Why do people pick on JRPGs?

[TehCookie]

Because it's currently really cool with the kids these days to do so.

I think part of it might also be that the gamers like to project onto the character (even if they don't look the same), and it's hard for a guy to project himself on to a character who looks like a girl and is just as whiny as one.

Just like I can't play games that involve some kind of testosterone driven shaved bear as the protagonist.

Interesting. I never thought of that.
I tend to ALWAYS use female characters (if possible).
That includes fighting games (Chun Li, Ling Xiaoyu, Seong Mina, Terra, Millia Rage, Orchid, etc...) and any RPG that lets me create my own whether J (Demon's Souls, White Knight Chronicles) or W (Dragon Age, Oblivion, Fallout 3).

I wonder which one feeds the other in my case. I've been playing RPGs since DQ1 on the NES (and have played more than I can possibly count). I've been using female characters since forever... Hmmm....

Yes, but they look attractive, I don't mind playing a guy as long as they are attractive. Imagine if every game wanted to play you had to play as

Spoiler: a character like this.

 

[demoman_chaos]

There are many factors for me. In general, the characters for the most part don't feel like they could be real people personality wise, or at least people I would enjoy doing anythign with besides murdering them. If all the characters are unlikable, then you have a problem.
JRPG's tend to be very long, which isn't a bad thing but they tend to drag on needlessly. Why you ask? Too much pointless faffing about. I watched a friend play FF13, and most of the cutscenes I saw (twas playing soemthing else) had no impact on anything. They were there to be there. At least MGS cutscenes mostly have a point. Though they are dragged out as well, most of the time it is to explain stuff to those that don't know what they are talking about (like Drebin explaining the M4 to Snake while he is field stripping it, or anytime Snake repeats what a character just said as a question so theyll explain it to the player).
JRPG combat is usually quite bland. Though they are comparable to a TBS or hack&slash normally, they are all item heavy and the H&S ones are just mash button until an item or special move is needed.
JRPG's also have a bad habit of having epic fight scenes, that are cutscenes you can't play. Though less JRPG's specifically and more Japanese games as a whole, it is still annoying.

 

[Midnight Crossroads]

Snow was annoying at certain points in the story but only when he went on about being a hero, most of the time he was fine other than that i have no complaints over the characters. I think FF13's combat was good because it was trying something different, it was more high paced and you had to be quick and make sure your characters are doing the right things and i absolutely loved it.

You see, I hated Snow because of his introduction. -I admit, I have yet to beat the game and he may redeem himself later- Anyone with an ounce of sense or compassion would never give untrained civilians weapons and send them against well trained, fortified soldiers with air support. Especially if one of them is the mother of a child. That's monstrous and completely unforgivable in my eyes. Maybe it's just because I was in the army before going to college, but it's absolutely infuriating.

 

[Sebenko]

Because of the fans.

Especially ones who start topics like this to complain about anyone who has a differing opinion.

Yes, I've played "JRPGS", and I liked them, but I still hate JRPGS because of the constant shouting from the fans.

 

[Biek]

I think ive grown out of JRPG's. I used to enjoy the final fantasy series but I cba to start picking them up again. I don't necesarily hate them now. I just became cinical about the many things jrpgs have in common nowadays. (Pink haired, androgenous teenagers killing Satan - Yahtzee)

 

[Cheesepower5]

Dude, you can`t deny that at least here on Escapist, jRPG`s get a lot more hate then people trying to say "cool the hate guys."

This thread is pretty much proof, with every third poster saying what basically sums up as "lol cloud r look liek gurl jrpgs teh ghey." Even if you do get equally stupid posts from others. Another good example would be that thread about Wada saying he doesn't know what direction FF should go.

"It should be the FINAL Fantasy! Guys I'm so original!"
-6/10 posts
"Behind the barn with a shot gun."
-Another 30%.

