JRPGs - Is the comeback happening?

[Danbo Jambo]

So I love JRPGs, and think one of the big crimes of the last home console gen was how neglected they were. I love WRPGs too and thought the steps forward they took were great, with them really giving us something different, but nothing quite satisfies like a deep, magical, weird, emotional JRPG.

Also, for me personally, the JRPG experience is FAR more enjoyable than an Open World one. I think Morrowind is the only Open World game to challenge my fave JRPGs.

So I'm not someone who stays in touch with gaming anywhere near as much as a lot of people do, and I've just noticed that there seems to be quite a line up of JRPGs for this gen!

Am I getting ahead of myself, or have the gaming Gods finally realized what joy good JRPGs give some of us?

 

[Saelune]

Ofcourse! We got Pokemon Sun and Moon, Dark Souls 3 came out recently, and that Berserk Dynasty Warriors game is coming out too.

What? They are ALL JRPGs.

(Not to rag on you, its just one of those things. I dont know if it bothers me as much as I just like poking holes in people's limiting definitions of a 'genre')

Personally though, I dont think JRPGs are ever actually dying out, its just people only think of old Final Fantasy. Really, we just need to raise more of a fuss over Dragon Quest cause that series has stayed true to its design forever. A new one is coming out but no word on a western release.

 

[Hawki]

Ofcourse! We got Pokemon Sun and Moon, Dark Souls 3 came out recently, and that Berserk Dynasty Warriors game is coming out too.

What? They are ALL JRPGs.

Eh, not sure about Dark Souls. Extra Credits explains this better, but I think "JRPG" and "WRPG" are terms better used to describe a style of gameplay, rather than a point of origin. For instance, 'The Third Age' could be considered a Western JRPG (party, turn-based combat, linear, focus on story, etc.), whereas Dark Souls, from what I understand, is more of an WRPG (focus on exploration/customization, light on story, etc.). Sometimes you get games that balance the two (e.g. Mass Effect), but, yeah.

(Not to rag on you, its just one of those things. I dont know if it bothers me as much as I just like poking holes in people's limiting definitions of a 'genre')

Am I getting ahead of myself, or have the gaming Gods finally realized what joy good JRPGs give some of us?

Um, maybe? I mean, I wasn't aware that JRPGs were in any danger of dying out.

Really, we just need to raise more of a fuss over Dragon Quest cause that series has stayed true to its design forever. A new one is coming out but no word on a western release.

Has Dragon Quest ever been popular in the West?

 

[Saelune]

Ofcourse! We got Pokemon Sun and Moon, Dark Souls 3 came out recently, and that Berserk Dynasty Warriors game is coming out too.

What? They are ALL JRPGs.

Eh, not sure about Dark Souls. Extra Credits explains this better, but I think "JRPG" and "WRPG" are terms better used to describe a style of gameplay, rather than a point of origin. For instance, 'The Third Age' could be considered a Western JRPG (party, turn-based combat, linear, focus on story, etc.), whereas Dark Souls, from what I understand, is more of an WRPG (focus on exploration/customization, light on story, etc.). Sometimes you get games that balance the two (e.g. Mass Effect), but, yeah.

(Not to rag on you, its just one of those things. I dont know if it bothers me as much as I just like poking holes in people's limiting definitions of a 'genre')

Am I getting ahead of myself, or have the gaming Gods finally realized what joy good JRPGs give some of us?

Um, maybe? I mean, I wasn't aware that JRPGs were in any danger of dying out.

Really, we just need to raise more of a fuss over Dragon Quest cause that series has stayed true to its design forever. A new one is coming out but no word on a western release.

Has Dragon Quest ever been popular in the West?

JRPG is JAPANESE Role Playing Game. Thats really it. If Morrowind was made by Nintendo or Square, it would be just as valid a JRPG as anything else. Turn-Based RPG or Strategy RPG are really what people usually mean. Having a certain specific game type stuck to something more general is an annoying issue, and something that also effects MMOs, cause MMO can be anything that is massively multiplayer online, usually simultaneosly (to exclude say, Call of Duty). MMO doesnt automatically mean MMORPG, but most people just assume.

