What do Japanese Think of wRPGs and Why?

[OldNewNewOld]

Extra Credits did some interesting episodes about the difference of wRPG and jRPG and about the mistakes that people make while talking about them. This should answer your question.

http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/western-japanese-rpgs-part-1
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/western-japanese-rpgs-part-2
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/western-japanese-rpgs-part-3

Also, this the question is just a generalization. And as every generalization, it's bad. just because someone is from Japan doesn't mean he/she likes jRPG and doesn't like wRPG same as someone from the US/Europe/Canada or whatever can like jRPG.

I would say that the biggest mistake people make when talking about w/jRPG is that they assume that you can only like one or the other. Never both.
Well, bad for you, some people like both. I'm one of them.

 

[Kahunaburger]

http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/western-japanese-rpgs-part-1
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/western-japanese-rpgs-part-2
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/western-japanese-rpgs-part-3

I like how they unironically list "conflating cinematic visuals with good narrative" as a particular failing of the JRPG sub-genre.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

I think the biggest question is are the people in Japan that say JRPGs suck and WRPGs are all better half as annoying as people here that say all WRPGs suck and all JRPG's are better?

And are the dismissive individuals any more pointlessly rude and uninformed?

 

[Vault101]

Looking at skyrim, thats near to nonexistant. We "are" someone and write our own story.. and get bored to hell with it because nothing really interesting happens.

.

thats exactally my problem with Skyrim...mabye Im just a horribly uncreative induvidual because i dont fill in the blanks myself...but "eh"

not quite sure what you mean though..WRPG's the storys "unfold" and are "abotu somthing" hence why I prefer the like of dragon age and mass effect

but even the the fallout games I love because they have storys that Im drawn into..and feel a part of..espeiclaly fallout 3

 

[Eddie the head]

I think the biggest question is are the people in Japan that say JRPGs suck and WRPGs are all better half as annoying as people here that say all WRPGs suck and all JRPG's are better?

And are the dismissive individuals any more pointlessly rude and uninformed?

Isn't that the same question only a little bit more broad? Anyone who dismisses all JRPGs as being all better or all worse is uninformed. I am asking are they as annoying?

 

[Aesir23]

As far as Im aware, we don't specifically think of western RPGs as something weird or alien. They are different and not always our taste. We want a stor to unfold about something.

Looking at skyrim, thats near to nonexistant. We "are" someone and write our own story.. and get bored to hell with it because nothing really interesting happens.

So by all means, enjoy your self-fulfillment aspects of RPGs, we stick to our storytelling.

I tend to prefer JRPGs for the same reasons, I prefer to see a story unfold rather than walk around and do quests that don't really have an impact on what happens (in the case of the Elder Scrolls games at least). Though that could because I've almost permanently had my nose stuck in fiction books since I was five years old.

Having a lot choice is nice, but a good story keeps me much more motivated to actually finish the game. Sadly it seems that outside of certain series not many of those actually get imported all the way to Canada.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

I think the biggest question is are the people in Japan that say JRPGs suck and WRPGs are all better half as annoying as people here that say all WRPGs suck and all JRPG's are better?

And are the dismissive individuals any more pointlessly rude and uninformed?

Isn't that the same question only a little bit more broad? Anyone who dismisses all JRPGs as being all better or all worse is uninformed. I am asking are they as annoying?

Note the former part of my comment and the hilarious antics of the other posters here. Sure what they're saying is all in good fun, but there are so many people that are total jerks about how superior wRPGs are on these forums and I found the fact that your post entirely ignored that kinda dumb. The general statement is better. I guess the level of annoyance is important as well.

 

[ulzugot]

As far as Im aware, we don't specifically think of western RPGs as something weird or alien. They are different and not always our taste. We want a stor to unfold about something.

Looking at skyrim, thats near to nonexistant. We "are" someone and write our own story.. and get bored to hell with it because nothing really interesting happens.

So by all means, enjoy your self-fulfillment aspects of RPGs, we stick to our storytelling.

I see. I take then, that Japanese gamers are not as dismissive and "hostile" (for the lack of better word) as majority of western gaming community and that they put story above everything else.
If games with defined characters and focus on the plot are preferred choice, then what about games like Deus Ex, Mass Effect (especially the 1st one) and Witcher games? They have defined characters that are not blank slates designed for self-fulfillment, and mainly focused on the story. To me they seem like sort of hybrids of jRPGs' story driven games with defined characters, and gameplay and "playing hero" focused wRPGs.

Extra Credits did some interesting episodes about the difference of wRPG and jRPG and about the mistakes that people make while talking about them. This should answer your question.

http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/western-japanese-rpgs-part-1
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/western-japanese-rpgs-part-2
http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/western-japanese-rpgs-part-3

Also, this the question is just a generalization. And as every generalization, it's bad. just because someone is from Japan doesn't mean he/she likes jRPG and doesn't like wRPG same as someone from the US/Europe/Canada or whatever can like jRPG.

I would say that the biggest mistake people make when talking about w/jRPG is that they assume that you can only like one or the other. Never both.
Well, bad for you, some people like both. I'm one of them.

Why are generalizations bad?

