JRPG lovers unite

[Korolev]

I've always liked the Final Fantasy series: they managed to make a world, give it proper backstory, flesh out real characters. The first JRPG I played was FFIX. Great game. First game that actually drew me in, absorbed me into the story line. Other games, including WRPGS, have also done the same, but FFIX, a JRPG, was my first real example of how a game could be just as effective as a movie at telling a story.

 

[BallPtPenTheif]

I agree with the above posts, I'm not a fan of labeling these games 'JRPGs' since racism can be an easy thing to fall into. But since I can't really think of any other classification, I too am forced to classify RPG's as either Japanese or Western.

To be fair, it's not exactly racist, is it? Due to cultural differences, games like FF are nearly always made in Japan, games like Morrowind in America, England or any other western country. Hence JRPG and WRPG. It's no different to calling a Honda a Japanese car, and a Chevvy an American one.

If you called the FF series 'those games made by the squinty yellow skins', then you would rightly be called a racist.

i'm not saying that the term is racist. i'm just trying to get everybody to think about the effectiveness of the term. does using Nationality really illuminate any aspect of the game's dynamic? as a functional label, i think the term JRPG fails, and it's unfortunate since i think the differences amongst role playing games are so nuanced that even the term RPG can be put into question.

as for the car analogy, you are dead on. but again, what information do we gain from knowing that a car was made in Japan? in truth this distinction was established in order to induce consumer favortism towards American automobiles in order to serve the national economy.

it isn't racist but it's like when people say, "yesterday i was talking to this black guy about Final Fantasy."... and you look at your friend wondering why the denotion of the other person's skin color was relevant.

again, i apologize to the OP, this is getting way off target here, i just wanted to clarify that i don't think anybody is racist for using the term JRPG. further discussion about this probably belongs in another thread.