What do Japanese Think of wRPGs and Why?

[ulzugot]

I rely on the words Japanese/Japan due to the fact that it is used to distinguish RPG sub-genres, but I refer to the region from which jRPGs emerged and seem to be most popular. I also apologize for any over-generalizations, use stereotypes and such.

From what I have seen, in the U.S. and Europe jRPGs do not pick up much interest, often scaring players away with their aesthetics, combat mechanics and melodramatic storytelling (these are stereotypical elements present in various amounts in jRPGs). Average "western" player sees them as weird and is not interested in them, but I am aware that there is audience for them in the U.S and Europe that is not small and should not be ignored.

I am curious how does an average player from Japan (or East in general) view wRPGs. Are they seen as: weird, dull, future of all RPGs, interesting gimmick or something else? This question is primarily directed to the people who are Japanese and familiar with culture, but feel free to share regardless.

 

[Syzygy23]

"There are no effeminate boys angsting? Who would want to play this?"

But I'm just guessing.

I'd say that's a good guess. "You have to make choices? What manner of heresy is this?!?" Would be my other guess.

 

[95spartans]

"Whats with all the beards?" seems like one. No Japanese protagonist has a beard (most arn't old enough) and neither do his allies. Where as in something like the elder scrolls EVERYONE has a beard.

 

[Mr Pantomime]

Youre probably better off asking a Japanese forum. Or a Chinese one. Ask the Chinese what the Japanese think of Western RPGs.

I have heard they hate them though.

But the US and Europe dont hate JRPG's. We have just had a lot of terrible ones lately. Id recommend The Last Story, but most of the good JRPG's seem to remain in Japan.

 

[Gigatoast]

"AGH! Why don't the enemies wait for their turn to attack!" :3

 

[isometry]

Presumably Japan faces the same issues as we do, as far as old-fashioned "hardcore" RPG gamers being sidelined in favor of mainstream blockbusters for more casual younger players. When I look at the first Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior games on NES, they are not so different from classic wRPGs. The Legend of Zelda II: the Adventures of Link had pretty most of what I'd expect from a wRPG.

The games started getting more cinematic and linear on SNES and PSOne, but were still recognizably related to wRPGs. Then things diverged between east and west, because of the voice acting, graphics good enough to represent established anime tropes (they weren't so trope-y when they were just sprites), and a different notion of action RPG gameplay.

 

[Allthingsspectacular]

They don't like WRPGs because they think the stories suck.

 

[Deadyawn]

OP, while the question could be potentially interesting, I'm fairly sure the percentage of Japanese people on these forums is very very small. Primarily due to it being in english.

I don't think you'll get any proper responses.

 

[Syzygy23]

"There are no effeminate boys angsting? Who would want to play this?"

But I'm just guessing.

I'd say that's a good guess. "You have to make choices? What manner of heresy is this?!?" Would be my other guess.

Oh wait, I got another one!

"And why should I buy an Xbox to play it? Release it on the Wii dammit!"

Ooh! Or what about "How do I beat this game? The story isn't a linear hallway of cutscenes!"

 

[NiPah]

The first issue is motion sickness, Japanese tend to be prone to getting motion sickness from playing FPS games. I'm not sure if its cultural, genetic, for what ever reason the Japanese tend to be more susceptible.

Another issue is advertisement and lack of market penetration, just like your average Xbox live COD player won't know the different between Monster Hunter and a Tales game, your average Japanese gamer knows very little of wRPGs. Couple the lack of knowledge with a more xenophobic culture (although we have our fair share of xenophobes here too), oh and add it the fact that people normally play what they are used to (the Japanese gamer has grown up on Dragon Hunter, not Elder Scrolls) and what you get is not many Japanese playing wRPGs.

Sure some of the big name titles garner small success in Japan, I remember Oblivion got on the top ten list if I recall correctly.

Oh and if you ask the average Japanese citizen what do they think about Kingdoms of Amalur they would most likely respond with "what the hell is that", let them play it for an hour or two and they will respond with "what the hell is that", like I said most Japanese don't even know about wRPGs.

 

[dimensional]

No idea really but no doubt a lot of them ***** on about the traps of the WRPG i.e the unimaginative combat systems, weak stories and how its always about middle aged people saving the world while ignoring all the great things about them pretty much the same way western people ***** about the the Jrpg (sub) genre.

 

[Hiname]

As far as Im aware, we don't specifically think of western RPGs as something weird or alien. They are different and not always our taste. We want a stor to unfold about something.

Looking at skyrim, thats near to nonexistant. We "are" someone and write our own story.. and get bored to hell with it because nothing really interesting happens.

So by all means, enjoy your self-fulfillment aspects of RPGs, we stick to our storytelling.

 

[Hiname]

I heard Skyrim actually did really well over there - in fact, I have a link [http://kotaku.com/5868301/skyrim-japan-likes-you] to prove it. So... in the same way as we see them?

As far as Im aware, we don't specifically think of western RPGs as something weird or alien. They are different and not always our taste. We want a stor to unfold about something.

Looking at skyrim, thats near to nonexistant. We "are" someone and write our own story.. and get bored to hell with it because nothing really interesting happens.

So by all means, enjoy your self-fulfillment aspects of RPGs, we stick to our storytelling.

Why are you saying 'we' when your profile says you're German?

Because thats where I currently live and study but not where I was born and raised.

 

[Hiname]

Good. Have a cookie and proceed. *pats*

 

[Eddie the head]

I think the biggest question is are the people in Japan that say JRPGs suck and WRPGs are all better half as annoying as people here that say all WRPGs suck and all JRPG's are better?