Update 19 – CRPG BOOK RELEASED!
February 5, 2018 March 3, 2018 felipepepe 119 Comments
Four years ago I began a journey.
On Feb 5 2014 I posted the results of the RPG Codex's Top 70 poll, in which we elected the best CRPGs of all time. But I felt that a simple list was too dry… more than the ranking, I was interested in WHY these games were good. From there came the idea of asking people to write a short paragraph talking about each title.
This became a updated version of the Codex's Top 70, now with screenshots and brief descriptions of each game. That's my favorite piece of content I ever made, but I still wanted more – more games, more screenshots, longer reviews, tips on mods, fan-made patches, etc. So I made a list of all the RPGs I wanted to cover and began recruiting volunteers for the "CRPG Book Project".
Having done the Top 70 list in 3 months, I thought I could do 300 games in about 10 months or so. Ha, it took me four years… but it is done!
Dear reader, I present you the full release of the CRPG BOOK PROJECT!
Across its 528 pages you'll find information about over 400 RPGs, from the early PLATO games to modern AAA releases, as well as hidden gems, curiosities and even fan-translations. The reviews were written by a team of 112 volunteers from all around the globe – fans, modders, journalists, critics, indies and AAA developers.
Above all, this book is a passion project. Free, non-commercial, created by people who wanted to share their hobby and help others have fun. I'm very proud of what we achieved, and I would like to thank everyone who helped me on this journey.
I'll also take this chance to address some criticism & future plans:
1) Physical Edition – This is the question I'm asked the most: "Will there be a physical edition?". I would love to have one, but it's something very complicated to produce – especially for a 528-page color book! Most on-demand printing services won't do something this big, and even if I cut the book down to CreateSpace's 480-page limit, it would be a VERY expensive book, costing over $60!
Crowdfunding is another alternative, but I'm a Brazilian immigrant living in Japan on a temporary visa – the legal procedures & taxes involved are kinda uncharted territory. There are book-oriented crowdfunding services like Unbound, but you'll notice that even veterans like Hardcore Gaming 101 and Guru Larry are having difficulty reaching their goals. I'm looking for alternatives, so if you have any ideas please message me.
2) Proofreading – The book hasn't been proofread. It's something I want to do (and get a lot of messages about it), especially since many reviewers (myself included) aren't native english speakers, but it's not easy – the book has over 310,000 words, which is about 2/3 of the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy! Since we have no money and it's something I can't do myself, we depend on the work of volunteers.
3) Extra content – There's still about 10 minor RPGs I want to add to the book in the future, but couldn't do it yet for one reason or another. E.g., I wanted a SpellForce series review, but couldn't find any volunteers and my computer can't run SpellForce 3.
There's also a few extra articles I would like to include, such as a timeline on MMORPGs & MUDs and short introductions to old home computers, such as the C64, Amiga, ZX Spectrum, TRS-80, etc, which I'm guessing many readers never saw and know little about. I had a draft for the latter, but unfortunately couldn't find enough teach-savvy volunteers to write them.
I hope to add the extra content, proof-read everything and make a "Editor's Cut" re-release & physical edition sometime in the future, but I can't make any promises, as I now need to focus on important personal things – like getting a work visa.
Still, I truly believe that the book is a worthwhile read as it stands. It has its shortcomings and issues, but hopefully it's a flawed gem – like all the best RPGs are.
Update 18 – RELEASE DATE: February 5!
January 27, 2018 January 27, 2018 felipepepe 4 Comments
Hey everyone, it has been a while… in fact, almost a year!
2017 was a busy year for me, but had a great pay off. I spent months job hunting and finally landed a job, and also managed to learn enough moonrunes to pass JLPT N3.
Also, I finished the CRPG Book! I already have the drafts of the two final reviews, I'm just waiting for them while double-checking everything else. The book will arrive in all its glory on February 5 – the 4th anniversary of the project! Stay tuned! 🙂
Update 17 – The Final Preview!
April 10, 2017 March 3, 2018 felipepepe 31 Comments
It's finally here! I present you our fifth release, the 450-page preview of the CRPG Book!
DOWNLOAD IT HERE: CRPG Book Preview 5
This will be the last "alpha preview", as the book is very close to be completed. The big updates here are the computer history timeline, which is finally completed, and the addition of hyperlinks and .pdf bookmarks – perhaps our most requested feature.
I've also added new articles on the history of JRPGs, difference between ports, cancelled RPGs and a FAQ to beginners. Plus dozens of new reviews – Dwarf Fortress, Mass Effect 3, Pillars of Eternity, Ultima VII, Wizardry VII, Planescape: Torment and many more…
Sadly, the pace of new review in the past months has been extremely slow, so if you're interested in writing a review for the CRPG Book, please do so! We could use the help!
In other news, if you somehow missed it I've created a Flickr account in December to hold screenshots taken while creating the book – as well as some from the CRPG Addict. It currently holds over 18,000 images in .png, neatly organized in albums:
You can access it here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/crpgbook/albums
Feel free to use them as you like, and if there's any screenshots of your own you would like to submit to the gallery, just e-mail them to me. Cheers!
