Poll: Do you prefer western or japanese RPG's?

[Pegghead]

I've never really gotten into the genre of JRPGs mainly due to the fact that I don't enjoy grid or turn based combat and the fact that most of the time it's hard to see some real progress in your character.

I do enjoy the odd western RPG from time to time, honestly when it comes to story in a game I enjoy it when it's good and find a game worse when it's laughably bad but in general I don't have much of a record for banging the old "Games without stories are garabage" drum and through this I've found western rpgs to sit better with me, along with the fact that the game worlds are usually pretty creative, the combat's usually well done and you can always see real progress in your character.

 

[Rewold]

I prefer the stories in JRPGs.

 

[Daipire]

I would marry Fable, except i'm under 18, and that'd be really awkward...

Theres usually more fun to be had in WRPGs, but then again, i like button-mashing and totally pwning masses of enemies that some JRPGs provide.

Final Fantasies can never win me over with turn based, mind you.

 

[Mr.Bruhn]

Not sure it's WRPG's as much as anything bethesda puts out. I can never finish a JRPG either I lose intrest or I get tired of grinding.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Lately I've been going for WRPG's, but Valkyria Chronicles and Demon's Souls were pretty damn good JRPG's.

 

[Dexiro]

They're both good. Western RPGs have more variety but often have bad design, while JRPGs are better designed but are usually pretty similar.

They both have exceptions though. Demon Soul's is a JRPG and i have nothing bad to say about that.

 

[Ruffythepirate]

In my opinion, JRPG's are just crazy.

 

[Shepard's Shadow]

I prefer western RPGs. The only JRPGs I like are Final Fantasy ones.

 

[ChaoticLegion]

A western RPG involves role-playing. A Japanese RPG is a linear adventure game with numbers.

Thank you. Saved me around 10 seconds of my life.

No seriously, I absolutely hate JRPG's. I hate them almost as much as Yahtzee does.

Couldn't possibly agree more.

 

[Jandau]

Western RPGs. Far more variety in gameplay, mechanics and game worlds. JRPGs are a bit stagnant and have been for years. Also, what little change is going on usually isn't for the better...

 

[Lullabye]

I like them both and play them both equally.

I pretty much just like all RPG's, as long as it just doesnt suck in general.

My thoughts exactly.
......
now to twiddle my thumbs i shame for lack of originality....

 

[The Madman]

I like to be able to have *some* impact in an rpg, even if it's only a superficial one. Even just the illusion of choice and consequences is better than none at all, which is what you generally get with jrpg.

Basically when I play an rpg regardless of where it was made or by whom, I want to genuinely 'roleplay'. I want to play the character as I see fit, whether I made that character or not, and have to be able to immerse myself in the games story and lore. Take the Baldur's Gate saga for example. You start out a weakling, a young pup on the run, your guardian killed before your very eyes and with no one to turn to but a vague mention of 'khalid and Jaheira', how you proceed from there is ultimately up to the player. You'll visit many of the same locations regardless of how you play, and fight many of the same enemies, but 'why' you're there, who you're with, how you got there, everything can change depending on how you play. And so when finally you begin to reach the end of the series, you feel like you've have a personal impact on the story. The character you're playing isn't just some protagonist thought up by a developer, it's someone who you helped shape and create. Same with your companions, you've interacted with them, gotten to know them, and in many cases had a hand in shaping who they are by the end of the game and even how you relate to them.

And I find that much more fulfilling than simply playing the role of a chosen protagonist through a scripted adventure fraught, more often than not, with bad dialogue, annoying characters, and terrible translations. Which isn't to say there aren't good jrpg, of course there are, but me, personally?... I just don't play rpg for the same things a jrpg fan might.

I play rpg for the roleplaying, go figure.

Great, now I've gotten the itch to play Baldur's Gate again. There goes my free time for the next few weeks!

 

[Hurr Durr Derp]

I dislike jRPGs for several reasons:

- Often very linear, with only one solution to every problem.
- Gameplay is usually completely detached from the story. A jRPG player plays a game and watches a story, a wRPG player is usually a part of the story (the player, not just the character!) A jRPG player typically has zero influence on how the story goes, just the gameplay bits in between.
- Boring stereotypes. I've had enough of androgynous boys saving the world.
- Little to no character customization. See the previous point.

That's not to say I dislike all jRPGs. I enjoyed the old SNES Final Fantasies, FF8, The Last Remnant, etc. Just that, if I had to choose, I'd go for wRPGs over jRPGs without looking back.

 

[Srdjan]

Well I don't like any of that anime bullshit so I hate jRPG, I can't roleplay some one 13 years old with spiky hair and bad outfit. On the other hand I can roleplay 2m high human warrior in golden silver plated armor wearing demon killer sword +6, so I like wRPG very much.

 

[NBSRDan]

"JRPG" is a very specific and inherently flawed genre which designers have to work around to make good, whereas a "WRPG" can be just about anything. Even better is a GRPG.

 

[King Kupofried]

Allow me to grab my head and flail around on the floor for a moment.
Final Fantasy is not the only JRPG in the world, SE is not the only company that has ever made a JRPG, Turn-based combat is not always the same thing any more than all FPS shooters are the same thing. There are more than just spiky hair teenagers in JRPGs. If SE and Final Fantasy is your only point of reference for what a JRPGs contain then please consider your opinion on this particular brand of RPG uninformed and destructive.


I understand and appreciate the love for WRPGs, and I know that I myself leaned my own opinion more towards a comparison to Oblivion, but it is sickening to see 3/4 describe their opinion of what they see all JRPGs to be as quite suspiciously what Final Fantasy has been for a long time now.
My intention is not to sway opinions with this or to target everyone supporting the Western of the RPGs in this thread, if you hate JRPGs and Turn based combat in all incarnations then cool, fine, I can see perfectly well why you might hate them for many reasons why I myself like them. I really just want to bang my little flesh and bone fists on the gigantic rock wall that is the stigma that Final Fantasy = All JRPGs.
Also I hate acronyms now. D: omggtgttyl.

 

[Azaradel]

Western RPGs, by far, because they tend to involve... you know... role-playing (something that has been pointed out several times already)

That's not saying I neccessarily dislike all JRPGs, I just don't enjoy them nearly as much as I do WPRGs.

 

[McShizzle]

I'm playing through three JRPGs at the moment and I love every one of them.

I've tried a few of the more highly acclaimed WRPGs and I've only really gotten into the Fallout series... I think it's the unrelenting influence of Tolkien's universe combined with the existence of orcs and trolls. I can't deal with those at all.

Although I prefer western RPG's, that is a good point. Tolkien pretty much wrote the playbook and we've been following it ever since, with some revisions by D&D. There are exceptions, I wouldn't say that Mass Effect, the Fallout series or KotoR quite fit the mold.