Anyone who stumbles across this blog will quickly realize that I am quite fond of console-style role-playing games, or to use their current term, Japanese role-playing games. These ‘JRPG’s have provided some of the greatest moments in gaming for me, filling my world with imaginative characters and a unique kind of gameplay that I grew to love.
‘JRPG’s were once extremely popular in the gaming community. While never expressly un-popular, the genre exploded into the mainstream with the release of Final Fantasy VII. The Playstation era of RPGs featured many classic games, but thanks to Final Fantasy VII, these games were explosively popular. Games like Final Fantasy VIII and IX, Xenogears, Vagrant Story, Legend of Dragoon, and others provided the cultural definition of video game RPGs. This popularity continued and expanded with the PS2 era, when Final Fantasy X introduced many more into the RPG fold.
Today, however, these wonderful RPGs, once the pinnacle of gaming excellence, are fading- or so we’re told. The rise of the ‘western role-playing game’ has crushed the Japanese variety, with their more involving plotlines and focus on personal freedom- or so we’re told. JRPGs, we are told, are a dying art.
This is wrong. To be even more frank, this is bullshit.
I am going to initially contradict this statement. You see, it is not wrong to say that JRPGs are no longer as popular as they once were. This is a fact, but it isn’t the ‘doom of the genre’ I’ve seen many people loudly proclaim. Fads come and go, and popular genres of game often ebb and flow. When was the last time you saw a big-budget World War 2 shooter? Now, the most popular shooters are in a modern setting. That’s not to say that no WW2 shooters exist- games like Red Orchestra are testament to that. In a similar fashion, the fact that JRPGs are less popular than they were five or ten years ago is no sign that the entire genre is dead.
Furthermore, while it is true that we don’t see as many JRPGs as we did in the Playstation or Playstation 2 era, the ones we’ve gotten aren’t nearly as awful as many would have you believe. Reading numerous sensationalist articles and blog posts, one could gain the false impression that every JRPG that has managed to crawl its way to US shores has been terrible. This is simply not true, and an even bigger lie is that these games don’t have an audience any longer. Final Fantasy XIII (a game which has received more than it’s fair share of unfair beatings) sold five million copies at launch, and more than a million more in the intervening year. It’s safe to say, of course, that MOST JRPGs won’t sell as much as blockbusters such as Skyrim, but nobody expected games like Disgaea 4 or Atelier Rorona to sell that many copies in the first place, did they?
It has come to my attention that the ‘rise of WRPGs’ that the gaming media harps on about is hardly different from the situation with JRPGs fifteen years ago. When Final Fantasy VII came out, there were certainly WRPGs available (although, they went under the more accurate term of computer-style RPG back then). In fact, Ultima and Wizardry serve as the forebears of the entire RPG genre in video games, and ALL video game RPGs trace their roots to Gary Gygax and Dungeons & Dragons. However, the explosive popularity of Final Fantasy VII brought explosive popularity and acceptance to the genre, much in the way Oblivion did for WRPGs in 2006.
“But, but, but” I hear many of you stammering in righteous indignation, “There were great WRPGs released before Oblivion! Games like Planescape: Torment, Knights of the Old Republic, Morrowind, games that got great reviews!” Yes, and before FF7 there were wonderful games such as Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, and Final Fantasy III (VI). That’s not the point. Oblivion served the same role to WRPGs that Final Fantasy VII did for JRPGs- bring it into the cultural limelight, make it a genre that everyone, even the brainless tools that play nothing but Call of Duty or Madden, froth with anticipation over, a game which sells millions upon millions of copies. Imagine if Oblivion hadn’t been the must-own 360 game at the time of it’s release- would Skyrim have done nearly as well? I doubt it. A small part of this, too, goes to the timing of these games release- both Final Fantasy VII and Skyrim appeared at the dawn of their respective consoles, showcasing their technical specs in such a way that everyone was paying attention to them.
