It is interesting how Western and Japanese computer RPGs both take inspiration from D&D, but how they went in completely opposite directions. Western RPGs focu

It is interesting how Western and Japanese computer RPGs both take inspiration from D&D, but how they went in completely opposite directions. Western RPGs focused on the player character aspect, offering a lot of freedom and very little characterization. You are the adventurer and this is your story. The downside, compared to tabletop RPGs is that the story is limited as computers can't react to every situation like human GMs can. Japanese RPGs focused on the storytelling aspect. Trading freedom for a much better developed story. You are not a player character anymore, you follow another character in a story. What they have in common is the combat and XP system, though the D&D connection is usually made more obvious in the Western RPGs. For example dice rolls are often made explicit, whereas in Japanese RPGs, you may only see the final result of your actions.