As for Dragon Quest, I cannot say, but I think its more an issue of lack of even giving us the chance to buy it.

 

[Fox12]

It's happening brother.

We've got FF15, Persona 5, Shin Megami Tensai 4 Apocalypse, Nier Automata, Kingdom Hearts 3, the entire Dark Souls series, and a remake of FF7 all either out or announced. From and Atlus are just blowin it out of the water, and Square is making a comeback. More then that, though, they're experimenting. They're trying new things. JRPGs grew increasingly static, while WRPGs were experimenting. Now that's changed. I honestly thought the Japanese game industry was dying, but now I'm starting to think that this may be the beginning of a renaissance.

 

[Lufia Erim]

Well star ocean 5 came out recently as well as digimon cyber sleuth. With world of final fantasy coming out soon with final fantasy 15. Then we got persona 5 coming out on valentines day . So im excited.

My Christmas season is already booked for jrpgs.

Im also going through Persona Q on the 3ds. A fantastic game if you are a fan of Persona AND Etrian oddesey

 

[Bombiz]

Gonna be honest here there hasn't been a jrpg released this year that made me say 'I gotta play that'

 

[meiam]

Well more console (or rather big budget as opposed to mobile/portable one) JRPG are coming out but it remains to be seen if they'll be good. I think JRPG offer interesting stuff, like a more focus experience, but they kinda lost there path for awhile. I don't think we'll ever go back to the SNES/PS1 era were everywhere year there was 2-3 amazing JRPG and at least 5 decent ones.

I think part of the problem is they started removing a lot of stuff from JRPG without really thinking about why they were in games in the first place. So there's usually a way to turn off random combat, but by removing them you remove any challenge since you don't have to worry about resource (HP, MP, items) in dungeon (other way they did this is by making git far to easy to get HP and MP back in dungeon) so as a results learning the gameplay became pointless and battle essentially became really repetitive cutscene. I think for JRPG to come back in force they should take a page out of dark soul book and aim for a fair challenge.

 

[WeepingAngels]

Ofcourse! We got Pokemon Sun and Moon, Dark Souls 3 came out recently, and that Berserk Dynasty Warriors game is coming out too.

What? They are ALL JRPGs.

Eh, not sure about Dark Souls. Extra Credits explains this better, but I think "JRPG" and "WRPG" are terms better used to describe a style of gameplay, rather than a point of origin. For instance, 'The Third Age' could be considered a Western JRPG (party, turn-based combat, linear, focus on story, etc.), whereas Dark Souls, from what I understand, is more of an WRPG (focus on exploration/customization, light on story, etc.). Sometimes you get games that balance the two (e.g. Mass Effect), but, yeah.

(Not to rag on you, its just one of those things. I dont know if it bothers me as much as I just like poking holes in people's limiting definitions of a 'genre')

Am I getting ahead of myself, or have the gaming Gods finally realized what joy good JRPGs give some of us?

Um, maybe? I mean, I wasn't aware that JRPGs were in any danger of dying out.

Really, we just need to raise more of a fuss over Dragon Quest cause that series has stayed true to its design forever. A new one is coming out but no word on a western release.

Has Dragon Quest ever been popular in the West?

JRPG is JAPANESE Role Playing Game. Thats really it. If Morrowind was made by Nintendo or Square, it would be just as valid a JRPG as anything else. Turn-Based RPG or Strategy RPG are really what people usually mean. Having a certain specific game type stuck to something more general is an annoying issue, and something that also effects MMOs, cause MMO can be anything that is massively multiplayer online, usually simultaneosly (to exclude say, Call of Duty). MMO doesnt automatically mean MMORPG, but most people just assume.

