The western press loves to hate Japanese games

Basically every time a new Japanese game gets released in the west, hordes of western gaming journalists scramble to dissect it as ruthlessly as possible, criticizing it with a negativity bias that is very rare in reviews of western games, no matter how bad.

Classy Gamer analyzes this trend, and the difference in standards between reviews of Japanese games and western games that can be noticed between the western press.

[math]

Yeah the Western Press really shunned Bayonetta.

[Noctis Aftermath]

A big part of the problem for me is all the stupid pre-pubescent anime characters, why not use more of the mature anime characters?

[Abriael]

Actually the cast of an usual JRPG is quite varied Age-wise, there's almost always an adult character involved, or more than one. The fact that it's not (normally) the main character doesn't mean it's not important or developed.

Personally, I'd say it's good in the name of variety, given that the western industry is equally biased towards steroid-filled, smart-assish people in their late twenties.

[Silly gameAr]

I think we know why Bayonetta was hyped to hell and back. Love the game, but just saying.

[The Wood]

like we somehow dont need them anymore.....fools... be careful what you wish for if you're that type

[Agent Smith]

The western press loves to hate bad Japanese games.

[Abriael]

...Which are much more rare than what the western press would like us to believe.

[hazardman]

this article is BS..American gamers/press love a good Japanese game.. most of the all time classics that we grew up playing were Japanese titles and even a lot of Japanese developed games still get love, but it seems throughout the years Western developers are now on the same level and some have actually surpassed some of the great japanese developers..it should be vice-versa..Japenese hate -WESTERN GAMES- Anyway f*ck the press at the end of the day the gamers is all developers have to worry about.

[Abriael]

Actually the Japanese press has long since started judging western games fairly.

Unfortunately developers have to worry a lot about the press. if the press doesn't give games the right coverage, or criticizes a game unfairly (and as of press, I mean both the printed and the online press), it's a lot of sales that go down the drain.

The press is a very important part of a game's marketing, and marketing is a very important game of a game's success. Knowledgeable gamers that make their own decisions without external influence are, unfortunately, a minority.

[hazardman]

I'm guessing you disagree about my hate for the press then, because I feel the rest of my comment is RIGHT ON!!! You must be from Japan then and know all..I happen to be one that really doesn't care about media coverage or marketing, but it's an added bonus..I know what games I want to play..I've been gaming since the mid 80's and I know the Japanese are not as receptive to Western games as we are to theirs. Anyway if the Japanese developers would stop slacking on their titles then we wouldn't be having this discussion.

[Abriael]

Actually not really, I'm from Italy, and I tend to enjoy games both Japanese and Western games on all platforms(I have no trouble alternating between Dragon Age and Final Fantasy XIII, or Dawn of War 2 and White Knight Chronicles).

Sure, there are informed customers that don't need the press to tell them what's good and what's bad, but what percentage are they of the total gaming customer base?

[Bigpappy]

They need to make their games more complex. If their games are aimed at the 360 and PS3 they should know that the intended buyers are no 9 to 14 year old kids or women. It is like they did not notice that the people who played their game in the 80's have not moved on from gaming. But are in fact the same people who player FF3 and 4 when they were first released are the people who own these HD consoles today. They bought HD because they like to advance the gaming experience. Just upgrading the graphics to HD and slapping a 13 or 20 on it is not advancing gaming. That is what XBLA and PSN are there for.

Bring some true advancements and maturity to the games and I am sure the west will be all over the JRPG's like they were in the 80's and 90's.

[Abriael]

Actually Japanese games, have, in average, more mature stories than western ones. I definitely doubt stories like that of Gears of War or similar could be defined "mature" by any stretch of the imagination.

As of complexity, it's not like western games are prime examples of such. Quite the contrary.

[Silly gameAr]

The 90's. That's when games were for fun right? I think Japan should just keep doing what they're doing since you know, they're stuck in the 90's, where games were for fun...and all.

You can advance gaming and retain what made games fun in the first place. Games don't have to be complex and puzzle driven and, contrary to popular belief, a graphical powerhouse to succeed today.

If what you believe was true, Marvel vs. Capcom and the older Final Fantasy games wouldn't be selling as well as they are on XBLA, PSN, the PSP or DS.

It's funny how people think a game has to come from the west to be mature or advance gaming.

Demon's Souls is from a japanese dev, and It has one of the most
unique multiplayer experiences around, and has the right amount of difficulty and maturity for any gamer looking for a challenge.

[Abriael]

@Silly gameAr: very well said sir.

[Bigpappy]

As long as you are not asking me to pay $60 for them. When I pay $60, I want to feel the newness gameplay and have better AI, better graphics, completely different story with choices that let me get more involve in the direction,and hopefully I get a different result and experience than my friend who made different choices. Then you have a conversation and talk about the choices and out come of each. Then you get the WOW! I didn't know you could do that. Thats the difference between a great RPG and an interactive book.

@ Abriael. I wish I could be sure of you age so I would try and make sense of you JRPG being more mature remark. As for my perspective, what you are saying is a laugh out loud joke. Most protagonist in JRPG games are between 9 and 17 , and the conversation is usually rated Teen. WRPG on the other hand were not intended for that age group. That is why they are not ported to Nintendo. Just trying to explain this feels stupid, so I have nothing more on the topic. Good luck.

[Abriael]

Interesting. You just described a game that doesn't exist. And probably never will.

[Viper7]

Personally I don't care much about graphics. As long as the graphics are not under certain bar (and for games like Disgaea, the lack of graphics should be countered with amount of content).

However gotta admit that there are many J-rpgs with plot that goes below even the lowest standards. If the plot can be described with the sentence "orphan teenager saving the world/universe." the developers should really rethink it trough.

But still plenty of them are getting bad reviews just because of bad graphics, bad plot or "brings nothing new" while plenty of shooters get a free pass trough the 2 latter ones. Sometimes it even feels like they are forgiving a lot of flaws from the single player campaign just because of good multi-player.
These 2 "modes" should imo be reviewed separately, as there are plenty of gamers out there who don't give a flying **** about multi-player. Yet many game reviews deceive them with their 10/10 reviews.