-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
What would it take for JRPGs to be popular in the west again? Is it even possible?
- Thread starter BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO
- Start date
zeopower6
Member
I wonder what happened to the art direction in recent jrpgs. Everyone looks like a pretty doll, everyone wears trenchcoats and everyone looks emo and weak. What happened to designs like this?
Well, for one thing, designers stopped being stuck in the 90s...
(for the most part)Hidari's work on the Atelier series has been gorgeousssss though. Sounds more like everything you've seen lately is from Nomura, tbh.
Woo-Fu
Banned
Again? I don't believe they were ever that popular except among a rather small segment of the western market.
I think the only way to gain popularity is to modernize the gameplay, something that will also make it something other than a JRPG, which in almost every case features archaic gameplay elements.
I think the only way to gain popularity is to modernize the gameplay, something that will also make it something other than a JRPG, which in almost every case features archaic gameplay elements.
Magicpaint
Member
They were never actually all that popular were they?
Red Liquorice
Member
Haven't the audience that originally made them popular grown up?
I know I don't really want to be playing games where the protagonists are squealing 13 year olds.
I know I don't really want to be playing games where the protagonists are squealing 13 year olds.
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
Well, for one thing, designers stopped being stuck in the 90s...
Hidari's work on the Atelier series has been gorgeousssss though. Sounds more like everything you've seen lately is from Nomura, tbh.
Mel Kishida and Yuji Himukai are my favorite artist.
Mel Kishida
Yuji Himukai
Just, Gorgeous. I'm sad because Kishida is no longer doing art for Atelier.
They are almost never that young, they are usually 17-21 years old.
P4 dude is neither.
zeopower6
Member
I find more people are attracted to Hidari's work nowadays... Especially the work on Escha and Logy.
dat art
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
Persona 2(both), Persona 4 and Female Protag from P3P are not weak/emo, even if I kinda agree with the male protag of 3.
maybe I need to get used to it.... I miss totori
zeopower6
Member
P4's male protagonist looks like he could be emo IMO. I mean... Gray bowl cut? :|
MikeE21286
Member
I think if they tried a first person JRPG like Skyrim then maybe....
Other than that I don't think so
Other than that I don't think so
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
haha, I never saw it that way.
also dat art indeed, I just got used to Kishida a lot.
ETRIAN ODYSSEY
hahahaha
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
what's the "average modern JRPG"? considering almost every modern JRPG is in handhelds... it can't be that crazy of a budget, only Square Enix does insanely expensive games these days.
I have big hopes with X, knowing Monolith, its going to be amazing.
MikeE21286
Member
Never played an EO game before honestly so my sarcasm meter is broken here lol
My response would be that it can't be on a handheld to gain the huge appeal factor in the West
sublimit
Banned
Actually i was thinking more about console JRPGs like Neptunia.
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
I always forget Compile Heart games exist...
Never played an EO game before honestly so my sarcasm meter is broken here lol
My response would be that it can't be on a handheld to gain the huge appeal factor in the West
I was just joking because Etrian Odyssey is a first person dungeon crawler.
Japan will continue to appeal to their market first, and they are moving to the handheld market, it's quite the problem.
This?
GIMME! *___*
I guess the writing an design could improve a little bit. I mean, I love the tropes and everything, and I don't mind most of the characters design, but sometimes it is just too much. RPGs might be my favourite genre ever, but even I had some difficulty playing some of the entries of the last generations. Stories that make no sense even if you are trying hard to make some sense out of them, characters like THE ENTIRE CAST of Star Ocean 4 (which on top of looking ridiculous they all act like they are 7 years old) and so on.
I'm playing Xenoblade Chronicles at the moment, and so far it seems like it has a decent balance so far (granted I'm not really far into the game), and it also has an interesting battle system (even though I'm playing with the Wii remote and nun chuck and it is a pain). So I would say something more in line with it. Still has that weird fantasy, uncommon vibe around it but without looking too silly.
