Iwata, Sakaguchi: JRPGs need to change. Now.

On that note we have the Fire Emblem series being localized too, as well as the Ys series getting high-quality remakes that are also coming to the states.

Also, the rise of the JRPG on the PC, which was formerly dominated by western-originated genres. Not sure how this interplays with the fate of the console.

WRPGs seem to be a lot less common than JRPGs.

edited 17th Nov '13 11:35:17 PM by CassidyTheDevil

Also, Ni No Kuni, another fantastic game.

In hindsight, I think the original problem wasn't with the genre itself, but rather companies flooding the market with mediocre games thinking it'd be the easiest way to make money. Kinda like what happened with the FPS-set-in-WWII subgenre in the West, but on a larger scale. Or prior to that, all the games that jumped on the motion sensor controls bandwagon after Wii Sports proved popular. Or the rhythm game bubble that followed DDR's success. And so on.

In any case, I suspect the cheap imitators have since realized it's not working out and have left to go try to jump on the next bandwagon, whatever that may turn out to be. Which means the genre is left with the companies who are actually good at making JRPGs, like Namco Bandai, Level-5, and Nintendo.

edited 17th Nov '13 11:41:54 PM by PoochyEXE

They aren't; they're just PC exclusive more often than not.

Extra Credits has done a multi-part series about the distinction between WRP Gs vs. JRP Gs as well as an episode about the differential popularity of FP Ses b/w Japan and the US. How about an episode about why Japan dominated the console market and the US dominated PC gaming? That might also tie into genre patterns — heck, both that they've highlighted before.

Though the reason is probably relatively simple: after The Great Video Game Crash Of 1983 (which should possibly be renamed North American Video Game Crash Of 1983) Nintendo dominated the console market for years — about fifteen of them — and defined console gaming, while they nor any other Japanese company made that much of inroads into the US PC market, much less the idea of PC gaming.

Incidentally that probably also partly explains why the US created the FPS — because keyboard controls are much more conducive to an FPS than console controls (at the time at least) — as well as partly why we have the WRPG/JRPG distinction — that being that they had periods of time to develop separately. That said, the Japanese also got exposed to D&D and also became fans of the Wizardry series and stuff, so how that lineage diverged in the first place is still unanswered by this.

edited 18th Nov '13 9:36:41 AM by GlennMagusHarvey

Long overdue..but regarding the comparison on the first page? Yes, I would say broadly master Chief and the protagonist of a modern warfare are pretty similar in every way.

Have you read any of the Halo books?

No, but my pouint is i9f we're just comparing game to game? there aint much difference.

throwing in other media tilts it anyhow because a lot of jrpg characters get fleshed out much better in supplemental manga

Even of we go just by the games, I have to disagree. MC's character is fleshed out a lot through his interactions with Cortana.

JRPGs, as a genre, used to have story as it's main selling point. Not all JRPGs had weak gameplay, but in almost all of them gameplay took a backseat to the story.

Nowadays, story is becoming more prominent in more genres of games, meaning JRPGs are no longer the genre to go to if you want to get a story. If you saw JRPG gameplay as something you just put up with if you wanted a story, you can now get your story from a different genre where you might like the gameplay more.

That's why I think JRPGs have generally became less popular.

edited 18th Nov '13 11:47:12 AM by DrStarky