Are JRPGs dead?

I think I may be one of the few people who is glad about all of the changes in the new game. Most of the things that I've heard are gone are things I never liked about Final Fantasy games. I'm yet to buy or play the game, but now I might get it, and I wasn't planning to before release.

" i like the battle system to me its like crono trigger and pokemon at the same time which is good." ...what?

i like ff13 the reason why i bought it is because its its linner i dont have time to be playing games that just throw me in the world with no sense of direction like with ff1 and 2 advance i havent touched them since i bought them because i dont know what to do and i like the battle system to me its like crono trigger and pokemon at the same time which is good.

I wouldn't claim death so much as being torn apart. Western developers are taking aspects that people liked from JRPGS and putting them into other games (fallout, mass effect, some sports games I've never played). Then they are innovating those ideas. JRPGs, however aren't doing much of anything to actually innovate aside from spending 6 years building engines to make almost the exact same game play look prettier with a few more lense flairs. Heck, even multiplayer games take leveling up systems started by jrpg's and use them as rankings to help match players with other players of similar skill.

I've got a feeling it isn't the game but the feeling. Being an old fart I remember these games when they were new. If I give an example of Way of the Exploding Fist on the speccie. I used to play this with my brother and it was incredible, a proper fighting game that rewarded skill. The first time round the sense of wonder with it blew me away. Roll on nearly 30 years and I recently played it again. Everything was the same but I had lost the sense of wander. I could play it straight off and be pretty kick ass but it had lost the feeling. Scroll forward to the first time I played the original Unreal, mental, same sense of disbelief and wonder. Played again and it is still great but no feeling. I think the FF series is like this. FF felt like nothing else and not just gameplay, more the idea that you were playing something special. After so much repetition the sense of special has gone I think. It has to either evolve or die. And quite frankly 80ll0x to the fanboys. If you want FFxii play it Until it feels right again it can't be right.

other then demon's soul i haven't played a JRPG I've really love since FFX

Yet again, not a single mention of Legend of Dragoon anywhere, *sigh*...

You know what? Fuck this generation of gaming. People complain about games rather than enjoy them, and now this article proves that people just suck. Just give me a Sega Genesis and a Sonic The Hedgehog 2 cartridge, and I'll never bitch about anything, because I'm actually having fun. I can't say the same for most games these days, because it's either over-populated online shooters with rage-inducing kids that lack dislipine, or exclusives that one side gloat and the other side bitch on it. If 3-d gaming takes center, then I'll quit gaming., because there is absolutly no way it can be classified as FUN. Now I'm going to play Sonic 2, because I want to remember how it feels to enjoy something.

JRPGs are stagnant. Lost Odyssey was great in story, weak as hell in gameplay.

I think the problem is just too much internet.

i am definately on board for some new, non cliche characters. if they have to be teenagers then at least make them seem more real like in that avatar cartoon (no im not talking about the movie with the blue people). the lead protaganist in avatar wouldnt get all mopey unless he had a good reason to like when his flying bison was stolen from him which was like stealing the family pet. he actually acted like a kid rather than the usual emotionaly depressed kid who just needs to get over his petty problems.

Great article! Being a huge FFVII fan and a 25 year old working adult with a mortgage and a kid of my own, I can totally agree with this. I don't have the time or the patience to grind through an of the older style JRPGs. But games like Fallout 3, Fable 2 and even Modern Warfare offer a great balance of RPG elements and fast paced action. I really enjoy customizing and leveling up my characters but I can no longer tolerate random battles and the over used JRPG story and characters. While I enjoy the occasional nostalgic visit to my old PSone collection, I don't want to play any newer versions of those games. My best gaming memories are of those old JRPG. Back in the day I invested every bit of 300 hours into FFVII alone! I just don't have that kind of time any more. I'll always be a gamer, but I think the JRPG scene is just about dead.