As for Dragon Quest, I cannot say, but I think its more an issue of lack of even giving us the chance to buy it.

Tying a genre label to where it's made is pretty useless. Genre labels should describe the gameplay.

 

[Saelune]

JRPG is JAPANESE Role Playing Game. Thats really it. If Morrowind was made by Nintendo or Square, it would be just as valid a JRPG as anything else. Turn-Based RPG or Strategy RPG are really what people usually mean. Having a certain specific game type stuck to something more general is an annoying issue, and something that also effects MMOs, cause MMO can be anything that is massively multiplayer online, usually simultaneosly (to exclude say, Call of Duty). MMO doesnt automatically mean MMORPG, but most people just assume.

As for Dragon Quest, I cannot say, but I think its more an issue of lack of even giving us the chance to buy it.

Tying a genre label to where it's made is pretty useless. Genre labels should describe the gameplay.

I dont know if you're agreeing or disagreeing with me...cause I agree with you, which is why I think JRPG and WRPG are poor 'genres'.

 

[WeepingAngels]

JRPG is JAPANESE Role Playing Game. Thats really it. If Morrowind was made by Nintendo or Square, it would be just as valid a JRPG as anything else. Turn-Based RPG or Strategy RPG are really what people usually mean. Having a certain specific game type stuck to something more general is an annoying issue, and something that also effects MMOs, cause MMO can be anything that is massively multiplayer online, usually simultaneosly (to exclude say, Call of Duty). MMO doesnt automatically mean MMORPG, but most people just assume.

As for Dragon Quest, I cannot say, but I think its more an issue of lack of even giving us the chance to buy it.

Tying a genre label to where it's made is pretty useless. Genre labels should describe the gameplay.

I dont know if you're agreeing or disagreeing with me...cause I agree with you, which is why I think JRPG and WRPG are poor 'genres'.

Yeah, we should use genre labels like TBRPG, ARPG, SRPG and so on. It drives me crazy when I see people ask for a good JRPG and people throw in a list of SRPG's like Disgaea or Final Fantasy Tactics along with TBRPG's like Dragon Quest 8 or Final Fantasy 7. The person looking for a JRPG is looking for a type of gameplay, not a country of origin.

What drives me really really crazy is when people insist that SRPG's and TBRPG's are the same genre because they both come from Japan.

 

[NPC009]

What drives me really really crazy is when people insist that SRPG's and TBRPG's are the same genre because they both come from Japan.

I don't think people think they're the same genre, atleast, I've never met someone who thought like that. People see action RPGs and strategy RPGs as subgenres of the RPG genre, and that not wrong, is it?

Also, considering action RPGs played a big role in the development of the RPG genre in Japan, it feels weird to not consider Japanese action RPGs JRPGs. Same with Japanese SRPGs.

The way I see it, it's impossible to label on subset of RPGs as JRPGs based solely on gameplay (turn-based battles are not unique to Japan), aestetics (not all JRPGs look like Final Fantasy or "anime") or whatever. It's like manga. Using that word to describe a style or genre is stupid considering how immense and diverse output of the Japanese comic market is. Having manga simply mean 'Japanese comic' in English does make sense, as it covers what it needs to cover and there's little doubt about what fits the label or not. I'd say it's the same with RPGs.

Of course, there are always going to be weird weeaboos who insist the word 'Japanese' itself is a mark of quality and will only attach it to what they consider good/Japanese enough for their tastes, but come on, those people are dumb.

 

[WeepingAngels]

What drives me really really crazy is when people insist that SRPG's and TBRPG's are the same genre because they both come from Japan.

I don't think people think they're the same genre, atleast, I've never met someone who thought like that. People see action RPGs and strategy RPGs as subgenres of the RPG genre, and that not wrong, is it?

Also, considering action RPGs played a big role in the development of the RPG genre in Japan, it feels weird to not consider Japanese action RPGs JRPGs. Same with Japanese SRPGs.

