This book takes the difficult task to follow the history of CRPG (Computer Role Playing Game) from the earliest to the latest (of 2007 :p ).
Some people have criticized the author for doing little more than a collection of game titles with texts you could get from wikipedia.
While it's true that most of the data collected here can be found on the online encyclopedia (like 90% of any book on any subject by the way), the work here goes a lot beyond a "simple" list. The author got really far in his research to unravel what really happened in days and age where a mouse was still a mammal and a computer the size of a building.
It's really interesting to see how RPG predates most genre of video games, even on the technical side (first person perspective, multiplayer, direction, narration, etc. ), and what has defined and redefined a genre through the decades.
The only flaw in this consequent work is the lack of eastern representatives...
Except a few big titles (Chrono Trigger, Phantasy Star, Zelda, Final Fantasy), there's little here for the console fan. The author even commits the -blasphemy- to ignore completly the TRPG subgenre. No Warsong, Shining Force or Fire Emblem, despite being direct descendants of Wizard's Crown, and showing JRPG isn't just "about story and direction with real time battles".
We could also argue the whole writing lacks sometimes of epic. Unlike
La saga des jeux vidéos
or
Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture
, there's little romanticizing. What we get most of time is the hard facts, and some behind-the-scene allusions. Given all the twists, betrayals, rises and falls the CRPG have seen until now, it's a missed opportunity which could have strenghten this work even more.
But most of this is just nitpicking from myself.
We have a solid book on a rather ignored subject, despite its popularity. Most of the author's reflexions are cunning and spot-on. I liked his take on "RolePlay VS RollPlay", and his predictions about how "RPG will make a return after so many action oriented shooters, as the promising Mass Effect game seems to indicate" .
His only mistake was his inability (like many of his time) to realize that MMORPG isn't a genre, but a game: World of Warcraft, stomping any challenger past and future.
In that regard, an epilogue about 2012 would be a nice addition, especially since the success of Skyrim, Deus Ex HR, Dragon Age and Mass Effect. A Diamond Age?
All in one, it's a must read for any CRPG fan, old or young, and for any gamer out there, curious enough about his passion.
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