Are JRPG´s dead?

[burealis]

I´ve been a long time Escapist visitor but hey... today i decided to register and write stuff.
Let me tell you that my english is far from perfect so expect some grammar and/or spelling errors.

Just like the subject says, are JRPG´s dead (J stands for Japanese)?
Back in my console days (Mega Drive/Genesis and SNES) these we´re the kind of games i really loved to play alone for hours. Such titles as Phantasy Star, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, Secret of Mana, Shinning Force, Final Fantasy, etc made me really anxious until i finished them all. Seems to me now that the new generation of gamers seem to prefer other type of RPG´s (the word MMORPG gives me chills!)with a less linear story and with tons of "quests". The only living JRPG saga is still Final Fantasy but it limits itself to console gamers, leaving me and i dare to say millions of others, drooling over some really nice screens on YouTube. I feel old....

 

[loremazd]

Persona 4, Tales of Vesperia.

 

[hypothetical fact]

I imagine that you will be able to find new Japanese RPG's in Japan so no they are not dead.

 

[USSR]

JRPG's will never die until they make final fantasy..52?

No offense to any FF lover, considering I love the game too, but you have to agree..they've made a bit too long of a series of games. But sometimes it does shock me to hear "Final Fantasy 13"

Of course when I say this, I'm speaking for Americans. If JRPG's are dead in Japan, then I will be utterly surprised.

 

[JakalMc]

Disgaea, La Pucelle Tactics. Just a couple off the top of my head

There are still plenty around. Seek and you shall find.

 

[Aardvark Soup]

Dead they are certainly not, but modern JPRGS's are often accused of being too old fashioned and recycling old formulas. That might be true for the majority of them, but you've got plenty of exceptions like The World Ends with You, newer Final Fantasies and Persona 4.

 

[rokudan]

if people sheepishly shell out 80 bucks every year for the next madden/nba game with minimal updates that could easily have been taken care of by a simple download update, then JRPG's will never die.

 

[rossatdi]

Fingers crossed, fingers crossed.

 

[mhitman]

I don't understand how people can play, basically an interactive cutscene. They look good visually but i don't understand the appeal of it at all. Except for pokemon, but pokemons just awesome, well atleast it use to be.

 

[Brokkr]

The only ones that I've ever been interested in are the Final Fantasy games. I've played every one of them since 7 and am pretty excited that 13 will be on the 360.

 

[michaelleung]

No, not really. Although the Western view of JRPGs has been waning for some time now. I hope FFXIII will bolster the JRPG genre a bit though.

 

[J-Man]

I don't think I've ever played a JRPG, but with all the freaky hentai mods for Oblivion floating round, it pretty much is one.

 

[Bumcheek]

aint mgs4 a jrpg?

 

[rossatdi]

The only ones that I've ever been interested in are the Final Fantasy games. I've played every one of them since 7 and am pretty excited that 13 will be on the 360.

I thought it was confirmed that it wasn't? The game is going to have so many shoddy cutscenes that it's going to take up more than one blu-ray disc.

Not that I'd buy it if it did.

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

they are basically dying out because THEY DON'T RELASE A BLOODY (J)THING ON PC!

aint mgs4 a jrpg?

no, it's a stealth action game. not an RPG.

 

[Brokkr]

The only ones that I've ever been interested in are the Final Fantasy games. I've played every one of them since 7 and am pretty excited that 13 will be on the 360.

I thought it was confirmed that it wasn't? The game is going to have so many shoddy cutscenes that it's going to take up more than one blu-ray disc.

Not that I'd buy it if it did.

I haven't heard anything new about it since the announcement at E3. As far as I know it is still being released on only the PS3 in Japan and on the PS3 and 360 in North America and Europe.

 

[shadow skill]

they are basically dying out because THEY DON'T RELASE A BLOODY (J)THING ON PC!

aint mgs4 a jrpg?

no, it's a stealth action game. not an RPG.

Yes they do it just does not happen very often. There was one that came out in 2008 that got a PS3 port.

 

[burealis]

they are basically dying out because THEY DON'T RELASE A BLOODY (J)THING ON PC!

The only one i´ve could ever play we´re FF VII, FF VIII and Y´s Oath in Felghana, and this last one was only possible because of a fan translation patch. Perhaps i don´t have the real perception of the amount of these kind of games being released due to the fact that i don´t own any of the current consoles. Still the emulation scene keeps me happy from time to time.

 

[ultimasupersaiyan]

The JRPG genre is almost dead in western culture due to our need for freedom and hatred for turn based combat... well that's what I'm told atleast. I personally believe it's because of western cultures impatients between cutscene and action and they don't feel like they're doing much in the game at all, just wheeling the characters around and the games just move way to slow for them. I love JRPG's myself, not for gameplay as much as the story. I find JRPG's have some of the best video game storyline but that's me.

aint mgs4 a jrpg?

No the Metal Gear Solid series is not a JRPG it's an action/shooter/steath game.

Dead they are certainly not, but modern JPRGS's are often accused of being too old fashioned and recycling old formulas. That might be true for the majority of them, but you've got plenty of exceptions like The World Ends with You, newer Final Fantasies and Persona 4.

JRPG's of old were the pinacle of the genre but each generation of gamer is affecting how each genre evolves. The players of JRPG's like Crono Trigger and Final Fantasy IV are pretty much parents now with no time to play and developers have been trying to appeal to each newer generation of gamer that comes by. That's why JRPG's have transitioned into more of a turn-based action RPG(MMORPG wannabes) like that god awful Final Fantasy XII(hate the story, not the gameplay style). I wish JRPG's would return to Crono Trigger quality with todays technology but only Mistwalker is like that and their games were crusified by western game reviewers.

 

[richasr]

I've never liked JRPGs, I think it's the outlandish and almost stupid look of the characters, and the story-telling, just my thoughts. My girlfriend loves JRPGs but i'm more of a Mass Effect/Elder Scrolls/KOTR type person (Western RPGs?).

I think it's possible that the interest in them outside Japan has subsided quite a bit, and the obvious mainstay is Final Fantasy, which never seems to go away.

I don't think it helps that any recent ones were a big pile of horse-manure compared to some of old.

One last thing, a more recent Final Fantasy where the battlefield was less turn-based and traditional, I liked a lot more, yet my girlfriend couldnt get into it, and i've heard from a lot of people who also didn't like it. Strange that.