There are two types of people in the world. Those who prefer Western RPGs and those who prefer Japanese RPGs. This is a look at why some people seem to prefer Western RPGs and it's recent increase in popularity.
Replaying Skyrim after 13 years is a reminder of the progress made in western RPGs over the last decade, but also what's been lost.
RPGs are often huge, sprawling endeavours. With limited playtime, we have to choose wisely, so here's the best western RPGs available today.
"I started playing games yesterday" the List... Meh!
How about a few RPGs that deserve some love instead?
1 - Alpha Protocol - Now on GOG
2 - else Heart.Break()
3 - Shadowrun Trilogy
4 - Wasteland 2
5 - UnderRail
6 - Tyranny
7 - Torment: Tides of Numenera
And for a bonus game that flew under the radar:
8 - Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
Not only glorious jank, but the idea that the story can completely change depending on what you do, or say, or side with, makes it one of the most forward thinking games ever. The amount of story permutation is the equivalent of a Hitman level but in Story Form. And it wasn't just that the story changed, no, it was that you met completely new characters, or missed them, depending on your choices. Made Mass Effect feel static in comparison.
Alpha Protocol was absolutely glorious, indeed. And it was, and still is, more Next Gen than most anything out there these days. In this regard at least.
Pity.
A new Partner Spotlight Sale is now live on the Switch eShop, including Skyrim, lowest price ever for Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, and more.
Western RPGs tend to have fetch quests instead of rewarding your exploration and time spent in the game with worth while loot drops. Diablo III is one Wrpg that has a good balance between story, combat/leveling, and loot drops. Lords of the Fallen = meh. Bound by Flame = oh god no. Dragon Age Inquisition = pretty good, too many fetch quests.
@wakeNbake
Jrpgs tend to be story driven, and quests are usually tied into the story. Fetch quests are not needed as filler because Jrpgs tend to be linear.
I prefer Eastern European RPGs:
Witcher and Witcher 2.
:-)
To me WRPGs always did something different with games like fallout, elder scrolls, diablo, torchlight, the witcher, baldurs gate always doing something different and neat. Sure maybe sometimes the changes weren't always so drastic but it was something.
JRPGS IMO never really evolved or changed as much which is why over time their appeal just faded with me. Not to mention JRPGS were at their prime and top peak during the PS1 era and still pretty good during the 6th gen. There wasn't a whole lot last gen except for somethings like xenoblade, valkyria chronicles, ni no kuni and that was kind of it.
I've loved western RPGs since Lands of Lore Throne of Chaos on PC back in '93. My first RPG was Phantasy Star on Sega, circa '88. At first I really liked the Japanese RPGs but as the years went on I really got tired of random battles. I have played a few newer ones, however I prefer the settings, art pieces, and look of western style. The mythology is more interesting to me. I think a lot of characters and enemies in jrpgs look absurd. In many of the older ones, they swapped enemy colors and called them new species.