Poll: Do you hate JRPG's?

[ChromeAlchemist]

The story is always weak in JRPG's.
I'd say, Japanese story-telling, in general, is very poor. Given that videos games always have the worst narratives of any medium, JRPG's fall in the center of that Venn Diagram.

That's a horribly sweeping generalisation. The story in FFXII, Persona 3, Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Cross, Disgaea, and so on are superb. The cookie cutter titles in the genre obviously are bad, but to say an entire genre has a weak story is just ignorant, and leads me to believe you haven't played many RPGs at all.

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Interesting points, but did you just write that entire post for something that was aimed at someone else? Did you misinterpret it as a post aimed at you, or are you defending his point?

 

[Computer-Noob]

Voice acting. I put characters too, since a lot of the characters in JRPGs are whiny , annoying jerks. That or the whole "cool, lonely tough guy" crap.

 

[high_castle]

I haven't tried to play one in a long time. My experience with the older Final Fantasy titles, the original Devil May Cry, and a handful of others have convinced me that while JRPGs look good, they play like crap. I found the combat to be unintuitive and the story a drag. I didn't mind the characters so much (at least, not to the same degree I minded the wonky controls). The androgyny thing is actually a nice break from the usual fare of biceps-the-size-of-my-forehead. So that was fine. But then most of them turn out to be whiny adolescents harping about their personal lives while the world goes up in flames around them. Don't know where the self-centeredness comes from, but it bugged me. I gave up on the genre pretty quick, deciding that while I really liked the stylized animation, I couldn't sacrifice my precious story or gameplay for the look of the game.

 

[quack35]

To the people complaining about turn based combat, there are some fun real time JRPGs like Kingdom Hearts and Radiata Stories.

 

[Horadrius]

Hey all, long-time lurker, first time poster.

JRPGs are really what got me into hardcore gaming, and for the longest time, were the staple of my games library. It started with Final Fantasy VIII (or actually, now that I think about, Pokémon Blue) and from there on, I needed more. I snatched up every new Final Fantasy title I could find and played as much as I could. Every new FF title to me was a new world to explore, new story to experience, and new characters to develop. If it didn't come from Japan, I wasn't interested.

Then I played a few Western RPGs. Morrowind, Oblivion, Knights of the Old Republic, and most recently, Fallout 3. These offered to me a level of immersion no JRPG had ever offered. In these games, I honestly felt more in control of the direction of the game. To paraphrase Yahtzee, JRPGs honestly feel like you're just wheeling characters from one cutscene to another, with some fighting in between.

While I won't say I hate JRPGs, I honestly have come to realize that they can be a tad overrated. I'm certainly going to be more careful with what I buy nowadays, and not just flock to whatever comes out of Japan.

 

[UltimatheChosen]

You should realize that Yahtzee hates nearly every game he plays... Or at least, he claims to.

 

[solidd]

FF7 and all the spin offs were great. I didnt find much in the other FF series, 8 was good, but from 9 onwards *thumbs down*

 

[NeutralDrow]

Another one of these threads, huh? Well, I've already said everything I've wanted before about the stories, the characters, the "turn-based" combat and "random encounters" that people believe are universal because they were in Final Fantasy. You know what? Screw it. I'm sick of defending myself. That doesn't mean I'll stop defending the genre, of course, I just don't feel like copy/pasting my usual points again, at the moment.

So I'll bring up a new one: I will never, ever understand why people conflate "role-playing" with "immersion." I can see the appeal of having one's own character have an effect on the game world (I play D&D, after all), but is that really that important to play? Maybe I just get sucked into things more, but I feel equally immersed in Tales of Symphonia and Baldur's Gate. Hell, I feel more immersed. Why on earth do I need to be playing a pastiche of myself, as opposed to an already created character with their own personality and motivations and who I can grow attached to, to be drawn in to a story? That's pretty much the entire point of every genre and medium of entertainment that isn't an open-world western RPG (and as such can hardly be held against one particular genre).

