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[StoppedInTracks]

With DayZ Arma2 mod gathering popularity I noticed several people voicing their opinions that it has "typical euro-jank gameplay full of bugs", "the UI is of euro-jank variety" etc. Last game I remember having similiar opinions was the Gothic/ Arcania series and before that Sacred.

What is Euro jank?

Is every game from Eastern Europe put in this category? Are those bugs not found in American titles? PC-like UI and PC-like gameplay?

I find it fascinating that a shitty game from America or Japan is called a "shitty game" while a shitty European game is called "Euro jank".

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

I like my TF2 Janky-ass server.

 

[SamVimes]

First time ever i heard this.

 

[Raide]

Concentrating more on making the gameplay and technical element instead of on presentation and GUI stuff. tends to be a main thing for Mod's but does extend to larger games that make good games but with over complicated or bare-bones GUI.

 

[Midou]

Never heard the term before, but I do sort of understand it. WRPGs from europe for example tend to have more unique gameplay but more.. janky voice acting, faces, and seem to be a bit more buggy(not always though). Not like western WRPGs aren't buggy as well, but I guess it's more obvious or something.

 

[LiK]

not as polished? unusual gameplay mechanics? a bit broken?

 

[Emitan]

I like my TF2 Janky-ass server.

its just stank without the jank

 

[Poyunch]

not as polished? unusual gameplay mechanics? a bit broken?

Basically.

 

[spirity]

Sounds like a new type of dance music. Thats, what, the 4th this month?

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

Euro platformers.

Japan > *

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

I think it's referring to how (Eastern?) European titles are sometimes found to have a bit less polish (Animations, AI) than their western counterparts, or their menus, UI and general presentation are a tad less aesthetically pleasing. It's less true now than it was in the past, though.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

First time ever i heard this.

Yep.

 

[Sethos]

This is euro jank

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFzyYYZsxGc

 

[Glix]

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

This is euro jank

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFzyYYZsxGc

No sir, this is euro jank.

 

[MMaRsu]

This is euro jank

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFzyYYZsxGc

Sorry but this song is quite catchy

 

[1-D_FTW]

not as polished? unusual gameplay mechanics? a bit broken?

I wouldn't say unusual. It's just they continued the path PC games were on in the early 2000s. It's like they never got the memo that games should be all encompassing and welcoming. So they're incredibly ambitious, and just like those other noteworthy PC games from that earlier time period, have some jank around the edges as a result.

 

[BrokenEchelon]

Eastern European developers seem to have a fascination with the underlying technology of a game rather than making a gameplay experience. This sometimes causes them to focus so much on one aspect of technology that it turns their game into more of a proof-of-concept rather than a polished product.

You can see all sorts of examples, and sometimes they hurt a game, sometimes they don't.

Metro, STALKER, The Witcher and others all share the common trait of having specific tech foci which sometimes hinder the actual gameplay due to lack of polish of the product as a whole.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

imagine a game where you have to scroll through a text menu to open a door or 20 different commands to manipulate a gun, none of which are "fire it"

you now know eurojank

 

[stuminus3]

Eastern European developers seem to have a fascination with the underlying technology of a game rather than making a gameplay experience.

I think what you mean to say is "Eastern European developers seem to have a fascination with the underlying technology of a game rather than a budget".

But that's often part of the charm!

 

[Durante]

What is Euro jank?

It's a sign that a game is worth paying attention to.

Often it's like a negative way of saying "not dumbed down".

 

[Munin]

I think it's a retarded, terrible, condescending term that always sounds to me like "lulz those europeans, don't even have the skills to make a proper game"

I mean, just the notion alone of generalizing several dozens of different countries and the hundreds of companies of all sizes and budgets contained therein through some dismissive term like that really pisses me off.

Yes, I'm from Europe.

Edit:

Eastern European developers seem to have a fascination with the underlying technology of a game rather than making a gameplay experience.

Huh, it's exactly the other way around. Gameplay depth and interesting mechanics etc. are favored over presentation or graphical aspects. If anyone's obsessed with technology, it's the AAA behemoth developers/publishers in North America.

 

[Muchi Muchi Pink]

not as polished? unusual gameplay mechanics? a bit broken?

Skyrim stealth-made in europe?

 

[StoppedInTracks]

imagine a game where you have to scroll through a text menu to open a door or 20 different commands to manipulate a gun, none of which are "fire it"

you now know eurojank

Sounds like Lucasarts adventure!

 

[LiK]

Skyrim stealth-made in europe?

i didn't wanna go there!

 

[OatmealMu]

Play Death to Spies and you will know. Oh, you will know.

 

[ctrayne]

.

 

[EatChildren]

I wish my country had a gaming industry to speak of so we could all have Ausjank.

 

[Durante]

Skyrim stealth-made in europe?

Skyrim's default UI is like the opposite of Euro-jank: it's easy to use at first, but the more you play the game the more its limits and lack of information become clear.

In "Euro jank" games the UI is harder to use at first and may overwhelm you with information, but once you get used to ("learn") it, it's often significantly more powerful.

 

[Derrick01]

Usually they're games that are pretty hardcore relative to other games in whatever genre they're doing (stalker, ARMA, Witcher etc).

