Western RPG

Western RPG is the counterpart definition of role-playing video games which have different approach and mechanics of those considered JRPGs. Both concepts were coined in the early 2000s when the differences between the major video game platforms (PC and consoles) became diffuse, once their libraries were getting similar. Until then, there was a certain general view of RPGs being divided in two distinct categories: console RPGs and computer RPGs. Those two terms refer to JRPGs and western RPGs, respectively, since they share the same historic development origin, given that early generations of video games the major console companies developing games for console were from Japan, while the western development focused in computer games.

From a general stand point of view, western RPGs allow players to create fully original characters and advance gameplay and plot at their own pace. Unlike JRPGs, which are restricted and contained within a completely crafted story, western RPGs feature more open worlds that give players the ability to take on a myriad of different goals. Games normally have one or even a few main storylines along with numerous side quests to keep a player preoccupied and allow them to gain levels and skills quickly without going through straight "level grinding", which is an emphasized course of action in some JRPGs. Characters are often times given opportunities to make different decisions to change their moral standings, often done in a traditional "good / evil / neutral" scale, which can affect long-term gameplay. Players are also able to develop more complex relationships with not only party members, but NPCs as well, that can also affect long-term play in different ways. The setting usually differs from the more brightful fantasy one commonly encountered in JRPGs, instead being defined by a more realistic and free-roaming based one. These characteristics obviously don't apply to all western developed RPGs, as it is a simple general view of the gameplay tendency of the titles.

It should be noted that despite such definition, the classification of JRPGs and western RPGs also hold a dubious and highly questionable nature, since a regional division of the genres can be shown very imprecise since the library of RPGs video games, both western and eastern developed, do not always show a clear tendency to the coined definitions, and very commonly the gameplay characteristics of both JRPGs and western RPGs are merged in a single game, without matter of it's regional development origin. Despite some specific differences between the two styles, taken from relative and comparative analysis, it is common for RPGs to stand between or out of the two concepts, and thus those games can not be explicitly represented by one term or the another.