I don't restrict myself to genres. If it's a good game in my eyes, I'll play it. I don't care if it's a WRPG, JRPG, FPS, RTS, TPS, platformer, flight simulator, racing, point & click, puzzle, text based or fighter.
JRPGS vs Western RPGs. What's your preference?
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kinda funny to see everyone bitching about JRPGs as "full of angsty teens with weird clothing"... seems like they need to try playing something besides Final Fantasy.
I enjoy both but my preferences in general tend to be more Eastern oriented. Not really sure why.
I've always loved anime and Japanese culture in general since I was a kid so it just stuck with me since I was first exposed to it, so I'll always have a slight bias and soft spot for JRPGs.
That's not to say I don't like certain games. I pretty much despise turn-based combat which makes up the vast majority of JRPGs so it's not like I'm one of those people who thinks everything that comes out of one particular place is great no matter what.
I love western games just as much, if not better due to the combat typically being something that I enjoy more. Mix the gameplay of a western RPG with the story of a JRPG and you get possibly my favourite formula for a game
I've always loved anime and Japanese culture in general since I was a kid so it just stuck with me since I was first exposed to it, so I'll always have a slight bias and soft spot for JRPGs.
That's not to say I don't like certain games. I pretty much despise turn-based combat which makes up the vast majority of JRPGs so it's not like I'm one of those people who thinks everything that comes out of one particular place is great no matter what.
I love western games just as much, if not better due to the combat typically being something that I enjoy more. Mix the gameplay of a western RPG with the story of a JRPG and you get possibly my favourite formula for a game
I can enjoy both. But I tend to lean more towards JRPGs. I prefer a more linear narrative to a sandbox. As good as fallout 3 is...I just can't get into it. :s
I have Disgaea 1-3, but I've seen many other RPGs and they just don't have anything I've seen in the older ones. I'm not being nostalgic on this because I only recently picked up Breath of Fire 4 and have been loving it (while I dislike some others in the series).Legion IV said:
I've seen Cross Edge and it seems like Kingdom Hearts, mixing up characters from different worlds for just fanservice, not to mention with fanservice on top of that. Plus like most jrpgs this generation it's grind-tastic and has very little to do with a thought out story. And that's never been something to win me over it's just silly.
And Trinity Universe seems to focus on the same sort of thing and again not my thing. Am I saying that's bad? No but I'd like a decent story to go with my game and I've not seen any of that in any of the jRPGs I've been playing recently.
The newest JRPGs I've seen that actually have a good story along with other amusing things is Persona 3 and Nocturne, though even they're a bit grindy.
JRPG's. This is simply because a jRPG offers more gameplay for your money.
Average time to finish a jRPG = 40+ hours
only a few wRPG's match this (this is a modern trend, it wasnt always like this) for example all bioware games = 20 hours abouts for a full play through.
Average time to finish a jRPG = 40+ hours
only a few wRPG's match this (this is a modern trend, it wasnt always like this) for example all bioware games = 20 hours abouts for a full play through.
I prefer JRPGs three times out of four. Final Fantasy X and XIII are up there in my favorite games, but so is Oblivion. There's a lot of other good JRPGs that I loved so much I don't even want to remember their names, I simply want them kept in my memory.
I generally prefer the lore in JRPGs, and the story/characters are generally a lot more enjoyable. JRPGs aim for a much more emotional experience, imo.
I have never cared for Dragon Age or Mass Effect, two of the more popular RPGs.
I generally prefer the lore in JRPGs, and the story/characters are generally a lot more enjoyable. JRPGs aim for a much more emotional experience, imo.
I have never cared for Dragon Age or Mass Effect, two of the more popular RPGs.
I love both, generally, but I'll usually take a good JRPG over a good WRPG any day. Mainly because I feel that most western RPGs focus so much on player freedom that they abandon their ability to create a compelling narrative (Bioware is the only real exception). Japanese RPGs don't allow for as much story interaction, but they tend to tell better stories overall, and still use interactivity to make the experience more powerful.
