RPG classification

[PotRoast]

So I analyze data for a living. And while in the shower a bit ago I was thinking about one of my projects for work and the methods I used on it. Basically, the method is a classification method when the variables measured are all categorical. I thought it might be fun/interesting to do a similar analysis on a bunch of RPGs and see what kinds of groupings emerge. In other words this would be a fun way to see if the genres we normally think about with RPGs are really there or not. This would be a project for fun that I may or may not actually finish depending on how long it holds my interest.

The help I'd like to illicit from you all is what kinds of variable should be relevant to look at? Variables we look at should not be too specific. The goal is for these variable to be easily recognized by us. For instance, the variable Japanes (Y/N) is a better variable than Country of Origin. Actually, in general it might be better to stick to 2 category (Y/N) variables than 3+ categories. I'd like to look at System at some point, but it might be easier to stick with 1 system to start with. It will make things particularly difficult with more modern games that are on many systems.

Some variables I was considering looking at besides Japanese (Y/N) are Turn-based battles (Y/N), Fantasy Setting (Y/N), Sci-fi Setting (Y/N), Random Encounters (Y/N), Silent Protagonist (Y/N). I'm hoping to get a list of about 10 for now. These 6 I just listed don't have to be in the list of 10, it's just brainstorms right now.

[Adapheon]

For the basic stuff I think the following Y/N questions work pretty good.

1. Japanese
2. Turn-based battles
3. Open World
4. Fantasy Setting
5. Sci-Fi Setting
6. Random Encounters
7. Silent Protagonist
8. Non-humanoid playable characters
9. Crafting system
10. New Game+

[Yoda]

local co-op
mmo
the ability to customize PC
item encumbrance

[PotRoast]

local co-op
mmo
the ability to customize PC
item encumbrance

To what extent do you mean customize player character? i.e. Would Final Fantasy Tactics and Fallout 3 both get the check? If not, which one? When you say item encumbrance, do you mean like Oblivion where you can carry a set weight? Or would Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter count too because the severely limit inventory space?

[Commander Jubby Shepard]

Here's a few that I think may be interesting.

Grid for battle (Like in FFT or Radiant Historia)
Story heavy
Player-choice in story

Not necessarily important, but interesting.