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[Uthred]

What changed is that there are far fewer actual quality JRPGs to localize on home console than there used to be. Only a matter of time before the same thing happens on handheld with mobile taking over (or has it started already?).

You can basically gurantee that these threads will always have a few posts combining "The Good Ol'Days" with "The Sky is Falling". It's nice to have something to rely on.

I don't care that hentai-like games with little or no gameplay value exist (Idea Factory, Compile Heart, NIS, etc).

I'm just disappointed some of my favorite series/genres are either disappearing or turning into those kinds of games. Advance Wars, Front Mission, Fire Emblem, Valkyria Chronicles, etc.

"Man I sure do hate companies like NIS and their hentai games, if only I had some SRPG's to play!" When the majority of NIS' english releases are SRPG's. Actually I suppose this is the other old reliable in these threads "The games of this type I like are magically different/better than those other shitty ones"

 

[Suzushiiro]

Digital distribution is the big thing- there's significantly less risk and more profit in it if you don't have to print copies that you may or may not manage to sell. The rise of the game-focused retailers that eventually merged into Gamestop helped too, as those are pretty much the only stores that have enough video game-dedicated shelf space to be able to stock super-niche games.

I also think that it's no coincidence that the increase in localization of niche otaku-focused Japanese games roughly coincided with the increase in availability of niche otaku-focused Japanese animation. 15 years ago you had to wait months/years for a domestic release and pay an arm and a leg for the VHS/DVDs to watch an anime, and even then you could only get the more "mainstream" ones. Today pretty much every anime that's even remotely good can be watched within 24 hours of airing in Japan for cheap/free.

Regarding JRPGs in particular, I think Squeenix massively dropping the ball in both quantity and quality of output this past generation left a fair amount of mind/wallet-share on the table for Gust, Compile Heart, NIS, et al to take.

 

[fatgamecat]

"Man I sure do hate companies like NIS and their hentai games, if only I had some SRPG's to play!" When the majority of NIS' english releases are SRPG's. Actually I suppose this is the other old reliable in these threads "The games of this type I like are magically different/better than those other shitty ones"

This is a rude, inaccurate, and insulting strawman attack. Some people like SRPGs with better gameplay or less fanservice than a typical NIS game, it's not "magic".

 

[Darksol]

Digital distribution + Vita + credit card + realistic expectations= happy companies willing to localize their games.

 

[CadetMahoney]

We get enough games that involve violence and gore. Now we can enjoy the boobs and butts.

As long as the women are adult-looking. . .

I don't want none of this "10 year old with tits" or whatever.

 

[Suzushiiro]

Regarding JRPGs in particular, I think Squeenix massively dropping the ball in both quantity and quality of output this past generation left a fair amount of mind/wallet-share on the table for Gust, Compile Heart, NIS, et al to take.

Thinking more on this point, you could probably expand this to all of the big Japanese publishers. Across the board their output went down in quality/quantity and became more "westernized" this past gen, leaving a lot of money on the table from the people who liked Japanese-style games that the smaller guys could take.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

"Man I sure do hate companies like NIS and their hentai games, if only I had some SRPG's to play!" When the majority of NIS' english releases are SRPG's. Actually I suppose this is the other old reliable in these threads "The games of this type I like are magically different/better than those other shitty ones"

And just about every single one of NIS' SRPGs is aesthetically abhorrent.

If you don't like pandering, animu bullshit in your SRPGs, NIS doesn't do a whole lot to cater to you. That's their target market. The difference between those games and something like Final Fantasy Tactics or Tactics Ogre couldn't be more clear.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

There's not much left.

Bingo.

Otaku are a same-size fish in a shrinking pond, ESPECIALLY in Japan and much of that remaining pond is venerable series such as FF and Tales. The rest is at the mercy of cold business calculations as slipping in loli-looking characters in otherwise quality respectable series as otaku bait as not doing so can honestly be seen now as legitimately dangerous. The rest of us who buy these games just don't look at that, to our own personal extents, to get to the other 99% of these quality titles.

Then there are those who went farther as is what companies like NI did who went deep in both Shirley Temple Hentai looks and lobotomized moe narratives. You can't follow that if you're not a fan of that stuff. You just can't.

The only way this will change is if J-games with regular levels of relatable sexual/adult events or light and colorful narrative become common successes, then the temptation won't exist any more to ensure a small but predictable group is catered to in a majority of titles, and it goes back to the small minority it once was. Until then though, it's this or specifically grim dark series like Souls with very little in between.

 

[Uthred]

Nevermind. Nothing to see here.

 

[Duster]

Persona 3&4 acted like a gateway drug and normalised such games in many people's minds, if they've already enjoyed the social sim elements and engaged in waifu wars then you may as well go the whole way.

