JRPG's : I don't get it !!

[Snypar]

Your point is what? That Zelda is a combination of both? Wow, you sure proved me wrong there. I mentioned Zelda constantly in my above post. I think you missed the point there... and also failed to make a point.

no i didnt see your post constantly mentioning zelda.. therefore it doesnt exist, it your post doesnt exist you dont, if you dont exist why am i writing this? 8-| im gonna sit in the corner and rocking back and forth in the faetal position now

 

[Susan Arendt]

Dark Cloud 2 was a PS2 game and absolutely wonderful. Go pick it up immediately.

I think the only thing that really links JRPGs together (other than being Japanese, of course) is that that many of them feature turn-based combat, which is definitely an acquired taste. Personally, I enjoy the chance to thoughtfully plan out my attack and defense, and I love distributing all the gear I get amongst my crew, but for lots of folks, turn-based combat is deadly slow.

Final Fantasy is definitely not the yardstick by which to measure all JRPGs.

 

[Vanilla Gorilla]

It seems the main difference (for the most part) is one of characterization. WRPG's tend to give you a blank slate of a protagonist to project yourself onto (choosing appearance, usually more choice in terms of actions) whereas JRPS's tend to give you a ready made character whose course of action is pretty linear. There is less projection as you are playing a character as opposed to creating one. Just my two cents though...

 

[Donbett1974]

most of you have forgot to mention when people think of JRPG's is really reeeeally long cut scenes

 

[Rodger]

I don't get it either. Every now and then I get an rpg craving which results in the purchase of Golden Sun, Lord of the Rings: the Third Age, or Blue Dragon, which results in the additon of five pounds and the loss of a month of my life. Then the games are forgotten, because, objectively, they suck. Turn-based combat is stupid, and the only thing that's fun about it is the particle effect explosions onscreen, seeing a god beat up some poor sap on your behalf, etc.

In terms of story, jrpgs are so stagnant, static, and laughable that there is simply no metaphor to accurately describe it. There's a hero, a sidekick, an antihero, an idiot, a stoic, a scarily un-subtle comic relief character, and, above all, a naive high pitched girl wearing as close to nothing as humanly possible. This. Almost. Never. Changes.

There are never original reactions to plot devices. There are never unpredictable plot devices. There is more bad acting than there are pixels. I would even go so far as to say that the best jrpgs are the ones without voice acting, because at least then you can project appropriate emotions onto the text you read. Good god I have to stop this I'm pissing myself off.

Wait, what?

First off, if you don't like turn-based combat, then why do you play games with turn-based combat? That'd be like if I picked up Halo 3, played through it until the end, and then complained about how much time I wasted on the game because I don't like first person shooters.

Second, what JRPG's are we talking about here anyway? There's no shortage of Action JRPG's, and your list of characters sounds more inline with a Hollywood movie than a JRPG cast of characters. I can probably count on one hand the number of 'sidekicks' in JRPG's, and comedy relief characters are rarely what they seem. Just take Cait Sith for instance, since I'm sure everyone knows that one. He was really a stuffed toy being remote controlled by a Shinra employee the whole time. Does that cast of characters even apply to the series you specifically mentioned?

Actually, come to think of it, everything you said sounds more appropriate to hollywood movies. Never original reactions to plot devices? Never unpredictable plot devices? Bad acting? I'll agree many of them tend to get bad voice actors when they're ported over, with Chaos Wars winning the prize for that since the guy running the company that ported it apparently decided to just grab a bunch of his friends to do the voices, but thats the fault of the companies porting the games. But the rest, have any specific examples? Because I'm finding all of that a bit hard to swallow...

 

[Ctrl-Alt-Elite]

Well... JRPGs have a few good points but most of time i find they r full of cutscenes and WAAAAY TO LINEAR whereas WRPGs mostly ony have a a few cutscenes and alot have a fun sandbox gameplay yay for WRPGS!

 

[Sorceror Nobody]

To demonstrate that JRPGs aren't all the same, I direct anyone here who hasn't seen it to watch the Zero Punctuation of The World Ends With You. It's by Square-Enix, specifically the KH team, and it's probs the closest any JRPG has gotten to being liked by Yahtzee. Though don't quote me on that, as I may have misjudged his overall opinion of TWEWY.

...though of course as a player of FF, KH and TWEWY, I'm naturally biased in favour of Square-Enix games. The point does still stand that this by no means indicates any experience of JRPGs in general on my part!

Oh, and how exactly are we defining turn-based combat here? It's a bit vague, really. For example, FFX has utterly turn-based combat with the CBT system, but are the ATB (FFVI onwards) and ADB (FFXII) systems turn-based? What about anything where you click (as a placeholder word - this doesn't just apply to PC games (esp. MMORPGs)) an enemy to hit it, then it hits you, then you hit it...

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

A major problem with JRPG's that I note is their inability to overcome the basic design established by Dragon Quest and the original Final Fantasy.

Go To Town, Talk to NPC, Go to Dungeon, Fight Random Battles, Solve Block/Door Puzzle, Fight Boss. And recently throw in "Watch Cutscene" and replace dungeon with "Airship" or "Forest" or "Chase Sequence" etc.

