Do You Prefer a Fantasy or Sci-Fi Setting in Your RPGs?

Role-playing games are a fun genre mostly because they can take you to faraway worlds within their stories.

For me, that is part of the appeal of the genre. I want to be immersed in a good story with a great world. RPGs, especially Japanese RPGs, tend to settle in one of two types of world: medieval fantasy or futuristic science-fiction.

Of course, there are exceptions such as the Persona series, but more often than not, you find yourself in either a fantasy world or a sci-fi one.

So, which type of RPG world is your favorite?

Some RPGs draw inspiration from tabletop games, many of which are in a fantasy setting. It’s no wonder why early Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, and Fire Emblem games fall into this category.

There’s something exciting about transporting back in time to a place where knights ruled and dragons ran rampant. It adds to the big-quest feel of these games, many of which are meant to be long epics.

To this day, the fantasy world is enticing and many across all media draw from this well. I mean, just look at The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. We just can’t get enough of it.

And then there’s the sci-fi sector. Star Wars helped popularize this and many enjoy an RPG set within this genre.

**Image Credit:** Square Enix (via The Gamer)

We can look at games like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Nier games, Star Ocean titles and the Xenosaga franchise as popular futuristic RPGs. It is a blast roaming through space on an epic adventure and these games can help scratch that itch.

What I find most interesting is that many games find a way to blend the two into a fantasy sci-fi genre. This includes Final Fantasy VII and VIII as well as the Xenoblade Chronicles games.

We all have our preferences and when it comes to an RPG, we’re likely going to be with it for a long time. That’s why the world and setting are so important since you will be spending a long time in it.

RPGs may have started as a medieval fantasy genre, but they’ve advanced to include so much more.

So what do you think? Do you prefer your RPG to be more sci-fi- or fantasy-oriented? Do you like a good mix? Let us know in the comments below or head over to our Discord channel to join in on the conversation.

The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and The Boss Rush Network. Each week, Corey, LeRon, Stephanie, Edward, and their friends from around the internet come together to talk their week in games, entertainment, and more while also bringing topics for conversation, answer listener and community questions, and cover major news and events happening in the video game industry. Watch The Boss Rush Podcast live on Wednesday Nights on Twitch at 8:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. PT or on Monday mornings at 7 a.m. ET on YouTube and podcast services everywhere. Thanks for listening! You can also get this episode one week early on Patreon.