Give 13 some credit, it has the best battle system of the franchise so far. No longer can you just fly through with simple attacks. I have died countless times in FF13 battles and it does require you to play and think more than most complain about. Has it come to the point that every high profile release that isnt meet with praise we see gamers cry like little babies? Honestly its old and tiresome.

Correction: 13 managed to break the 'hero' stereotype.

"Dozens of games offer the same freedom and customisation of JRPGs, but they aren’t hindered by the stale settings, themes and characters." Sums up the problem almost entirely. Final Fantasy has become typecast. In the past it was about telling the same story...one of personal discovery and saving the world along the way...to being near carbon copies of one another. Hero: Spiky-haired blonde male with a poorly-defined past (Cloud, Tidus, Zidane, the guy from FF12 and FF13) Herione: Quiet, refined, long dark hair (Rinoa, Princess whatshername from FF9, the girl from FF10, the ones from 12 and 13...****, the one from 12 *IS* Rinoa with higher resolution) Annoying sidekick: Blonde, spiky-haired guy with no attention span (Zell, Wakka, others) And that's not even counting the fan-service, which I enjoy. Whenever I play a FF game, I wonder where Cid will show up and what eccentricities he has this time, where are Biggs and Wedge and just how inept are they this time, etc. The cast from the first 6 games share nothing in common except a destiny. The heroes from the last 7 are so badly typecast you can mistake them for each other. To really capture the world again, a good RPG would take hints from the days of old; - New, inspiring characters that aren't tired old cliches for their role in the party. - New appearances that don't leave longtime fans wondering if a character from a previous game is making a cameo. - Mechanics that are deep enough that each player's party is just a little different, but nobody's is useless. - A theme that is suitably epic and at the same time subtle; RPG players expect to save the world from some terrible uberthreat. To make them appreciate a story, it has to be nuanced, unpredictable, and subtle; watching a party member struggle to accept their fate (Mass Effect's Wrex), or cope with an obscure need. That's where western RPGs are really taking hold and taking the market away; fresh characters, new twists on a timeless story, and to **** with stereotypes.

I still love JRPGs, but I'm wondering how long it will take before people start changing the archetypes. Buncha emo teenage kids saving the world... sigh. Again?

For people who are tired of it, play western RPGs, for people who like it still, keep these the same. I mainly play Western now, but that doesn't mean I don't like playing some Lost Odyssy now and then.

You know whatd be great? If Hayao Miyazaki designed a videogame :D :D :D His movie are the best!!! YAY! Imagine the graphics of the games with that typical drawing style! ^^ and his storylines are so awesome that awesome is an insult to them xD

In very general terms I think jrpg's have always been tiresome. Poorly written, plodding and linear. In contrast western rpg's have always been more innovative and interesting. As I see it the biggest change is when western publishers started producing games more aggressively for consoles rather than just pc's. I remember owning a Sega Genesis and just wishing that those cool pc games would be available but it rarely happened. I was stuck with the mind-numbing gameplay of Phantasy Star 2, Super Hydlide and Shining in the Darkness early on. Then EA and Accolade came along and brought out Might and Magic, King's Bounty and Star Control 2. Games that were innovative and engaging. Not all jrpg's were/are terrible. I remember fondly when I played the original Phantasy Star. A very cool open sandlot type game with an interesting story that kept you engaged.

A REALLY good step forward would be to get rid of the typical archetype protagonist, as Gamesradar said... I mean, I love Cloud a LOT, but seeing the same personalities, only in different bodies, over and over again (the TYPICAL lonewolf, the never-lose-hope cheery girl, the clumsy guy, the guy who goes out to save the world by sheer good will, etc...) THOSE THINGS DONT HAPPEN! I mean, humans dont really behave like that you know?? I'd like to see at least a more human character (if u cant customize him like in Oblivion and blah..) who shows anger, selfishness, worry, despair, but also laughs and gets along when he wants to. THATS A HUMAN! Good AND Bad! Oh and get over the teenage group of random people who end up saving the world kay?!