Thirith on 20/1/2015 at 09:05
Quote Posted by Abysmal
... another genre that's just as easy to pick apart for being clichéd, soulless, and devoid of much meaningful content...
I'm not entirely sure how an entire genre can be criticised for this, when the content differs from example of the genre to the next. That's a bit like saying "The novel can be criticised for being badly plotted, full of shallow characterisation and inherently conservative in terms of its form", as far as I'm concerned.
Anyway, it's not about saying that one genre is inherently better than another. It's more that I find it interesting that certain genres seem to be much more culturally specific than others.
Edit: On the topic of western JRPGs, there aren't many but there are some, like the
Costume Quest games or
Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. Isn't
Stick of Truth also at least JRPG-inspired? Then there's a bunch of retro/indie games from the last couple of years that would fit the bill.
Starker on 20/1/2015 at 10:07
Quote Posted by Abysmal
BTW, aside from Anachronox, what other examples of Western made jRPGs are there? subsidiaries don't count (Secret of Evermore etc)
Septerra Core is one of the most obvious ones that comes to mind. Also, Silver... kind of... at least from an aesthetic standpoint.
Quote Posted by Thirith
On the topic of western JRPGs, there aren't many but there are some, like the
Costume Quest games
Costume Quest in particular has some pretty obvious Mother influences.
Starker on 20/1/2015 at 10:22
Quote Posted by Abysmal
I always remember a jRPG's characters and story quite vividly, but Western RPGs? not so much, mostly just the graphics and gameplay. Gameplay does count for a lot though, and who doesn't like exploration, so that's why I still enjoy them.
That's just your personal experience, though. For me, games like Ultima 7, Betrayal at Krondor, Planescape Torment and VTMB have had some of the most memorable video game stories and characters out there.
Tony_Tarantula on 21/1/2015 at 21:51
Quote Posted by faetal
I'd say that FF games have been defined by their combat system (and emo protagonists).
the "emo protagonist" bullshit started largely post FF7. If you haven't played the game take a look at it. Cloud's hardly the whimpering pussy that Square thinks he was, and that they seem to think their customers want for some reason.
EvaUnit02 on 23/1/2015 at 07:18
For game that's been in development for like a decade and spanning an entire console generation, it has a lot to live up to.
A lot is riding on this actually. If this game flops then you might not see very many AAA blockbuster home console games from Japan any more. The Japanese domestic market has largely shifted to handheld consoles and mobile. A. That's what suits their general domestic audience's life styles more. B. Smaller scale games are cheaper and easier to make. They become profitable much faster too. Brave Default is a good example of a game made specifically for those market conditions.
Their domestic market is large enough to support itself. In recent years there's been fewer attempts to chase the Western markets by some developer/publishers, probably because a lot of such "made for Western sensibilities" games of the last console generation bombed financially.
Sycamoyr on 23/1/2015 at 23:19
Quote Posted by EvaUnit02
The Japanese domestic market has largely shifted to handheld consoles and mobile.
Speaking of mobile games and western games, has anyone here played Six Guns? I'm not sure if it's a jRPG, but it looks like a pretty decent mobile western RPG.... if somewhat of a Red Dead Redemption knock-off.
EvaUnit02 on 24/1/2015 at 05:12
^
I haven't played it, but Gameloft make really competent, high budget, polished games for mobile. They're pretty much the Ubisoft of mobile (I'm not even kidding, they share a lot of the same founders/executive management).
Severian_Silk on 3/4/2015 at 12:45
Well, there was an all-female cast once, so now it's kinda reversed, I guess. Some years ago I was talking about Yakuza 4 with one of my Japanese friends, and she told me that the reason why the main characters are all male (and handsome) is that a lot of games over there are marketed towards grown-up women. Maybe that's the reason. Or maybe they really just want to tell a bro-story :p .
As for jRPGs inspired by western RPGs... well, there are some. Actually, Final Fantasy 12 really feels like Baldur's Gate/Icewind Dale in 3D to me. Vagrant Story, King's Field (and Dark Souls), or Dragon's Dogma were obviously inspired by western RPGs and medieval Europe. I always thought that the Suikoden games are something in-between, too.
Then again... What's a jRPG anyway :p ? Is it a genre or is it just an RPG made in Japan? I remember that another Japanese friend explained to me, that over there they call games like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest "light RPGs".
Who knows :p ?
Yakoob on 3/4/2015 at 16:21
I could see it potentially agering the feminist or equal rights crowd particularly with the accessibility comment, but reading further it actually makes sense. If you want to tell a story of close male bonding and intimacy, throwing in a girl right in the middle kinda puts a wrench in that. Especislly if its war themed were armies have historically been male dominated (and no one bats an eye at the all male cast of SPR or recent Fury)