Or just digital distribution, I expect that's the biggest factor.

 

[G-Fex]

What an odd statement. I haven't even thought about 50 Cent (much less his licensed games) in several years.

Frankly that post disgusts me.

Hating on such a fun game like 50 cent blood in the sand.

 

[epmode]

How in the fuck do we still not have DQ7 for 3DS? You know how Square saw the sales of Bravely Default and realized that maybe people still like to buy good games? That's how they can make it up to us.

 

[killatopak]

You guys better thank laughing banana.

 

[StayDead]

Bingo.

Otaku are a same-size fish in a shrinking pond, ESPECIALLY in Japan and much of that remaining pond is venerable series such as FF and Tales. The rest is at the mercy of cold business calculations as slipping in loli-looking characters in otherwise quality respectable series as otaku bait as not doing so can honestly be seen now as legitimately dangerous. The rest of us who buy these games just don't look at that, to our own personal extents, to get to the other 99% of these quality titles.

Then there are those who went farther as is what companies like NI did who went deep in both Shirley Temple Hentai looks and lobotomized moe narratives. You can't follow that if you're not a fan of that stuff. You just can't.

The only way this will change is if J-games with regular levels of relatable sexual/adult events or light and colorful narrative become common successes, then the temptation won't exist any more to ensure a small but predictable group is catered to in a majority of titles, and it goes back to the small minority it once was. Until then though, it's this or specifically grim dark series like Souls with very little in between.

I'm sorry man but Fi is not a loli character. Also Fi's characterisation is incredible in the game.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

I'm sorry man but Fi is not a loli character. Also Fi's characterisation is incredible in the game.

Reread that paragraph.

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

I think there are several factors at play here.

1 - Digital distribution makes it easier to make a profit on niche titles since you don't have to worry about retail costs or incorrectly estimating demand and being left with a bunch of unsold games.
2 - The Vita has proven to be a platform with a dedicated niche following so niche titles are practically guaranteed a certain baseline of sales.
3 - More and more of the non-mainstream RPGs being made in Japan have high amounts of fanservice. So either you localize the fanservice games or you release fewer games.

So why do the localization companies release fanservice games instead of all those "sure-fire" hits that the fans really want like Type-0 & Valkyria Chronicles 3? Those games are typically from major companies who would demand high licensing fees that your average niche localization company can't afford on a single game. Not only that, but these are big, proud Japanese companies and many of them will refuse to negotiate with an outside localization company, even if that company had the money to afford the license.

 

[18-Volt]

Blame Square. That's what I do. How Dragon Quest and FF games remain locked in Japan is a total mystery to me. They didn't want to localize Bravely Default either. Square Enix is on a mission to destroy their IP overseas.

Square isn't to blame, they're still bringing other games, like Curtain Call. Nintendo and their shitty loclization process is to blame here. Nintendo has localized past 3 DQ games and all of Level-5 games on Nintendo platforms and probably they're still the one to do these. But their stupid "breathing" policy, giving time between releasesi makes us wait for years. Fantasy Life, Yokai Watch, Layton vs Wright (in NA) and DQ games are still absent because of this shit. Big names always come first than second party for Nintendo.

 

[ThatStupidLion]

i know this isn't "recent years", but i think famousmortimer ( may he rest in peace) mentioned last year that sony was expanding their in house localizing team in an effort to bring more games west...so yeah.

 

[TheBryanJZX90]

There's a market, Neptunia fans are pretty dedicated as an example.

I'm glad they aren't getting censored, the idea that sex is somehow worse than violence is stupid and has always annoyed me.

I think we can all agree that sexualizing little kids is the worst though, right?

 

[SenatorBot]

I think the main reason for this is because of the Vita.

Due to the massively improved digital store, the convenience of buying and playing titles as well as the lack of major 3rd party titles on the Vita, the audience that remained on it are people who spend a lot of money on new games on the Vita.

Persona 4 Golden was the first major must have title amongst this niche audience and they had to buy a Vita just to play the game. Then with Atelier totori, Disgaea 3 and Gravity rush on the platform proving themselves in sales, it was not until june 2013 when the barrage of niche japanese games came out and proved the platform was profitable amongst the localisation companies.

Muramasa
Dragon's Crown
Atelier Meruru
Valhalla Knights 3
Ys Celceta
Sorcery Saga

It was only due to the successes of most of these games that lead to the "gold rush" announcements of smut/fanservice games. Due to the fact that publishing a game on the Vita was not only cheap but the audience buys a LOT of these games due to 2012/2013 seeding the path for them. Also, if it was too risky for a physical release, due to the high digital attach rate on the Vita, it makes it a no brainer no risk just to bring it in.

