Perhaps the most important and defining characteristic of the role-playing game is its emphasis on story-telling. While most video games make at least some pretense at telling a story (as long as the game is an adventure of some kind, there will be a plot), most expend little effort at it, allowing the “plot” such as it is to be merely a shallow and empty excuse for the game-play. That is okay. Not every game needs to be particularly smart, just as not every movie needs to be intelligent. There is a place for the popcorn games alongside the popcorn movies, and for every well thought-out science fiction first-person shooter there will always be seven or so other such games that say merely “There are the bad guys. Go kill them.”
Still, the greatest potential for games to make a case as works of art is in the stories they tell and how they tell them – there is little difference between playing a game and reading a book or watching a movie in terms of story-telling possibility. The interactivity adds a unique element but one that can be as rewarding as it is challenging. On the whole, RPGs rely heavily on story in a way that other genres do not. With their many hours of playtime and their expansive worlds and characters, RPGs offer a framework in which an epic story may more easily be conveyed.
As such, there is a heavy focus on characters, setting and plot in the best examples. The Final Fantasy series is one of the most popular names in role-playing games and it has a strong emphasis on sweeping, emotional melodrama with plots that would easily fit a film or book format, but also allow the audience a degree of control impossible in those other mediums. Some of the most ambitious titles tackle difficult subjects such as death, betrayal and even religion.