The way I see it, it's impossible to label on subset of RPGs as JRPGs based solely on gameplay (turn-based battles are not unique to Japan), aestetics (not all JRPGs look like Final Fantasy or "anime") or whatever. It's like manga. Using that word to describe a style or genre is stupid considering how immense and diverse output of the Japanese comic market is. Having manga simply mean 'Japanese comic' in English does make sense, as it covers what it needs to cover and there's little doubt about what fits the label or not. I'd say it's the same with RPGs.

Of course, there are always going to be weird weeaboos who insist the word 'Japanese' itself is a mark of quality and will only attach it to what they consider good/Japanese enough for their tastes, but come on, those people are dumb.

You seem to be misunderstanding. I am not saying we should call Turn based RPG's JTBRPG, I am saying we should call them TBRPG and drop the silly J and W nonsense. If people would just stop using the terms JRPG and WRPG and be more precise by saying TBRPG, SRPG, ARPG or whatever actually describes the gameplay, that would be good.

Next time you see someone asking for JRPG recommendations, look at how many genres get suggested. You will get people suggesting Dragon Quest right along side Fire Emblem. It's because JRPG is a worthless term.

 

[NPC009]

You seem to be misunderstanding. I am not saying we should call Turn based RPG's JTBRPG, I am saying we should call them TBRPG and drop the silly J and W nonsense. If people would just stop using the terms JRPG and WRPG and be more precise by saying TBRPG, SRPG, ARPG or whatever actually describes the gameplay, that would be good.

Next time you see someone asking for JRPG recommendations, look at how many genres get suggested. You will get people suggesting Dragon Quest right along side Fire Emblem. It's because JRPG is a worthless term.

If you don't want me to misundertand, don't say people claim SRPGs and turn-based RPGs are the same genre, because nobody does that.

As for actually using the terms 'Japanese' and 'Western', I'd say that is up to the people asking for recommendations. It's their problem if they're being vague. And hey, have you ever considered that they might more looking more for a certain visual style or type of storytelling rather than a specific genre? If you think you know some games they might like, but aren't sure because of the vagueness of their request, just ask for some examples.

 

[WeepingAngels]

You seem to be misunderstanding. I am not saying we should call Turn based RPG's JTBRPG, I am saying we should call them TBRPG and drop the silly J and W nonsense. If people would just stop using the terms JRPG and WRPG and be more precise by saying TBRPG, SRPG, ARPG or whatever actually describes the gameplay, that would be good.

Next time you see someone asking for JRPG recommendations, look at how many genres get suggested. You will get people suggesting Dragon Quest right along side Fire Emblem. It's because JRPG is a worthless term.

If you don't want me to misundertand, don't say people claim SRPGs and turn-based RPGs are the same genre, because nobody does that.

As for actually using the terms 'Japanese' and 'Western', I'd say that is up to the people asking for recommendations. It's their problem if they're being vague. And hey, have you ever considered that they might more looking more for a certain visual style or type of storytelling rather than a specific genre? If you think you know some games they might like, but aren't sure because of the vagueness of their request, just ask for some examples.

The rest of your post seems to contradict your first sentence. People do that all the time when others asked for JRPG recommendations. You agree that the term JRPG is vague and I say that is why people combine several genres under the term JRPG.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

They never went anywhere, they just were mostly on portable devices or Japan exclusive. Ps3 has dozens of em as well. Microsoft just stopped trying after blue dragon and lost odyssey and the wii gave us horrors like arc rise fantasia's English dub. All that happened last gen is that the "big, popular ones" were met with lukwarm reception.



But yeah, having beat Persona 5 after a whopping 150 hours, I can tell you that game will be the one Jrpgs will try to compare with for a LONG time to come. I have no expectations from FFXV but I actually loved the FFXIII games, this one just doesn't seem to be FF at all any more, it's Dissidia/KH/Crysis Core.

Might still be a good game though, if I wanna play FF I have the bravely series.