“But, but,” many of you are still stammering, “Oblivion was followed up by million-sellers like Mass Effect, and Dragon Age! There’ve been more great well-received WRPGs in recent years!” Well, let us examine that claim for a moment. Counting the number of truly well-received WRPGs, the games that I can think of are Oblivion, Skyrim, Dragon Age 1 and 2, Mass Effect 1 and 2, and Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Eight games, two companies. Hmm… how many great JRPGs came out this generation? Let’s take a look…
Huh. That's a lot of games. I can guarantee you've heard of some of these games. And not one of them was a terrible game in the loosest sense of the word. Weird, eh? Not really.
Not to mention, there are several more on the horizon. Excellent looking games such as Ni no Kuni, Final Fantasy Versus XIII, Final Fantasy XIII-2, and Tales of Graces. Also, it is impossible to overlook the thriving state of JRPGs on handhelds. The DS and PSP have served as a haven to role-playing fans over the years, with too many worthwhile titles to count. Simply put, if you say JRPGs are dead, you aren’t looking in the right places.
A final point I would like to address is the perceived ‘superiority’ of WRPGs by many of their conceited fans. Now, as I’ve said before, JRPGs have indeed fallen out of mainstream popularity, as many things do. If JRPGs aren’t your thing, that’s totally fine. Everyone has preferences. However, it has come to my attention that many gamers, and even worse, game journalists, have taken the slight decrease in JRPG popularity to essentially start attacking the genre. There have been claims that WRPGs offer ‘true role playing’ (a bullshit claim if there ever was one). Bioware has been particularly nasty in their criticisms, displaying shocking amounts of ignorance and arrogance when discussing these games. People brag about the (false) freedom WRPGs offer, the meaningful (actually, meaningless) choices made in their games, and hold up their style of gameplay as superior (even though they are roughly the same thing). Again, it is no crime to not like a style of game. However, when you ignorantly spread misinformation concerning a genre, it becomes a problem. Even worse, certain elements of these games have been even more vigorously attacked by dissenters- their art style and their method of narrative delivery, a practice I can only refer to as ‘Japanophobia’.
This lack of understanding and surprisingly vehement dislike of Japanese culture isn’t at all uncommon among the youth of today. Having observed the behavior of my less-educated classmates, I see it all the time, an almost self-conscious declaration that Japanese style is ‘gay’, and a refusal to appreciate this genre or its fans, instead attacking them. And I’m sorry, when somebody discriminates against a game or a company for no other reason than from the fact that it is Japanese, and makes blanket statements concerning their culture, it approaches levels of racism. Yes, the level of uncouth and disgusting attitude towards Japanese gaming culture by some American gamers has reached racist levels, and I am sick to death of it. It’s even prevalent in game journalism, especially in review scoring (my article on White Knight Chronicles 2 explored more of these biases).
It is my belief- actually, belief is the wrong word. I know that, one day, JRPGs will have their turn in the spotlight again. One day, there will be a void, and some great and revolutionary title will come along and everyone and their mother will love it. But, to claim that the genre is dead simply because it no longer consistently sells ten million copies, or to make racist statements concerning its Japanese origin, is simply ignorant. JRPGs are alive and well, and I eagerly await their future.
I will admit, I have been hard on the recent trend in wRPGs mostly because I firmly believe that only two people should be able to get paid for talking smack, (good) rappers and pro wrestlers, but I digress.
ReplyDeleteThe vast majority of my problems with the recent trends in wRPGs can be summed up in two words: SYSTEM F***ING MATTERS. which in itself is a reference to an essay written by indie RPG legend Ron Edwards. While he initially intended it to be a counterpoint to the idea that you could just heavily mod a universal-type game for whatever style of campaign you needed, in this context Its that a game system works better when its built around the world it takes place in.
Interestingly enough, over the past few years i've noticed a growing trend in tabletop RPGs surfacing that take cues from manga, JRPGs, and Eastern Cinema including Eoris, Anima, Weapons of the Gods, Far West, Cthulutech, bounty Head Bebop, Exalted, and Wu Xing. I find this kind of ironic considering that "the west" is stuck in the same form of generic fantasy (mass effect being the primary exception).
xD I just realized that I forgot to mention Demon's Souls and Dark Souls when I was listing great JRPGs that came out recently. These games have both been rather well-selling. A good example for the purposes of this article.
