Short answers, pulled from the story.
The first role-playing video games emerged in the mid-1970s as text-based experiments on mainframe computers like the PDP-10 and Unix-based systems. Early titles such as Dungeon, pedit5, and dnd relied on ASCII characters to represent monsters and items while allowing players to explore dungeons and engage in combat through a command-line interface.
Dragon Quest, originally called Dragon Warrior in North America, found its true global audience when it migrated from the university mainframe to the living room console in 1986. The game simplified complex statistics to fit the limited memory of the Famicom, creating a template that would define the Japanese role-playing game for decades.
Western role-playing games such as the Baldur's Gate and Fallout series emphasized player freedom and complex character customization, while Japanese role-playing games like Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger prioritized tightly orchestrated linear storylines with anime-inspired art styles. This divide reflected deeper cultural differences in target audiences and design philosophies regarding avatar creation versus character development.
The late 1990s and early 2000s saw the genre explode into the realm of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game with titles like EverQuest, Ultima Online, and World of Warcraft. The mainstream adoption of the Internet allowed for the creation of graphical MUDs that supported hundreds or even thousands of concurrent players in a persistent online environment.
Titles like OFF, Undertale, and Omori achieved both critical and commercial success in the 21st century by challenging the conventions of the mainstream industry. These games often eschewed traditional combat mechanics in favor of non-violent conflict resolution or incorporated procedural generation and permadeath to create unique replayable experiences.