360°

Culture Clashes: Why JRPGs Will Never Be Great Again in the West

I’ll never forget the reason why I love JRPGs. I remember my aunt steadily holding the strategy guide to Final Fantasy 7 while I was mere seconds away from finally defeating Emerald Weapon, an optional boss that I wished never existed. Nevertheless I felt compelled to explore and achieve everything in that game. Years later, I’m quite sure I wasn’t the only gamer who felt that way, and that’s exactly how I started my foray into JRPGs.

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gamingunwrapped.com
fluffydelusions4460d ago (Edited 4460d ago )

Same, but since it says only the west and shows a pic of FFXIII-2 it should be mentioned that XIII-2 scored A LOT worse from Asian reviewers opposed to western review sites. Xenoblade chronicles is supposed to be really good though and that is coming to the US. Also lets not forget about Ni No Kuni.

Yi-Long4460d ago

... HOWEVER, I won't buy any game (or movie, or anime) that's missing the option for the original language, which is too often the case with JRPG's which are released here in the west with a horrible english dub only.

ShaunCameron4460d ago

@ Yi-Long

You thought English dubs were bad? Try French (Canadian) dubs. Those are even worse. I agree with your sentiment. Video games and films are much better off presented in their original languages with subtitles.

DeadIIIRed4459d ago

Even though it scored well, I agree with the author that they just don't sell well anymore because of cultural differences. Japaneses culture tends to be highly collectivist and fatalistic, while the West tends to be the exact opposite. These cultural values are embedded in the values of each style of RPG and it really shows if you look hard enough.

KillaManiac4459d ago

Tales of Graces F coming in March.

Its not the best game, but its a true JRPG whereas FFXIII and FFXIII-2 try to be JRPGs with a western feel.

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Ranma14460d ago (Edited 4460d ago )

.....We need another FF7 or Chrono Trigger and it will be popular again, but SE keep giving us FF13 and FF13-2 and FF13-3

When the company that made JRPG's popular has fallen down to the levels of a sewer, its difficult to make JRPG's popular

The Rock Bottom4460d ago

Ranma1 may be trolling hard, but what he's talking about is real talk. SE needs to pull their heads out of their rear ends! I've been very patient sense XII came out for another Final Fantasy to talk about. I'm sick of talking about how good 6 or 9 was. I want a new Final fantasy to go wild about! Come on Versus! Don't let us down!

RedDead4459d ago (Edited 4459d ago )

He trolls every FF 13 article, rightfully so, FF has literally got to ****. Type 0 and Versus is my only hope. I don't know how the **** Toriyama got to make these games.

Oh yeah I disagree with the article, FF 13 isn't the only Jrpg.

brish4459d ago

@papashango

What he does is EVERY Final Fantasy story there is on n4g he posts a message complaining about how bad FF is.

He has over 100 posts whining about Final Fantasy. Seriously, check out his posts.

He also submits every article he can find that says something negative about the game. Check out the stories he posts.

If someone said they didn't like FFXIII-2 most people respect their right to say so (I do). But when a person dedicates their lives to whining in forums about a game it's just pathetic.

Jaces4459d ago

It truly is sad to see such a beloved franchise fall from grace. I remember the days when I couldn't wait for the next installment, turned now into dread just thinking about how they're going to ruin this series even further.

The only hope I have is for Versus, until then, I will not be buying another FF game.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 4459d ago
Godmars2904460d ago

Sadly most JP devs got lazy during the later PS2 era, then couldn't get it in gear when the HD change came.

They're still making good JRPGs, only they're on the PSP and DS. Overly relies on moe/loli themes, ten year olds who save the world, and that's just not generally connecting in the West.

iamtehpwn4460d ago

Agreed. Much like What Kojima said, I think it's Japanese developers as a whole, are currently uninspired. Kojima is really trying to reinvigorate these developers, Miyamoto is doing the same.

It does sadden me to see the state of the Japanese gaming industry. I sorely miss the days when a game was made in Japan ensured it was of the best quality and an original world we've never seen before.

Allowen4460d ago

I can ' wait to play Tales this march on the 3DS and later on play another Tales game on PS3 !

Next bring Persona 4 and a Tales game to the Vita and more JRPGs ASAP !! K THX

Hyperbomb694460d ago

oh cmon....
FF13 is probably the worst FF game and probably the downfall unless SE gets their sh*t straight. that doesnt mean JRPG's wont do great here again, keep in mind that Demons and Dark Souls did pretty good, Valkyria chronicles was an amazing game. There are so many good JRPG's out there, its just that this gen sucks.

