misterd on 04 June 2009
It doesn't help that some genres (action, adventure spring to mind) don't have very good operational definitions.
With an RPG... well, almost every character centered game has some small sort of role playing (eg you play the role of Mario), and many now have some form of improvement, whether through leveling up, stat building, or power accumulation. I think oneof the big keys is really customization - with Zelda, you play Link, and your Link will be no different from my Link. This is different from Mass Effect, for example, in which we may play two very different Shepards (different race, sex, background, skills, powers and ethics).
