emotion in Western RPGs?

Recommended Videos

Pyre1million

New member
Mar 23, 2008
68
0
0
shadow skill said:
I would just like to point out that Jrpgs do not begin and end with Final Fantasy.
Seconded. there are others, such as Crono trigger, Legend of Dragoon, the Tales series. Some of the best, to my understanding, never even made it over here in non-ROM form.
 

Yaotl

New member
Mar 16, 2008
16
0
0
I find most RPG's to be highly inadequate, mind you I have played a few RPG's in my time that I did enjoy but they were mostly some sort of hybrid, like an FPS/RPG or a RTS/RPG.

And Jrpg's are the ones without any emotion, I mean can anyone relate to Jrpg characters, can even the japanese relate to them? I hope not because those are some poorly written characters, and often very poorly designed.
 

ofthemist

New member
Mar 23, 2008
2
0
0
Relating and understanding would be two different things in terms of the characters. I have been able to get attached to characters.

On the note of other gaming styles there are some that are also enjoyable. Some even more so dependant on my mood. However this thread was about JRPG's vs WRPG's.

Going on to other styles of JRPG's not listed I liked Xenogears and Legend of Legaia. Final Fantasy however seems to be the most iconic and most popular. Not only that but they seem to have the most money and people in order to do more things. What other company has put out as many games, animes, movies, etc. that were all revolving around a central name or theme? I only brought up FF in order to defend Zidane anyway.
 

Razzle Bathbone

New member
Sep 12, 2007
341
0
0
ofthemist said:
Do you whine if you can't control who a character is in a book or movie or that they do something you don't want them to? Why do it in a video game designed with a set story in mind?
When characters in movies do idiotic things that I can't believe they would actually do, I blame that on a crappy script, not the limitations of the medium. When my character in a game does something stupid (without my choosing), I feel frustrated because I'm supposed to be controlling this character.

If I want a story, I'll watch a movie or TV show or read a book. Those media are better at telling stories than video games (they've had a lot more time to get good at it). If I want to make choices that actually affect the outcome, I'll play a game. Games are about choices. The soul of a game lies in the choices you make. Which is why I tend to find JRPGs rather soulless. If your story is so important that you won't trust a human player to mess around with it, why not just make a movie or write a book?

If you're going to make a game for me to play, then let me PLAY.

(Naturally, I started out playing pen-and-paper RPGs and boardgames. Is my bias showing much?)
 

Torchlyte

New member
Mar 23, 2008
14
0
0
Every criticism that can be leveled at WRPGs can also be leveled at JRPGs. The opposite, however, is not true.
 

RoThgar

New member
Mar 9, 2008
33
0
0
The thing is about JRPGs is that they always tend to have emotionally fucked up kids having to do everything because its all the adults fault. Also like kids they have to be told where to go at what time and they better have their packed lunches with them too or mum will get angry. The plot lines in JRPGs are so boringly linear. There is little choice on what to do and where to go to do it.

Whereas other RPGs tend to mix it up a little bit. There are main quests that advance the plot. But it helps if you do side quests because it gives you more of the back story and more of an attachment to the setting of the game. Not like those boring flashbacks were all so fond of in anime and JRPGs, those annoying storyline unskippable cutscenes....annoying.
 

shihku7

New member
Aug 2, 2006
20
0
0
GTA was made by white dudes in Scotland or Ireland. It ain't a black RPG.

It'll be interesting to see how much people hate black RPGs once Africa eventually makes video games. "Those damn BRPGs complain about racism too much! And I can never identify with the characters in the game. They have weird nappy hair and they like weird music. Plus everyone has really dark skin which is really lame."
 

Natural Hazard

New member
Mar 5, 2008
209
0
0
shadow skill said:
I would just like to point out that Jrpgs do not begin and end with Final Fantasy.
You still have respect the fact that FF really brought JRPGS as a mass product to the western world.
 

Rolling Thunder

New member
Dec 23, 2007
2,265
0
0
I like the FF series.... FF7 was the first (and insofar only) game that made me cry (discounting tears of rage, frustration or triumphant glee). But the charecters are getting a bit odd.

Cloud: Psycho, so cool despite being blonde. Best baddie too. Hardest RPG played to date.