 

[Rayansaki]

There are 2 kinds of RPG from Japan:
1 SRPGs are japanese tactical('strategic') games and can have pretty solid TB gameplay

2 what we call JRPGs are grindfests interspersed with terrible dialogue and VO.

The terrible stories and silly extravagant characters can be forgiven in SRPGs, because gameplay is king. Not so for JRPGs where the rediculous stories is all they have going for them.

Where does a game like Star Ocean or Tales of* fall into, where the combat is king, and more fast paced than anything you find in WRPG's and is extremely varied and rewarding, and where grinding is optional to give newbie players an edge if they need it?

SRPGs are always turn-based. So both are not SRPG, but JRPG.

Ok, then you would say, according to your generalization, that games like Star Ocean and Tales only have the ridiculous stories going for them, when in fact they have superior combat systems to every WRPG release from the last 100 years.

Or Demon's Souls, where combat is still fast paced and fluid, but requires actual coordination and tactics, and careful approach of every foe, rather than just bosses. Tell me the name of a WRPG better than Demon's Souls and I tell you that you are wrong.

It's an ACTION rpg, not a pure RPG. How do you even suppose to compare DS to traditional RPGs?

What differentiates an Action RPG from a "pure" RPG? It has all the stuff you would find in a traditional RPG, it has character customization, inventory, equipment, character progression based around certain atributes, you kill demons, demons give "xp and money", also phat loot.

They are all RPG's we are talking about, and Demon's Souls is a Japanese RPG, which is what the "J" stands for.
You don't go about making generalizations about JRPG and then dismiss 2 series and 1 title because they are not convenient to your generalization.

Or else I could just say every WRPG is about crappy lore on humans, elfs and orcs and then dismiss Mass Effect and Fallout and other inconvenient titles as being "alternative" RPG's and not really WRPG.

 

[Cheesepower5]

Plus I think Demons' Souls was Korean, for everyone calling it a jRPG.

Maybe "eRPG" would be more appropriate in that case.

 

[Orbot_Vectorman]

I don't know if this has been used as an example yet but, I'll use it any way...

JRPG games are alot like modern cars, they have the same engine the same looks, and run about the same

WRPG games on the other hand are like muscle cars, where as you can customize them to run faster, or to look cooler.

or to be more focused on it, a majority of the people do not like turn based combat... or I don't at least... any way, it gets realy old, realy quick. And alot of people enjoy action type gameing, where I can run up to you, hit you a couple times while your back is turned, and then run like hell if you don't go down after it.

any way, thats my two cents.

 

[Grey_Focks]

Because of the fans.

Especially ones who start topics like this to complain about anyone who has a differing opinion.

Yes, I've played "JRPGS", and I liked them, but I still hate JRPGS because of the constant shouting from the fans.

This guy has it. The fans annoy the hell out of me, then again, I like Halo, so maybe that isn't the reason. However, anime fans are 100% the reason why I hate anime.

I don't like JRPGs for two reasons, mostly. The art style is really un-appealing to me, and I despise grinding. There are a lot of other little reasons, but those are the two big ones.

 

[migo]

Its pretty sad if you actually think that. Mabey you should actually go outside and talk to a real person not over the internet.

LMAO! You're trying to say that to me? I go months without playing video games. I'm outside, physically active all the time and doing sports, and land girlfriends simply on account of doing the sports, so I actually have some very good perspective about what girls like and what they don't.

Is it because you have never met a reasonably good looking person with a girlfriend or because those that you have met dont play jrpgs and so cant complain about them.

I'm a good looking person with a very hot girlfriend, and I know plenty of people who play and like JRPGs, both male and female. I've only seen ugly people complain about them.

The protagonists are often young slim and gender confused, nobody actually knows if they are actually a girl or a boy.

Only stupid people think they're gender confused or don't know if they're a girl or a boy. The only exception to that might be someone who's gender confused themselves, which I'll admit is a difficult situation to be in if you're not in the right geographical location to be around people accepting of it.

