Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine Issue 36
Demo Derby
Game Mess Mornings 04/22/24
GrubbSnax
8-4 Play 4/19/2024: LEAVE IT TO BEAVERS
8-4 Play
The Community Spotlight 2024.04.20
The Community Spotlight 2024.04.13
Community Endurance Run XIV - April 12-14
Platform »
Achievements are extra challenges added into video games that sometimes carry a point value or unlock bonus material, and are sometimes solely for bragging rights.
A sub-genre of adventure games, visual novels are a form of interactive fiction that usually have very little in terms of gameplay but often focus more on extensive storytelling, character interactions, decision-making and branching narratives.
These games are based off of established licenses, such as movies, comics, or TV shows. Examples are the James Bond 007 and Spider-Man franchises.
Characters controlled by the game for players to interact with, as opposed to player characters which are controlled by whomever is playing the game.
Video game combat in which combat actions are performed in real-time, rather than through a turn-based structure.
Typically found in fighting games, combos are a series of strung-together moves.
The process by which characters reach a new level, gain greater attributes, and learn more abilities. It usually involves earning enough experience points by completing a variety of tasks such as quests or by "farming" such as killing other characters for their experience points.
Slashing weapons are designed to cut and slice rather than causing blunt trauma. Examples include swords, axes, claws, naginatas, or even whips.
Sometimes one playable character just isn't enough.
A gameplay mechanic allowing players to store their items and freely carry them around.
Experience Points are part of a character advancement system commonly found in RPGs. These points are generally gained by defeating an enemy or completing a task.
An numeral indication of how much damage a character can sustain. The loss of all hit points results in the death of the character or another penalty.
Action RPG (Action Role-Playing Game), also known as ARPG, refers to RPGs (role-playing games) that use direct, real-time, reflex-oriented, action combat systems, instead of the more abstract turn-based or menu-based battle systems.
This concept is for games where at least one of the main characters is female.
Special locations in game that allow the player to manually save their progress.
A concept in games with multiple characters, a screen with pictures of all playable characters with the possibility of stat listings.
Turn-based games divide game actions into distinct parts, called turns. This gives the player time to strategically choose actions as the battle or events unfold.
In games, fire can be an obstacle, a tool, a weapon, or a solution. Just don't play with it...unless you really want to.
Sometimes you want a challenge, sometimes you wanna coast.
Artificial Intelligence, or AI, commonly refers to the programmed behaviors of NPCs in a game, whether it's the fact that a soldier takes cover behind a wall in Gears of War, or that townspeople cheer upon your arrival to their village in Fable.
An unofficial translation of a video game, created by people not associated with the original development team.
First-Person is a vantage point that attempts to simulate looking through a game character's eyes. It is most commonly found in first-person shooters, racing games, and visual novels, and to a lesser extent in other genres, such as RPGs, 3D platformers, and adventure games.
The last boss you face in a game, usually representing the final climax of the game.
Weapons can often be upgraded with new attachments, augmentations, or magical enchantments. These upgrades result in the original item being more powerful than originally intended.
Collectibles are items such as coins, rings, gems, packages etc. that can be gathered, usually for some kind of reward, or sometimes to simply beat a level. Often (almost too often) the source of earning achievements and trophies on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Humans are bipedal, sapient primates capable of abstract reasoning, language, and emotions.
Female characters who are designed with highly idealized figures and proportions, outfits that are revealing and/or form-fitting, and prone to ending up in completely over-the-top poses designed to show off their bodies.
Anthropomorphism is the concept of an object, concept or character that has human qualities or traits, such as speech, a level of intelligence similar or higher than a human's and self consciousness. "Anthro" means "of human" and related to the concept of humanity.
Necessary to sustain life in organic creatures, the crimson fluid known as blood tends to make appearances when the body's structure is compromised in some way, a very, very common occurrence in videogames.
The continue is a classic gaming concept, and usually arises when the player "dies" or fails in the game. Usually some loss is tied to a continue, in a form of a "life" or something of other value.
This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:
Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.
Use your keyboard!
Log in to comment
Log in to comment