Is Mass Effect an jRPG?

[6037084]

is it japanese? no, is "an jrpg" even correct grammar? not as far as I know

so in conclusion no it isn't

 

[Thaius]

I will open by making the claim that any RPG developer worth their salt is inspired by Final Fantasy. It's pretty much a requirement.

Secondly, it is not made in Japan, so it is not a Japanese RPG (JRPG).

Thirdly, you're making the same mistake many people make when it comes to JRPGS themselves; characters trying to cope with emotional baggage based on a difficult past does not make them JRPG cliches, it makes them good characters. And even then, just because characters are similar to other characters from JRPGs does not make it a JRPG; that's like saying Star Wars is a book because of its ties to Greek mythology and The Odyssey.

Fourthly, "there is fanfiction and the players care about the characters" has absolutely no bearing on genre. None whatsoever. There is fanfiction for everything. You should see the gigantic amount of fanfiction for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, some of it is even incredible. Check out the amount of fanfiction for Star Wars, or Halo, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, all American things across mediums. If people like it, it will have fanfiction, and there is no more meaning to garner from that.

Fifthly, the gameplay of Mass Effect 2 is exactly the opposite of how a JRPG typically works. JRPGs are about a linear story with little to no player input when it comes to the protagonist's personality and strategic turn-based combat that is more about the stats and strategy than the actual act of battle itself (speed, accuracy, etc. are handled by the system, the player simply strategizes and commands). These are both good things; absolutely nothing wrong with them. But Mass Effect 2 dropped most of the stat-based RPG elements in favor of a more action-centric battle system and has huge amounts of player control of the protagonist's choices and personality.

This discussion was over as of that second point, but I figured I'd point out the other issues. I'm sorry, but this argument simply doesn't hold up.

 

[poppabaggins]

It's a crappy linear waifu simulator-slash-generic space marine third person shooter, but it's not a JRPG.

Mass Effect actually lets you develop a personality for your character via dialog choices. JRPGs lock you in to what the designers want you to do. There really aren't any RPG elements in JRPGs, so the term is definitely a misnomer.

And, for the record: stats do not equal role playing

I bet you're the kind of person who thinks every JRPG is like Final Fantasy.

And for the record: You don't know what you're talking about.

Wow! Someone's a presumptuous asshole fanboy! I've played Final Fantasies 1,6,7,8,10; Tales of: Eternia, Symphonia; Shin Megami Tensei 1; Xenogears; Xenosaga 1; SMT Persona 2: Original Sin, and Persona 3. Some of these games are good, but none provide a proper role playing experience

Of those games, only the SMT let you make choices that influence the game. But the thing about SMT1 is that if you choose anything other than the "neutral" path, you miss out on some of the best parts of those games (it was released on SNES, though so I can't really fault it). And the Persona games do offer more choice, but all of the characters are based off of tropes, and they rely more on what you know about that type of character as opposed to the characters themselves to do the actual development. And the Persona gameplay is so drab and repetitive, I could barely bring myself to continue playing it (solely because I was promised that the story "gets better". SPOILER: the story does not get better at all).

Based on your use of the term "waifu" and your adamant defense of a stale genre that not even Atlus can save, I can tell that you're more than a little bit of a weeaboo. This colors your reason-free argument a shade of the most unconvincing and embarrassing color possible.

RPGs are about playing a role in a game (enlightening, isn't it? It's almost like an acronym <--sarcasm). JRPGs are about thrusting the role into your face like an unwanted crotch. Sometimes the crotch is kept at a distance (e.g. SMT), but I prefer to play my games without a threat of rape, thank you very much.

 

[Feylynn]

They don't call it the:

Spoiler: AMCwOSWaaloTATAaOCPLaFBCAtFLNPtOVECwTBCaSBERPG

AMCwOSWaaloTATAaOCPLaFBCAtFLNPtOVECwTBCaSBERPG
Androgynous Main Character With Over Sized Weaponry and a lot of Teen Angst That Accompanies an Overly Convoluted Plot Line and Fetish Based Character Archetypes that Follow Linear Narrative Progression to Overcome Very Evil Corporations with Turn Based Combat and Stat Building Exercises Role Playing Game.

They call it a a jRPG.
Japanese.

Beyond that I find it kind of silly you are using jRPG to define "Gaming flaws", some of the more known companies have become stale with much of their recent work but there is a lot to like in the genre, it's just not for everyone (which can be said for any genre).