Update 16 – Over 9.000 screenshot gallery!
December 19, 2016 January 24, 2017 felipepepe 8 Comments
Today, I have a surprise: https://www.flickr.com/photos/crpgbook/albums
An annoying issue when talking about old RPGs is getting good screenshots for them. MobyGames is great, but some really rare games have very few images, usually only from the first area, and sometimes they are compressed in .jpeg.
So since I began this project 3 years ago, I've been taking .png screenshots of very single RPG I've played. They are currently just over 10.000 images, including stuff I never saw before in screenshots, like a multiplayer round of Dark Messiah of Might and Magic.
All this is now being uploaded to Flickr for anyone who wish to use or browse them. 🙂
Meanwhile,work on the book continues. I want to release the new preview right after Christmas, but I'm not sure I'll make it, so no promises… regardless, happy holidays! 😀
Update: I since got authorization from the CRPG Addict to upload his screenshots as well, pushing us just over 16,000 images!
Update 15 – Closer to the End
October 17, 2016 October 17, 2016 felipepepe 3 Comments
Hey, been a while since my last update, so here's some news:
The book's master file sitting on my PC is currently 420 pages long, so a lot of progress was made since last time. This includes about 30 new reviews, a glossary, more unreleased games, fan-translations and even a brief 4-page primer on the origins of JRPGs:
Those who follow me on twitter probably saw it, but I've wrote an extensive article on the origins of JRPGs for Gamasutra, and this section is an abridged version of that article.
More will likely follow, as I plan to use this format to create a brief timeline giving readers some context on what was going on with JRPGs and MMORPGs (possibly tabletop RPGs too) in parallel with the main CRPG timeline.
Other improvements include updating old reviews, re-doing unsatisfying ones, adding hyperlinks and FINALLY making sure font sizes are consistent throughout the book. As usual, I intend to post the next release by December – and it will likely be the final "preview".
Yes, I'm quite confident that in 2017 the book will finally be concluded! 😀
So I'm looking to tie loose knots. One of those is the hardware section, briefly explaining to younger readers what weird names like "Commodore 64" and "Spectrum ZX" mean:
I'm really not qualified to talk about tech, so I'm looking for old hardware enthusiasts and experts to help with this. If you're one – or know anyone who is – please let me know. 🙂
Interview: Motoya Ataka on Japanese "Dungeon RPGs"
October 8, 2016 felipepepe 2 Comments
The Wizardry series began in 1981 with Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, and ended in 2001 with Wizardry 8, with its iconic first-person dungeon exploring and turn-based combat being all but dead. At least in the West…
In Japan, however, the Wizardry series is alive and spawns over 30 titles across all platforms, including mobile games and MMORPGs. Plus, it inspired countless other "DRPGs" – Dungeon RPGs, as they are called – such as Etrian Odissey, Dungeon Travelers, Class of Heroes, Dark Spire, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, Elminage, etc…
Motoya Ataka has a long tradition with those. He began at the source, working in Wizardry Empire games in the early 2000's, then eventually directing his own spin-off at Michaelsoft: the Wizardry Xth series, which moved the setting from medieval fantasy to modern day Japan.
The game was well-received, but Michaelsoft closed down, so Ataka-san took his team, called "Team Muramasa", and founded is own company, Experience Inc.
There he created the Generation Xth trilogy, a "spiritual sucessor" to Wizardry Xth, and just kept pushing out DRPGs: Labyrinth Cross Blood, Operation Abyss, Students of the Round, Demon Gaze, Ray Gigant and the recently localized Stranger in Sword City.
With such credentials, he seemed like the perfect person to talk about then DRPG genre, its differences to western dungeon-crawlers and the passion Japanese gamers feel for this classic RPG style. So, without further ado, here's the interview:
Ataka-san, you created many Dungeon RPGs, a type of game that isn't made anymore in the West but is still very popular in Japan. What is your favorite aspect of this style of game?
I believe the genre lends itself easily to various surprises and innovations born from the activity (interactivity) of the user, the path to and realization of a goal, and lucky occurrences and unforeseen accidents. So, I would say the answer is to evoke such things through game design.
Strangers in Sword City is the first of your games to be released in English on Steam, and was very well received by critics and fans. Are you surprised by this reception? Do you plan to bring more games to Steam?
While we were surprised by how well the game seemed to have been received, we are very happy to see that players are enjoying themselves! In regards to new releases on Steam we currently have nothing scheduled.
A new, updated version of Stranger in Sword City was recently released in Japan, featuring three new classes and many other improvements. Are there any plans to also update the English Steam version?
In regards to New Interpretation: Stranger of Sword City, this title was created from the feedback collected from our players who filled out a questionnaire here in Japan. If we were to do an overseas version, we would do another questionnaire and collect feedback in order to create a more enjoyable product. There are no plans to bring over the current New Interpretation: Stranger of Sword City
Some of your games were exclusive for Windows, others were exclusive for consoles. Do you think PC gamers are much different from console gamers? Do you plan the game's design around those differences?
