Why do people hate JRPGs?

[Okysho]

I honestly have got to know. I get that they have their flaws and their own bad titles, but what game genre doesn't?

Usually,they've got good plots, good character development, good music and clever gameplay which is basically what makes a game enjoyable.

So why is it that people don't like them?

I mean this is the most sincere way. I'm not that big of a fan of FPSs and it wasn't until I saw Halo legends that I started to enjoy the series (even then, not to a huge fanboy-ish extent) and Western RPGS with the exception of Mass Effect haven't really hit that sweet spot with me.

Please tell me fellow escapists Why do the bad men hate us so much?

 

[Ironic Pirate]

You don't like FPS. Apply the reasons you don't like them to JRPGs.

Normal reasons including: character archetypes, plot conventions, gameplay tropes, etc. You don't like shooting things, I don't like turn-based combat. It's really rather simple.

 

[Razorin Faust]

Well, I will only speak for me there.

I really dislike JRPG for many reason, the main being that most of the time it's the teenages character with drama, plot that is pretty much the same from game to game.
Long griding is a big turn off for me, along with long boring cutscene.
But, im not a RPG guy, even if I enjoyed the Witcher and Mass Effect .

 

[rokkolpo]

the sounds they make (gasp), the spiky hair, the main characters are always kids.

those kinds of things.
(i love it though)

 

[TraderJimmy]

I honestly have got to know. I get that they have their flaws and their own bad titles, but what game genre doesn't?

Usually,they've got good plots, good character development, good music and clever gameplay which is basically what makes a game enjoyable.

So why is it that people don't like them?

I mean this is the most sincere way. I'm not that big of a fan of FPSs and it wasn't until I saw Halo legends that I started to enjoy the series (even then, not to a huge fanboy-ish extent) and Western RPGS with the exception of Mass Effect haven't really hit that sweet spot with me.

Please tell me fellow escapists Why do the bad men hate us so much?

For the players' repeated failures to use search bar, mostly.

I like JRPGs. I don't like 'fandoms' of any kind, or identifying as a 'fan' of something. It's cliquish, weird, and unnatural. And this question occurs like, every other day on the Escapist. It annoys me.

 

[Defense]

Almost always I heard the complaints were linearity and dated gameplay. I myself have never had a problem with linear gameplay, I play a game so I can get a roller coaster ride, even if it does involve going from point A to point B most of the time. I don't care how much side quests you can have, if you can't make the game interesting, all of that effort will have gone to waste.

As for the gameplay, it's usually turn based gameplay, which I never had a problem with either, but I can understand how some people find it boring.

 

[Vetinarii]

The stupidity... Swords and Magic... HEY GUYS LET'S FIGHT A MOTORBIKE!!!
Wow sure FF that makes sense. Most are fine but the art style doesn't appeal to me and I downright hate all Final Fantasy...

 

[TriggerHappyAngel]

the least armored guys are always the strongest D:

 

[BreakfastMan]

I think it has something to do with the inherent foreign-ness of the genre. Most people in the west like games designed and suited to western tastes, while people in the east like games designed and suited to eastern tastes. Most people just like to stay in their comfort zones.

 

[Geekmaster]

They don't. The haters are just very vocal.

 

[camazotz]

I am not fond of most JRPGs mostly because I think they do not have good plots, clever gameplay, good character development, or good music....but I also understand it's a taste thing, and so I am not seeking to bash them, just saying that its a genre on which YMMV. For example, I love Fallout 3 and am perplexed when someone criticizes the game for being built on a color palette of "various shades of brown and dirty." It's a post-apoc rpg, whaddya expect, the technicolor dreamcoat apocalypse?

Anyway, I did love FFVII but almost none since....and I've tried a lot of them. Far too many, actually. If more JRPGs had less gimmicky gameplay, more mature and/or normal looking characters, plots that made a lick of sense, and musical scores that did not show their origins in Japanese pop music, I would be more interested in them.

 

[Harlemura]

They're dull, samey, involve a lot of grinding and can drag on for quite a while.
But I love 'em all the same. Well, some of them.

