RPGs are my favorite genre, and I wanted to write about them from a more zoomed-out perspective than just dealing with their stories. Also, I wanted an excuse to post the “Rich Rump” picture.

I’ve become more cognizant of what people call “gameplay loops” lately. They’re pretty simple: you figure out what the main cycle of play in a video game is, and that’s the loop. In sports games, it’s “play, score, win/lose, repeat.” In RPGs, it can be “fight things to get stronger, and once stronger, move to new areas in order to repeat.”

In the latter case, things like progressing story are incidental to the loop. They’re there, but when you zoom out and simplify a video game, it can be eliminated unless the story is absolutely essential to how the player plays the game at all times. Continue readingA look at Monster Hunter: World’s progression and gameplay loop