Or, short answer: make them in a FPS setting. Give your characters guns and make them speak in military jargon.
Please DON'T!
uuaschbaer
Banned
Could someone explain how gameplay can be old, or, by extension, modernized? Is there anything about jprgs that make them less enjoyable now than they ever were? I do understand that jprgs benefitted economically from the absence of modern action games when technology wasn't yet advanced enough to allow for their existence but the idea of reversing that seems nonsensical to me. That's like asking what we can do to bread to
make it more popular again now that we have cake, you'll just end up with non-bread.
make it more popular again now that we have cake, you'll just end up with non-bread.
boybrushdRED
Member
What exactly makes a RPG a JRPG or WRPG? Is it the style of gameplay? Or where the game actually came from? I started to believe Dragon's Dogma and Dark/Demon's Souls are WRPGs from Japan when it was discussed in a podcast or something I watched about a year ago.
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
it just means it's a role playing game created in japan.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
FFXV, KH3, DD2, Souls series, I feel like there is a resurgence coming albeit its usually action jrpgs but there are two things they can do it improve their odds:
1) Make a good rpg
2) Make the characters' designs bearable
This is bearable/ in some cases good:
This is not:
1) Make a good rpg
2) Make the characters' designs bearable
This is bearable/ in some cases good:
This is not:
zeopower6
Member
Those games aren't really the average in Japan, I think... Maybe Tales or an RPG by imageepoch is a better example.
Knux-Future
Banned
According to some
Make them more like wrpgs or Dark Souls.
I just think when the us grew out if the anime phase they simply died out. Outside of the big ones like pokemon.
Thus is why yiu have people complaining that they are too moe when ironically only the atelier series and a few others fit that mold
Make them more like wrpgs or Dark Souls.
I just think when the us grew out if the anime phase they simply died out. Outside of the big ones like pokemon.
Thus is why yiu have people complaining that they are too moe when ironically only the atelier series and a few others fit that mold
I think it's really as simple as Final Fantasy being great again.
Aso, Square Enix seems inept at making multiplatform games, so much so that it interferes with the quality, so they need to to choose a platform for certain games and stick with it.
Aso, Square Enix seems inept at making multiplatform games, so much so that it interferes with the quality, so they need to to choose a platform for certain games and stick with it.
There was not a single outstanding classic JRPG this whole console generation.
Some tried like star ocean, FF13, lost odysee, Resonance of Faith and some are even good games like Ninokuni, blue dragon, Tales of vesperia BUT not a single classic JRPG in this whole generation reached the quality of something like Final Fantasy 6,7,8,9,10,12, Breath of fire, Wild Arms, Dragon Quest 8 NOT A SINGLE ONE!! Thats the real problem that is also the reason why everyone is excited for FF15 because it sounds like it has many things good JRPGs simply used to have.
Some tried like star ocean, FF13, lost odysee, Resonance of Faith and some are even good games like Ninokuni, blue dragon, Tales of vesperia BUT not a single classic JRPG in this whole generation reached the quality of something like Final Fantasy 6,7,8,9,10,12, Breath of fire, Wild Arms, Dragon Quest 8 NOT A SINGLE ONE!! Thats the real problem that is also the reason why everyone is excited for FF15 because it sounds like it has many things good JRPGs simply used to have.
Red Liquorice
Member
I know what the mother says as she wakes the main character up on his birthday to start the adventure, but they still look like they haven't got hair down there yet.
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
I'm honestly wondering what modern JRPG's have that kind of young characters aside of several if almost none(Atelier and Ni no Kuni come to mind)
Really hard to say.. there was a bit of an anime craze for a while in the west, but that has died down considerably. It actually might have a lot to do with the death of saturday morning cartoons on the major networks. If that came back or somehow then i could see jrpgs coming back right along side.
The problem I have with that kind of classification is when it becomes 'every RPG from Japan that uses a quasi-realistic art style is a WRPG'.
