Choice VS Narrative: Why Didn’t I Ever Get Into WRPGs?

One question I’ve asked myself a lot, and that some of my fellow gamers have been simply incredulous about, is why I don’t enjoy playing the Western Role Playing Games that have become increasingly popular over the years. And, honestly, I really didn’t have an answer for a while. It’s true that I do enjoy the gameplay style of the Japanese variety, but that’s largely because I grew up playing games like Pokemon and Final Fantasy, and that’s no real reason as to why I couldn’t enjoy this particular type of game. It was while reading about the recent fan backlash against Mass Effect 3 that I started to put together what it is about WRPGs that just doesn’t appeal to me. It got me thinking, and in order to figure it out, I looked back to the first WRPG I ever played: Knights of the Old Republic 2.

JRPGs, dead? Hardly.

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.

Why I'm Not Playing Skyrim- Yet.

Two reasons.

1- I've heard not-so-good things about the number of glitches in the console version of the game, specifically the PS3 version. Apparently the game starts slowing down once you reach a certain point in the game. It's only natural for Bethesda games to be released unfinished, but it's still annoying and I want to wait until they iron it out.

2- Don't they usually release a GOTY edition later with all the DLC? ;)

So, yeah. That's why I'm not exploring Tamriel at this very minute. Just thought I should let you know.

October 28, 2011: What Next?

So I finally beat Final Fantasy VIII, and my review is up. Overall, it was a very enjoyable RPG. The final boss was absolutely pathetic (I didn't even have to use Squall- Irvine's limit break took her out), but the ending was nice.

For now, I'll probably work on finishing up Final Fantasy V is my spare time, but I'm trying to decide what my next console playthrough will be. I already decided that I don't want to start the next game on my backlog, what with the school semester growing more hectic and the upcoming holiday season, so I've been deciding on an older title to replay. I was fiddling around with Dark Cloud today, which was a game I've never actually beaten. It's Level 5's debut title, and it's a fun little game with randomly generated dungeons and a town building minigame, sort of like Zelda mixed with Harvest Moon. I found a new copy for $3 at a CD Exchange, so I might try to actually beat and review the game. If I don't do that, I'll probably replay The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, since lack of a Wii means I'll have to wait a while to play Skyward Sword (not that I'm bitter or anything).

As far as upcoming titles go, I probably won't get War in the North or Skyrim as soon as they come out (hopefully I'll have the chance to try them soon enough, though). I plan on preordering Final Fantasy XIII-2 at some point, though.

Right now, Dark Cloud is in the 'Now Playing' header, that might change in the coming week.

Final Fantasy VIII/V Progress

Made it to disc 3 in Final Fantasy VIII. I'm kind of punching myself for stupidity, because I forgot to draw Alexander from Edea. -_- Going to have to work harder at Junctioning, I plan on taking on Ultima Weapon for Eden and the Ultima Stones you get from him, which should make the game considerably easier. Of course, beating Ultima Weapon is never easy. Right now I'm in Esthar.

In V, I'm in the open-ended third act of the game, where you can go do sidequests and get the Legendary Weapons before going into the Rift to fight Exdeath. I've gotten six of the tablets right now, as well as the Fork Tower quest. I also got Syldra from the Pirates Cave, and the Magic Lamp. I'll go to North Mountain and get Bahamut once I have the rest of the Legendary Weapons. Right now, Faris is training as a Ninja after mastering Samurai, Lenna is finishing up mastering Black Mage, and Bartz has mastered Knight and Dragoon. I'm having him train as a Monk for the extra HP once he masters it (and Counter).

Well, that's where I am right now. I'm not sure what I'll play next, I have a rather large backlog that will only grow larger with time (Skyrim drawing nearer...). The only handheld I have on deck (for after FFV) is Dragon Quest VI on DS. I have five games in my console backlog- Xenogears, Final Fantasy IX, Vagrant Story, Dark Cloud, and Dragon Quest VIII. I want to play something short before the holidays, so if I have time I'll probably try Vagrant Story once I'm done with VIII, but if I don't I might just replay Twilight Princess for the fifth time. :)

Skyrim and Dragon Age

I won't lie- I really hate Oblivion. To me, Oblivion is probably the most overrated game this generation. Sure, it has a big open world, but it's ridiculously buggy, the NPCs and characters look stupid, the voice acting is terrible, and the gameplay is clunky.

But this? This I'm excited for.

I've been trying to ignore Skyrim ever since it was announced. I honestly didn't care about it, because I hadn't liked Oblivion, and I couldn't fathom what the big deal was. Now that I've finally seen the game in action, though, I'm definetly excited. From the looks of things, they've improved on everything I hated about Oblivion, as well as crafted a beautiful world to explore. Truth be told, from third person it reminds me a bit of Zelda: Twilight Princess, one of my favorite games, simply because the world looks so fun to experience. I know it's not quite the same thing, but still.

On a side note, I finally might get around to playing Dragon Age: Origins soon. It's really the only Bioware game I'm interested in (KOTOR was fun because of the Star Wars connection, but Jade Empire was lame and Mass Effect isn't on PS3). It looks like they put a lot of time and effort into the game's creation, something I always appreciate. The best games are ones created with the intent of creating a great experience. So, looking forward to that as well.

Skyrim is released on 11/11/11. And less than a month away, I'm finally excited to play it.