I just realized what JRPGs need

[TecHNooB]

A change of clothes every once in a while. Longass journey and same outfit all the time. Comeon now! BTW, the comments on gametrailers over the new FF13 trailers are hilarious (regarding hope and vanille).

 

[viivo]

I think they need fewer whiny, emo main characters. Also fewer pre-teen girls in hooker clothes.

edit: not trolling. I like some JRPGs.

 

[fatpat268]

The main thing that sticks out to me, is that a lot of JRPG's main characters are children. I just don't relate to that anymore, and I've lost interest.

That said, I still play some of the older ones for nostalgia's sake though.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Resonance of fate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d326pL1MM-s

Has fully customizable costumes for characters

 

[Skel]

I'd say they need some testosterone, but that's just me

 

[smackababy]

What JRPGs need is a more mature, dark and riveting tale. That, and a much bigger focus on gameplay, voice acting, and itemization. Leave the stupid cut scenes out of it. (I am looking at you Square Enix)

 

[Dari]

Asian culture and Western culture don't match in this instance. If you guys have ever seen Japanese television it is full of bright colors, cartoony characters, and happy tunes. Hence, the problem is not limited to JRPGs.

 

[Xellos2099]

Western RPG is too dark for my taste as well. I can't stand how depressing the landscape Fallout 3 is and I hated the evil and selfish in people in
Dragon Age: Origin( Yes, I am talking about that dickhead Loghain). The world is depressing enough as is, I don't want to see a depressing story when I want to relax. And these 2 games are what people call the best rpg they ever play.

 

[dighn]

Western RPG is too dark for my taste as well. I can't stand how depressing the landscape Fallout 3 is and I hated the evil and selfish in people in
Dragon Age: Origin( Yes, I am talking about that dickhead Loghain). The world is depressing enough as is, I don't want to see a depressing story when I want to relax. And these 2 games are what people call the best rpg they ever play.

JRPGs can be pretty dark and depressing too e.g. xenogears, ff7

in general I'd say western RPGs are more realistic while JPRGs go for a more surreal feel. I like them both; I don't want everything to be the same.

 

[Xellos2099]

Fair enough, I play my share of semi depressing rpg like Persona 3 and Xenogear. Wrpg just feel too different. I can stand Mass Effect buyt hated Fallout 3 and Dragon Age: Origin.

 

[NoSoup4You]

Dragon Age was a little over the top on the negativity scale, I'll agree with that. But the estrogen flowing through the Final Fantasy series and other JRPG's is a real joy-kill nowadays. Someone else mentioned this earlier, I loved the older FF's (2 + 3 on the SNES, FF Tactics, FF7 + 8) but it's over for me, I'm not a teenager anymore and these pubescent main characters are highly annoying to me now. It all started with Tidus, his annoying high-pitched voice was murder on my ears.

Western RPG's all the way.

 

[gorcorps]

I personally don't care for the turn based combat system of most JRPGs. The only way I find them interesting, is if you can counter or block the attack if your timing is right. The Mario and Luigi games on the DS did this (or Bowsers Inside Story did at least) and I though it was awesome. I hate how in classic FF turned based combat it's nothing but a numbers game where you have very little control over. If more JRPGs gave me more control over the combat I may be more interested.

Who knows, maybe more of them do that these days and I just don't know because I've pretty much avoided them as much as I could.

 

[gorcorps]

I personally don't care for the turn based combat system of most JRPGs. The only way I find them interesting, is if you can counter or block the attack if your timing is right. The Mario and Luigi games on the DS did this (or Bowsers Inside Story did at least) and I though it was awesome. I hate how in classic FF turned based combat it's nothing but a numbers game where you have very little control over. If more JRPGs gave me more control over the combat I may be more interested.

Who knows, maybe more of them do that these days and I just don't know because I've pretty much avoided them as much as I could.

 

[Oyeve]

I think they need fewer whiny, emo main characters. Also fewer pre-teen girls in hooker clothes.

edit: not trolling. I like some JRPGs.