Sorrow244459d ago

But Demon and Dark Souls still follow a western-RPG style even though they're made by a Japanese company.

Noticeably_FAT4460d ago

JRPG's just aren't fun for me, I know a lot of PS3 gamer's tend to love them, but I personally don't have much fun with them. I did like Lost Odyssey, but I'll always prefer the RPG's from Bioware.

Show all comments (63)
140°

Ranking the Devil May Cry Series

VGChartz's Mark Nielsen: "Upon finally finishing Devil May Cry 5 recently - after it spent several years on my “I’ll play that soon” list - I considered giving it a fittingly-named Late Look article. However, considering that this was indeed the final piece I was missing in the DMC puzzle, I decided to instead take this opportunity to take a look back at the entirety of this genre-defining series and rank the entries. What also made this a particularly tempting notion was that while most high-profile series have developed fairly evenly over time, with a few bumps on the road, the history of Devil May Cry has, at least in my eyes, been an absolute roller coaster, with everything from total disasters to action game gold."

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vgchartz.com
VersusDMC3h ago

First to last for me...3,4,5,1,2.

VersusDMC1h ago

Me leaving it out should be telling of my thoughts on it. Better than 2 as a DMC game.

Still a good game though.

Friendlygamer3h ago

3,1,4,5 to me, never played 2. 5 gameplay is amazing but level design was really disappointing to me, just a bunch of plain arenas, the story felt like a worse written rehash of the 3rd and the charater models looked weird ( specially the ladies ). Another problem with 5 was that there was not enough content for 3 charaters so I could never really familiarize with any of them

monkey6022h ago(Edited 2h ago)

2.
Dmc.
4.
5.
1.
3.

God DMC2 was an awful game.
And in case this isn't obvious it goes worst to best

Yui_Suzumiya26m ago

1 and DmC. The rest are unimportant.

DarXyde18m ago

Order changes depending on your focus. I tend to focus on gameplay/fun factor, so...

5, 3, 1, 4, 2.

I really didn't like 4 but commend Dante's weapon diversity. The retreading of old ground was pretty unacceptable to me.

But even then... Still more enjoyable than 2 for me

190°

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Has Appeared On The Xbox Store

Activision and Raven Software's 2006 action role-playing game, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, has found its way to the Xbox Store.

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twistedvoxel.com
LG_Fox_Brazil8h ago

Used to love this one, but X-Men Legends 1 and 2 will always be my favorites, especially Rise of Apocalypse. Would pay some good money to play it today with online multiplayer, back then I had no way to get a modem

RavenWolfx9m ago

Yeah, I loved the Legends games so much.

ZeekQuattro7h ago

I remember buying them dirt cheap on the PS4 and then a few days later I read they were delisted. I was wondering why the bundle was price so low and got my answer when that happened.

Knightofelemia6h ago(Edited 5h ago)

Sad to say this is one game franchise next to the Xmen that needs a sequel. I use to play the hell out of Xmen Legends and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Was great when my cousin had the OG Xbox play with four other people and then playing online. Great games glad to see it reappear even though I own the discs love the mechanics of this game.

Terry_B5h ago

It got a sequel..but for dumbass #reasons as a switch exclusive.

shinoff21835h ago

It looked so horrible to. They should've kept it similar to the first two.

Asplundh5h ago

Because Nintendo funded it, they did the same for Bayonetta.

Knightofelemia4h ago

I totally forgot about the Switch sequel.

jukins5h ago

Misleading. This page is whats available for people who owned the game prior to delisting.

Abnor_Mal4h ago

The first game was the best imo.

100°

Delta, a new all-in-one Nintendo emulator launches for iOS

The new Nintendo-focused emulator for the iPhone is now available with support for several classic systems.

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overkill.wtf
jznrpg1d 1h ago

How long until they get sued and it gets taken down? I say a month or 2

PRIMORDUS1d 1h ago

Sued for what? It's just an emulator no ROMs are with it. ROMs are easy to get anyway, but with iPhone you can't just copy and paste like Android unless it's jail broken I think. Anyway Nintendo should be more concerned with their ROMs up to torrent for years for all of their concoles, but then again they can't do nothing about it, they never will and I love it. 🤣

NotoriousWhiz22h ago

As long as it isn't emulating the Switch, it'll be fine.

RonnySins23h ago

Naaah! Don't want to waste time emulating on iPhone.

Knightofelemia21h ago

Won't belong before Nintendo bangs on Apple's door to have the emu removed. Like I say you take down one six more take it's place. Problem is people are putting emu's on such stupid platforms. The good emus are the ones not on stupid platforms like a red target. The good emu's are word of mouth and keep a low profile.