‘Limits of Genre, Limits of Fantasy’: Rethinking Computer Role-Playing Games
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From the beginning, in the late 70’s, when the Computer Role-Playing Games, CRPGs, were only a simple remediation of a paper-and-pen game, the genre has revolutionised itself various times and we have experienced the rise and fall of many different designs and devices. Present titles can derive from the rich history of medium to create new, more self-conscious forms of gaming, especially within the independent sector of digital entertainment industry. In this chapter I will elaborate on the interrelations of the current generic conventions in the single-player CRPGs for the PC platform with a special interest in the indie titles. Fantasy genre is not always an inspiration for the CRPG titles, as in the case of retrofuturistic Fallout series. However, there is a certain inclination to bond fantasy thematic genre with the CRPG ludic genre, constituting a unique merger model. This tendency can be easily observed in the mainstream productions, such as The Witcher or Dragon Age II where the vital intersection of two fuzzy sets, fantasy and CRPG, is highly successful, both economically and aesthetically, and defines the canon of genre. Nevertheless, far more interesting projects, created by independent authors, can be observed in borderline cases of the abovementioned merger model. In my view, indie developers are providing us with the most unconventional games, discovering many different possibilities for genre crossing and hybrid text forms. Therefore I would like to focus on two contrasting cases of fantasy and CRPG fusion, studying Binding of Isaac, created by McMillen, Himsl in 2011, and Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP, created by Capybara in 2011.