Normally they're ambitious games that happen to have a lot of bugs and sometimes stuff like animation is really poor due to lower budgets. Much like how most western studios sacrifice ambition and gameplay for graphics and smoothness, these guys do the opposite.

 

[ctrayne]

.

 

[Sethos]

The problem also lies in, as some mentioned, some companies seem to focus on advanced menus and lots of micro abilities when playing which tends to be done through context menus or lots of keys. For the new player, it tends to be extremely confusing and the UI just seems poorly done. Like, some people have a heart attack when they see ArmA II's controls, the menus and all that. I've played the game since Operation Flashpoint and nothing has really changed, the menus and controls feel completely natural to me and very intuitive also gives me a ton of powerful options on the go. However for the common player who's used to one-click action buttons and hand-holding menus it quickly turns to 'jank' - Especially when you see they are doing everything ass backwards.

 

[EmCeeGramr]

I wish my country had a gaming industry to speak of so we could all have Ausjank.

http://www.teamfortress.com/loosecanon/09.html

 

[theBishop]

Hmm, I'm not aware of any typically-European glitches. I definitely see localization issues from European studios, most notably in Heavy Rain. While I have solidarity with my EU komerades, your english ain't my english. Sorry.

 

[Derrick01]

This is exactly what I think of when I hear Euro-jank. Big heart, little budget. Substance over style. Though Witcher 2 has plenty of both. Truly a beautiful-looking game.

Yeah Witcher 2 is pretty much the first one to have both though it is still a little janky on the animation, but it's by far the smoothest one yet.

These euro games are basically what the natural evolution of the north american CRPG (and other PC centric genres) would have been had the majority of them not gone to consoles. 10 years ago what we call euro jank now was games like Morrowind and Baldur's Gate.

 

[Horse Armour]

Hmm, I'm not aware of any typically-European glitches. I definitely see localization issues from European studios, most notably in Heavy Rain. While I have solidarity with my EU komerades, your english ain't my english. Sorry.

I think it applies more to Eastern Euope than Western.

 

[Patryn]

I tend to think of it like Drakensang vs. Dragon Age.

One's a bit more complex, with a bit less polish.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

What is Euro jank?

Rayman Origins.

Spoiler

Just kidding.

 

[MattKeil]

First thing that came to mind was Divinity II, although the expansion release improved this aspect greatly.

 

[Sentenza]

In short, they are usually better designed games, more ambitious, less compromised to appeal a broader audience, that on the other hand suffer the lack of decent budget to improve the production value.

For the record I don't like the term very much, as for me, comparing between Mass Effect and Risen the junk is the former.
And I have a hard time thinking about any "triple A" polished product able to compete with Mount & Blade or ArmA II in what these games do.

 

[CecilRousso]

Euro jank for me has always been unpolished games like Risen. Bland design, crappy UI, stiff animations, stuff like that. There is sometimes a good game hidden beneath all that, but I never been ashamed of dismissing janky stuff like Risen. People often claims that budget is the reason for the jank, but it feels more like an excuse than explanation, considering how indie games most often avoids the janky look and feel.

 

[djplaeskool]

I hear "Euro Jank," and the first games that comes to mind are the Two Worlds games.
Christ those games were janky as hell.

 

[jaundicejuice]

I've only ever seen the term when people discuss European developed rpgs like Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga, Risen, Two Worlds II, Drakensang, The Witcher et all. In my mind the description usually means that these studios generally have the same ambitions as say Bethesda or Bioware but they don't have the same large budgets and teams to accomplish them. In some ways these games fall short, certain aspects are rough and unpolished, but in other ways they match and sometimes exceed. "Eurojank" crpgs are always worth playing.

 

[John Rabbit]

i've never heard this term. although if i thought about it i guess i'd associate "euro jank" more with what is technically "EASTERN BLOC jank". strange game concepts, a distinct sense of minimalism/isolation in the world design, and translation errors or bugged mechanics.

most of the euro games that immediately come to mind are actually all really stylish and rewarding titles.

edit: and yeah ^, witcher 2 definitely has that "euro jank" flavor to it. but i would never say its more buggy than any other game of it's type.

 

[Patryn]

I think a lot of Obsidian's issues could be called Euro jank, except that they aren't European.

 

[jakershaker]

When you add features without thinking about focus groups.

 

[FieryBalrog]

In short, they are usually better designed games,

Having a shit UI and bugs is not better game design.

 

[TheSeks]

It's kinda similar to "Beth Jank." But unlike Beth where it's a specific company known for the "jank"-yness. It's a whole continent.

 

[theinfinityissue]

I think it's pretty much having a great idea and a solid gameplay core, but just being badly unpolished in different ways. Think stalker, or the witcher basically.

 

[Sentenza]

Having a shit UI and bugs is not better game design.

No, you're right, it isn't.
Having a proper gameplay, which requires ACTUAL active participation from the player and isn't just some sort of "mental conditioning", like "just click when the cursor changes shape", like a training course for Pavlov's dogs, on the other hand, is definitely better design.
And that's exactly why I would pick a Gothic/Risen over Mass Effect any day.