[POLL] WESTERN RPGS VS JAPANESE RPGS

Poll

Which RPGs do you prefer? - Results

Western RPG
17
38%
Japanese RPG
27
61%

Posts

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Nightowl
Remember when I actually used to make games? Me neither.
1577
So, I decided to make another VS thread, this time about the controversial subject of.... BREAD. And WRPGs. And JRPGs.

In nutshell, do you prefer WRPGs or JRPGs?
I'm going to go for WRPG, because Fallout New Vegas is enough to make me think they're awesome. It has one of the best villains IMO.
Tau
RMN sex symbol
3293
In the PSOne days and even PS2 I would say I preferred JRPGs, but nowadays with how stagnant and unpolished most JRPGs are I have to say the Western Rpg has flourished, ever reinventing itself and bring about new experiences. Even mixing in with other genres to form new ways of playing.

I wish more JRPGs were like Final Fantasy XII or Demon/Dark Souls a great blend of both. That's not to say all JRPGs coming out aren't good, Ni No Kuni looks amazing also XenoBlade was brilliant & apparently The Last Story is quite excellent. But I can probably say there were maybe 6-8 good JRPGs this generation compared the previous ones where they were in abundance.
I would definitely say JRPGs. They usually have fun, excellent story plot, and pretty graphics. WRPGs are fine, but they just don't fit my taste.

Corpse Party and Persona 4 are good enough to beat any WRPGs out there. :P
I think today's better JRPGs are released on DS/3DS, Vita, PSP... Lots of great JRPGs have been released on portable consoles in the past few years, and excellent ones are yet to come (I'm especially looking forward to Vanillaware's next releases).

I believe WRPGs currently focus on PC and home consoles, and they keep getting better. Both genres spawned great games on their respective preferred platforms.
Best way to judge? Case by case. Some Western RPGs are good. Some are terrible. Some jRPGs are good. Some are terrible.

After a short and intense love affair with jrpgs I turned to intensely disliking them. Something that has stood for quite a while. Nowadays I guess it isn't as intense anymore. Mostly because I don't keep up with them at all and the fact is that I'm just not interested in what they have to offer at all.

There's just so much that turn me off when it comes to jrpgs. There's the whole anime aesthetic which tends to be an instant turnoff. There's also the, to me, completely uninteresting gameplay.

And I guess that's where it really is. I'm generally not at all interested in the battle systems of jrpgs. I see on this very site people who design and polish systems and I see people praising certain systems as glorious things of tactical marvels.

But I just don't see it at all. Some of them I even try. But even then there's no excitement there. I click through menus and submenus in order to do 5% more damage than if I clicked through another menu or submenu.

And I don't know what it is. It's not like I dislike menus. Some of my favourite games consist of nothing but menus.


I mean sure, some (most) wrpgs have shitty battle systems too, but in the end their downfall is often their simplicity. And that's a lot easier to handle. If I can beat everything by mashing the attack button I can live through that. However if a game has some kind of fake complicated system to stop you from mashing the attack button I just get frustrated.

Of course jrpgs have to have complicated battle systems because there's just nothing else to the games and I think that's where a big part of the difference (and my preferences) lies.

Now I'm saying this as someone who has no idea about current jrpgs and only go on hearsay. But it seems like wrpgs have a lot more happening than just the fighting. Jrpgs seem to be cutscene after cutscene with some fights in between. (in that aspect you could say that Mass Effect, especially 3, fits nicely in the jrpg mould)

Basically I suppose the part of RPG in general that I like is the choose your own adventure stuff and the simulation stuff. It seems to me that jrpg battle systems rarely go a simulation route. Instead making the battles its own separate game (like for example when you destroy a planet or two while doing magic) while what I prefer is something that is grounded in the world I'm playing in.

Immersion and whatnot. And RPGs are all about immersion and internal consistency. RPGs that fail on that count are usually games that I'm not very fond of. And let's be honest and incredible amount of games tend to fall on that whole thing, so there's a bit of suspension of disbelief going on at all times. But there's also a limit.


