Support NeoGAF

[Crossing Eden]

They have a long way to go. Both in terms of sales snd in terms of properly adapting to people's expectations in direct comparisons. Like MGSV plays well by its open world is incredibly barren and the game doesn't feel cohesive what with the mother base, loading screens galore, and general time wastingz. Meanwhile FFXV feels bit disjointed as the budget ran out during the second half of the game and the side quests feel more MMO like than other open world games. And ofc rendering aise they're still quite behind and still clearly struggle with keeping up. HD development still seems like it baffles a lot of Japanese devs quite a bit.

 

[PdotMichael]

Better third party engine support and a non exotic PS4 are two key points here.

 

[Gunslinger]

Sounds like a perfect time for DMC5 to make its entrance. Am I right, am I right?!?!?

I agree that and Dino Crisis.

 

[correojon]

...
But fast forward to this gen. And it seems to me Japan is coming back in form they are kicking ass at game development again like the used to a decade ago.

We got some great titles that are up to par in quality of ps1 and ps2 era this last two years such as:

bloodborne, nioh, resident evil 7, Final Fantasy xv, street fighter V, Dark souls 3, The last guardian, metal gear solid 5, Evil Within, Bayonetta 2, new Smash just to name a few.

just within a span of one month they released three goty contender (resident evil 7, Yakuza 0, and Nioh)

And upcoming games like persona 5, dragon quest xi, nino no kuni 2, FFVII remake(2050 release date), Legend of Zelda, nier etc.

What you guys think? You think Japan is making a comeback again? I really hope so as I miss playing good JRPGS in AAA space.

You make it sound like Japanese games had gone away for some time, yet most of the games you mention are sequels of IPs which were already around during last gen or earlier:

• bloodborne: Spinoff of the Souls series from last gen.
• nioh: Niche game.
• resident evil 7: It´s been around since PS1, plenty of games released last gen.
• Final Fantasy xv: It´s Final Fantasy, it´s never gone away.
• street fighter V: SF really returned last gen. In fact SFIV performed much better than SFV.
• Dark souls 3: DS debuted last gen. Demon´s Souls and DSII also from last gen.
• The last guardian: This one has been in development since forever.
• metal gear solid 5: Like FF, it´s never gone away.
• Evil Within: Good game, but it isn´t a masterpiece or very popular game to showcase that "japan is back big time!".
• Bayonetta 2: The first one debuted last gen.
• new Smash just to name a few: We´ve regularly been getting Smash games since N64.

I´m not feeling this japanese resurgence, I think the games have always been around. I do think that maybe people is finally starting to get tired of the "visuals & story first" western design principles and giving more attention to deeper, more gameplay focused games, but it might only be happenning in forums and such like GAF.

Not a coincidence it's very PS4 bound. Sony really changed their hardware and attitude to developers-first and made it exciting. With that they are now taking great use of their home turf advantage to lift projects onto their platform ahead of the competition.

Sony is just as responsible as MS in shifting AAA to western-designed games, trying to show them as the ones that are pushing japan devs to the spotlight is not right (though I admit they at least release some purely japanese games).

 

[RexNovis]

In terms of delivering some nice cool games hell yeah. There been some really nice Japanese games lately and it's nice to see.

In terms of competing with Western games in sales and impact not even close.

Yea this. While it is improving they have a very very long way to go before they are as relevant as they used to be but this

It's important to note that there are more westerners working in Japanese studios now than ever before (though studios are still predominantly Japanese).

There's more understanding of avenues like Steam, and Epic and Unity have worked really really really hard to push their engines in Japan. All of that together has made large scale development much easier in Japan.

(Which I can also confirm is true) gives me hope for the future of Japanese non mobile game development. It's encouraging to see Japan inviting foreign talent and expertise in to help improve/streamline their development pipelines and increase profit potential as I feel it's something they've desperately needed to do for a very long time and it seems to be paying dividends for them as time goes on. So here's hoping that things keep improving!

 

[Battlechili]

Japanese games have never stopped being great. I don't even think the games mentioned in the OP are representative of modern high quality titles, either. Many I'd argue are even examples of a previously solid series destroying itself (MGSV especially so).

