A look at RPGs

[Veldt Falsetto]

So, it's a subject that's often mentioned and generally accepted but I don't feel that it's entirely true.
This is the subject that JRPGs are stagnating like a packet of crisps on the roof and WRPGs are the big daddy.
Where did this come from? What on earth makes people think this is true or more importantly, what on earth made people say it? Are these people for real? What 3 very good WRPG releases and an entire genre is suddenly dead?

Let's have a look at WRPGs this gen first yes? Glad we agree. So this generation began the popularity of WRPGs on a console, games like Oblivion, Fallout 3 and Mass Effects were all great. Titles that were pretty average but still gained a lot of fans were games like Fable II or Dragon Age: Origins. We also had a few crossovers like Borderlands made it through...though if you ask me Fallout and Mass Effect are also crossover titles.



Eitherway, not all of these games are great and I haven't even begun to mention the awful WRPGs around like Two Worlds, Divinty II and Gothic 4.
In my eyes, there are three good franchises in WRPG this gen and that's Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Mass Effect, you may ask what about Dragon Age but that game has more problems than I can be bothered to point out.

So JRPG? What are we thinking a standard JRPG is? Turn-based? Spikey hair? Kids with oversized weapons? So what may I ask you is this?



These are just two of a never ending list of this gen examples that prove that JRPGs are not what you think they are.
What about Final Fantasy I hear you ask, isn't that just what you said a JRPG is, well no, it isn't, what you're expecting out of a JRPG is this.


Yes, that's an example of a generic JRPG from this generation but, it was right at the start if this gen and also it is probably one of the only games like it and I'm sure I can find more than one more recent game from the WRPG front that resembles our stereotypical expectations of that.

I'm not trying to insult anyone or rip into the genres at all but I don't think it's time to say that JRPGs are dead because the west has had a few hits recently and because FFXIII was a bit of a let down for some people who wanted it to be a FFVII remake.

We have plenty of brilliant games coming from both Japan and the West, yes there are differences on where the detail is focused in development but that doesn't make one genre dead to the world. JRPGs are still awesome, ya just gotta find the best ones and not compare everything to that one JRPG we all know you love the most (urgh.) It's exactly the same as hating on all WRPGs cause they are different to Oblivion. You don't do it either way because it's stupid to judge a genre on one game.

Also I could add PC and handheld into this discussion but I think, even though WRPG is better on PC in general at the moment that the JRPG handheld market is currently amazing and is a great example of how it should be. It's easier to keep this discussion on console lines. If anyone wants us to enter PC territory it's only fair to enter in handheld too and vice versa, but I leave that to you. What do people think about the whole WRPG vs JRPG thing? Why has this debate even come up? What's wrong with either genre in your perspective.

And please...no biting, no scratching, keep it clean.

 

[Vault101]

Japanise and anime stuff in general...I dunno it just seems kinda silly to me I couldnt really get into kingdom hearts...

 

[Eduku]

I think OP makes a good point in that JRPGs nowadays are now compared to a few series (i.e. Final Fantasy. Or more specifically, FFVII), when WRPGs have had a few shockers as well.

Plus the fact that people like to jump on bandwagons sometimes and hating on JRPGs is, for lack of a better phrase, 'the cool thing to do' nowadays.

I've just started playing Persona 4 and holy crap, if ever there was an argument against JRPGs being unoriginal and generic, that would be it (well, the Persona series as a whole, really. Maybe even SMT as a whole). Maybe when Persona 5 comes out next year or 2012, it might spark off a 'revival' or something, and JRPGs will evolve again. I dunno.

Anyway, personally, I like WRPGs and JRPGs both equally (I know, shocking). Neither is 'better', just 'different'.

 

[Traun]

I am laughing so hard. Veldt Falsetto no offense man, but don't take internet discussions too seriously, especially when they are coming from fanboys.

I'm going to be the first to admit that I don't play jRPGs, but I know that they have their own different culture and contribute to gaming in a unique way. If there is anything killing JRPG's is that some developers are buying the whole "the end is near" thing. Taking the WRPG vs JRPG debate seriously is like taking the Xbox vs PS flamewar seriously. Chill, play the games you like to play, have fun with them. There will always be haters.

 

[Meggiepants]

Eh. I like both JRPGs and WRPGs, and can see arguments for why both have a great deal of repetition between plotlines, characters and style.

I think it has nothing to do with where the game comes from, the west or the east, and everything to do with money.

Final Fantasy made craploads of money, so a ton of JRPG makers rushed out to replicate the formula. Fallout 3/Oblivion made craploads of money so you get the clones of those. It just seems like there are more FF clones because that has been around for a lot longer than things like Oblivion.

 

[twistedheat15]

So this is basically another fanboy thread, where one gets mad at what other fanboys are saying and throws up 3 random examples as "see your all wrong" even though the examples they used are biased and only constitute 1% of the genre. There's always ppl who are gonna argue X is better then Y, or how Y can kick X's ass in a fist fight, but X can own Y's face in story telling, in the end they all have they're good and bad points, and it all boils down to personal preference.

I myself like wrpgs, and how I can create a char and pretty much run a rampage on everything, or be the second coming if i choose it. I like having a giant shoot out with a slew of different abilities picked up from lv up, or doing a quest and having the option to slaughter everyone in the village because the mayor called me an asshole. But often I find myself wanting to pick up something and play w/o really thinking about what I have to do and how to approach it and that's where Jrpg's come in, where your pointed at direction with signs, and you know if someone you likes gets killed, It wasn't because you were headbanging to stone sour while smashing the X button over the convo, and hitting the "fck you get killed in fire" option. But being older now all the cute random anime tones, 14 y/o kids entrusted to save the world because they're from a village in the woods, and general "I'm a tool that does w/e they're told and since you're controlling me ya better hope you like me cuz we're together for a long time" chars get annoying pretty fast.