 

[NPC009]

You seem to be misunderstanding. I am not saying we should call Turn based RPG's JTBRPG, I am saying we should call them TBRPG and drop the silly J and W nonsense. If people would just stop using the terms JRPG and WRPG and be more precise by saying TBRPG, SRPG, ARPG or whatever actually describes the gameplay, that would be good.

Next time you see someone asking for JRPG recommendations, look at how many genres get suggested. You will get people suggesting Dragon Quest right along side Fire Emblem. It's because JRPG is a worthless term.

If you don't want me to misundertand, don't say people claim SRPGs and turn-based RPGs are the same genre, because nobody does that.

As for actually using the terms 'Japanese' and 'Western', I'd say that is up to the people asking for recommendations. It's their problem if they're being vague. And hey, have you ever considered that they might more looking more for a certain visual style or type of storytelling rather than a specific genre? If you think you know some games they might like, but aren't sure because of the vagueness of their request, just ask for some examples.

The rest of your post seems to contradict your first sentence. People do that all the time when others asked for JRPG recommendations. You agree that the term JRPG is vague and I say that is why people combine several genres under the term JRPG.

So, wait, you don't see ARPGs and SRPGs as subsets of the RPG genre? Despite the RPG bit being right there in the name?

Because if that's what's bothering you, I don't know what to say, as those genres tend to have a lot in common. Heck, it can be difficult to draw a line between turn-based SRPGs and regular turn-based RPGs. Like, what exactly is Arc the Lad 2? I'd call the first game a SRPG, sure, it's pretty similar to Shining Force and all that, but part two has stuff like slightly smaller battlefields and random encounters.

I don't see any reason why a Japanese RPG has to be turn-based, because that would mean decades old Japanese gaming series like Ys would suddenly not be Japanese anymore and that's just weird.

 

[Saelune]

You seem to be misunderstanding. I am not saying we should call Turn based RPG's JTBRPG, I am saying we should call them TBRPG and drop the silly J and W nonsense. If people would just stop using the terms JRPG and WRPG and be more precise by saying TBRPG, SRPG, ARPG or whatever actually describes the gameplay, that would be good.

Next time you see someone asking for JRPG recommendations, look at how many genres get suggested. You will get people suggesting Dragon Quest right along side Fire Emblem. It's because JRPG is a worthless term.

If you don't want me to misundertand, don't say people claim SRPGs and turn-based RPGs are the same genre, because nobody does that.

As for actually using the terms 'Japanese' and 'Western', I'd say that is up to the people asking for recommendations. It's their problem if they're being vague. And hey, have you ever considered that they might more looking more for a certain visual style or type of storytelling rather than a specific genre? If you think you know some games they might like, but aren't sure because of the vagueness of their request, just ask for some examples.

The rest of your post seems to contradict your first sentence. People do that all the time when others asked for JRPG recommendations. You agree that the term JRPG is vague and I say that is why people combine several genres under the term JRPG.

So, wait, you don't see ARPGs and SRPGs as subsets of the RPG genre? Despite the RPG bit being right there in the name?

Because if that's what's bothering you, I don't know what to say, as those genres tend to have a lot in common. Heck, it can be difficult to draw a line between turn-based SRPGs and regular turn-based RPGs. Like, what exactly is Arc the Lad 2? I'd call the first game a SRPG, sure, it's pretty similar to Shining Force and all that, but part two has stuff like slightly smaller battlefields and random encounters.

I don't see any reason why a Japanese RPG has to be turn-based, because that would mean decades old Japanese gaming series like Ys would suddenly not be Japanese anymore and that's just weird.

You are arguing with someone who doesnt disagree with you. I hope you know that. They (and I) think the term JRPG is too vague cause that is -any- RPG from Japan, no matter what sub-genre it is. However, alot of people hear JRPG and think of very specific games at the exclusion of other games that still fit the description of Japanese Role-Playing Game.