In fact, fantasy seems to be part of the definition of an RPG. But hopefully, in the future developers will begin to test out other sub-genres and mix them with RPG elements with wonderful success. Square Enix should be applauded for doing this with Final Fantasy. Some games in the series, such as Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X strike a fine balance between sci-fi and fantasy. It'd be fantastic if more would follow than experience and work with other sub-genres.
One thing that hasn't been attempted and done well is to develop and RPG set in modern times. Most RPG's that are set in modern times have a slight fantasy twist to them. Shin Megami Tensei is one example. But what if these games were set in the twenty-first century? I can't help but wonder how successful these games would be. Perhaps they'd feature real locals, such as famous cities like Tokyo or New York. They could follow the military in Iraq or something to that effect. But thinking such a change makes me conscious of the different audiences and the importance of narrowcasting. RPG's are narrowcasted into the fantasy setting because that's what the audience expects. If RPG's were more sci-fi or set in modern times they'd probably attract a new type of audience, accustomed to action games, that would immediately be turned off by turn-based battles and slow-paced stories. But this presents a great opportunity to branch out to these new audiences and tune certain qualities to their liking. That's why action-RPG's and other mixtures exist. It'll be interesting to see how much RPG's change in a few years.
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