Role-playing game fans tend to be a touchy bunch. Not only are they prone to rant about the superiority of their favorite RPGs, they also don't hesitate to cast that most hateful exclusionary barb - "That game isn't even a role-playing game" - at other would-be RPGs. Apparently, in the eyes of a significant portion of RPG fans, there's no fate worse for an RPG than being relegated to some presumably inferior genre. These days, however, some of the best game designers are borrowing more elements from various genres in order to create innovative games, which makes rigid genre classification seem more meaningless than ever.

There's obviously still some merit in classifying games into genres and subgenres, since a classification instantly gives gamers a general idea of the kind of experience they can expect (which might not otherwise be obvious, given nondescriptive titles like Albion). But where do you draw the line for which games should be included in a particular genre when genres are constantly evolving? After all, prior to Warcraft and Dune 2, the real-time strategy genre didn't really exist, yet now they are accepted as strategy games alongside more conventional turn-based games like Master of Orion.

The bottom line is that the games included in this section don't fit traditional definitions of a role-playing game. That's either because they involve preset characters and linear storylines, or because their gameplay is essentially limited to killing things, getting stronger, and killing more things. But many role-playing game fans, including me, still enjoy the RPG hybrid games discussed in this section because they contain a number of role-playing elements, such as character development, non-player character interaction, and the exploration of a fantasy gaming world, albeit in limited fashion.

Next: Anachronox