At the time when Generation Xth was released to the Japanese users, I do not believe there was a large difference. In particular for both PC and console games, we do not really consciously create design differences.
I've read that Wizardry V is your favorite Wizardry game. It was a game with many hard puzzles and riddles, but your games and most Japanese DRPGs tend to avoid those. Why is that?
Titles created by our company, while not in large numbers do use some puzzles and riddles. While it is a matter of taste with titles, we would like to consider including more to the best of our abilities if a title requires such features in the future.
After Wizardry V the series radically changed – Wizardry VI removed the town, Wizardry VII had a large open world map and Wizardry 8 was fully 3D. However, Japanese DRPGs still mostly follow the Wizardry I-III formula. Why you think that is? And would you like to one day make a game influenced by these other games, like an open-world map or a fully 3D DRPG?
Many of our fans love the traditional DRPG style, so as a developer, I want to meet those expectations. Furthermore, there already exist many new high-end interpretations of the DRPG genre, so I mostly want to admire it from a user's standpoint.
All your DRPGs are turn-based. Have you ever thought of doing a real-time one, like Dungeon Master or Might & Magic VI?
Personally it is a game that I like, therefore if chance allows it I would like to try my hand at making one.
Do you still play Western RPGs? Which are your favorite recent ones?
Although it was a while back, I managed to clear Fallout 4. I really enjoyed how it linked the modern setting that helped immerse the player in the game world.
Finally, the RPG Codex interviewed Robert Woodhead, creator of Wizardry, and he said he has no idea why Wizardry is so popular in Japan. What would you tell him?
I remember when I played Wizardry as a child, the game was so intellectual – and the people who played it seemed so cool – that it completely blew away the stereotypical image of the video game otaku. During the genesis of the Japanese RPG (the Famicom's prime), such an awe-inspiring game coming from the West shook up the Japanese RPG genre and would captivate gamers' hearts for years to come.
My deepest thanks to Ataka-san for his time, and for the Experience Inc. staff members who made this interview possible.
Interview: D.W. Bradley on Wizardry 6 & 7
August 5, 2016 August 5, 2016 felipepepe 4 Comments
D.W. Bradley is best known as the man behind the second wave of Wizardry games.
After Andrew Greenberg and Robert Woodhead left, Bradley took over the series on Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstorm (1988), expanding the game's systems and dungeons. In Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge (1990) he revamped the graphics and character systems, added more story & NPC interactions and set the stage for an ambitious sequel…
Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant (1992) took the series to new heights with a large non-linear open world, where several alien factions searching for a legendary artifact – with NPC parties roaming the land and looting dungeons alongside the player.
After that he worked with Warren Spector at Origin on CyberMage: Darklight Awakening (1995), an early FPS\RPG hybrid, then went on to found his own company – Heuristic Park – and release two more RPGs: the vastly underrated Wizards & Warriors (2000) and the recently re-released Dungeon Lords (2005).
Despite this impressive career, there are extremely few interviews with D.W. Bradley, and most are about Dungeon Lords. However, I've managed to contact him this week and he generously replied two of my questions on the Wizardry series:
In Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge the dungeon door closes as soon as you enter – there's no town to return to. The old Wizardry loop of exploring, killing, looting and going back was removed. What led you to change the series's gameplay in this way?
DWB: Bane was a breakout – it was time to take the next step, time for our adventures to grow up and leave the safety of the nest, it was time that there should be no going back. Bane retained the full spirit of traditional Wizardry, braving ever deeper into the castle dungeon, but then, what happens?! At the point of climax we reach not the lowest depths, but instead ascend outside the confines of the dungeon prison, freed forever from the shackles of the past, and the end now the prelude for what is to follow. In the moment it was done, I knew where the journey would next be taking us. Nevermind that the brick forest still appeared as dungeon walls – this was a time when magical realms still lived in imagination and not the video display. But I vowed in that moment that the next realm would have trees and forests that looked like trees and forests, and cities and sunshine and lakes and stars at night, and no more would searching for stairs down suffice…
The rival parties in Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant are one of its most outstanding features – and one that has never been done by any other RPG. What are your thoughts on them?
DWB: While working on Crusaders of the Dark Savant my mind was soaring, and this innovation was only the beginning of more amazing things to come. Alas, Crusaders was my last Wizardry title. On its heels came the advent of 3D, Doom and real-time, and as video games went mainstream, recognizable brand name and blowing people up commanded massive profits, while with rare exception innovation in game paradigms were costly, and all too often ended in failed titles. When I was young and working on my first computer games (text on teletype!), I could see with clarity what would one day be possible, and this sight has always illuminated my path. What I didn't know was how far we could go in my lifetime, inevitable though it was. This vision is almost realized in the caliber of 3D games today, and VR promises more to come, yet there remains a dimension of computer simulation not yet manifest, almost untouched. It was from this wellspring that the feature you speak of emerged. The sight of it remains clear to me, and though it is not yet made, it shall one day come to pass. The question is when and by whom, and who shall be there to experience it?