Squall: Did very little compaining (or talking at all) and had a scar across his face. So still cool.

Zidance: Rhymes with 'Inane', and for good reason. Has a tail, steals stuff and has the weakest build and weapon of a FF charecter to date.

Tidus: Queer-ish, but the only FF charecter to even come close to having sex with the female protagionist so earns points there.

Yuna: Female, but got her own game so must be counted in. Only main FF charecter with guns (+) attractive (+) (in a CGi way) but has an annoying laugh and 'blonde' mentality(-).

Vaan: Irksome, but not too badly scripted at times. Still hasn't made a move on the Princess (making him something of an oddity here) but otherwise does the job okay. Still the more disappointing one, but the game iteslf wins points for the 'any weapon, any magic' system. (loses for the gambit system)

Fallout 2: Your own charecter, nicely free-roaming with just enough storyline to hold the plot together. Has sex (+).

BG series: Same as fallout, without guns.

Grandia: Don't really get the plot, but still really enjoying the game.
 
Nov 28, 2007
10,686
0
0
WTH is with all the Zidane hate?

On-topic, I can't really agree with all the JRPG hate, I just think it takes a certain mentality going into it. And again, "JRPG"=/="Final Fantasy". In fact, my two favorite JRPGs that I have played are Chrono Trigger and Xenogears. Neither of which have an effeminate main character.


Edit: Also, Auron is the most bad-ass character in any JRPG.
 

VRaptorX

New member
Mar 6, 2008
321
0
0
yeah....I think mentioning Zidane and all that got this a bit of topic. Noone remember Tales of Phantasia? Dragon Quest? Crono Trigger? Super Mario RPG?

also...FF2,4,5,and 6 were all darker stories. 1 had no plot really but it was complex (you have to actually know chaos theories to understand Garland's plan) and 3...well I only played DS version and it was vague but it did play on a whole "too much good is a bad thing as well" thing.

And we are complaining about cutscenes? Wait....so you'd rather have your plot told out by text like Xenogears? May I remind everyone of spending an hour while some person tells the longest ass, most overly detailed story ever? And what was happening on screen.....a person in a rocking chair going back and forth. Nothing else; I'm still staring at this same freaking room while teh entire plot gets layed out. Cutscenes keep momments like long story telling from getting boring.

Speaking of which...why do you not want games to tell a story? Even the most simplistic games had a story. From NES on every game had a backstory of some kind.....unless you are an Atari game, in which case you have a 50% chance of no story.
 

Kogarian

New member
Feb 24, 2008
844
0
0
shihku7 said:
GTA was made by white dudes in Scotland or Ireland. It ain't a black RPG.

It'll be interesting to see how much people hate black RPGs once Africa eventually makes video games. "Those damn BRPGs complain about racism too much! And I can never identify with the characters in the game. They have weird nappy hair and they like weird music. Plus everyone has really dark skin which is really lame."
Kind of racist...but still made me laugh. What do you think would make a great BRPG?
 

TheFishIsSad

New member
Mar 23, 2008
22
0
0
Zidane was one of my favorite FF protagonists.
Cloud was just an emo who hated himself.
Squall never talked to anyone (but he became more open at the end, which has to count for soomething).
Tidus was just a prick with all his arm-waving and yelling and stuff.
Vaan was a fairly queer protagonist (what's up with his HAIR?!), but did have some good moments. I think Balthier should have been the protagonist, he was much cooler and had some pretty funny lines as well. ("Don't worry, they'll give the power back if you ask nicely. Sticking it with a sword helps, too. Clock's ticking.")
Also, why do male RPG characters have an odd tendency to wear clothes that show of most of their upper bodies? (Tidus, Vaan, etc.)

I've forgotten what the point in this thread was.
 

Logan Westbrook

Transform, Roll Out, Etc
Feb 21, 2008
17,672
0
0
shihku7 said:
GTA was made by white dudes in Scotland or Ireland. It ain't a black RPG.

It'll be interesting to see how much people hate black RPGs once Africa eventually makes video games. "Those damn BRPGs complain about racism too much! And I can never identify with the characters in the game. They have weird nappy hair and they like weird music. Plus everyone has really dark skin which is really lame."
That's not especially funny, even ironically.