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Thursday, August 3, 2017

Why does it feel like some JRPG developers have lost their way?

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  3. Why does it feel like some JRPG developers have lost their way?
Eiffel65 8 hours ago#1
I mean there are good ones on PS4 but some bad ones too.
Did JRPG devs forget some things that we love about their games? Because it was always the combat/battle system and story/characters along with the music for a lot of people.

Most JRPG stories now with rare exceptions are not like PS1-PS2 stories which were awesome and epic.
Music is almost an afterthought a lot of times now (with exceptions of course)
And the battle systems/combat are often barebones or same old same old.
MightyBaconX 7 hours ago#2
Graphics and power have evolve so it takes more effort into making that same ps1-ps2 games on the current gen and a lot of devs are afraid of risking all that resource.

Music is an acquire taste and highly subjective to the listener but I generally agree that older music are better.

Battle systems in a lot of older ps1-ps2 JRPGs are also guilty of same old same old navigate through menus, select from Fight, Magic, Ability, Item, etc and then watch the action unfold. Though there are some that are really unique like Grandia, Xenogears, Legend of the Dragoon, etc that mix it up with extra button prompts or cancel turn function.
If people would accept and spend money on games that looked like ps2 games maybe we would get more good stories. 

Too much focus on graphics
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken!
Gailien 7 hours ago#4
If you are losing your way
You need some protection
Black tar, it gets you
Where ever you go
Fate Grand Order is the best game of this generation!
Newbius 7 hours ago#5
I think what's really hurting a lot of JRPGs these days is they're putting A LOT of focus into the more modern anime style, which can be a turn off for a lot of people including myself, which is why I really couldn't get into the Trials of Cold Steel series because it follows anime tropes I don't like: modern anime aesthetics, cliches that make my teeth grind, and the whole "There's a school for that!" 

And then you have games like literally everything made by Complete Heart that just makes everything I just described even worse.
ColdOne666 7 hours ago#6
Probably because the JRPG market in the last few years has been flooded with low budget, no effort, niche, harem anime type games and they give all the real games a bad name.

It's especially bad on Steam with the VN's, not to mention all the Unity flips lol.
FFX is the best game of all time. The only good Nintendo franchises are Pokemon and Fire Emblem. Comics are for kids. https://i.imgur.com/LJ3WSyB.gif
Rjmhart 5 hours ago#7
It could be because fans in the west want completely different things than the east and the jrpgs devs are torn between appealing to the west vs east. 

One look at the Vita library, which has sold much, much better in Japan should be a good indication. Even the games that aren't centered on fan service have panty sniffing and stuff like that. As a US player I just don't find that stuff interesting at all.

Even something like XV. Players in Japan feel like it's a group of friends going on a road trip while I see posts in the west calling half of them gay.
Delenda est
(edited 5 hours ago)quote
Lineikosen 5 hours ago#8
I'd like to play Suikoden 1 and 2 one day. Those are the two PS RPGs I missed back in the day.
Lineikosen posted...
I'd like to play Suikoden 1 and 2 one day. Those are the two PS RPGs I missed back in the day.


They are way cheaper now than they used to be. I knew these overpriced classic rpgs would go down in price eventually.
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken!
Xtopher85 5 hours ago#10
Eiffel65 posted...
I mean there are good ones on PS4 but some bad ones too.
Did JRPG devs forget some things that we love about their games? Because it was always the combat/battle system and story/characters along with the music for a lot of people.

Most JRPG stories now with rare exceptions are not like PS1-PS2 stories which were awesome and epic.
Music is almost an afterthought a lot of times now (with exceptions of course)
And the battle systems/combat are often barebones or same old same old.


Replace "PS4" in this sentence with literally any other system, and it would still be accurate.
-PSN: Xtopher85
"Being alive is pretty much a constant stream of embarassment." - Pod 153
Halo_Forever 4 hours ago#11
Lineikosen posted...
I'd like to play Suikoden 1 and 2 one day. Those are the two PS RPGs I missed back in the day.


They're 5 bucks a piece on the psn store on the PS3.
Poet Eliot had it all wrong....
Halo_Forever posted...
Lineikosen posted...
I'd like to play Suikoden 1 and 2 one day. Those are the two PS RPGs I missed back in the day.


They're 5 bucks a piece on the psn store on the PS3.


I meant the discs. The psn prices help drive down some of these ridiculous prices, which is a good thing. I don't buy digital games.
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken!
Ultimaspirit 4 hours ago#13
Big part of that is jrpgs have always been like this, they were just very rarely localized. Now they are and people complain because mega hits like FF7 aren't made anymore.

Problem is people are expecting too much these days. It's never enough to come up with something new and interesting, it always has to be already long since done yet not too similar to that or it's just copying.
Halo_Forever 4 hours ago#14
snakes_righteye posted...
Halo_Forever posted...
Lineikosen posted...
I'd like to play Suikoden 1 and 2 one day. Those are the two PS RPGs I missed back in the day.


