"What is it that makes a RPG and RPG, that is what I want to understand better. "
Among all gaming genres that are incredibly muddled, RPG is probably the most confusing. That is because it is one of the oldest yet consistently popular gaming genres and therefore it has been reinterpreted a lot.
"What are the basic foundations that determine what is a RPG?"
Well, going after the term directly it is a roleplaying game. But that is not very helpful, as this would make every game you assume the role of one character (role) to be a role playing game. So let's go historically. Video game RPGs derive from Pen&Paper RPGs, namely Dungeons&Dragons. Dungeons&Dragon brought some completely new ideas to board gaming and therefore got it's popularity.
Basically in Pen&Paper people sit around a table, everyone assuming the role of one character/role, some defining attributes are written down on a character sheet (with pen&paper) and then they embark on an adventure as a group (remember, multiple people sit around the table). This group is usually called adventuring party. One of the people assumes the role of gamemaster or dungeonmaster, his role is to tell the adventure and take on the role of all characters the party meets in the world and obstacles they meet in the world.
Dungeons&Dragons (henceforth D&D) is a fantasy RPG, it has a fantasy setting, so typical roles here are warrior, mage healer/cleric/priest, rogue/thief. You may notice this pattern from other fantasy media like movies and anime. D&D was very influential, especially in Japan (we come back to that for JRPG). If you watch Anime like Frieren, Delicious in Dungeon, Records of Lodoss War, Visions of Escaflowne and so on, they assume these patterns and show their influence by D&D. But Pen&Paper RPG is not limited to D&D and fantasy, you have supernatural, horror or science fiction Pen&Paper RPGs. If you watched or read The Expanse: this is based on a science fiction roleplaying adventure the authors apparently had, which is why you have a party of main characters (the crew of the Rocinante).
So the main characteristics of Pen&Paper RPGs are a party of characters, defining attributes of these characters (derived from D&D these attribtes are most often in numbers, but some Pen&Paper RPGs use also narrative definitions), character development over the course of multiple game sessions (aka, the character learns new skills and tricks, generally gets better at things or acquires new equipment, although some horror RPGs have character development towards insanity). If the characters face challenges, the outcome of these challenges is defined by the skill of the character as noted down on the character sheet, not the skill of the player. The player though makes strategical decisions about how to apply these skills in a given situation. But the result of these encounters may be different based on decision you made for the character in character creation/development long before the player knew about the encounter. The player also fully controls the creation of the character they play and how they change over time (character development). The narrative is guided by the game master, but the players with their decisions influence the direction of the narrative. The party usually consist of quite different characters with different skills that have to be used as a team to overcome challenges.
D&D as the first Pen&Paper RPG was released 1974. It caught on and pretty fast the first adaptions for computer, hence the first computer RPGs arrived: dnd (1974), pedit (1975), Dungeon (1975/76), Rogue (1980 - yes, this is the game the roguelike genre is based off).
For the computer adaptations the creators decided to let the computer take the role of the game master. As even with online capabilities available, the concrete solution for having multiple people play this together proved difficult, the early games were single player and later multiplayer RPGs differ in the way it works from Pen&Paper around a table. To adapt a RPG into singleplayer, the party structure had to be adapted. There were three ways: ditch the party completely and have a solitary main character, let the player only control the main character and have the party computer/AI controlled, let the player assume full control over the complete party.