I also don't even think there are specific mechanics that are endemic to either, not with lots of WRPGs and JRPGs trying different combat systems, and lots of developers taking ideas from both. Legend of Grimrock is closer to Etrian Odyssey than either are to Dragon Age, it doesn't make EO a WRPG because its heritage is a fusion of Western mechanics layered over with Japanese art, nor is Dragon's Dogma a WRPG because it looks more like Lord of the Rings than Final Fantasy.
Even 'WRPG' seems to lose its meaning when these days it means pretty much everything that isn't Asian. Both camps are pretty diverse and putting games in boxes other than the facts of 'its an RPG from x country' is an easy way of dismissing loads of cool stuff.
zeopower6
Member
XV actually looks like its everything FInal Fantasy isn't, which is why it may be worrying to some people... It's like a 'mature' Kingdom Hearts now.
I think standards are just a bit high when comparing to those ~classics~. Times change.
A dude in a cool outfit and a big sword. I'm only half joking. The visual style of many JRPG's has become so cryptic and pretentious that it's hard for western audiences to relate. Everything is made of crystals, plastic and modelled by dali. Airships look like chandeliers, swords are made of cheese, titles and names are gibberish, you need to read a book to understand the basic premise of the story...
Get back to basics and addicting combat systems. Make the main characters relatable again. Fire all the designers who worship jpop idols.
Get back to basics and addicting combat systems. Make the main characters relatable again. Fire all the designers who worship jpop idols.
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
Xenoblade Chronicles
I'm curious to know what game has swords made of cheese and needs me to read a book(are you talking about FF13?)
JustRiffled
Banned
Aim them at Adults
Easy
Easy
I enjoyed Dragon's Dogma, Final Fantasy: 4 Heroes of Light, Radiant Historia, Xenoblade, Demon's Souls, Dark Souls and Valkyria Chronicles far more than FFX, but hey, opinions etc.
zeopower6
Member
But what does that mean?
So they lose the audience in Japan?
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
What are you taking about. The only difference is that its an action rpg now. In fact thats a plus to many people and it will also reach a wider audience.
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
we've found the solution to all of our problems, thanks for saving the Japanese industry.
It's hard to deal with the fact that in the minds of most non-jrpg fans FF=JRPGs
It's really different, I think the "mature KH" is true.
zeopower6
Member
The main cast is also all bishounen. :|
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
gotta get the fujoshi audience.
Well... they seem to have lost some of their female audience with XIII.
I find it hard to take complaints of gibberish seriously from people who use 'addicting'.
None of that stuff is new, there was plenty of gibberish nonsense, emo main characters and silly weapons in PSOne/PS2 JRPGs too, unless hitting people with cooking implements in FFIX doesn't count. Not only that, but in Skyrim I was running around in glass armour, turning people into chickens with a wabberjack, so it's a triple-whammy for silliness and gibberish there. It was still pretty cool.
Locke from Radiant Historia is probably one of the more practical, capable JRPG protagonists ever created.
DigitalDevilSummoner
zero cognitive reasoning abilities
Anyone who says this generation didn't have rpgs that stood out, did NOT play Resonance of Fate, Valkyria Chronicles, Demon's Souls, FF XIII (really), Xenoblade Chronicles.
Don't confuse personal taste with innovation.
This.
Don't confuse personal taste with innovation.
This.
Black Door
Banned
You relate to being a grizzled middle-aged guy who sleeps in plate armor and fights orcs with a rusty sword, or a 400-pound barbarian who destroys snake cults for fun?
Then what happens 10 years down the line when kids/teenagers want something to play and "mature" games stop being popular?
JustRiffled
Banned
They are plenty of adults in Japan that read mature Manga with believable characters and good plots. Yakuza is successfull too, so there is that.
Just take one of the many many well written mature manga out there, and apply it to a JRPG. Like take a Mystery Crime Drama with a dash of magic to it.
Or something like FF12 with a more interresting plot, and without Vaan and Penelo in it.
Similar threads
- Poll