Console Monster writes: "Back in the days of the original Xbox, JRPG's were incredibly hard to come by, whilst the PS2 seemed to have an endless supply. Fast forward to today, and things have switched around, with the Xbox 360 getting lots of JRPG goodness as of late, with great titles such as Eternal Sonata and Blue Dragon. The most recent JRPG to grace the 360 comes in the form of Tales of Vesperia, the latest in the long line of Tales RPG's, and the series' first entry into Hi-Def.
One of the first things you will likely notice upon booting up Tales of Vesperia is just how pretty the game is, both in terms of art style and graphical prowess. The cel-shaded anime styling of the game is a joy to look at, and the different characters all look beautifully detailed and unique. The environments, whilst lacking some fine details, are still wonderfully envisioned, and really make exploring the world a joy as you encounter all manner of fantastic cities and ruins. Cutscenes using the in-game engine are also beautifully done, but I wasn't so keen on the pre-rendered anime cutscenes, as while they are very well drawn, they just didn't seem to fit in with game all that well. The only real downer to the graphics is the world map, which ends up looking horribly bland and boring, which is a real shame considering how nice the rest of the game looks. Seeing as you don't spend much time on the world map this isn't too much of a problem, especially when the areas where you will spend your time look as great as they do, especially the fight sequences..."
Nevada Dru from Bits & Pieces explores delayed gratification in JRPG's.
I really enjoyed this article, it was a good read. This quote gave me a chuckle, because it's true!:
"Pretty much every JRPG involves the player’s characters going from barely being able to lift a sword to killing God"
Final Fantasy 15 the ultimate delayed game with delayed story dlc shoveled in at the last second. Doesn’t ring the gratifying bell when I see that stupid car at all. Article+thumbnail is like describing a 5star meal while watching your cat clean its backside.
Replies(2)More specifically I would say JRPGs are progressive gratification. Basically like listening to prog music vs anything else which imo is the best. Even if a JRPG is all about the journey, generally speaking JRPGs keep getting better as opposed to other games which usually have their high points come in either too soon, or the best parts just aren't nearly as impactful.
Also don't forget the direct comparison that the old Square Enix president made. He said Western players like TWITCH games and eastern players love Cerebral games. Now it was taken as a racist slam. But he meant it as one of the reasons outside of development time and cost return on investment(ROI). But he had a true point people here are TRAINED to like instant stuff. And people there are trained to like delayed over the top stuff. It is not a intelligence slam. I'm glad I LOVE the later gratification! Because it is way better!
The Tales games may be less recognizable than the Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy games, but that doesn't mean that they aren't worth playing!
“Tales series is considered one of the top three Japanese RPG series next to RPG giants like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.”
How you gonna talk about the top three JRPG franchises and not mention Pokémon, the top selling series in the genre?
This is how the top JRPG series stack up
1. Pokémon - 340M
2. Final Fantasy - 144M
3. Dragon Quest - 78M
4. Monster Hunter - 52M
5. Kingdom Hearts - 30M
6. Souls - 25M
7. Tales of - 20M
Ten years ago, early in the lives of both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, Microsoft scored a coup when it secured the latest game from Namco's long-running Tales franchise - which had been almost exclusive to PlayStation since Tales of Destiny in the '90s.
Things got even more heated after Tales of Vesperia eventually did end up on PS3, in even better form, with new content and characters. But much to PS3 fans' consternation, Namco Bandai opted to keep the enhanced port Japan-exclusive.
Until last year, when Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition was announced for all existing platforms. The question remains: Was it worth the wait?
It is indeed. Havent felt this good for a tales game since....well vesperia on the 360. Namco needs to go back to these roots.
Phantasia will forever be my ideal tales game. But if they could do a solid remake in current engine I would be thrilled to relive that awesome game
I don’t think there’s any definitive ideal Tales game since they all have their own individual merit from one another