As an aside, it's that particular type of immersion that makes the main plot twists in both Baten Kaitos games so effective.

 

[Bootkiller]

My thoughts are that unfortunately, JRPG's are one of those genres that get a lot of cheap crap games dumped into the mainstream. They're like casual games, except some people actually like crappy casual games.

There are obviously games in all genres that suck, but they just aren't as noticeable as JRPG's. Why that is, I'm not sure. Please keep in mind not to lump every JRPG together.

 

[reincarN8ed]

Hate hate hate hate hate!

 

[Scars Unseen]

The story is always weak in JRPG's.
I'd say, Japanese story-telling, in general, is very poor. Given that videos games always have the worst narratives of any medium, JRPG's fall in the center of that Venn Diagram.

I find this comment particularly odd. It is true that there are a number of JRPGs that do have weak stories, but you can't expect every game to be a gem when there may be dozens of titles in the genre pumped out each year.

What I find odd is that, with a few exceptions *cough*bioware*cough*, most of the western RPGs that are considered classic and good have the story thrown on as an afterthought if there is any story at all. They evolved from dungeon crawlers and most haven't evolved that far. I mean, who played Oblivion for the gripping storytelling? Really?

On the other hand, the good JRPGs had excellent storytelling. So much so that I can still go back and play Chrono Trigger despite the fact that the gameplay is pretty dull after the first 15 or so JRPGs you've played. Could I do the same for the old Gold Box games? I'm not sure. I may try to fire one up and see, but I suspect that I wouldn't last long playing them(although it would be nice to get away from the oversimplification of modern western RPGs).

Now, I'll pit Baldur's Gate 2 against just about any JRPG out there in terms of story, but for the most part, if you want a story heavy RPG, you look to the east.

 

[MmmFiber]

I like jrpgs. I dont like playing as gender-confused preteens with something to prove.... to their fathers, who never loved them.

 

[Dragon Zero]

JRPGs are like every other genre, If it's done well then its good. If its done bad then its terrible. Maybe they are popular with certain people because they appeal to them. Now can we PLEASE stop with all these useless threads about JRPG's and whetther people hate them or not?!?

 

[NeoDeath90]

I don;t hate JRPGs. I just lack the patience to play them.

 

[Screamarie]

I personally love JRPGs, though I wasn't especially fond of Valkyria, I just prefer a more fantastical plot than it provided.

Yahtzee has the right to hate JRPGs. It would be like me trying to play Bioshock, I'm just not an FPSer and I know this. Yahtzee may have been a little too harsh on Valkyria, but it's out of his usual gaming zone. Valkyria doesn't need your defense, you love it, enjoy it, and let Yahtzee's words just roll of your back.

 

[N-Sef]

The Japanese Role Playing game is my favourite genre, so of course I like them a lot. I personally like getting stuck into battle systems and character progression, and seeing if I can break them to use it to my advantage. Sure the storylines are typical most of the time, but I generally enjoy these tropes as well as the character archetypes. Beating a JRPG always leaves me with a huge grin on my face, and savouring that last cutscene before the credits.

If you don't like JRPG's, then that's fine. You're entitled to your opinion. But I hate it when people completely trash the genre without an understanding of why people enjoy it in the first place. Give it a fair go, perhaps you may enjoy it.

 

[Jast]

For me I don't hate the genre itself. It really just depends on the game itself. Some I've enjoyed immensly like Skies of Arcadia: Legends. Others I have wanted to purposely kill my character over and over again because I hated it so much i.e. the new Star Ocean game. That was the first Star Ocean game I played but after less than an hour of it I have no intention of trying the others.

 

[Commander Jack Rankin]

i don't hate them, i'm just bored of years of playing them

moving into fps these days

I'm much the same. I prefer a good shooter or a Western RPG.

 

[zakwak01]

if pokemon counts as a jrpg then thats my soul reson for hating them

 

[Jandau]

I hate the bad JRPGS, I like the good ones. I can say the same about pretty much any genre, except maybe Sports games (and Blood Bowl might change my mind there as well...)