Just take a look at this data I compiled using Gamerankings and VGChartz. It doesn't look good for the JRPG genre...
Why has there been such a sudden decline? Is it because of Xenophobia?
I wonder what Western RPG's are doing right that Japanese dev's aren't. Maybe Western RPG's are easier to get into and more suited for casual gamers. American RPG's have adapted to the market? On the other hand, Japanese developers have sadly fallen behind on this sort of thing. Can they come back from their current position?
I would say these are the top 5 things which are to blame:
1. Decline in Quality of JRPG's
2. Less advertising and promotion
3. Rise of western video game consoles and FPS games i.e Xbox 360
4. Rising cost of video games, resulting in small japanese companies taking less risks
5. Fewer JRPG's in general
What do you think?
----Number of JRPG's in Gamerankings top 50 PS1 game list----
1. Final Fantasy 9 -93.32% -5.3m sales
2. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night -92.62% - 1.27m sales
3. Chrono Cross - 92.18% - 1.86m sales
4. Final Fantasy 7 - 92.1% - 9.72m sales
5. Vagrant Story 91.97% - 0.87m sales
6. XenoGears - 90.94% - 1.46m sales
7. Final Fantasy 8 - 89.17% -7.86m sales
Number of games which got over 90%: 6
----Number of JRPG's in Gamerankings top 50 PS2 game list----
1. Persona 4 - 92.4% - 0.82m sales
2. Final Fantasy X - 91.84% - 8.05m sales
3. Final Fantasy XII - 90.77% - 5.95m sales
4. Dragon Quest 8. 90.05% - 5.21m sales
Number of games which got over 90%: 4
----Number of JRPG's in Gamerankings top 50 PS3/X360 games list----
0
*Except if you consider demon souls which got 89.8%
Number of games which got over 90%: 0
Video games -- particularly AAA video games -- have become too expensive to make. The intel from every fly on the wall in every investor's room is there is an increasing level of caution about spending hundreds of millions just to release a single video game. And you can't blame them. Many AAA game budgets mean that you can print hundreds of millions in revenue, and not even turn a profit. If you are an investor, quite frankly, there are many easier ways to make a buck. AAA games have always been expensive to make though, but when did we go from expensive, to too expensive? A decade ago, AAA games were still expensive to make, but fears of "sustainability" didn't keep every CEO up at night. Consumer expectations and demands no doubt play a role in this, but more and more games are also revealing obvious signs of resource mismanagement, evident by development teams and budgets spiraling out of control with sometimes nothing substantial to show for it.
ESTNN writes: "The easiest campfire can be found in the middle of the lake close to Restored Reels. Landing in the middle of the island immediately puts you near the campfire, which is surrounded by a tent, a barrel and a single lawn chair."
Have you ever noticed how quiet the Automatons can be in Helldivers 2? That is exactly why some players are calling for audio cues for heavier foes.
Am not talking about handhelds, just consoles. But not even that many handheld JRPG's have gotten over 90%.
But there are these which sold a lot:
1. Dragon Quest handhelds
2. FF handhelds on DS
3. Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
4. FF crisis core.
I blame stagnation. Things changed little after the PS1 era and even regressed. Once the the genre became popular, tropes within it became "traditional."
They are declining because of too much focus in graphics, thats why handhelds RPGs succeed because the graphics is the last of worries.
In japan there are a lot of awesome RPGs but given how strange they are (Like conception) we will never get them.
Those are some eye opening numbers there. I think it does not help the genre when the leading developer of JRPGs like Squarenix are so fixated on westernization of their games.
Ever since this gen started when they clearly stated that they will support the Xbox360 more so than the PS3 was a clear indication of the direction they were & are headed. The JRPG genre became mainstream popular on the PSone with the release of FF 7. When Square & Sony were in that partnership it turned out to benefit both companies. Square has had their most successful business during that time while Sony was thankful for Square's games that help sell their consoles. So when Squarenix decided to sever that partnership with Sony the basically abandoned the fanbase they built with that partnership.
Not blaming the Xbox360 for the poor JRPG games this gen cause we know that the platform is capable of some solid games like Lost Odyssey. It was clearly a poor business decision by Squarenix to go for the money more so than the recognition. They sold out their fanbase for a higher paycheck. That is why the JRPG genre is dying cause the main player has forgotten what got them to be the company they once were & sold out to the mighty dollar.
I am glad that some of the smaller companies like NIS, Atlus, Idea Factory although have smaller budgets are trying to make JRPG games that fans still love & remember. Namco Bandai were once like Squarenix going for the chance of higher profits are now trying to re-connect with the fanbase they built with the Xillia games.
That is why i tend to support the lesser know JRPG games despite negative reviews by game sites cause without the lesser known JRPGs we may as well say goodbye to this once popular genre of yore.
JRPG's are thriving on handhelds, aren't they?