This is all my longwinded way of explaining why I prefer me some western RPG goodness.


Of course I also like these slightly hybrid things that show up a lot these days. Some hybrids are of course shit. But there's those really great ones too. Like STALKER and I hear Far Cry 2 (and maybe 3?) also has a bit of that. Basically simulation and choice and consequence and all that really sweet stuff.
I don't like the western approach to rpg (most of the time), both graphical and gameplay/plot.
I usually play with friend rpg around the table (GURPS, MERPS, D&D) with dices and character sheets.
But video RPGs ... are not for me.
When I play a videogame I want to discover a story, good and memorable character, plot etc.
I don't wanto to be a generic hero with name and phisical appearence made by an editor in a world where YOU make the story.
Free roaming is my worst game genre, I hate to travel aimlessy a world with all to do and nothing to do.
Not only free roaming in the Western style, but...

Secondary, I don't like "realistic", desaturated, graphic, I prefer an anime like approach.
Dudesoft
always a dudesoft, never a soft dude.
6309
The comment/avatar mix so far is pretty amusing. Also, everything Shinan said. I agree with it.
Nightowl
Remember when I actually used to make games? Me neither.
1577
I find lopping some raider's head off with a shotgun fist more exciting than just mashing through some menus.
Also, if there's something that I love about some WRPGs, then it is:
http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/1100267727469097916/59631727E6A3D0D877CB5C0158D048400844CA91/
The fact that I can do silly shit, such as murder children brutally and wear panther pyjamas and a motorcycle helmet. Fuck conventional fashion and all those skimpy anime prostitute heroines, old guys with gauss rifles and panther pajamas ftw
author=Nightowl
I find lopping some raider's head off with a shotgun fist more exciting than just mashing through some menus.

Well if it's heads you want to chop off or turn into goo then I'm note sure the RPG genre overall is the genre you want. Instead there are plenty of regular action games that satisfy that itch.


And if it's dress-up you want to play then I'm pretty certain that both wrpgs and jrpgs provide plenty of options.
Nightowl
Remember when I actually used to make games? Me neither.
1577
Lopping off heads is not exactly what I want in a WRPG. It's just that I find real-time battle more exciting than just mashing through menus and waiting for some random hero to get another turn.
If you dislike jRPGs then why do you regularly visit a community that produces jRPG using a jRPG maker? This is a question posed to those who dislike jRPGs, not just prefer wRPGs.
Nightowl
Remember when I actually used to make games? Me neither.
1577
author=Jude
If you dislike jRPGs then why do you regularly visit a community that produces jRPG using a jRPG maker? This is a question posed to those who dislike jRPGs, not just prefer wRPGs.

Irony.
This is definitely a touchy subject with me...

Let me just say that I do in fact like both genres. I don't care about the usual aesthetic tropes of each genre: the graphics, the character design, the plot and story...I can like the characters and plot of "Deus Ex: Human Revolution" and "Final Fantasy 7" equally, as long as they've been well-made and executed.

However, I will have to say I'm more in favor of JRPG's. Why? Because of their gameplay mechanics. More specifically, I guess I should say classic JRPG's, as they become more western in terms of their gameplay in recent years.

In other words, yes...sorry, WRPG fans, but I like the calm, laid back feel of turn-based combat--or any combat that doesn't make me react immediately or make me think on my feet. I have almost never enjoyed any combat systems that don't allow me to stop and think about my actions without fear of being attacked as much as classic turn-based combat. And, no, pausing the game doesn't count...I'm talking about being able halt and think about my strategies while still being considering in a hostile situation.

This is why I know I'd get killed very quickly in a real-life dangerous situation. My brain stutters and may even shut off temporarily when I'm in shock or in a stressful situation. This carries over into video games as well: if the game is to difficult or too chaotic in the beginning, I just can't play it well. Turn-based combat remedies this by allowing me an infinite amount of time to get used to combat and the mechanics of it.

author=Nightowl
It's just that I find real-time battle more exciting than just mashing through menus and waiting for some random hero to get another turn.