Games like Tales of Berseria and Disgaea 5 seem like more promising recent releases than most others mentioned imo. Not every game needs to be AAA. Niche games oftentimes wind up being better than AAA games. Would rather play stuff like Danganronpa and Atelier Sophie any day than MGSV.

 

[Dubz]

No one does combat mechanics like Japan. Loving Nioh so much.

 

[letmetrythisname]

I'd say so, but I also think the entire world of game development was out of form during the seventh gen so it didn't take much to get me back on board.

 

[klabautermann]

On the forefront, sure. But as someone who only plays Japanese games and nothing else, I feel there has been a lot really quality games from over seas that have even hit on the PS3/360 era.

 

[Chinner]

I would say Japan is coming to the forefront again where they belong .

Wow, racist.

 

[Tain]

Japan never left.

 

[True Fire]

The transition from SD to HD and the rise of Western AAA was pretty rough on Japan. This generation we're seeing the decline of AAA juggernauts and niche games breaking into the mainstream conscience. With the death of the Vita, we will be seeing more and more niche titles on PS4 and Switch, which is a fantastic opportunity for Japanese games to gain momentum in the west.

The latter half of this generation will be amazing for Japan.

 

[Jampsuliini]

metal gear solid 5: Like FF, it´s never gone away.

 

[Rathorial]

Sort of?

They're certainly doing better than they were in the later half of the 360/PS3 era, and we're seeing devs from there put some some critically well regarded mid to big console/even PC games out.

To me they're back in the general conversation around websites, but the glass half empty truth is less devs from Japan are making console or PC games vs. the PS1 or PS2 eras. Handhelds and especially mobile has become the dominant market there, stealing away talent that would otherwise make games for the bigger screens in the world. I don't think we're seeing a ton more games, just a better quality average.

Also some of the games in this past year like are artificially inflated like FFXV and The Last Guardian, both games stuck in some degree of dev hell, and both happened to settle in 2016. Quite a few of the other big Japanese titles are sequels in long series, and in Nioh's case riding the Soulsborne success.

I think it is naive to assume Japan are or ever will be back to full form on console/PC platforms vs. their days in the 90s and early 2000s...at least in the sense of bigger budget games. I think Japan will come out stronger this gen, due to more publishers and even console makers seemingly ok with funding mid-tier budget games, and digital distribution lowering costs. Japan's indie sector has plenty of room to grow as well, but it lacks the advantages of the western market like a domestic PC audience with low barrier to entry that has aided consoles getting gamepad indies. Instead that domestic market is on mobile, which has a lower barrier to entry than console, and Japan itself has a tiny PC market.

 

[ScherzoPrime]

I'd kinda like to know the reason behind 'Japan cannot into HD', because it definitely seems to be a thing but I don't know if anyone has ever given a complete explanation why. I'm playing RE5 for the first time now and I'm sort of taken aback by how 'slight' an experience it is. It almost feels like I'm playing an Arcade game at times (2-3 literally felt like that).

 

[ShockingAlberto]

Edit: So future people don't quote this to death, I'm not questioning the quality. I think a comeback requires Japan to prove they have a future in producing more software. Otherwise how is making "good games" that different to what happen last gen?
You could say HD struggles, but that's exactly what I'm concerned with now.

I will praise The Evil Within though, since that was made by a new studio.

Wait, Koei Tecmo's output sucks because Team Ninja wasn't making Ninja Gaiden and Ni-Oh at the same time, to be revealed and released at the same time?

 

[ScherzoPrime]

On topic; I do think the past couple years Japanese devs have been getting more on their game in terms of creating unique games that still have cross-cultural appeal. I think these first few months of 2017 have been really impressive.

 

[raven777]

I feel they are better than PS360 era, but not as good as before that. They are also still struggling in terms of technical aspects except few really big titles. But for me personally this gen is already better than the entire of last gen.

But yea the early 2017 for Japanese games on console seems to be amazingly packed.

