The power of friendship (JRPGs)

[krazykidd]

Is anyone else tired of the power of friendship in Video games ( mainly JRPGs). It seems that JRPGs have been using that theme since forever , to demonstrate how friendship can overcome all and yada yada yada and beat the bad guy. So my question is

a) Do you think the theme of friendship has been overused in JRPGs ( give an example )

and

b) what other themes work well and you would like to see more of in JRPGs

 

[Kahunaburger]

How about Devil Survivor? That's a JRPG that's less about the power of friendship and more about the power of winning a Highlander-style tournament against various uber-powerful demonic forces. And the power of rock, if you go for a certain ending.

(More on-topic, it's probably a cultural thing. You could make just as much of a case that American games tend to be about the power of the individual.)

 

[komodomantis]

Well, I'm Playing Persona 3 Portable where building strong relationships with people help you make stronger Personas. I think it's a nice spin on the whole "Power of Friendship" thing.

Besides JRPGs have a lot of overused themes like the whole stoic, loner, emo hero. I'd like to see more functional and normal characters as protagonists.

 

[Archangel768]

The only time I've come across this 'power of friendship' in JRPGs is Final Fantasy VIII.

Where else is it used? So many people go on about it but, I don't ever see it in the ones I play.

Someone above said Persona 3 uses it but, to me the game didn't really come off as that but, maybe it was just me. Sure you could make friends with people and those social links would enhance your power to use personas but, I don't know, it just doesn't seem like the stupid 'power of friendship' thing, like I experienced in Final Fantasy VIII.

Also, if anyone is kind enough to list ones that do it, like as stupid as it sounded in FF VIII then please don't spoil the story along with it as I may be playing them.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Besides JRPGs have a lot of overused themes like the whole stoic, loner, emo hero. I'd like to see more functional and normal characters as protagonists.

It kind of makes sense, given the sort of stories JRPGs often tell. It's a story about an individual/group relationship that parallels the individual/world story or group/world story that's going on at the same time. A major way that JRPGs often do character development is a character who grows in relation to a group, and having the character have some sort of defective way of relating to others at the beginning of the story is a way of setting that up.

OTOH, the (very few) JRPGs I've played don't really have that at all. For instance, the protagonist of Devil Survivor is completely functional, as is Vyse from Skies of Arcadia. The only one who really had a serious character defect was Lloyd from Tales of Symphonia (he's dumb as a brick) but that didn't negatively affect his ability to relate to others and was mostly played for laughs.

 

[bob1052]

Considering JRPGs have reused the same cliches almost universally across the entire genre for the past 10 years, I wouldn't say that this one theme being reused is that abnormal in the larger scope of things.

 

[The Wykydtron]

I liked Persona 3 and 4's (mainly 4's) interpretation of friendship giving you better Personas

It was a nice way of using friendship in combat as well, with the whole "saving you from a mortal blow" thing, you appreciate your party a lot more when they've taken several would be killing blows for you.

 

[Radoh]

After all, Friendship is Magic =3 (FLAME SHIELDS UP)

Dang it you beat me to it.

OT: eh, not really sick of it myself.
What I am getting sick of, is the endings that make no sense and are not explained in any means.
I'm looking at you FFXIII and you too Resonance of Fate.

 

[Manji187]

I see that someone hasn't discovered TV Tropes yet

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TrueCompanions?from=Main.Nakama

Check under the Videogames heading under "Examples:".

Sure, it's overused...but how do you imagine JRPGs without it?

Okay, it worked for Vagrant Story (solo dungeoncrawler)...but that is one dark, cynical game...in a good way.

 

[Mr Thin]

JRPGs? I've never played too many of them, though I encounter(ed) this problem WAY too often in cartoons. You know something's overused when your six-year old self is tired of hearing it.

 

[Richardplex]

I think friendship affects Anime and Manga more than JRPGs. Though apparently it's quite frequently mentioned in FF6, to the point Kefka comments about it. I think, I haven't played the game so I wouldn't know.