 

[crazyguy668]

because they suck ass!!!

seriously though, its the same turn based style, the same badly drawn teenager with purple hair, and the same giant grind every time. why would i play that when i can play an awesome western RPG?

hell,id rather play mw2 for 10 hours than any jrpg for 4 hours

 

[Zykon TheLich]

The art style is a massive turn off, as are the types of characters, voice acting, the script, the 'drama', often the fantasy world mix of magic technology and swords,...you just can't get away from the fact that that they are all very animesque (sp?). I'm also not a massive fan of turn based combat.

 

[Defense]

The stupidity... Swords and Magic... HEY GUYS LET'S FIGHT A MOTORBIKE!!!
Wow sure FF that makes sense. Most are fine but the art style doesn't appeal to me and I downright hate all Final Fantasy...

I never understood that logic, video games were never meant to be realistic. Agreed with the art style for the most part though.

I think it has something to do with the inherent foreign-ness of the genre. Most people in the west like games designed and suited to western tastes, while people in the east like games designed and suited to eastern tastes. Most people just like to stay in their comfort zones.

I think it's just that the West just gained different tastes. Back in the SNES days JRPGs were very popular,usually for their long length since multiplayer and a more vast world couldn't be achievable with the limitations, but since Bioware and Obsidian hit consoles with their sheer size and gameplay time, JRPGs died out.

You don't like FPS. Apply the reasons you don't like them to JRPGs.

Normal reasons including: character archetypes, plot conventions, gameplay tropes, etc. You don't like shooting things, I don't like turn-based combat. It's really rather simple.

This, mostly. I find the characters to generally be split between whiny/angsty/brooding teenagers and utter douchebag adults (with pairs of breasts thrown in to give the illusion of gender equality in the heroes). The stories, gameplay, and just about everything standard to a JRPG just feels mediocre at best to me.

Also, a gaming magazine recently summarized just about every JRPG plot trope in a flowchart. Something is wrong with your genre when that happens.

GameInformer makes awful charts, I don't know how they hire such idiots.
http://gza.gameriot.com/content/images/orig_320200_1_1257581825.png
Of course games have cliches, I don't think any recent game is completely original.

 

[thenamelessloser]

My major problem with JRPGs is how they are built to waste time such as having the same slow combat animations over and over again, and stuff such as random battles. The problem isn't the fact the games are turn based, the problem is that they are often poorly designed to suck time away. Note I have played quite a bit of JRPGS.

I'm a fan of anime so I often enjoy the stories, worlds, and graphics in a JRPG but the gameplay in a lot of them could be improved drastically.

One of the best designed JRPG's was probably Chrono Trigger. In it, you fought the enemies on the same screen, a certain amount of choice involved in the story, fast paced battles, etc. Sad to say, the only thing future JRPG's used from that title is New game plus but in a much worse fashion in future titles. The First two suikodens were also done well with fast paced battles, well done stories, quick load times, and a leveling up system that was anti grinding.

 

[Admiral Stukov]

I don't hate them, but I do have a negative preconception about them.
Then again I'm a cynic, so that is my default opinion until proven otherwise.

 

[freedomweasel]

The art style is a massive turn off, as are the types of characters, voice acting, the script, the 'drama', often the fantasy world mix of magic technology and swords,...you just can't get away from the fact that that they are all very animesque (sp?).

All of that. I generally don't like the art style, general feel, the giant swords, the voice acting, not a fan of anime at all. The often seem to have the turn based battles which I don't like.

Basically, all the attributes that make it a JRPG. I don't like any of the music I've heard from the, and the gameplay looks dull. Look at all the reasons you don't like Western RPGs, and imagine those being why I don't like JRPGs.

 

[Mr.Petey]

because they suck ass!!!

seriously though, its the same turn based style, the same badly drawn teenager with purple hair, and the same giant grind every time. why would i play that when i can play an awesome western RPG?

hell,id rather play mw2 for 10 hours than any jrpg for 4 hours

As of late JRPGs have taken a vast amount of alternatives from turn-based combat. Plus I seem to recall a few western RPGS still have the same amount of grind element too. It's something that can't really be taken out of a role playing game, no matter how much we despise it

OT however I agree with the subject and would like to see some concrete reasoning behind so many people hating it. I still get laughs and jokes made when I 'fess up to playing some of the lesser known ones "Aw another stoopid anime game!" and such. Not in a while since I've shut 'em up in regards how a good JRPG can be much deeper than a lot of mainstream titles, regardless of where they originate from