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.

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.

Final Fantasy XIV

Final Fantasy XIV Online has the dubious honor of being the only unquestionably bad Final Fantasy game. Not really because of bad design- the game could've been great- but because the game was rushed out the door eight months after it was announced (possibly in order to beat Cataclysm to the market). The game was, simply put, released unfinished- a buggy, boring slog of a game. The game's poor reception led to Square Enix cancelling subscription fees indefinetly and steadily patching the game, promising to improve it into the game it should've been. President Yoichi Wada even publicly apoligised, saying that the Final Fantasy name has been damaged by XIV.

It appears that Square is about to make do on their promises. Square Enix just announced that between late November and early December, more than a year after the game's spectacularly failed launch, the free-to-play period will come to an end. Final Fantasy XIV's 2.0 version will be released next year, featuring numerous changes that will, according to Square Enix, make the game what it should've been when released. "I promise that we will continue to give all FINAL FANTASY XIV players our full attention as we do everything in our power to provide a high-quality service, and as such, would like ask for your continued encouragement and support," says Yoshida. It has also been reported that, in the year leading up to the 2.0 patch, existing players will expirience a new story leading up to the huge change that will effect the world of Eorzea.