Alas, clearly I'm in the minority, or there would be a a lot more games like this nowadays if people liked these same mechanics.

I'm not saying I hate real-time combat, I like previously stated, it's just I'm not a quick thinker and real-time combat becomes frustrating for me very easily. And being frustrated is not enjoyable.
Almost all of the wRPGs I've played (and enjoyed) have pause-able battles where you get to issue commands, while a lot of jRPGs I've played tend to have an Active Time Bar or variation on it, requiring me to issue commands as quickly as possible so as not to be at a disadvantage.

turn-based vs active battles isn't a trait of either flavor of RPGs.
Dudesoft
always a dudesoft, never a soft dude.
6309
We should have a nice healthy flamewar to divide the community between those who like good games and people who like jRPGs.
Let's begin.
Seewhatididthere
author=Mitsuhide_The_Vagrant
In other words, yes...sorry, WRPG fans, but I like the calm, laid back feel of turn-based combat--or any combat that doesn't make me react immediately or make me think on my feet. I have almost never enjoyed any combat systems that don't allow me to stop and think about my actions without fear of being attacked as much as classic turn-based combat. And, no, pausing the game doesn't count...I'm talking about being able halt and think about my strategies while still being considering in a hostile situation.

I'm very much like this. Except that I no longer have any issue with pausing. In fact my opinions on pausing have pretty much flipped completely. I used to be very against the whole real-time with pause vs turn-based. But, although there are several issues with it, I have found myself enjoying that more and more.

I listened to a strategy podcast (Three Moves Ahead, excellent podcast by the way) where the opinion seemed pretty much unanimous that real time with pause is a really bad design decision and their arguments made a lot of sense. The argument was that if you introduce pausing it breaks up the pace and the player doesn't really know when you are supposed to pause so instead he pauses all the time. Instead a real-time system should be paced so that the player have enough time to perform his actions without having to do it.

Of course this was for strategy games. But I disagree with it myself. Because I like to think things through pausing is a big thing for me. And Total War was the first game where I really enjoyed the real-time with pause mechanic.

So to go back to the actual thing about jrpgs and wrpgs I think that they both offer a selection of options that are more or less stressful than others and in that calm environment I prefer the wrpg because it usually has an element to it where you can affect the game world over a distance. The simulation approach again. Of course I haven't played many recent jrpgs so I don't know where they've gone with this but the fact that I, in New Vegas (for example, which is a real-time with pause game. Where I nearly always pause because damn if that real-time version of the game is insanely stressful), can sit on a hill and look at my enemies through a scope and plan my actions a bit before pulling the trigger for the first shot.

So I guess I always like the slow methodical approach to things. This is probably why Diablo-like games have never quite hit it with me. Because with those hotkeys and the frantic nature of the fights I never quite feel like I have a battle-plan going instead I'm just mashing buttons hoping something will die. Or it might just be that I prefer ranged combat :)
benos
My mind is full of fuck.
624
Western RPGs have a more darker tone, then JRPG. I mean they have it's sad moments, just like animes.
Nightowl
Remember when I actually used to make games? Me neither.
1577
I dunno about the sad moments, but then again, I'm a person who has only cried three times while playing videogames. The first time was during Walking Dead Season 1's end, and the second was when Arcade Gannon left my party permanently in New Vegas. The third time was when my beloved companion, Ned, was killed by dogs in New Vegas.

Yes, I cried when this guy ( http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0ld9oFBcd1r21xzlo1_500.jpg ) left my party.
author=kentona
Almost all of the wRPGs I've played (and enjoyed) have pause-able battles where you get to issue commands, while a lot of jRPGs I've played tend to have an Active Time Bar or variation on it, requiring me to issue commands as quickly as possible so as not to be at a disadvantage.

turn-based vs active battles isn't a trait of either flavor of RPGs.


Then perhaps I just haven't played enough recent WRPG's...? I don't know. But, of the ones I've played, other than New Vegas, there weren't any mechanics I can immediately think of that allowed me to stop and think, they always had me saying, "Shit! Where'd that guy go?! I'm gonna f*cking die again, aren't I!"
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