I'd then like to note that Role Playing is a very sketchy definition that can be applied to basically every game that exists right now. A large portion of RP is not stat building but character building, so all of your dialog and friends are what define Mass Effect as an RPG.

 

[Sinspiration]

Uh.. Sorry but no.. Mass Effect is not and has never been a 'JRPG' series.

As far as I've ever been concerned, its a Space Opera with RPG/Shooter "elements" as the basis for combat. The lack of side quests doesn't matter really because its a very rich story with massive character interaction beyond most other games.

 

[AzureRaven]

I think you're confusing a fan base's wants for aspects of the game itself. Yea, there's a lot fanfiction out there, it's because a lot of them really love the Mass Effect universe and they did a fairly good job at developing interesting characters for the romance. In WRPGs, there's typically a way to make your character more of a reflection of you, rather than completely preset. That's evident in the fact that you're making choices with real impact. While I don't think there's anything wrong with JRPGs personally, this is definitely not one. Plus the fact that it didn't come from Japan. That's part of it.

 

[Worr Monger]

The question "Is Mass Effect an jRPG?" just makes me want to cry...

 

[Castratikron]

It may be similar to J-RPG's but it is still made by a western developer so it isn't a J-RPG.

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

I think you're forgetting the J. You know... the J that stands for JAPANESE. Unless I missed something and Bioware has been Japanese this whole time.
It has WAY more character customization and choices that the average JRPG and its not MADE BY A JAPANESE DEVELOPER. It IS very action based, and I don't see how that would not make it an RPG (after all, the choice system and character customization and all that makes up for the lack of stats grinding and whatnot). So no. Mass Effect is NOT a JRPG.

 

[mtarzaim]

JRPG has little to do with nationalities... It's a way to design role-playing games: story > freedom. If you get a heavy story-driven game with level-up, chances are it's a JRPG wannabe.

So, let's take a look in ME :
- BFG + BFArmor + mecha
- Universe in danger + a group of rogue people who will stop it all by themselves
- corrupted government + shadow organization leaded by a bishie
- Boobs
- Tentacles (Asaris, reapers, etc)
- Weird science
- Nature preservation speeches
- Romance
- IA love
- Ass count
- Bishies (everyone is "attractive", even qurians)
- Turn based (if you make a lot of use of the tactic screen)
- Pimp my avatar/ship
- Funny unharmful mascott (Joker? )

TPS ? It's a camera angle.
Shooter ? Ok, I call that new to the trope of HF games. But still a game mechanic, not a definitive type of game.

So, is ME a JRPG?
I would say yes.
Stripped of the anime cliches inherent to the genre, with a western take on Sci-Fi. But still a JRPG in its execution.

PS: Since when "Waifu" is an insult for a game?

 

[Nackl of Gilmed]

It isn't an RPG, it's a third person shooter with RPG elements. A great third person shooter series, with some great characterization and writing mind you but the RPG aspect has always been bad. The first games RPG elements weren't any better than the second, they were pointless. A game where you only pick between two well-defined character types and are punished for mixing them, is not a good RPG period.

Still a great series though.

Also, not all JRPG's are like that. You're just assuming the entire genre is Final Fantasy, and you're treating the term JRPG like an insult.

I don't know that this is entirely true. Ignoring the JRPG versus non-J RPG definition, since there probably is no actual specific definition for those terms beyond the use of turn-based combat, the Mass Effect series still allows the player to determine the nature of their character and the way they influence events in the world. Personally, I did not stick to either Paragon or Renegade 100%, and was not noticeably penalised for that decision. I was maybe 25% Renegade without being limited in my choice to pursue the Paragon plotlines, which is probably enough for players who are actively deciding when and where they cross their own lines of morality.

 

[AlternatePFG]

It isn't an RPG, it's a third person shooter with RPG elements. A great third person shooter series, with some great characterization and writing mind you but the RPG aspect has always been bad. The first games RPG elements weren't any better than the second, they were pointless. A game where you only pick between two well-defined character types and are punished for mixing them, is not a good RPG period.

Still a great series though.

Also, not all JRPG's are like that. You're just assuming the entire genre is Final Fantasy, and you're treating the term JRPG like an insult.

