Western Reviewers Hate Japanese RPGs

Ever go to a gaming site and just know a game is going to get a bad review score without even needing to read the review? How about for an entire genre of games across a whole spectrum of websites? PSU delves into the sociology of why the majority of western reviewers have a hate-on for PS3 RPGs from the Far East.

[aquamala]

it's not just the reviewers

[Mounce]

Even though Globally, FF6-7-8-9 and 10 variably are known and praised by most West and Eastern reviewers?

OAKY DOAKEY

[aquamala]

"Ps3 JRPGs"

FF10 was released in 2001, is that the last good JRPG you can name? You're proving the article's point. It used to be a popular genre in the west, not anymore

[kreate]

Agreed with aqua

[Dmagic]

its because they keep trying to kiss US gamers A**. i personally blame square for kissing xbox booty all gen making average exclusive games on a system that (lets be real) could not produce the epicness that square is capable of. also making games more "western" for the ADHD fps crowd of that system. square use to drop my jaw with games now all they produce is average graphic linear map games with horrible gameplay they deserve to be where they are at.

[insomnium2]

@aqua

Yeah I guess Ni No Kuni will tell you otherwise. I think the devs are the ones to blame. They screwed it up.

Anyone can search Metacritic and find another fine example in the RE-series. RE4 is 96/100 and RE6 is 76/100.

Change the foundation and you are bound to hear about it.

I'm just playing through Grandia and FF7 on my PSP and Vita and oh boy those are some pure gems in that particular genre. Pure enjoyment. FF13? Don't make me laugh!

[MikeMyers]

Make good JRPG's and Western gamers along with Western reviewers will stop having a problem with them.

[Dj7FairyTail]

Xenoblade Chronicles stomps every RPG in existence.

[Mounce]

@aqua

Nier and Lost Odyssey are my top J-RPG's this gen.

[MehmetAlperTR]

Actually they don't hate JRPG's. Just look at Ni No Kuni scores.. They just hate the way of FF 13 and 13-2 and more. I played FF8 and FF7 ( Also FFX) and there were wonderfull games. But when i try to play FF13 i just simply hate it.. Especially from that lightning chraacter.. And about the music? Without a Nobuo Uematsu i believe i can't feel that i m playing Final Fantasy.. His music is epic and in some place take your breath away. So they ( writers ) hate from FF13 and it s variations because of so many reasons and they are right to hate them. ( Sorry about my english, it s not my native languege :( )

[SatanSki]

Hehe, yeah. I pretty hate them too lol. Especially all those gay looking pussies hehe. Combat doesnt help either

[HarryMasonHerpderp]

Should they all have shaved heads and big muscles?
yeah that's much less "gay" /s

[nugnugs]

HA HA. Oh dear "SatanSki". Oh very dear.

[SatanSki]

Ok, forget about gay. They just look like pussies not men hehe.

[3-4-5]

No it's really mostly the reviewers.

We have a lot of narrow minded arrogant reviewers over here who need to give more games a chance instead of just wanting the same type of game over and over again.

[dedicatedtogamers]

Yes, and no. I think reviewers always give safe review scores to big-name games. But niche games - whether Japanese or Western - tend to get far more mixed reviews. For instance, Resonance of Fate got mediocre reviews (74 Meta) even though the combat and freedom of exploration was far superior to FF13 (84 Meta score). But guess which one had the big name and the well-known dev?

[PopRocks359]

Agreed.

It goes to show that you really can't trust a lot of reviews these days. They're either too afraid of scrutiny so they go with a 'safe' review or they incorporate their own personal biases into the review (which admittedly some people may not mind or even encourage) and it becomes more one-sided.

Personally, I think trying a game for oneself is the best way to go. Denying yourself an experience because someone else said it was bad is unorthodox.

[admiralvic]

I think you're on the right track, but a little off.

I don't think bigger games get "safer" scores per se, I just think there is a higher chance someone can get into / like one of those games. Like FFXIII looked really good and had okay gameplay elements (I personally enjoyed the fact strategy was more important than level), so it has a better chance of being liked. On the other hand, you can take a more "niche" JRPG like Neptunia MK2 and see it scores in the 50's on Meta, despite it being better than the last two (the original scored 45...). While Neptunia isn't a great game, it isn't bad enough to warrant a 5/10. However, getting into Neptunia is a LOT more conditional than FFXIII.

Like Neptunia was a moe game that is filled with Japanese references and tons of little things that turn people off. These are the type of games these articles usually talk about, since they rarely get the right people reviewing them. This can be proved by read fan reactions, since they might be bias (though I do recall them saying that one site that gave Neptunia MK 2 a 10/10 was wrong.), though they only rate them 7/8 games. Yeah it's only 2 / 3 points, but when people consider 7 a bad score, 5 seems unplayable. In fact, it's only slightly higher than Aliens: CM (original game is actually tied with it).

[knifefight]

Yeah
http://www.metacritic.com/g...

http://www.metacritic.com/g...

http://www.metacritic.com/g...

http://www.metacritic.com/g...

Just look at all that hate.

[Godmars290]

The issue are console JRPGs. Why do people not understand that? Its that most offered on the PS3 and 360 went backwards in regards to mechanics and especially story telling. Flat, uninvolving story telling at that.

[Dj7FairyTail]

Xenoblade

[MikeyDucati1]

Yea...metacritic.

[strigoi814]

Yup i knew it all along

[BanBrother]

There is no cynicism or conspiracy, as Nintendo games always get amazing reviews. I think it comes down to the cultural aspects, as mentioned in the article.

I love JRPG's, and wished Western Reviewers could sit through them as easy as they could a 5 hour linear CoD campaign. But sadly, that isn't the case. Lets just leave it at cultural differences, that is all.

