Poll: East vs. West: RPGs

[HarlyHellbender]

I dunno, JRPGs usually have a lot of story depth and character development, but on the other hand the West makes a good addicting MMORPG...

I do like my story depth and character development, my vote goes to JRPGz

 

[Smokeydubbs]

The older I've gotten the more I lean towards Western RPG's. But some of the best I've played were from Japan but they don't fit the JRPG mold, IE Dark Cloud 2. There is real time fighting but its clearly a JRPG.

 

[PeterDawson]

My big problem with Western RPGs is that most seem to refuse high fantasy, usually prefering a grounding in reality (see World of Warcraft for one of a few exceptions to this rule) while still containing typical fantasy staples like non-human creatures and magic and/or science-based abilities that are pretty much superpowers. Meanwhile a JRPG tends to rarely have any grounding in reality (Persona 4's 'real world' element is probably the best example I can think of as an exception at this point) in favor of rediculous hair, oversized weapons and an undeniably awesome sense of style, though the pacing is usually crap.

Of course, both genres of RPGs are known for falling into the familiar traps of boring stock characters, poorly-written dialog with an overlong story and a massive list of spells of which only like 4 are worth knowing.

 

[duchaked]

What? No undecided option?

I can't say I'm really for either side...I get cravings for both. There's something about each that I always miss in the other.

 

[Nova Tendril]

At this point JRPGs represent most of the things I hate in video games.

 

[painfull2006]

Im not sure that Zelda is an RPG, not twilight princess anyway, more... action/adventure? maybe a bit of fighting?

This is quite difficult, I love final fantasy but oblivion, fallout and fable? some of the best games around

going to have to vote for west

 

[NeutralDrow]

Flanking doesn't mean two characters next to an enemy. It means that if two characters are flanking an enemy, one that is behind an enemy gets a bonus of some sort (like in real life). Distance - shots from 50 meters are just as effective as point-blank shots. No difference in accuracity or power. And armor-buffing... I wasn't refering to that.

Can a Standard jRPG Mage/Wizard use a Heavy Armor reserved for a Warrior? No. No matter what you do, a wizard can't go melee with Warrior's armor.

Oh, and let's not forget that usually in an jRPG you can't customize a character more than progress. It means that if the game starts with main character as a warrior, you can't play anything BUT warrior. Sure you get other characters, but you can't customize them. You can't start as a mage, then add a warrior ally.

In Western RPGs, however, you get to choose the protagonist. From Diablo 2 to Mass Effect, you can affect almost every aspect of the character, look (oh, right - jRPG characters look almost the same, same hair, clothes and have same slapstick personalities).

Sorry, I just can't "get into" the game if it's another Generic jRPG with Generic Unmemorable Characters and Generic Plot nr. 51521. Especially if it's just really hard to indentify with the main character.

Real life doesn't have attack bonuses for flanking. The "bonus" for flanking an opponent means he can't focus on one or the other without getting ganked. Your concept of distance seems entirely irrelevant. And if you weren't talking about armor buffing, then I'm sorry, I don't know of any JRPG that has Armor Proficiency (Heavy), Armored Mage, and Still Spell. If your tastes run specifically to "D&D in PC form," I suspect you'll be dreadfully limited.

Off the top of my head I can think of four JRPG mages that wear heavy armor. And several more that can fight in melee without it.

By now, we're completely off the original thing I responded to, which was

That's "turn-based" system. And it wasn't taken better by the jRPGs, because they usually don't allow tactics. Do you have flanking in jRPGs? Distance? Can their mages take Heavy Armor and use Still Spell to negate the armor penalties? Nope. Also, they never use dices, again.

Naturally JRPGs don't allow the same level of customization as western RPGs. They're entirely different genres that share some, but not all, of the same systems. Once you get into character customization, you're treading into the realm of personal preference, and I've got nothing against your personal preference. I, personally, don't care whether a character is my own or not when playing an RPG (outside of MMOs, at least).

Still, you're right. <url=http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/kingdomhearts/images/thumb/8/8c/KH_Sora.jpg/250px-KH_Sora.jpg>JRPG <url=http://media.photobucket.com/image/jade%20tales%20of%20the%20abyss/SSG-Sunny/Tales%20of%20the%20Abyss/Jade5.jpg>characters <url=http://media.photobucket.com/image/regal%20tales%20of%20symphonia/lwelyk/R_gal_01.jpg>all <url=http://ui14.gamespot.com/1069/bk2wall800_2.jpg>look <url=http://www.rpgfan.com/pics/batenkaitos/art-002.jpg>and <url=http://www.ffcompendium.com/art/8-squall-c2.jpg>act <url=http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/7464/936772-cyangaramonde_super.jpg>the <url=http://www.freewebs.com/ff7_lovva/ff7-barret.jpg>same. <url=http://media.photobucket.com/image/emil%20tales%20of%20symphonia%20dawn%20of%20the%20new%20world/ninelivesmoonlight2/tales-of-symphonia-dawn-of-the-n-3.jpg>It's <url=http://www.freewebs.com/divine_judgment/zelos_full-size.gif>uncanny, <url=http://www.ffcompendium.com/art/9-vivi-c.jpg>really.