They're 5 bucks a piece on the psn store on the PS3.


I meant the discs. The psn prices help drive down some of these ridiculous prices, which is a good thing. I don't buy digital games.


Fair enough, I also tend to avoid digital games, PSClassics games are an exception since I don't own their original machine and can't be assed to buy a 23 year old console as well as finding memory cards and buying expensive discs (like 30 bucks for Crash Bandicoot).
Poet Eliot had it all wrong....
StormBulletX 4 hours ago#15
I think the stereotypical JRPG's are stale, archaic, obsolete, out of touch rehashes.
tenpowers 4 hours ago#16
More like the developers of a lot of those older franchises are either gone or got bought out by some mobile game company. Also, a lot of the bigger companies don't want to invest in Jrpgs anymore. Even if games like Suikoden, Shadow Hearts and Grandia were still being today, it wouldn't prevent games like Neptunia and Cold Steel from existing.
Chris525a 3 hours ago#17
the best jrpg devs left this polluted and ruined industry
Zero280 3 hours ago#18
tenpowers posted...
More like the developers of a lot of those older franchises are either gone or got bought out by some mobile game company. Also, a lot of the bigger companies don't want to invest in Jrpgs anymore. Even if games like Suikoden, Shadow Hearts and Grandia were still being today, it wouldn't prevent games like Neptunia and Cold Steel from existing.



implying trails of cold steel is bad.
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Newhopes 3 hours ago#19
StormBulletX posted...
I think the stereotypical JRPG's are stale, archaic, obsolete, out of touch rehashes.


That sums up most western games as well.
Twinmold 3 hours ago#20
As others said, it's Japan's refusal to leave behind their tired anime narratives. It's worked for them, created a niche amongst fans of that style, but it's obvious to me that Japan doesn't think it can actually break out of that mold. Whether it's a lack of confidence or talent I don't know.

I just have zero interest in games with shallow, cardboard thin characters, who wear their hearts on their sleeve. Characters mainly exist as exposition machines, regurgitating increasingly convoluted plot points that aren't compelling enough to justify their confusion.

Female characters exist solely as engines to deliver fanservice to the screen. Every joke revolves around characters either being always hungry, or jealous that their boobs aren't big enough. It's juvenile.
Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please. - Mark Twain
Halo_Forever 3 hours ago#21
Twinmold posted...
I just have zero interest in games with shallow, cardboard thin characters, who wear their hearts on their sleeve. Characters mainly exist as exposition machines, regurgitating increasingly convoluted plot points that aren't compelling enough to justify their confusion.

Female characters exist solely as engines to deliver fanservice to the screen. Every joke revolves around characters either being always hungry, or jealous that their boobs aren't big enough. It's juvenile.


I could honestly ignore most of this if at least the gameplay was good, but often it isn't that either. Also while the games tend to have in-depth crafting system often a) the difficulty isn't enough to warrant the system b) the grinding to get the ingredients is just plain annoying.
Poet Eliot had it all wrong....
BenjaMan64 3 hours ago#22
Eiffel65 posted...
I mean there are good ones on PS4 but some bad ones too.

No offense, but the same could be said about any game genre.

There are plenty of good JRPGs on PS4: Persona 5, Tales of Berseria, Yakuza 0, Nier Automata, FFXII:TZA, Disgaea 5, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir, the Kingdom Hearts games... also, there are games that, I think aren't Japanese, but emulate the JRPG genre, such as Cosmic Star Heroine and the upcoming Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs 

And also there are upcoming JRPGs, such as Dragon Quest XI and Yakuza Kiwami.
HE'S WATCHING YOU
ArsenicSteel 2 hours ago#23
Why does it feel like some JRPG developers have lost their way?


Because you think that crossover success is important and that opinions outside of their domestic market should steer the development of games. You also are ignoring the all of the bad games of the past in order to act like bad games now are a new occurrence.

The problem here would be people like you.
It's geeks who really make or break a TV show or movie or videogame.
Gailien posted...
If you are losing your way
You need some protection
Black tar, it gets you
Where ever you go

This guy gets it.

Mero: "Show me your ***t. I want to see if it's worth fighting for."
Zero280 2 hours ago#25
Gailien posted...
If you are losing your way
You need some protection
Black tar, it gets you
Where ever you go


LOL just no
3DS Friend Code 5069-3942-1786
rexbaner2 2 hours ago#26
I felt the biggest issue is where they are looking their budget. Starocean has always shown that they are capable of pulling off exceptional game play but they always lack a compelling story or characters. 
Mind you I enjoyed cliff in end of time, but how many other characters seemed so empty. 

I don't agree with the " old ways " mold argument because call of duty is always getting good sales and it's generally the same game from time to time.
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