You can generally add a "1" to a JRPG's aggregate score over here. So, if a JRPG gets an 8, it is more so a 9 for those who love them.

[yokokoroma]

It's quite simple really, as to why western reviewers hate JRPGs. The genre ruled that last two generations, as far as the PlayStation brand goes. It would be more accurate to say PS or PS2, as PS3 JRPGs are few and far between (localized). However, seeing as the PS3 represents the current gen, it's understandable why it's used. Yet, I dare say, that hate or dislike of JRPGs for the PS3 this gen, is less than it was for it's predecessors.

[sherimae2413]

but i love JRPG's and will continue to play lots of them in the future ^_^

[catch]

That's my attitude as well. As long as we keep buying them they will keep making them!

[Servbot41]

Western reviewers hate new Final Fantasy and garbage like Gust and Compile Heart JRPGs, and for good reason. Actual GOOD JRPGs like Xenoblade, Persona, Ni No Kuni, Last Story, etc all get pretty rave reviews.

[MikeyDucati1]

I remember reviewers blasting Lost Odyssey. Now if they talk about it, its nothing but praise. I take any review with a grain of salt. I rather gather my information from various resources but ultimately it comes down to my decision.

[Godmars290]

Waitaminute - didn't FF13 review high? FF13-2 for that matter. And those games are at the center of complaints with JRPGs this gen.

[Qrphe]

Yup because reviewers are gonna be reviewers. Gotta keep dem up Metacritic scores

[izumo_lee]

The very niche games tend to be judged a lot more critically than the games that have established names.

A lot of these niche games are very Japanese in the way it was developed with a lot of sexual innuendos, 'moe' character designs that appear underaged, extremely Japanese jokes/references & other factors that cater to the Japanese otaku market. These western reviewers more often than not just simply do not understand these references & get offended for no reason by the character designs & such.

They think games like Neptunia, Mugen Souls, Agarest War, & other small budget JRPGs from smaller lesser known developers are too immature for the 'serious' Western market. The problem is that these games like i said are made for a specific audience that enjoy these games for what they are 'fan service'. Believe it or not there are a lot of these fans in the western market which is why games like these continue to be localized.

This gen JRPGs have become what they were 20 years ago when they were considered for specific audience & not as mainstream as they were in their prime when FF 7 started the JRPG craze & were recognized by all gamers.

[Chaos_Raiden]

Doesn't matter. I will buy and play that JRPGs that I like without caring much of the reviews.

[Inception]

Same here. Reviewer can gave 0/10 score to Disgaea, SMT/Persona, Tales, Ys, Legend of Heroes, or any JRPG that can touch western soil. And i still buy JRPG in a heartbeat and judge them by myself.

[Urusernamesucks]

It also works the other way around =/

[WeAreLegion]

I know Ni No Kuni got great reviews, but why did White Knight Chronicles 1/2 get poor reviews? It's probably my favorite series from Level 5. I don't understand any of the gripes with it.

[rextraordinaire]

While I never really got into WK, I know plenty of people who had a lot of fun with it.

For me, good JRPGs this gen to name a few:

Tales of graces F, Star Ocean IV, Dragon's Dogma, Ni No Kuni, Eternal Sonata, Resonance of Fate, Disgaea 3-4, Nier...

And if I recall, while those titles didn't get super high scores all around, they didn't do too bad with critics either...

[SugarSoSweet]

No they don't FF13 got bad reviews cause it sucks. FF7 got great reviews when it was released on the psx because it was a good game just like Ni No Kuni is a good game and got good reviews

[tarbis]

And they will give any crappy WRPGS good scores. Yes, we already know that. Now, move along.

[MilkMan]

Not necessarily true.
They've (like most gamers) have grown tired of the same ol stuff.
However, when some real innovation has spurred here and there, they step right up to the plate and give it praise.
Ni No Kuni, Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story come to mind.
All regarded highly and rightfully so, but the blanket love for all things spiky haired and big "sworded"...not any more.

[Inception]

"They've (like most gamers) have grown tired of the same ol stuff."

Than can you explain to me why CoD always got high score from the western reviewer / gamer and sold so high? Cause year after year, it's just the same game with different skin / map, right?

[MilkMan]

I have a theory on this.
Not based on hard numbers, but observation.

COD is like the equivalent of going to your local sports bar. Its tapped into a social vein and theretofore its not so much COD itself, but it represents.

Hanging out with your buddies, downing a beer or in this case shooting some sh!t, talking trash and buggin out on the last ricochet bullet that offed your opponent.

Publishers see the numbers and I think they suspect that MP in every game will win them these players, however I don't think they understand that is not the MP per-se but the what it represents.

When something, anything, becomes the new cool thing to do. COD will die down, but not by declaring that this game or that game is a COD killer..

I think the die hards know that its not the best game on the planet. But that's irrelevant. They just want to hang out.

I tried to answer your question based on personal experience, I have no hard data. Just speculation.

and I wont be able to answer again, but I will read your answer.

[GABRIEL1030]

No, no, no, we dont hate Japanese RPGs, we hate only the worst Japanese RPG ever made FF 13, FF 13-2 and FF13 - 3. Square destroyed 25 years of the series with this game.

[hollabox]

On the same token Japanese gamers hate American games. Ever see the sales total for some of the biggest western games in Japan not released on Nintendo? COD franchise, Battlefield Franchise, God of War, Gears of War, Uncharted, GTA, Assassins Creed series, American Sports games, all had abysmal numbers in Japan.

[hollabox]

why the 1 disagree? Look up the numbers, American games don't sell crap in the land of the rising sun.

[ThisJarContainsTHC]

It's a conspiracy