So, I come up with this list of properties that a computer RPG derived from Pen&Paper can have (though not all RPGs have all these properties):
- party of characters
- full player control of all party characters
- character properties/attributes
- player control over character creation
- also for other party members than the main
- character development
- player control over the direction of character development
- also for other party member than the main
- player controlled equipment choices that influences the character abilities
- player decisions influence the narrative
- character skill over player skill
- strategic choices of usage of skills
This is my own list, in no way something definitive. And even games everyone considers an RPG may not check all of these boxes. So instead taking this list as a rigid definition, I use it as a scale to define RPG-ness of a game. A few examples:
- Baldur's Gate (main series) 11/12: party, full control of party characters, character properties, player controlled character creation (only main character), player controlled character development (full party), player controlled equipment choices, player decisions influence narrative, character skill, strategic choices
- Xenoblade Chronicles 6.5/12: party, only main controlled, character properties, no player control in creation, some limited player control in development (including party members), limited equipment choices (characters have defined equipment classes that limits their choices), no influence on narrative, character skill, strategic choices
- Elden Ring 7.5/12: no party, player controlled character creation/development, equipment choices, influence on narrative, character skill and player skill are equal (you can level up and change abilities and that influences a fight, but you still need some skill as a player), strategic choices
- Assassin's Creed 4.5/12: no party, no control on character creation, limited control over character development, equipment choices, no narrative influence, character and player skill are equally important, limited strategic choices (mostly weapon based)
I think you get an idea. Keep in mind, this is my personal way to define RPG-ness of a game, yours may differ and you can focus on different points in the list of properties of an RPG, add or remove some.
"And how has the original RPG evolved into nowadays RPG?"
Yeah, well, this is a complicated story and not at all one direction. There is no straight line from early direct D&D computer adaptations to modern RPGs. Thing is, developers focused on different attributes of what makes an RPG to them to develop further. Including game devs who never played or knew Pen&Paper RPGs. This moved games considered RPGs in very different directions. For instance some devs focused on narrative elements, other on stats and numbers and character development. Also it is a very deliberate choice how much the skill of the player influences the outcome and how much character creation/development choices (character skill) influences it and can strongly change how a game feels. So these days you have lots of games considered RPGs or having RPG elements, that look decidedly very different from each other.
"How does a RPG differ from a JRPG?"
Not at all. JRPGs are RPGs, but from Japan. Japanese devs were influenced by D&D but also by early western computer RPGs, especially Wizardry and Ultima. What many people call JRPGs is basically a mix of these two games. There is one component: Japan had a strong gaming scene with visual novels and they mixed that into their RPGs. So there was a time when japanese RPGs mostly focused on narrative development and kept mechanical stuff with classic turn-based games, while western RPGs abandoned turn-based mechanics for flashier action based combat and a focus on combat. This also moved western RPGs of that time towards single character games instead of parties. But all that is "mostly". From Software as a japanese dev had a very different direction than what people would consider "JRPGs" with their King's Field series and later Souls-games. And some western developers stayed with partys based, turn-based strong narrative games like early Fallout, Baldur's Gate, Wasteland and so on. These days the different branches have mixed and western games are influenced by japanese and vice versa. I think the distinction of JRPGs was weak then and is completely pointless today.
"What can be done to elevate the RPG (or JRPG) experience?"
Do you mean as a dev or player? As a player sometimes it is better to just roll with the punches and let even bad outcomes stay, if the game allows. And look what to make with a bad situation. As a game dev I would say give the player more agency. I know that if devs want to have a tight control over the narrative, player agency might be detrimental, as they can completely derail the story. But two things: first, why choose a RPG as genre if you want a tightly controlled narrative. And secondly: maybe these player created moments can be hilarious, fun and very memorable.
"What has been done to make the RPG (or JRPG) experience worse?"
Well, the worst thing is using some RPG mechanics of "numbers go up" for binding players into games that have become unfun for a long time already, but bind them in a grind to the next weapon level, better equipment. This is the scourge of the GaaS games and the worst thing ever.
It goes hand in hand with level adjusted enemies. The numbers of your character and your equipment goes up, but so does the enemies, so it is completely pointless, it cancels each other out. This is most notable in online RPGs: if a level one player and a level 50 player attack the same enemy, the level 50 player may see a higher damage number, but thehealth bar goes down the same percentage - even if the absolute numbers seem different. This is completely pointless. If you are a dev and considering level scaling, then ask yourself: wouldn't I achieve the same better, if I remove levels completely? Level scaling is the negation of RPG mechanics.
"What games have made RPGs (or JRPGs) better? or worse?"
Well classic games like Ultima and Wizardry were highly influental and have defined the genre. Other massively influental games were Dragon Quest, Diablo, World of Warcraft, Souls games. If you consider this influence good or bad is up to you. :)
I personally like the ideas of games like Baldur's Gate, Wasteland/Fallout (the isometric ones), Fire Emblem.