This ^ X100

 

[smackababy]

I was just talking with a co-worker about Lost Odyssey, and I realize that game was rather depressing. More JRPGs need to be like that. That has been the only game / film / book to make me question whether being immortal was worth it. The memories you unlock throughout the game are extremely well written and down right dark. The main character of that game had a pretty crappy life.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

JRPGs need to go back to what made them good during the NES/SNES days. There are many reasons why JRPGs are going the way of the dodo bird, but by far the most annoying aspect for me has to be the whiny, emo, spiky-haired main characters and the trite + predictable stories. I mean, let's just look at the US Final Fantasy games, for example:

Final Fantasy 1: Okay, no real character development or story here. Brutal gameplay too, but hey, it was the first, gotta start somewhere, so...pass.

Final Fantasy 2 (4 in Japan): THE Final Fantasy game that had an epic storyline and character development. Sure, Cecil was kind of emo and whiny at times, but not all the time, and he didn't have freaking spiky hair. The rest of the cast of characters was amazing as well, other than Edward, of course. Spoony bard!

Enough can't be said about IV, since it was THE first truly epic Final Fantasy game. Incredible game, incredible story, incredible gameplay, even now almost 20 years after its initial release.

Final Fantasy 3 (6 in Japan): Amazing story, amazing characters, amazing gameplay. No spiky-haired emo whiners to be found here! The second best Final Fantasy game, hands down, even (fairly) rated as #1 by many.

Final Fantasy 7: Hoo boy. Cloud. Spiky haired emo whiner boy alpha. A story that just absolutely falls apart by disc 2 and never recovers. A main foe who has a couple of cool FMVs on disc 1, THEN EFFECTIVELY DISAPPEARS FOR THE REST OF THE GAME, and yet is hailed as the "kewlest vilan evar ". Give me a break. I initially played FFVII on launch day when I was a teenager, and I wasn't even that impressed with it back then (still have my original black border FFVII).

FFVII: The most overrated pile of bile ever.

Final Fantasy 8: Squall - spiky-haired emo whiner boy beta. And the story...WTF. Interesting gameplay concepts though. Fairly meh all around game, however.

Final Fantasy 9: Zidane...wow. Spiky-haired emo whiner boy with a FREAKING CAT TAIL. Who was even the main villan anyway? Kuja? I can't even remember any more because the story was so bad. Gameplay was pretty meh. Pretty forgettable game all-around.

Final Fantasy 10: Tidus. Wow. Not a good way to debut voice acting in Final Fantasy, Square. Another whiny, spiky-haired emo boy. Story was fairly interesting anyway, and Auron, Lulu and Jecht are great characters, so FFX isn't as bad as 7-9, but still pales in comparison to 4 + 6.

Final Fantasy X-2: LOL! Nothing more needs to be said about this one.

Final Fantasy 11: MMORPG - pass. LOL @ a MAIN FINAL FANTASY GAME being an MMO. Same as 14 is going to be. Absolutely ridiculous.

Final Fantasy 12: I can't even remember the characters and story from this game because it is so bad. Who is the main character? What is the story? What is the point? Why play a subpar offline RPG when there are a plethora of real online MMOs out there? The only Final Fantasy game (outside of 2 and 3 which took forever to be released over here) that I have never completed. Absolutely dreadful game, and it clearly shows that Square-Enix has jumped the shark and that Final Fantasy is just a cash cow kept alive for the milking now. What a pathetic excuse for a game.

Final Fantasy 13 and 14 don't look any better, just worse. Sorry, but Square-Enix jumped the shark long ago.

So basically, excuses that "Western culture is just different from Japan" aside, if JRPG makers would just go back to their roots and do what they do well, JRPGs would still be fine today. However, with Final Fantasy VII and ever since then, they've been trying "new and innovative" things which have turned out to be absolutely horrible, and now the genre is in the pathetic state that it's in today.

Look at Western RPGs, for example. They really aren't different today then they were ten or twenty years ago. Dragon Age: Origins is really nothing more than a prettier and more refined Baldur's Gate. Oblivion is little more than an improved Arena. The games are still good, and it's because the Western developers know what they do well and refine their craft. JRPG developers just keep throwing junk against a wall randomly and hoping something will stick.