Those Extra Credits episodes are what got me thinking about wRPGs on the other side of the Pacific. I generalize, but I do not see any other way to talk about opinion of the community, unless we would divide it into segments, subgroups and so on. I am aware that everyone has different tastes and people do not have to like exclusively one thing or the other, and I think that there are fans of wRPGs in Japan. I am interested in reception of those games by the overall community, the big picture.





Thank you for all the responses.

 

[Syzygy23]

As far as Im aware, we don't specifically think of western RPGs as something weird or alien. They are different and not always our taste. We want a stor to unfold about something.

Looking at skyrim, thats near to nonexistant. We "are" someone and write our own story.. and get bored to hell with it because nothing really interesting happens.

So by all means, enjoy your self-fulfillment aspects of RPGs, we stick to our storytelling.

Ah, I see. So the whole Dragons-are-going-to-eat-everyone thing doesn't count as a story?

 

[ohnoitsabear]

As far as Im aware, we don't specifically think of western RPGs as something weird or alien. They are different and not always our taste. We want a stor to unfold about something.

Looking at skyrim, thats near to nonexistant. We "are" someone and write our own story.. and get bored to hell with it because nothing really interesting happens.

So by all means, enjoy your self-fulfillment aspects of RPGs, we stick to our storytelling.

To be fair, aside from the setting, Skyrim is not a typical western RPG. Most western RPGs tend to have more focus than Elder Scrolls games, and very few western RPGs will encourage you to forsake the main story like Elder Scrolls games do.

Granted, western RPGs do tend to have stories that are very driven by players' choices, and more of an ability to ignore the main story in favor of doing side quests, which is not to everyone's tastes.

 

[Syzygy23]

"There are no effeminate boys angsting? Who would want to play this?"

But I'm just guessing.

As opposed to American gamers, who get confused when they play jRPGs, and they're not humans/elves/dwarves in psuedo-England, wearing full plate mail and talking about wenches.

Stop looking at WoW and start looking at Planescape: Torment or Arcanum of Steamworks and Magic.

 

[viranimus]

I call bullshit. I think they like them, they just simply have not had a lot of them to call their own.

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/09/28/this-week-in-sales-dark-souls-sees-demon-sales-ninjas-infiltrate-3ds/

They may not seem to like the ones we send them, but they like their impression of the genre, so they must like them.

 

[Hal10k]

Stop looking at WoW and start looking at Planescape: Torment or Arcanum of Steamworks and Magic.

I could just as easily tell you to stop playing Final Fantasy and start playing Dragon Quest, Persona, etc. There are plenty of good wRPGs and JRPGs that don't conform to their negative stereotypes. That's the thing about negative stereotypes of types of media: ironically enough, you'll very rarely find something that hits all the marks unless it's intentional. Negative stereotypes are mainly forged from the worst aspects of the most popular entries of that type of media.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

Stop looking at WoW and start looking at Planescape: Torment or Arcanum of Steamworks and Magic.

I could just as easily tell you to stop playing Final Fantasy and start playing Dragon Quest, Persona, etc. There are plenty of good wRPGs and JRPGs that don't conform to their negative stereotypes. That's the thing about negative stereotypes of types of media: ironically enough, you'll very rarely find something that hits all the marks unless it's intentional. Negative stereotypes are mainly forged from the worst aspects of the most popular entries of that type of media.

I was going to go off on the guy, but then you wrote this. There is no better way I could have said this, and I don't think I would have wound up saying half of it. It really is important to understand that last part. There is no jRPG which abides by every stereotype anyone would wish to ascribe to the genre, just as there is no horror movie or detective novel which abides by all the stereotypes of their own genres. You get all the cookies.

 

[Don Savik]

Stop looking at WoW and start looking at Planescape: Torment or Arcanum of Steamworks and Magic.

I could just as easily tell you to stop playing Final Fantasy and start playing Dragon Quest, Persona, etc. There are plenty of good wRPGs and JRPGs that don't conform to their negative stereotypes. That's the thing about negative stereotypes of types of media: ironically enough, you'll very rarely find something that hits all the marks unless it's intentional. Negative stereotypes are mainly forged from the worst aspects of the most popular entries of that type of media.

I was going to go off on the guy, but then you wrote this. There is no better way I could have said this, and I don't think I would have wound up saying half of it. It really is important to understand that last part. There is no jRPG which abides by every stereotype anyone would wish to ascribe to the genre, just as there is no horror movie or detective novel which abides by all the stereotypes of their own genres. You get all the cookies.

The problem is that, in America, people know the chocolate-chip cookies, love them, and buy a whole lot of them. Meanwhile, the oatmeal-raisin cookies almost never develop more than a niche appeal, so before too long, bakers aren't bothering to make oatmeal-raisin cookies anymore, so they can make more profitable chocolate-chip.

Over in Japan, chocolate-chip and oatmeal-raisin were both available, and they were so popular, that bakers started putting out stranger and more exotic types of cookies, like macadamia, and macaroons and...

Okay, that metaphor was beginning to strain.. Basically, Japan get by through throwing a whole ton of different ideas and seeing which proverbially stick. You don't get that very much in America, where the idea of 'different' is generally just using R.A. Salvatore's mythos instead of slight variations on J.R.R. Tolkien's.

To be honest, I'd rather have Tolkien related mythos than another high school drama with supernatural elements. But hey, everyone's different.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

"Stories suck/don't exist"
"Too realistic"
"Everything is ugly"
"Too many guns"
"Too easy"



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