 

[Some Nobody]

The transition from SD to HD and the rise of Western AAA was pretty rough on Japan. This generation we're seeing the decline of AAA juggernauts and niche games breaking into the mainstream conscience. With the death of the Vita, we will be seeing more and more niche titles on PS4 and Switch, which is a fantastic opportunity for Japanese games to gain momentum in the west.

The latter half of this generation will be amazing for Japan.

Accurate. That post Nirolak made last week pointed out how there's fewer than 30 AAA games being released this year, and most of them will get shoved into the same release window.

With that being true, combined with the rise of LPs and YouTube personalities talking about obscure games because they need to generate content on a more frequent basis than "holiday season", and Japanese games have a platform and an opportunity they just didn't get last gen.

Q1 and most of Q2 and 3 are basically free reign for video games, so if they're good and are marketed properly there's a chance for a LOT of games to make money. It's a good time.

 

[Calm Mind]

The return of the king.

Nintendo has been there and done that. About time the rest of Japan woke up and fought the West head on.

 

[TrutaS]

I feel like they have found their place in the market again. They struggled to fit in the HD world, trying to force products that they thought would be mainstream. Now I feel they have cracked the code on how to remain firmly japanese and still sell, which is perfect and I hope they keep developing that side.

 

[MaximumSpider]

Nintendo has been there and done that. About time the rest of Japan woke up and fought the West head on.

I didn't care much for Nintendo's output with the Wii last gen but I sure did love the DS.

 

[Calm Mind]

I didn't care much for Nintendo's output with the Wii last gen but I sure did love the DS.

You missed out big time. The 7th gen was like a Renaissance for them.

 

[gfxtwin]

Definitely a comeback for Team Ninja, Square, Capcom and Team Ico! It's been too long since they've released amazing stuff but the past four months have been a return to form.

 

[cripterion]

Nioh is a beast and definitely one of the best games of 2017 so I'd say they are back to form in some sorts although it's arguable they've always been, just that this year they are killing it more than ever.

 

[TheGoldenGunman]

It's great for the industry that Japan is showing a renaissance of sorts. Whilst Western titles are better at hitting mainstream audiences with their heavy narrative outlooks, Japanese games are typically centered around very strong core gameplay and deep systems. A game like Dark Souls could only be made in Japan because it would have been focus tested to death in a heart beat at a Western studio. The games industry *needs* strong Japanese companies because they will help push the medium forward and their style creates great contrast for western studios.

It feels to me like their understanding of tech has improved. I still wouldn't call any of the recent releases true classic, but the encouraging thing is that quality has clearly improved. It feels like they are closing the gap.

 

[Magic Mushroom]

I'd say so, but I'm a bit disappointed it's mostly sequels in long established franchises. That's not a Japan specific problem, but I always look forward to something completely new each generation.

There are quite a few of those actually. The Last Guardian, Nioh, I Am Setsuna, D4, Let it Die, Splatoon, Bloodborne, Knack (lol), the upcoming ARMS and Death Stranding. And we know FROM is working on two new IPs besides Armored Core. Shame about Scalebound though.

I'm happy. Games like Bloodborne, TLG and Nioh are among my very favorite this gen. Splatoon is great too and I loved the gameplay of The Phantom Pain. I have high hopes for Nier Automata, Persona 5, Breath of the Wild, ARMS and Super Mario Odyssey. And I have yet to play Resi 7 and Yakuza 0. Lots of quality stuff to play.
O, and a special mention to a little indie called Downwell. It's really good.

 

[djtiesto]

Western games have always offered more innovation and better stories than japanese ones. If anything western games only became worse on the seventh generation in that perspective. It's just that those traits has nothing to do with commercial success.

Totally objective - I've yet to play a western game with a story on the level of Xenogears, Mother 3, Steins;Gate, or Suikoden 2. And the 'innovation' thing is doubtful... maybe back in the 70's to 90's, but nowadays western games outside of indies feel very me-too and similar. Though innovation isn't the be-all-end-all - I'd rather play a generic, yet highly competent shmup than some overambitious but unplayable clusterfuck.