Filed under: Features, PC, Retro, RPGs, MMO Greetings, readers, and welcome to Joystiq's new weekly column on western role-playing games! RPGs are usually my favorite games, and they have been for years. Beyond that, they're among the most popular and interesting games of any era. It's true for every generation of gaming, from Wizardry through Dungeon Master, Ultima, Fallout, Morrowind, and Dragon Age. No other genre has been so consistently important through every era of home video gaming.

But unlike adventure games or flight simulators, which have been driven into tiny niches, RPGs are still prominent. Skyrim, World Of Warcraft, and Mass Effect are among the most important games of this generation, which is not to mention cult hits like The Witcher or Torchlight.