Western RPG VS JRPG

[petey hunter]

WHAT ARE THE MAIN DIFFEENCEs which one Do you Prefer
(sorry caps lock)
state the difference and yor opinion
(Don't just say "Western rpg's rule, you got to say WHY)

 

[Amethyst Wind]

Ooh, I haven't gotten to say this before.

Search button please.

 

[Erana]

They're different.
Its a matter of taste.
If you can't allow people to have their own opinions... Well, I hate to sound so harsh, but if you can't do that, please get off my forum.

Also, We're consumers. We can have both.

 

[Avatar Roku]

Ooh, I haven't gotten to say this before.

Search button please.

Ah...*wipes away tear*. You're making me so proud.

Just kidding. Anyway, OT, I like both of them, they both have their strengths and weaknesses. But I prefer WRPGs, since they're what got me into the RPG genre to begin with (KotOR, to be precise).

 

[Fenring]

Ooh, I haven't gotten to say this before.

Search button please.

Congrats! It took me until I was in the 600's!

OT: Western. The only JRPG I like is Fire Emblem. Bethesda and BioWare are my two favorite developers (based on games out, not coming out).

 

[TheFacelessOne]

Western RPGs, Mainly since JRPGs are confusing to me, and I don't find the appeal of teenage heros who have hairdos that look like they've been pulled by a vacuum cleaner.

 

[TriggerUnhappy]

I myself prefer Western RPG's, because I enjoy more choice in my games rather than going through more linear experiences. There are many more things that I don't want to start an argument over, so in the end choose whatever floats your boat, because neither are specifically better.

 

[Avatar Roku]

Ooh, I haven't gotten to say this before.

Search button please.

Ah...*wipes away tear*. You're making me so proud.

Just kidding. Anyway, OT, I like both of them, they both have their strengths and weaknesses. But I prefer WRPGs, since they're what got me into the RPG genre to begin with (KotOR, to be precise).

Agreed, games like KotOR, Jade Empire, and Mass Effect (All by Bioware) truly show how Western RPGs can shine.

But some of my favorite RPGs are JRPGs. Final Fantasy VI, and Skies of Arcadia are both some of my favorite games ever.

The differences are that JRPGs usually contain androgynous characters, turn-based combat, and more traditional elements while WRPGs have semi-real time systems and have more of a combat emphasis with different story options.

You know what? Those things you listed under JRPGs would have been a deal breaker for me for a while, but not now. I'm trying to get into the old school RPGs, so I've already started playing Golden Sun (amazing game, even by current standards) and various FF games, and they're genuinely fun.

 

[Souplex]

Western RPGs are more about character builds and min maxing. Japanese RPGs are about putting a lot of time and effort into making something great. Western RPGs are for accountants and JRPGs are for model ship builders.

 

[petey hunter]

I know Its about Personnal.
I like WRPG's because of the open world and realtime combat,though the only JRPG I played is pokemon

 

[Mister Benoit]

Western RPGs are for accountants and JRPGs are for model ship builders.

Bam haha, I love this.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

This should be a poll thread. anyways, Western, definitely. The only JRPG I've played and genuinely enjoyed the gameplay of was square enix's kingdom hearts 1 and 2, but even that suffers from the standard horrible anime-esque story featuring characters that 14 year old emos can spunk over mixed with goofy disney characters that kill any serious moments the game may have. other than that JRPGs are generally way too mundane for me. They make me feel like i'm doing math homework or something.
As for western RPGs, I can't say i like MMOs, that's still too far into mundanity, but games like fallout and oblivion are really IMO the ideal balance of action and stat building

 

[Kiutu]

Western RPGs tend to be more free and also lessen or remove the idea of "waiting your turn just to be smacked" as you usually can move out of the way and even if doen right forbid the enemy of getting hits out. Western ones also are more tpyical fantasy based while JRPGs follow more out-there fantasy. (Think DnD vs Final Fantasy)
They are usually turn-based.
Its preference in the end as already stated. I prefer western mostly because I love freedom and customization (TES series being my favorite and I will argue the best western RPG series).
I used to really love JRPGs though, but they were mostly pre-DS gameboy games. (almost half being NES/SNES remakes/ports)

 

[rockingnic]

Although I only like Final Fantasy (4, 7, 9, 10, 12, and some others) in means of JRPGs, I like them more than western. Most of the westerns are good but for the most part, disappointing. Mass Effect was good but the combat was broken. It just seems to me that western RPGs, imo, doesn't spend enough time polishing their gameplay. Just because it's an RPG doesn't mean the combat has to suck... At least FF takes any combat system and brings the most out of it.

