GeekBack: RPG Battle! East vs West
Gamers are by and large some the most opinionated people in the world. In GeekBack, we try to ride that lightning by asking you a question about the industry or gaming media. Think of it as an invitation to voice your views, give us feedback, or jump down a stranger’s throat on the Internet.
Once upon a time, the Land of the Rising Sun was once considered the undisputed king of the role-playing genre. While there are more than a few people who still consider that to be the case, Western RPGs (that is, RPGs made pretty much anywhere outside of Japan) have been taking the spotlight more and more in recent years. There are a lot of reasons for this, and not all of them are simple. So, the question we pose to you today is:
Do you favor JRPGs or WRPGs? Tell us why you think Commander Shepard could beat Cloud Strife’s whiney ass (or why he couldn’t!).
JRPG’s feel more linear and grindy, where as Wesetern ones are more about the exploration.
Your bolded statement has split me into two, much like Adam Warlock and The Magus. (Too Nerdy of a reference for everyone?)
Here are some articles about this issue:
http://insomnia.ac/commentary/on_role-playing_games/
http://insomnia.ac/commentary/the_rpg_conundrum/
JRPGs are terrible. DISCUSS.
I liked mass effect, but also like final fantasy… D:
For me to like a game, I have to like the story and gameplay; the only JRPG that has managed to do that for me is Pokemon. The story getting good 40 hours into a game is a really huge negative point for me. Western RPGs (like The Elder Scrolls and Mass Effect in particular) tend to have stories/universes that interest me outside of the context of the game, and have more mainstream (accessible) gameplay as well (Mass Effect is a 3rd person shooter that is also an RPG; The Elder Scrolls borrows heavily from first person shooters for interaction, so it’s easy to start playing without having to refer to the manual every time you want to do something. Dragon Age: Origins (on Xbox) is pushing it for gameplay for me, though (not as fun as other, similar games).
Are we talkin’ old JRPG’s, or the current ones? And if I’m not mistaken…WRPG’s only recently got really good.
For the feel and depth of an RPG, I choose JRPG’s all day. I love the way you have to grind and gain experience in order to progress (Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Chrono games, Tales games, etc.) Some might find this a turn-off, and that’s just my personal preference. And almost ALL JRPG’s have massive exploration (scratch FFXII…don’t even get me started on that =P) and they require sometimes blind exploration in order to continue, which I also adore.
WRPG’s on the other hand are much more localized and focus on engaging the player with more believable environments, which is also really good! I love games like Mass Effect, TES, and Dragon Age for the unique feel they have compared to JRPG’s. All the elements of these games feel fresh and it’s nice to have a change from the usual “grind fest” of JRPG’s, but that’s also what gives me a sign of accomplishment in those games. It seems like we’re more focused on the non-fighting parts of RPG’s more in the West as well.
So anyway, all types of RPG’s are great, it just really depends on the personal preference of the individual person and what they like.
Western RPG’s, all the way. JRPG’s are just becoming worse and worse, while Western RPG’s are continuously getting better (well, apart from Dragon Age 2).
I think that the biggest difference, for me, is that the JRPG’s have more of a grindy feel. Whereas the western ones are more objective oriented. im not running around a forest filled with giant monsters so i can deliver a package of berries.
I like both really.
JRPGs tend to have a larger focus on exploration (at least in a way that allows you to be rewarded for venturing into unknown territory) WRPGs which I like. On the other hand typically WRPGs battle systems are more entertaining in long spurts.
It really comes down to preference, they are very different. I do wish WRPGs would take some notes from JRPGs, like graphics, story depth, special effects, music, etc. But JRPGs also need to take some notes from WRPGs, like character development, gameplay, customization etc.
Right now I am liking WRPGs better, but that can change anytime.
As a huge fan of RPGs, I find this to be a very hard question. Most of the newer RPGs I play now are wRPGs, like Mass Effect and Dragon Age. However, I don’t really enjoy these games as much as older RPGs and constantly find myself going back to play games from 5, 10, 15 years ago.
With these older games, I probably enjoy the jRPGs like Pokemon and Chrono Trigger better in general, but my favorite game of all time is still a wRPG: Baldur’s Gate 2. Everything else done with that engine (Planetscape and IceWind Dale) were incredible too.
For me, wRPGs have been able to hold my interest more than jRPGs and when it comes down to it I have to pick Baldur’s Gate over Chrono Trigger. wRPGs it is.
The only WRPG I really like is the mass effect series because of the dialouge trees, character decisions, and overall story/setting.
The reason I love final fantasy (13 included) and most JRPGs besides their good story is because of the grindy feel. It does get annoying sometimes but going through dungeons, learning new moves/summons/jobs or getting new characters is always an awesome satisfying feeling. You really get a sense that your seasoned warrior who can kill anything by the end of the game. Also it is pretty awesome finding the legendary weapons at the end of most JRPGs that let your character do almost max or max amount of damage.
I like both. I would hate to have to choose one or the other.
For me there is no W or J, just RPG and I like it.
In my experience JRPG’s are better because they tell a better story. The linearity and lack of dialog or character options might seem like a problem to Western fans, but what they really do is allow for a cohesive story with characters you really know and understand.
Compare that to WRPGs like mass effect where you’re given dialog options, and the idea is to make the character more like you. Sadly, the character is clearly not you – Not only because you aren’t a space marine but also because you are very often forced to pick from 3 dialog options – none of which YOU would have said. This disparity completely breaks the immersion it’s supposed to create.
JRPG’s are more like books and movies, which also don’t give you any input on the characters or order of events, and instead gives the creator complete control. And that control allows the writer to control character development, pacing, and a specific series of events which ultimately can evoke strong emotions.
WRPG’s on the other hand with their multitude of dialog and mission choices cannot plan for the player’s mindset, and cannot make event set pieces that really fit perfectly with the character(s). The best they can do is plan for multiple options, which dilutes development time and writing, which in turn creates a worse product.
Better I think to have one awesome story than several decent stories.
But that’s just one player’s opinion
Quality JRPGs have seemingly dropped from the face of the earth post 2000. They pander to the lowest common denominator and spawn sequel after sequel driving their franchises into the ground. Though I don’t agree that Linearity is a terrible thing in an RPG, though it does limit “role playing,” Japanese developers are hanging tightly to dated design methods and storylines.
It’s clear that JRPGs have been pigeonholed into catering to a very specific, niche audience while Wester RPGS have only continued to grow and break their molds.
These days I prefer WRPGs for the most part. The last really good JRPG I played was Lost Odyssey.
As far as old school games go my favorites were always JRPGs (aside from Baldur’s Gate 1+2) especially the SNES era ones. FFVI is my all time favorite and I’ve yet to play the game that had a better main villain than Kefka.
I’ve been a major fan of WRPGs but recently I have had the urge to play some JRPGs, namely Persona 4 and Rogue Galaxy.
However I feel that RPGs as a straight genre is becoming smaller and smaller because many games have started to incorporate RPG elements and the big RPGs of recent times, such as Dragon Age and Mass Effect, are leaning more to action games than RPGs.
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