Most of them are linear with very little room for exploration. They often have extremely annoying voice actors. Iv played quite a few jrpgs and I have a friend who loves them and I have to say the vast majority of them are complete crap. They also tend to involve more grinding then a korean mmo. When I play a game I generally like to actually play a game instead of just watch the story go by where nothing I do can effect it in any way.

It depends on the game, some have lots of grind, others you go through quickly. Yes they're linnear, but so is Half Life. Linearity isn't a problem with a game, it's a characteristic.

If I can beat a game by just tapping X while watching a movie then I consider there to be something seriously wrong with it. I dont have a dislike of RPGs infact the majority of my favourite games are rpgs. I however dont really consider jrpgs rpgs. Hell they are about as much an rpg as MW2 is.

You might be able to do that if you have a level based JRPG, spend way too long grinding so you're a high level, but realistically anyone with brains will go through one and beat it using strategy and tactics.

I guess we can potentially add not to bright to unattractive and without a girlfriend for characteristics of people who don't like JRPGs.

 

[FinalHeart95]

JRPGs are a niche genre in the western audience. To be honest, a lot of people HATE them with a passion. So they team up and rag on them because... it makes them feel superior I suppose? Also, there's the argument that JRPGs aren't RPGs, but the genre of "Role Playing Game" is so vague that most games could apply to it anyway. That's a different discussion however.

Think about it this way, if the majority of the escapist community was Japanese, then you would see a hell of a lot of people rag on WRPGs for having weak storylines, or being full of glitches (and yes, the latter is similar to something JRPG haters do, but I don't feel like explaining it). It's all because of the audience.

 

[LitleWaffle]

Personally, I hate random battles and turn based combat, which are frequent in JRPGs.

They're also fairly plot driven for having such awful stories.

The Tales Series. No random battles, non turn-based combat, long and pretty good story, and you get attached to the characters.

I do believe I have made my point.

 

[migo]

That was actually a jap at ff13

You mean jab, jap is a racial slur...

because my friend got so bored of the game but just HAD to beat it so he actually did that. He put on a movie held forward and tapped x. The other strategy for that game is just walk away and let your teamates kill everything which works as well.

I haven't played FF13, but it certainly doesn't sound anything like FF12 or FF10 or FF10-2 or FF8 or Chrono Trigger, or FF1 or Kingdom Hearts or Persona 3 or, or, or. You're basing your dislike on an entire genre of games based on one game?

Most people I know and play games with dont like jrpgs. Most of them are also very athletic and have good looking wives/girlfriends. In fact to be compeltely honest the vast majority of people i know who dont hate jrpgs are fat,ugly, no girlfriend, etc. Kind of like the people you describe as disliking them.

Where do you live?

 

[migo]

Canada's a big place? Alberta/Saskatchewan/Manitoba/Northern BC/Northern Ontario or Southern BC/Southern Ontario or Quebec or Newfoundland/Nova Scotia/New Brunswick/PEI?

 

[Rubashov]

People hate on JRPGs for two reasons:

1) They assume JRPG = Squeenix.

2) They assume WRPG = Bioware.

 

[SUPA FRANKY]

Because as of recent, they suck.

I'm a massive JRPG fan, as some of my favorite rpgs from this generation is Resonance of Fate, Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Tales of Vesparia and so on. But I cringe at the sight at anything made by Nis, Arc Rise Fantasia, and etc. Why so? Its because they feel TOO familiar. The protagonist look identical from each other, the stories seem to take place in a cliched environment, and to put it bluntly, they don't have a style of their own.

This can be applied to many games as well. most shooters seem to rip off Call of Duty or Fallout, most western rpgs rip off Oblivion and Mass Effect, and don't get me started on those bullshit shovel ware plat formers.

Alright, I'll just end this pointless post with this. I don't know about everyone else, but I hate games that are familiar. I prefer my games to have their own style, and be recognizable form the ocean of video games. Quite frankly, JRPGS and even most games are too similar. And when you play the same thing over and over, no matter what, your going to end up hating them.