There is no play outside of Exploration and Battle whereas most WRPG's have a Social/Roleplaying aspect thrown in at the very least and at the very best (Oblivion/Fallout 3) a robust Skill System that can effect many aspects of the world. This is one of the things WRPG's do best.

I don't really ever want JRPGs to discard their Design Style or their Turn Based Combat, I've always loved those. But I do want them to ditch Whiny Heroes and they REALLY, REALLY need to update their design. Out of battle play is a necessity these days and I do get annoyed when I see a JRPG that does nothing to alter the basic formula. Hell even Mini-Games would do, but those seem to have fallen out of favor.

 

[the_tramp]

My theory is that those that like JRPGs play them for an interactive plot, and most likely enjoyed the 'make your own story' books in which it was 'if you go in the cave go to page 45'. I have fond memories of having a goosebumps make your own story book where you went back to Horrorland.

Whilst I do see the criticisms of it being cliche and (pretty much) the exact same plot everytime I still enjoy them. From experience it cannot be argued that WoW or other MMORPG players and JRPG fans go hand in hand, I personally and a few friends back at school despise MMOs whilst enjoying JRPGs - and vice versa.

In addition I enjoy the exploration contained within it, finding the secret room/town where the uber weapon/magic is is very satisfying. However in reflection due to my reasons stated above I should love Morrowind. Whilst I played that game, for a long... long time I just didn't feel that I was progressing through it and eventually got bored and played something else.

I should probably nick my housemate's 360 and play Fallout 3 - I've watched him play it a couple of times and it seems interesting as well as appearing to have an actual plot to it as opposed to Morrowind in which I felt that you REALLY had to look hard for the main task as opposed to doing loads of side-quests.

 

[awsome117]

It's a matter of personal taste really. I enjoy my favorite JRPG because it has a great story, well rounded and likable characters(even thve villians) and because you're not a one man army just running out and shooting everything that moves.

Saying the Japanese have a strange culture seems offensive don't you think? I bet they think that American culture is strange to them(not sure) but it seems like American to say "anything that's not American is strange to me"(not trying to be rude, as I am American as well)

But, true, JRPGs have the same things: Hero's, villians, save the world type story, and odd hair styles. But, it seems I also descrided an FPS(besides the hair style anyway)

Most stories involve a villian, a hero, and you trying to save the world(or worlds).

But, I enjoy Golden Sun for the story, characters and even the turn based combat, which I find is more fun that FPS combat as I actaully have to be careful on how I choose to attack, unlike in an FPS where you just go in guns blazing.

but, these are just my opinions on the matter

 

[Rolling Thunder]

Culture? America? Sir, please do not make me laugh. It has been proved that America has no culture, in 1776 when you threw perfectly good tea into a harbour. No cultured individual does that- it's the commercial equivalent of drawing a giant cock on pharmacy walls in spraypaint.

 

[Donbett1974]

you're right america only came out with some the best music, movies, & technology for the last 150 years

 

[Erana]

Recently I was at a friends house and he was playing one of the final fantasies (not one of the old ones mind you, one of the one's with emo-boy main characters). I'd been exposed to games like this before but never really understood there appeal. The characters seem to be overly dramatic, and the plot rather contrived...., and don't get me started on how unrealistic the characters actions are. Now don't get me wrong here, but I think this could possibly have something to do with how I think of Japan, which is to say I think they are straight up strange. Nothing against them, but their culture is totally different from mine here in America. However this doesn't explain why some people are drawn to these games and I'm repelled. Perhaps it is the sad fact that I'm a gaming fanboy....or maybe more to the truth so accustomed to western RPG's (I love Fable, Elder Scrolls, KOTOR). Whatever the reason I felt I'd put this up to see what kind of honest replies I could get from others who (I know for certain there are people on escapist who like JRPG's) are fans of the Japanese Role playing genre.

What you're looking for is this the phrase, "Personal prefrence." Your experience with JRPGs have been unpleasant or unappealing. You aren't missing something, its just taste. Some people like asparagus. Some don't.
There's nothing we can really tell you that you don't already know.
Oh, and its not the Japanese culture itself that you're thinking of, its the fictional arcetype sets, like the "Grizzled space marine" and the, "femme fatals" so common in the West.
Though the Japanese actually do the "V" hand thing whenever they get photographed. Its both hilarious and annoying at the same time.

 

[Optimystic]

People who "hate JRPGS" obviously haven't played Secret of Mana or Kingdom Hearts. That is all.

 

[Chieffw]

Never really given into the Japanese fads that arouse recently. I don't despise them, I just don't understand that. It is a very different culture that just doesn't appeal to my senses. I am a fan of Tolkien/D&D/Warhammer(not 40k obviously) inspired RPGs and games in general, with orcs, wizards, paladins and dragons

 

[Allan Foe]

Those of you who want to know about the principle difference between Japanese and American\European game design should read THIS [http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=0&cId=3155815] article on 1up, it covers most of the issues westerners have with Japanese games (including JRPGs). I've lifted that link from THIS [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/1252-Lost-Planet-WTF-LOL] Escapist article, which is also an interesting read.


I'll repeat, RECOMMENDED READING >> http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=0&cId=3155815
It's an interesting read.

 

[roflcopter788]

i like jrpg's but not when they have emo characters like cloud for example

 

[Grimm91]

JRPG's are like any other game genre. Some people like them and others don't. I like them because I like the art and gameplay.