I can concede similar designs (especially if I were to compare, say, Luke and Zelos from two different Tales games), but generic personalities I can't.

 

[Shamutanti]

What has some what shocked me is the lack of (or little) reference to the older JRPGs that existed or were around before Fallout, Mass Effect or Kotor. Don't get me wrong, I love a good WRPG, but I only tend to dunk my head into them once every 3-4months, where as I'm constantly replaying JRPGs, be they on the SNES through to on the PS2 (Yeah shoot me I've not joined the 360/PS3 fanclub yet ).

Look at how popular Persona 3! That's a JRPG that made a fair bit of a breakthrough considering we typically expect only FF to have an impact upon the Western Market. We're also forgetting of course that we're only used to Westernized JRPGs. There's a bazillion other JRPGs that either haven't been translated across or have been done so rather badly.

Anyway, I'm in the JRPG camp simply because the Shin Megami Tensei series rocks my socks.

 

[zenix]

i love all the elder scrolls games and Fallout 3

 

[New Troll]

My favorite rpgs will have to this type of rpg:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyJ3mX96Eog

My friend from criousgame.com made it.

I would definitely try ERPGs! And getting the nonLimited Edition nonSpecial Packaged version FREE for only $9.99! Awesome! Look out grandma, here I come!

 

[New Troll]

WoW is an MMORPG
Fable is an Action RPG
Dungeon Siege is a Hack and Slash RPG

You can split hairs all you want, but don't expect everyone else to.

None of those games involve any actual roleplaying.

role playing is all up to the player, i recently played through fable being both good and bad, though the story is not any different the way people act around you is different, playing as a bad guy kinda made be feel bad about killing all those people. it added an element of 'role play' to my game experience. and probably a lot of others.
whether you role play in an RPG is really up to you. the game doesn't force you to feel the emotion. it still forces to you play the character though.

I think this is what confuses a lot of people. What is an RPG? Where does one start and where does one end? Since you can consider a game like Diablo an RPG, why not a game like Rainbow Six? Where does the line between adventure and role-playing lie? What has to be added to an adventure game to make it an RPG? And why would a tactical strategy game be an RPG? Why is Brigadine not considered an RPG but Fire Emblem is?

Except for strategy-RPGs, I think the East tends to stick as true to what people expect from an RPG, where in the West they're constantly trying to push the boundaries. In the East, RPG revolves around story. In the West, gameplay/ gameworld.

 

[TheEvilDuck]

JRPGs without being a Japanophile.

 

[TZer0]

Why isn't the "Any good RPG" choice listed? I mean.. cathegorizing RPGs into JRPG and WRPG is a little bit generalizing... any good rpg is a little better.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

You are on a site full of Yahtzee fanboys. WRPGs are going to win due to his hatred of JRPGs.

I've beaten more WRPGs because they tend to be shorter and my favorite RPG overall is Oblivion. But I still must go with JRPGs, because I've played (not finished due to the tendency of REALLY FUCKING HARD final bosses) and enjoyed more of them. Chrono Cross was awesome, and even better than Trigger. It stands out as my favorite JRPG.

 

[Rodger]

People are certainly entitled to their own opinions on games, maybe even certain genres, but some people just seem to cast blind hatred onto the entire JRPG genre for some reason. I could do the same rather easily to the entire WRPG genre, and believe me WRPG's are no better at differing themselves than JRPG's given the Western design philosophy of "follow the leader" whereas Eastern philosophy often tends toward "subvert or parody the leader", but then I'd be just as bad. So instead, I'll say why I prefer JRPG's and leave it at that.

Personally, I'm interested in turn-based combat where I get to control every aspect of my party. I especially love SRPG's (maybe a bit too much) and both of these genres are practically exclusive to JRPG's. I did try D&D Tactics but that game sucked balls. I don't mind action-based RPG's, but prefer something more like the Tales or Star Ocean series in that regard.

I'll admit that there are some western RPG's that appeal to me, like Mass Effect and Fallout 3, but those two I think I'd still be interested in even if they were open world shooters instead. I'm also willing to try a demo for/rent Oblivion, Sacred 2, and Diablo 3. Diablo 3 especially since I'd love to know what makes that game so popular. And Oblivion for that matter since that one especially looks incredibly boring. I have little interest in Bioware's RPG's outside of Mass Effect, though. I bought Neverwinter Nights 2 thinking "Hey! D&D! That should be good!" and now I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. Maybe the cd would make a nice frisbee...