ReplyDeleteI can't help but get the feeling that the Souls games are selling well due to having a more.....familiar type of setting. Along with being action RPGs
ReplyDelete@Mildra That's a possibility, although I feel as through the high difficulty provides a bit of a turn off to a lot of people. I think a combination of the setting and the satisfaction of overcoming adversity in those games (particularly with Dark Souls) contributes to their popularity. As angry as I got with Dark Souls during my brief time with it, I kept playing, because the satisfaction of defeating a difficult enemy or finding a rare treasure was exhilarating.
ReplyDeleteAnd now let the flood of haters come in.
ReplyDelete@Jackie Unfortunatly, I feel like I came across as overly angry in this article. Still, I'll stand by my posts. People will disagree, that's fine. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat many seem to forget is that there are a lot of games that people don't consider to be JRPGs just because they don't follow the normal formula. Zelda is a JRPG, the Mario RPG series are JRPGs and Yakuza is also a JRPG if you think about it.
ReplyDeleteNo genre is going to die in this day and age because we often overlook what the games that we love actually are, just like we do with certain types of music.
As dumb as it may sound, I blame Oblivion's success on Halo's success. Its quite weird, but I think it makes sense simply because the people brought into the gaming scene by such popular FPS saw Oblivion gameplay and thought "Cool, its a first person shooter but with swords" and everyone likes swords, right?
Yes, I am sorry, that is very shallow, but I do believe its true (just look at how Skyrim is marketed, nobody mentions the Elder Scrolls name and the only thing you see is a 'badass' warrior 'fucking up' a dragon. Remember Oblivion showcasing its beautiful environment? No more of that! The only ones trying to get our attention with art are Nintendo, but thats because they have a devoted fanbase).
Yep, pretty sad, but that's how it goes. Fallout 3 wouldn't have nearly been as successful wouldn't it feature guns, gore and a first-person perspective (understandable, I was drawn in by these features too).
As long as the mainstream doesn't even know what they are playing and as long as games are being marketed for their features and not their genre, everything will be fine ('fine' meaning that every gamer will consist only of stuff that will sell)
I think we will all hop on the Handheld market at some point (and I mean the 3DS specifically) because it will be the only way to get ourselves more traditional games.
I heard of many people already laughing at you for calling FF13 a good JRPG, but I prefer the term "Nihonophobia" myself to describe these people. I'm getting increasingly sick of people who want to force the balls of what they call a literal definition of "role playing" down everyone's throat. I'll tell you what. I'll take this even further. You play a role in EVERY SINGLE GAME you play, to as complex as a strategy game to that of a Mario game where you simply run to the right and grab onto the tops of flagpoles. The role is in the controller you hold.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with this entire post. Why? Because the initial argument was off. The point isnt "THERE ARE NO MORE JRPGs", but rather "THE ONES THAT DO RELEASE SUCK." And this is true, granted there are few exceptions. My personal favorites are the persona games from Atlus; however, most of the ones you posted are terrible! Look at their reviews! I know you will say that I should play them myself, BUT I HAVE! I used to work for gamestop. I have played every JRPG that has been released on all the next-gen consoles to date. And like I said, some are excellent, (Eternal sonata was damn good) but the vast majority stink it up.
ReplyDeleteWhite Knight, was the most cliche RPG ever. The main character was dumb as bricks and so were the people following him around. The graphics were pretty good but thats to be expected on a PS3 exclusive.
Valkyria, was and is excellent. I still have it in my collection.
Tales of Vesp. Is solid. Not excellent. But solid. Its predecessor, tales of the abyss, started out good but ended up sucking because of the ridiculous personality swap of the main character.
Star ocean. Sucked. They focused too much on adding "scale" that they failed on the long time spent doing that. Each new planet seemed interesting but the quests usually ended up doing the same things, grinding through levels was so painstakingly uninteresting that I fell asleep mid-play, and the voice acting made my dog howl out of frustration, demanding me to turn it off.