I don't know that this is entirely true. Ignoring the JRPG versus non-J RPG definition, since there probably is no actual specific definition for those terms beyond the use of turn-based combat, the Mass Effect series still allows the player to determine the nature of their character and the way they influence events in the world. Personally, I did not stick to either Paragon or Renegade 100%, and was not noticeably penalised for that decision. I was maybe 25% Renegade without being limited in my choice to pursue the Paragon plotlines, which is probably enough for players who are actively deciding when and where they cross their own lines of morality.

Not all JRPG's use turn based combat. That doesn't define a JRPG. It's just an RPG made in Japan.

Okay, sure. You can get through the game with mixed paragon/renegade. And yeah, you can pass all of the checks with at least 3/4 full of one or the other, but that's still just playing one of the two versions of Shepard, with some minor variations. You don't get any options in actually playing the game, aside from speech checking, or gunning down everything that moves.

If it's an RPG, which I don't think it is, it's still not very good as one. That's why I prefer looking at it like a shooter.

 

[Smooth Operator]

I really can't see it, JRPG characters never act or talk like real people, they act like cartoony caricatures , ME2 characters however do act like people.
And the story linearity only feels like watered down WRPG, again doesn't seem like a JRPG railroad track.

The closest one to JRPG's is actually DA2, people look like mold perfect superheroes, equipped with all sorts of spikey armor, witch of the wilds is a straight up anime character, they do moves that are blown way out of proportion, they make obvious and stupid coments, they strike silly poses, you have an emo sibling, random battles,...

 

[Nackl of Gilmed]

Pretty much, yeah. The biggest difference between your viewpoint and mine is in how willing we are to dispense the title of 'rpg'. In combat the game is definitely a shooter, but you have options to influence the plot in what (to me) is definitely an rpg style of game.

EDIT:

It isn't an RPG, it's a third person shooter with RPG elements. A great third person shooter series, with some great characterization and writing mind you but the RPG aspect has always been bad. The first games RPG elements weren't any better than the second, they were pointless. A game where you only pick between two well-defined character types and are punished for mixing them, is not a good RPG period.

Still a great series though.

Also, not all JRPG's are like that. You're just assuming the entire genre is Final Fantasy, and you're treating the term JRPG like an insult.

I don't know that this is entirely true. Ignoring the JRPG versus non-J RPG definition, since there probably is no actual specific definition for those terms beyond the use of turn-based combat, the Mass Effect series still allows the player to determine the nature of their character and the way they influence events in the world. Personally, I did not stick to either Paragon or Renegade 100%, and was not noticeably penalised for that decision. I was maybe 25% Renegade without being limited in my choice to pursue the Paragon plotlines, which is probably enough for players who are actively deciding when and where they cross their own lines of morality.

Not all JRPG's use turn based combat. That doesn't define a JRPG. It's just an RPG made in Japan.

Okay, sure. You can get through the game with mixed paragon/renegade. And yeah, you can pass all of the checks with at least 3/4 full of one or the other, but that's still just playing one of the two versions of Shepard, with some minor variations. You don't get any options in actually playing the game, aside from speech checking, or gunning down everything that moves.

If it's an RPG, which I don't think it is, it's still not very good as one. That's why I prefer looking at it like a shooter.

I probably should have quoted you initially so you knew I was responding to you, but I accidentally didn't. My apologies.

 

[imnot]

Nope.avi

I mean its not even japanese!

 

[Knight Templar]

So, is ME a JRPG?
I would say yes.

No offense, but you would define a lot of the D&D I've played and seen as a JRPG, which is not only utterly incorrect and misleading but to do so would make the term useless. Oh and ME is not turn based, no matter how you look at it.
You are being silly.

 

[Twilight_guy]

It was made by Biowear and Biowear is in America. Therefore, it was made in the west and is a Western RPG. People tend to think that games are JRPGs because they have some common trait to them in gameplay or something but no in order to be a JRPG it simply needs to be made in Japan. (there are other factors that subcategory RPGs besides location of origin).

 

[LinwoodElrich]

I am actually confused how you could think it was a JRPG in all honesty. I mean, JRPGes have a very distinctive style and general gameplay to them that is miles apart from Mass Effect, particularly since Mass Effect is primarily, particularly in the second one, a third person shooter.

There is of course the obvious fact too that JRPG is a japanese RPG and so obviously Mass Effect isn't one.

 

[The Bandit]

Why does this thread have four pages? There is only one answer to this question, and the answer is no.

 

[OakTable]

Is it a JRPG? Nope. Is it a good RPG? Also nope. It's just a mediocre WRPG.