 

[Silva]

Friendship is an overused theme for JRPGs because if you think about it, a bunch of people fighting for one cause that hate each other is either really dark to the point of being emo, or it takes that darkness a shade further and becomes comedic. If you want a serious yet optimistic tale, you need the power of friendship card to be played at least once if not as a constant theme.

Thing is, the system of JRPGs, which is so dependent on developing all characters, requires it to come up constantly. After all, psychologically speaking, the way a person (or character) defines themselves is often seen in reflection from other people. If you make everyone disconnected and unwilling to talk to each other, it screws with the narrative structure of books, it can only get worse for games, which tend to have pretty horrible writing standards as it is. That, or you get a bunch of endless inner monologues, which frankly is not very interesting at all.

Sure you could have a group of badasses together who don't care if they're friends or not. But I can't see that as anything more than a superficial macho dream with no real base in reality or an understanding of deeper motivations for characters. And if a JRPG doesn't do character development properly, then it (often) has NO good qualities. At all. So while that approach might work for, say, a shooter, it won't ever work there.

So in a way, except for the occasional dark fantasy style or comedy JRPG, we are stuck with the power of friendship theme. Reducing it is possible, but it's always going to be a core factor in the equation.

The only one who really had a serious character defect was Lloyd from Tales of Symphonia (he's dumb as a brick)

I really cannot overstate how funny that line was. Partly due to the Jackson avatar. Kudos to you, sir.

 

[LokiArchetype]

In party-based RPGs, friendship is going to be a major theme. It'd be hard to avoid when you spend the entire game with a stable set of companions.

Since its an RPG and they get major screen time, there is an expectation that they will be fleshed out and they will show character development. Since you are the protagonist, this will largely be based on your activities together and interactions with them.

 

[varulfic]

Considering party-based, character-driven stories are my favorite, regardless if it's western of japanese, I'd say no. I'm not getting tired of it. More power! More friendship! Love conquers all!

 

[AyreonMaiden]

Nope. I'm never tired of any trope ever.

I'm tired of certain presentations of tropes, though.

I'm tired of the lengthy hammy monologues about friendship that the average optimistic JRPG hero uses in the face of the final boss. But I'm never tired of Persona's way of showing you the power through gameplay and subtle narrative. I mean, what can I say? True friendship IS powerful. I just want different ways of displaying what such powers can do.

I'm also never tired of bromances. I'm sick to DEATH of heroes who stand alone as leaders of their parties, or get the sole recognition for the work that everyone put in. I must be the only true-bro Yosuke fan out there, cause I enjoyed his Social Link and what he represented a huge hell of a lot, and most people seem to complain that he kept hogging their spotlight. Eff that. I love me a great, loyal friendship.

 

[hazabaza1]

As people have mentioned, Persona does this really well, not only in making stronger Personas.

Spoiler: An example from the end boss in Persona 3. End boss and general spoilers

Basically, your shit is getting fucked up. You're up against Death itself, it's dealing 9999 damage, but you're somehow alive. Then, your party members, one by one, realise you're fighting Death, and each take their time to encourage and cheer you on.
And then, the best moment ever...
"The power of Friendship surges in you"
Next thing you know, your health is getting restored, you're evading and blocking DEATH [sub]goddamn that was awesome[/sub] and even one of your friends who was killed joins in on the fun.

That is how you portray friendship in games.

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

So, you're asking me if I don't believe in the overwhelming power that is, in itself, friendship?

"...that's so cute it's stupid."

 

[krazykidd]

There are plenty that don't focus on friendship, like Star Ocean (or Star Ocean 3, at least, haven't played the others =( ), Shin Megami Tensei (main series and several of the spin offs), several Final Fantasies, several Dragon Quests, ect. You just gotta play a lot and see what's out there.

That said, it doesn't bug me. In a big bad world where everything's out to get you (both in games and IRL) it's nice to have a reminder of how important friendship can be from time to time.

After all, Friendship is Magic =3 (FLAME SHIELDS UP)

Now ill agree that alot of SMT games don't use the power of friedship ( except persona 3 and 4 , ironically persona 1 the main characters almost hated each other which was funny ) but all the FF games ( the main ones at least ) do use the Power of friendship, i would like to know which ones you find don't out of curiosity.