Lost od got way too much hype for what it promised and in the end it decided to trample all over the point of playing an RPG. Main character cannot die? Lulwut?
White Knight 2? What? We are counting sequels?
Eternal Sonata, was another damn good one. Loved every second, though it was a tad bit short and easy.
Blue dragon was decent. Nothing spectacular there.
Disgaea, I dont think these games count as real JRPGs, but if we do add it to the bunch, its another grindfest. You spend so long doing the same mission over and over in hopes of leveling that you lose your "story" which is what JRPGs are all about. This is supported by the fact that people who talk about this game do not talk about thier achievements, but rather how long they grinded and what was the maximum damage they did. I NEVER hear anyone talking how great the story was, the character developments, or anything to do with "role" at all.
Any sane RPG player realizes that FFXIII was a failure. It lost everything that was idolized in the Final Fantasy Genre excluding its graphics. Its still one of, if not the, best looking games to date. But thats to distract you from the steaming "linear" path of poo that youre smelling.
Resonance of Fate, had potential. It definately intriguing but it was much too disorganized to be as effective as it could have been. One of the most important parts of game development is being able to teach the user to understand the depth of the game. This is usually done with tutorials or by introducing effects one at a time; however, ROF did nothing. And users spent more time tryign to figure out how combat worked in the first place instead of enjoying the experience.
TLDR: Your post is arguing that JRPGs still exist. Youre right, they do. But that was not the original reason why people say "JRPGs are dead". They do exist, just most of them suck.
Please excuse the typos. Typed my rant too fast to care.
ReplyDeleteFinal Fantasy games were always linear, even 10. The linearity stands out in 13 because the story was the sole focus of the first portion and didn't have a whole lot you could do on the side. Then again you couldn't do much when everybody in the world you're in hates you. It still gives the game a bad first impression though. It's not really possible to come up with a quality story when the game takes place in a sandbox type world and the character you play as is an interpretation of yourself with no established characteristics except what you choose for him.
ReplyDelete@Bunny I'm sorry you feel that way. As far as I'm concerned, not one of those games was poorly designed or unentertaining. And yes, FF13 is linear, but the game was still great. X was linear as well.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Final Fantasy XIII is one of the most misunderstood games of this generation. The idea that it was a 'failure' when it plays so similarly to it's predecessors, looks and sounds fantastic, innovates in a genre that needs innovation, and sold six million copies, is absolutely ludicrous. It's fine if you don't like it, but that hardly serves as the last word on the game.
ReplyDeleteAs to the popularity issue, I would have to agree.
ReplyDeleteBut what would you say about the following statement on JRPGs:
"In general, JRPGs have been in a steady decline in the quality of writing (both story and characters) since the beginning of the 21st century."
I'm sure it's relatively easy to find several exceptions...but if one were to engage in a comparative analysis of pre 2000 and post 2000 titles what would one find (as to the quality of writing)?
A simplified representation of the question would be:
How do contemporary titles measure up to the likes of Chrono Trigger, FF VI, VII, IX, FF Tactics, Vagrant Story, Xenogears, Grandia, Suikoden II, Lunar: Silver Star Story and others? Excluding, of course, the issues of graphics and voice-acting (the sound of it, not what is said).
Basically, has a contemporary game matched or even surpassed the quality of writing in those games? Can one genuinely say that there is a noticeable progressive development in the level of writing?
I haven't done the research, but my gut feeling (prolly nostalgia) says no. I feel there is a lot of recycling going on (of tropes, themes, archetypes...however you want to call it) and that there is still plenty of unexplored territory (especially psychologically and morally speaking).
I feel that JRPGs must break free from the general "Ragtag bunch of misfits on an epic quest to save the world from evil" mould in order to prgress. Some have and that is good, but there should be more...a hell of a lot more.
