The Greatness of RPGs

Translated by rsa16
Edited by air koi

Read the PDF version —> HERE

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Do you know what RPGs are?

They're my favorite video game genre. The protagonist embarks on an adventure with their companions in order to level up, defeating powerful enemies after overcoming numerous trials, and saving the world from disaster.

What’s especially great about this genre is that you don’t have to interact with others.

Unlike competitive games where you play against real people, in this specific genre, your efforts are always rewarded, and there’s no need for you to vie for dominance at every turn. An adventure meant for me. A story meant for me. And a world, meant only for me. In that world, I would continue to live, fully embodying a different version of myself.

Indeed, true to its name of role-playing, the game lets you become someone different. People say that reading books is a form of resistance against the fact that we only live once; RPGs are exactly that. To play an RPG is to resist the fact that life is only lived once. To play an RPG is to go against the idea that we cannot choose most of the elements that make up our lives.

Now that I’ve said all I have to say, do you understand the beauty of RPGs?

—However, there is just one single flaw in this wonderful genre. Simply put, the idea of becoming someone else is something everyone already does in reality, all without needing to immerse themselves in the world of a game.

For example, when you nod with apparent interest in a boring conversation.

For example, when you smile politely at someone you don’t actually like.

For example, when you turn a blind eye to something you think is wrong.

There is no “I” in it. “I” has no will. There is only “Classmate A” and “Passerby A”. Everyone plays such roles to protect themselves from the glitches of this absurd world.

And that’s why I think this:

Youth is just a role-play. Everyone is just acting out someone else. Everyone's playing their own different role, all to move forward in this wonderful story called ‘youth.’