I have always found CRPGs – that’s “computer role-playing games”, natch – exceptionally intimidating. JRPGs found their way through my brain barriers with Final Fantasy VII, applying the dual band-aids of its cinematic feel and simple interface, but CRPGs never had that moment. Indeed, they never have had that moment, remaining something of an alien concept to this very day. Don’t get me wrong – my interest was always there, but something has always stopped me. A lack of context or necessary feelies for whatever I’m attempting to play, like the Ultima series. Disinterest in openly luck-based elements, as in Baldur’s Gate or even the recent Disco Elysium. Or, less reasonably, a mild disdain for what I perceived as a staid, generic set of locales, of monsters. You know, kobolds, for christ’s sake. It’s hardly jumping on a turtle, is it?
And, rather fittingly, The CRPG Book is quite intimidating too; a brick, even by Bitmap Books standards, with almost 700 pages on the history and evolution of computer RPGs. It goes all the way from the PLATO network’s The Dungeon/pedit5 through to the aforementioned (and beloved) Disco Elysium. You’d think I would run a mile, but no – I wanted to review this book. Based on previous Bitmap Books efforts, I had an inkling that The CRPG Book would be exactly the context I needed to start appreciating this enormous genre.
Divided into five-year periods of gaming history, this as extensive as you would expect, though it avoids feeling overstuffed by virtue of a light, occasionally personal touch to the writing (contributed by a long list of volunteers as well as author Felipe Pepe) and a pleasing clarity to the visual style; The CRPG Book lacks the full-page screenshots that characterise many of the other Bitmap Books publications I’ve covered, making for less of a visual showcase and lending proceedings a more informative feel. That’s not to say this isn’t a nice-looking book – it’s clean and easy to read while avoiding being overly busy. Screenshots are well-chosen and very appealing with their informative captions, and box-outs are used sparingly throughout to expand on such esoterica as fan remakes or particularly interesting ports of a particular game.
Despite knowing as little as I did about CRPGs going in, I never found myself lost by any assumption of foreknowledge, yet I cannot imagine anyone would feel condescended to by any of the entries here. Everything is explained concisely and where a personal anecdote has been employed it is always in service of further informing the reader about the game in question. All told, despite its host of contributors, the book feels far from a patchwork, with a consistent tone and style from start to finish.
My major takeaway from this book, besides a laundry list of fascinating games to check out, was the realisation of just how broadly the term “CRPG” could be applied. For example, Final Fantasy VII turns up in here with the reasoning that the game had a PC port. Which it did, of course, but… is that not a JRPG? Is that not why the distinction exists? Apparently not, because shooters such as S.T.A.L.K.E.R and Borderlands crop up within its pages as well. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a complaint of mine – the book does strong enough a job of charting the history of CRPGs to show its working, to contextualise seemingly disparate titles as within its admittedly broad framework. The vast majority of titles connect these dots perfectly logically, and the chronological presentation provides an enjoyable demonstration of the way technology both transformed and ultimately regressed the appearance of many games in the genre thanks to the rise of indies.
Beyond the reviews section there are a number of interesting articles such as a look at notable RPG Maker titles and a significant chunk given over to games from other countries, including coverage of available fan-translations. It would be effectively impossible – and borderline unreasonable – to ask for more, so exhaustive is this tome. And here I am, about to jump into the deep end of CRPGs using only The CRPG Book as a floatation device. It’s my favourite of the Bitmap Books releases so far, having taught me the most and having done so with the finest presentation.
The CRPG Book is available directly from Bitmap Books here.