@Manji187 I would be inclined to disagree with that statement, quite possibly for lack of nostalgia. I grew up right after Final Fantasy X came out, and got into JRPGs in the PS2 era. However, I can agree that we see a LOT of generic JRPGs in the current age that seem to simply copy the classics of yeteryear- but, there are quite a few exceptions. I consider Final Fantasy XII to be an excellent example- a lot of people don't like it, but in general, I really enjoyed the focus on political intrigue, and both the dialogue and voice acting were, for the most part, top-notch. Final Fantasy XIII tried to put an interesting spin on its story, with the protagonists being ostracised from their community and attempting to save it despite being persecuted by it- the characters weren't perfect, but the overall theme of the story was quite fascinating. Games like the recent SMT titles on PS2 (particularly Persona 3 and 4 and the Digital Devil Saga games) have provided a deep and more mature storyline, and the unique combination of dungeon-crawling and dating simulation in Persona is unique, to say the least. I thought Lost Odyssey was really interesting whenever it focused on the plight of the immortals (not so much on the evil wizard part). Of course, Xenoblade Chronicles is rumored to be one of the best JRPGs in years, provided we ever get to play it.
ReplyDeleteWere older JRPGs better? Well, the titles you listed include some of my all-time favorite games. But, I don't think I can write off the newer titles quite yet. I agree that it would be great to see more original themes and stories, and I think we're getting there.
Oh, for the record, I see some people on The Escapist complaining that I didn't mention The World Ends With You. I mention in the article that there are too many great handheld RPGs to count, and TWEWY is one of them. I adore that game.
ReplyDelete@ Peter T Yeah, in hindsight I feel it's a shame that I completely missed the SMT titles when I had a PS2.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious a few things. I assume you have played some pre 2000 JRPGs; definitely the PSX era FFs right?. You have also played X, XII and XIII.
According to you, how do the post 2000 FFs measure up to the pre 2000 ones? Also, how does FF XIII (haven't played it myself) measure up to all the preceding FF installments. In terms of writing (story and characters), I mean.
For instance, people on the Escapist like to jeer at Vanille and Hope in particular. Why do you think that is?
@Manji187 Yes, I have all three PS1 era FF games, as well as Xenogears, Vagrant Story, and Chrono Cross. And in all honesty, I haven't seen any decrease in quality over the years. The only real difference I see is that, in the post-2000 games, we see a lot more variation in gameplay. FFs 4-9 basically stick to the same Active-Time Battle System and other similar gameplay devices. Starting with Final Fantasy X, we see a lot more unique variations on staple Final Fantasy elements, with unique level up systems such as the Sphere Grid. X did have really bad voice acting, which I suppose hurt the story a bit, but honestly the writing quality was on par with some of the previous titles. XII, in particular, implements a lot of elements from Western RPGs (free-roaming battles, lots of exploration and side objectives, etc),and also had better writing and voice acting, which I feel would help bring the genre forward.In general, though, I think that the FF series generally stayed great.
ReplyDeleteAs for XIII (strictly story-wise), it's far from perfect, but it's still got some good elements. Vanille is annoying, but no more annoying than minor characters such as Selphie or Yuffie were in previous games- her annoyance is exxagerated somewhat because she of her voice acting. Hope, I really don't understand the hate towards him. He's a depressed kid whose mother just got killed in a war, and he deals with his anger over her death by projecting it onto another character, who he blames for letting her die. He has an interesting character arc and eventually comes to terms with his mother's death. XIII's story also has several interesting themes, concerning utopias and society. The writing, unfortunatly, is a step down from XII's, and is more on the level of X (it has the same writer/director, which could explain that). Overall, though, I thought XIII's story was quite interesting. It gets a little bogged down at times (a lot of the lore bits are only mentioned in the datalog), but it's no less complicated than, say, VII. :)
I hope that answers your questions.
Also, to provide context for Final Fantasy-related questions, I own all but two of the games (the first two, oddly) and the MMOS, and have played all of them except for XIV.
ReplyDeleteYou know, now that Xenoblade Chronicles has been announced for the US (and hopefully The Last Story will follow), that's one of the best RPGs in years. Perhaps that will be the game we've been waiting for.
ReplyDeleteMaybe. Nicely done topic. -Dizzy Storms
ReplyDelete