 

[Pendragon9]

JRPGs are more colorful. WRPGs steal your soul.

 

[Khazoth]

JRPGS are mostly the same, i'd suggest playing through a bit of Star Ocean 4 because I suspect Square Enix is the king of all JRPGS and if you differ from their formula you are deviant and will be flogged mercilessly.

 

[NeutralDrow]

WHAT ARE THE MAIN DIFFEENCEs which one is better
(sorry caps lock)
state the difference and yor opinion
(Don't just say "Western rpg's rule, you got to say WHY)

I was going to scream until I read your question. For asking the difference, I approve. For asking which is better...I'll settle for glaring in your general direction while I write.

Western RPGs followed more closely to the path originated by tabletop RPGs. Character customization is usually key, quite often a character the player builds themself (not always, though, see Planescape Torment for an exception). This usually includes both skills and appearance. Alongside and combined with this is the idea of nonlinearity in story and gameplay, which most western RPGs at least pay lip service to. This is much like, say, a standard game of Dungeons & Dragons, where the DM has the players make characters.

JRPGs focused on a different aspect of the original RPGs (and closer to other console genres), that of storytelling. The characters in the game are usually already present, and character customization is usually limited to skills (and rarely to appearance). In essence, rather than ask the player to create a character or characters and flesh them out in their minds, they give the player a preset party, sacrificing player choice for the ability to create greater characterization and a more fluid overall narrative. To continue the D&D metaphor, this is much like players using characters a DM has already rolled up (and thus better knows the capabilities of).

One thing that's usually lost in these discussions is the issue of medium. The original WRPGs were, as a rule, computer based, while the original JRPGs were console games. The capabilities of both type of system were instrumental in the divergence of the two genres, and by the time their capabilities started becoming equal, certain aspects had already become staples.

While both genres have their strengths (WRPGs for custom play, JRPGs for story), the ideal game is one that doesn't specialize so much as to sacrifice either narrative (I've heard good things about KotOR or Mass Effect, in this sense) or gameplay (many Tales games and Skies of Arcadia are good examples).

 

[LazerLuger]

JRPGs fail to understand the point of what a rpg is. A roleplaying game. You create a character and roleplay his or her actions to the best you can with the game's options. JRPGs give you a group of characters and have them act out to their personalities. Apparently when games like Dungeons and Dragons came over the pacific, they thought the point was statistics and leveling which only exist as a form of task resolution to prevent the players from saying "I kill your character! No you don't! Did too!" Ever since then all JRPGs have simply been about grinding and spreadsheets. In Mass Effect and Fallout, you get to choose your characters responses and actions based on the personality you gave him or her. It is this reason why I consider Final Fantasy and their ilk to be RPGs in the most loose terms, in the fact that the characters have numeric attributes.

 

[MrLS]

I gotta say i'm a hypocrit, I loved FFVII but i hate the JRPG Genre, All other JRPGs bored me to hell.

I gotta say WRPGs becuse i'm a hack n slash addict, Champions of Norrath for PS2 Is one of my favourite console games ever.

 

[BonsaiK]

RPG = "Role Playing Game".

Japanese game developers sadly don't seem to understand this simple concept, they pretty much assign you cookie-cutter roles right from the get-go and shoehorn you into them mercilessly. So JRPGs aren't really RPGs at all. They might have similar numerical systems for things like damage dealing and levelling up, but these things on their own do not make an RPG any more than Doom is an RPG because your weapons get better as the game progresses.

The better Western RPGs on the other hand give you great flexibility in things like character traits, personality and moral choices, allowing you to truly "play the role". This is the heart and soul of what an RPG really is, NOT the number-crunching. The numbers are just a means to an end, which is the character itself. Western RPGs (sometimes) see this, Japanese RPGs never do.

(That's not to say that all JRPGs lack entertainment value - some of them are quite good. But they are NOT true RPGs.)