Thank you for posting this. It spares me the trouble of having to figure out how to word those thoughts for myself. Now all I have to say is, "This."Thaius said:
I'll take a compelling story and slightly more restricted character customization over a huge sandbox world with bland characters and a boring narrative, any day. Thus, I tend to prefer JRPGs over WRPGs... but, of course, I have my individual "loved games" and "hated games" among both genres.
I don't think I have ever played a JRPG. What is the definition? Must it be a Japanese title translated to english? I've never played one of those. I have heard Anachronox described as a JRPG for the PC and I'm thinking about picking up a copy of that via online auctions. It could be my first.
Western rpg obviously, though I've said this before and I'll say it again: Labelling anything non-Japanese as 'Western' seems a bit stupid. There's a pretty big difference between say the Gothic series in terms of pacing and design compared to even the Elder Scrolls games though they're both in the same open world genre of rpg. Labelling by location is also silly. Demons Souls is more 'western' than many western rpg, whereas games like Septerra Core which were obviously meant to be Japan inspired don't count because they weren't made there. How stupid.
But yeah, western for what it's worth. I'm not a huge fan of anime... not a fan at all really, and even the more realistic jrpgs tend to draw extremely heavily from that which is like an instant turn off for me. No matter how many times I'm told that games liker Persona are interesting and deep, I just can't take em seriously the way they look. Besides, I like my stories to remain at least vaguely within the realms of possibility, something many of not more jrpgs don't do. Sure ye jolly ol' medieval England style land might be a bit cliche, but it works and I like it when the things that happen in fantasy have some footing in reality. Armour styles, politics, terrain, etc.
But yeah, western for what it's worth. I'm not a huge fan of anime... not a fan at all really, and even the more realistic jrpgs tend to draw extremely heavily from that which is like an instant turn off for me. No matter how many times I'm told that games liker Persona are interesting and deep, I just can't take em seriously the way they look. Besides, I like my stories to remain at least vaguely within the realms of possibility, something many of not more jrpgs don't do. Sure ye jolly ol' medieval England style land might be a bit cliche, but it works and I like it when the things that happen in fantasy have some footing in reality. Armour styles, politics, terrain, etc.
Well, I'd rather play FF7 than Two Worlds, but I'd rather play Oblivion as opposed to FF13.
Why should I take only the best and worst of one side when I can experience the best of both worlds?
Why should I take only the best and worst of one side when I can experience the best of both worlds?
I like both pretty well. RPGs are my favorite genre I really do not care where they come from as long as they are good games.
Another thing I have to say about JRPGs, is that for the most part, many of them have less replay value than a lot of Western RPGs. Did I say all JRPGs have this problem? NO! In fact, Disgaea, one of my favorite videogame series of all time, has a crazy amount of content to go back to, for a STRATEGY RPG. Games like Disgaea/Demons Souls/Chrono Trigger to name a few, I have fond memories of going back to play again and again. Even Final Fantasy XIII had extra content for after you beat the game, but really... that was one of the worst big budget titles I had played in my entire life, so I didn't see a reason to play it past there... (Why should anyone be told to wait 20+ hours for the game to get good?)
When I think of Western RPGs, almost all of them are made for the user to go back through the game a second or third time, taking a different route so you can flesh out the story more, grind your way to some awesome gear, or even changing the outcome of your character's ending. Being able to see more about the world through your own character's eyes, that you invested your sweet time in, was a plus for me, where as for JRPGs, I always felt detached from the protagonist. Being able to change their destiny was just the tip of the iceberg. And this can also be said for a few JRPGs, though there are much fewer in number.
But hey, different strokes for different folks I guess.
When I think of Western RPGs, almost all of them are made for the user to go back through the game a second or third time, taking a different route so you can flesh out the story more, grind your way to some awesome gear, or even changing the outcome of your character's ending. Being able to see more about the world through your own character's eyes, that you invested your sweet time in, was a plus for me, where as for JRPGs, I always felt detached from the protagonist. Being able to change their destiny was just the tip of the iceberg. And this can also be said for a few JRPGs, though there are much fewer in number.
But hey, different strokes for different folks I guess.
While like both WRPGs and JRPGs, I tend to lean more towards JRPGs. I think the reason for that is that before this generation of consoles, there weren't that many WRPGs on consoles. I also think that I like the aesthetic and the focus on having a "battle system".