Also, I'd like to theorize that due to the fact that these games sell so well that they're reaching further and further into the catalogue of the Vita because they don't want to lose out on this gold rush of money. Rather than playing the games and seeing if it's good enough to be worth localising and bringing over due to quality and cost, the games sell so well that as long as they put out a game on the Vita, the people who buy it will offset the license costs as well as the labor to localise the games. Also regular digital sales from Sony also gives them incentives to put a game out and have them earn money over the years when the games will eventually get a few sales every year.

 

[MilesTeg]

Square isn't to blame, they're still bringing other games, like Curtain Call. Nintendo and their shitty loclization process is to blame here. Nintendo has localized past 3 DQ games and all of Level-5 games on Nintendo platforms and probably they're still the one to do these. But their stupid "breathing" policy, giving time between releasesi makes us wait for years. Fantasy Life, Yokai Watch, Layton vs Wright (in NA) and DQ games are still absent because of this shit. Big names always come first than second party for Nintendo.

Curtain Call doesn't seem like it requires too much localization though. That to me is why both Theatrythm games are coming/already came. I played Theatrythm to death and don't recall a whole lot of text.

Nintendo doesn't have endless localization resources. Pretty much every game they release needs some sort of localization, and they have many text heavy popular franchises like Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem and Pokemon. X is another game that will likely require a ton of effort, as well as SMTxFE if Nintendo is handling the localization. Tamodachi Life as well.

Meanwhile Square localizes a music game and passes on their key titles like Bravely Default, Type O and DQ.

 

[zeopower6]

Meanwhile Square localizes a music game and passes on their key titles like Bravely Default, Type O and DQ.

The main reason that Type-0 was skipped over was because it's for the PSP, isn't it? I mean there are STILL PSP games coming out in Japan now while the PSP scene pretty much died years ago here in the West.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

I think we can all agree that sexualizing little kids is the worst though, right?

It usually doesn't bother me unless it does some stuff like the bathing scene in Mugen Souls... which was censored anyways, haha.

Violence and death will always be worse for me, but I get why others are against the sexualization of underage characters and I understand their position.

 

[Hurt and Scared]

I own two copies for 360. That game is crazy.

Me and my best friend beat the game in one sitting then I helped my cousin beat the game I am still shocked at how that game was way better then it had any right to be

 

[TheBryanJZX90]

It usually doesn't bother me unless it does some stuff like the bathing scene in Mugen Souls... which was censored anyways, haha.

Violence and death will always be worse for me, but I get why others are against the sexualization of underage characters and I understand their position.

Damn, that's pretty creepy that it doesn't bother you.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Damn, that's pretty creepy that it doesn't bother you.

It depends of the game and the context of it, post some examples and I'll tell you if it bothers me or not.

Some of the cards of Monster Monpiece do cross the line for me, for example. One time that it doesn't bother me is Disgaea, some characters look like children yet I love the art style and don't mind it at all.

Etna is one of my favorite characters ever and she looks like this:

She's portrayed as a powerful demon that doesn't need anyone and does whatever she wants. She's awesome but I do think it's weird how in the new game she's even wearing less clothes than before, haha.

 

[The Technomancer]

As a JRPG fan it annoys me what proportion of JRPGs and niche japanese games in general alienate or otherwise turn me off these days. Its a shame because I only end up playing a fraction of the games that I see discussed on GAF

 

[FluxWaveZ]

It depends of the game and the context of it, post some examples and I'll tell you if it bothers me or not.

Conception II. A bit weird, given that it's supposed to be the player's kid and all.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Conception II

I have not played Conception II, are the star children sexualized aside of their design?

 

[zeopower6]

As a JRPG fan it annoys me what proportion of JRPGs and niche japanese games in general alienate or otherwise turn me off these days. Its a shame because I only end up playing a fraction of the games that I see discussed on GAF

It's probably more of a case of having more of what is released in Japan coming over here much like how people moan about how anime is so shitty nowadays when we're just getting nearly every show that airs over there lately compared to say, 10 years ago. The only real gaming market that the West doesn't really localize from Japan that often is the portable visual novel/otome game sector outside of Hakuoki and the games we do currently have.

Also the bigger name studios don't seem to be making as many JRPGs as before.

 

[FluxWaveZ]

I have not played Conception II, are the star children sexualized aside of their design?

I haven't seen any of them that are except for the female versions of the Berserker and Hunter (pictured above) classes, oh and that's their design. They don't really have much of a personality.

 

[chickdigger802]

Conception II. A bit weird, given that it's supposed to be the player's kid and all.

i think its the hat saying 'we love man' that makes it weird

 

[PaulExcellent]

Frankly that post disgusts me.

