A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games

Created in collaboration with author Kurt Kalata, A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games is an ambitious project that aims to cover the entire history of Japanese role-playing games from 1982 to 2020.

From Dragon Quest to Final Fantasy, from Megami Tensei to Pokémon, A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games explores the expansive history of Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs), beginning on 8-bit microcomputers, and following them all the way up to the heavy hitters of the modern era. 

As well as reviews of over 600 games, covering a wide range of sub-genres, including strategy RPGs like Fire Emblem, Rogue-likes such as Mystery Dungeon, and first-person dungeon crawlers like Etrian Odyssey, A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games includes articles on the genre, its music and art. Overall, the book weighs in at over 370,000 words and contains contributions from a wide selection of fans and journalists, combining to create the ultimate coffee table book on Japanese role-playing games. 

Founded by Sam Dyer in 2014, Bitmap Books creates meticulously researched, visually ambitious books that bring your classic gaming memories to life. Bitmap partners with game industry figures like Mark Cerny, Ste and John Pickford, Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert, SNK producer Yasuyuki Oda, and many more. Many titles are proudly unofficial, but others are done with SEGA, SNK and Atari, officially-licensed books that come complete with enhanced access and exclusive assets. Bitmap’s best-sellers are: A Guide to Japanese Role-Playing Games, The Art of Point-and-Click Adventure Games and The CRPG Book: A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games.