Oh, and whiny, spiky-haired emo characters are horribly annoying. Ridiculous plot twists that you can predict from a mile away aren't cool either.

 

[erwos]

JRPGs != Final Fantasy

I'd argue that Shin Megami Tensei is a far more respectable series at this point, and does evince some of that gradual refinement that you characterize WRPGs as having.

 

[zerogear]

I loved Persona 3 :awe:

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

JRPGs != Final Fantasy

I'd argue that Shin Megami Tensei is a far more respectable series at this point, and does evince some of that gradual refinement that you characterize WRPGs as having.

In America, JRPG very much equals Final Fantasy.

How many people have played Final Fantasy? How many people have played "Shin Megami Tensei"?

I rest my case.

 

[Beev]

Yeah sorry, Ryan. Your big post a couple replies back is nothing but evidence that you're blinded by nostalgia. Don't get me wrong, 12 was pretty bland, and 9 was INSANELY forgettable, but every time I see someone talk about how godly 4 and 6 were always ends up sounding like you.

Oh, and 5 was better than 4 or 6

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

Oh, and 5 was better than 4 or 6

Just...wow.

You need not say any more.

"Blinded by nostalgia"...right. It's cool bro, enjoy your 30 hours of cutscenes and 10 hours of gameplay with SHIVA AND ODIN MOTORCYCLES WOOHOO :awe:

 

[Beev]

Just...wow.

You need not say any more.

"Blinded by nostalgia"...right. It's cool bro, enjoy your 30 hours of cutscenes and 10 hours of gameplay with SHIVA AND ODIN MOTORCYCLES WOOHOO :awe:

I will. You can go back and enjoy your convoluted story that bounces around between characters and is hard as hell to follow.

inb4 "lolz i had no porblem folowin it"

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

I will. You can go back and enjoy your convoluted story that bounces around between characters and is hard as hell to follow.

inb4 "lolz i had no porblem folowin it"

Are you talking about 7-12 (excluding 11)?

If you're talking about 4 or 6, are you 12? "Hard to follow"? Wow.

I guess when every story since 7 is pretty much exactly the same, with a spiky-haired, emo protagonist, and a vaguely sinister/evil antagonist that barely does anything, that might be easier to follow.

You probably think Sephiroth is "teh kewlest" amirite?

I mean, you already invalidated your opinion on the matter when you said 5 was better than 4 or 6. 5 is widely, unanimously (except for you, apparently) regarded as the weakest of the SNES series. I can at least respect someone who claims 7 is the greatest (though vehemently disagree with them), but just wow.

You probably didn't even play 4, 5, 6 or Chrono Trigger until they were re-released for the PSOne years later and after FFVII.

 

[Beev]

4 was fine. 6 was not. It bounced around far too much. No, I do not regard Sephiroth as the best. He had an aesthetic "cool" factor and that was about it (mommy issues are not cool). But who are you to preach about that when you had KEFKA. A god damn clown who wasn't even that evil. He was just insane and was in a position of power. Woo. Why tf wasn't he just overthrown?

And I loved the job system in 5. It outweighed every other negative for me.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

4 was fine. 6 was not. It bounced around far too much. No, I do not regard Sephiroth as the best. He had an aesthetic "cool" factor and that was about it (mommy issues are not cool). But who are you to preach about that when you had KEFKA. A god damn clown who wasn't even that evil. He was just insane and was in a position of power. Woo. Why tf wasn't he just overthrown?

And I loved the job system in 5. It outweighed every other negative for me.

Kefka is widely regarded as one of the best RPG villains ever, along with Sephiroth.

/spoilers (sorry I don't know how to do the blacked-out spoiler text)

Kefka went insane, played everyone for a fool, betrayed his emperor, BLEW UP THE WORLD, and ruled the ruins as a mad god. Now that is a villain.

/end spoilers

The job system in 5 was good (though very grindy...what a waste of time casting Lv5 Death over and over again on the flying worms in the castle basement because they gave more AP than every enemy in the game except for Movers), but talk about lame stories and characters. Exdeath? Really?

You probably think the lead character in 5 is really named Bartz too. /chuckle