Hating on such a fun game like 50 cent blood in the sand.

Thanks for reminding me of this game.
Shit was great. In fact, I'mma go buy another copy right now.

Edit: FUCK. I now regret selling my copy for $10. This game got pricey.

 

[Shingro]

I'm guessing it has to do with the aging and shrinking japanese market, if that doesn't get fixed, they looked to other markets, and it turns out US has just as many otaku as Japan with money in their pocket.


Also: it's adorable and charming. Sure response is usually divisive, but people who do find something to like often find a lot to like. You might argue it's the most "irreverent" sector of gaming right now, and that appeals to a lot of people who like their games uncomplicated.

 

[MilesTeg]

The main reason that Type-0 was skipped over was because it's for the PSP, isn't it? I mean there are STILL PSP games coming out in Japan now while the PSP scene pretty much died years ago here in the West.

Yeah I agree, but they could easily port it to Vita or 3DS don't you think?

 

[zeopower6]

Yeah I agree, but they could easily port it to Vita or 3DS don't you think?

Well, everyone is waiting for Japan to announce a Vita port so that the West gets a chance of having the game. Not that it'll happen, but it'd increase the chance of a Type-0 release. Also weren't they working on localization for a while after the Japanese release anyway?

 

[distantmantra]

It's the only thing Japan makes anymore.

Well, either that or Mario.

And my precious Gundam/SRW/random animu mecha games.

 

[The Technomancer]

It's probably more of a case of having more of what is released in Japan coming over here much like how people moan about how anime is so shitty nowadays when we're just getting nearly every show that airs over there lately compared to say, 10 years ago.

Also the bigger name studios don't seem to be making as many JRPGs as before.

Sure, but less big studio RPGs combined with more...*ahem* fan service games means that the JRPG market is skewing in a direction that I actively find offputting

 

[Crash Station]

I think we can all agree that sexualizing little kids is the worst though, right?

In games? Not really. Better there than real life.

 

[chaosblade]

As a JRPG fan it annoys me what proportion of JRPGs and niche japanese games in general alienate or otherwise turn me off these days. Its a shame because I only end up playing a fraction of the games that I see discussed on GAF

This is how I feel. Disappointing that there are so few games coming out of Japan that I'm interested in anymore in part due to this, and it is also hitting some series that I enjoy. Like Fire Emblem, Awakening was okay but I really hope it isn't the blueprint for the future of the series (no doubt it will be, given the sales).

 

[zeopower6]

Sure, but less big studio RPGs combined with more...*ahem* fan service games means that the JRPG market is skewing in a direction that I actively find offputting

I don't know... I feel like those games have always been there, but we're actually getting them released here with this current generation.

 

[TheBryanJZX90]

In games? Not really. Better there than real life.

Also creepy!

 

[Crash Station]

Also creepy!

You asked a question and I answered. Not sure what name calling is going to do.

 

[Rocky]

I'm expecting a Love Plus localization announcement from Konami any time now. With Laura Bailey and Melissa Fahn voicing two of the girls. Not sure who I'd want for the third yet though, lol.

 

[zeopower6]

Also creepy!

I'm not really creeped out by it in games but it's more that I just don't care all that much than anything else. :/

I'm expecting a Love Plus localization announcement from Konami any time now. With Laura Bailey and Melissa Fahn voicing two of the girls. Not sure who I'd want for the third yet though, lol.

Michelle Ruff?

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Also creepy!

What's the point of calling everyone creepy when they don't agree with you?

 

[braves01]

I played the Conception demo, and personally find it creepy as hell. You're literally called God's Gift and your special ability is basically getting lolis pregnant. Also there's a creepy old headmaster who commented more than once about the "potential" of the new class of girls and wished he could make star children with them.

 

[Piano]

Me and my best friend beat the game in one sitting then I helped my cousin beat the game I am still shocked at how that game was way better then it had any right to be

Shit yeah, great game...strangely. Picked it up when Blockbuster was going out of business because "haha, a 50 cent game!"

Ended up enjoying it thoroughly.

 

[The Technomancer]

I don't know... I feel like those games have always been there, but we're actually getting them released here with this current generation.

Yeah and I'm just saying that in combination with the overall decrease in other JRPGs results in changed proportions in the market. I mean so far I've basically played...Bravely Default this year, and looking over the rest of the year...Persona Q looks cool I guess?

Okay I'm cautiously interested in FFXV I guess

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Yeah and I'm just saying that in combination with the overall decrease in other JRPGs results in changed proportions in the market. I mean so far I've basically played...Bravely Default this year, and looking over the rest of the year...Persona Q looks cool I guess?

Don't miss out on Trials in the Sky: Second Chapter.