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Western RPGs vs Japanese RPGs - Great Debate

Which role-playing genre will reign supreme?

Words: on September 20, 2012
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104 comments

  • awesomesauce - September 21, 2012 2:58 p.m.

    JRPG have better characters? Every JRPG has a freaking 11 yr old holding a sword the size of Jesus Chirst himself, whose has spiky anime hair and eyes, yet acts like a bitch or is obedient (accepts quests of no relation or personal gain of his own) in social situations. I could understand if every JRPG (heck every Japanese show/comic/game) didn't have to have every person in it looking like a beautiful art painting. Even the badasses have to have like a typical scar over the eye and no one accepts them b.s. And People saying Mass Effect doesn't count, What really makes an RPG, HUH? The definition of ROLE PLAYING is being someone your not. So just cause the game doesn't have a random dice roll chance divided by pi that your mana spell works against blue ghosts doesn't mean the game ain't RPG worth. You wanna take your time in combat buy a strategy game and quit blasting on REAL TIME combat, then you can take all the time you want. So buy that logic even Batman is a RPG. And i think it's worthy cause last time i checked i'm not Batman. I think people are angry that there is such debate over what the label RPG really means. Some people hate it when something like Skyrim gets released as an RPG cause you can't take your time to play a move. But that's not the defintion of Role Playing is it. Since when does RPGing mean we have to follow Dungeon and Dragon's rules? Annnywaay.... I'm getting off topic now. Please tell me though that there's someone out there that agrees with me though (and is willing to read this long thing).

  • BladedFalcon - September 21, 2012 4:16 p.m.

    "JRPG have better characters? Every JRPG has a freaking 11 yr old holding a sword the size of Jesus Chirst himself, whose has spiky anime hair and eyes, yet acts like a bitch or is obedient (accepts quests of no relation or personal gain of his own) in social situations." Yay for stupid over-generalizations! Really... any credibility you could have had in your argument quickly falls apart when you use a tired and untrue example of what is supposedly a JRPG character. Here's a secret, there far more JRPGs than just Final Fantasy VII *Gasp!* If you had any actual knowledge of the genre, I'd bother dropping some examples that would destroy your claim, but I'm pretty sure those would fly over your head.

  • RonnyLive19881 - September 21, 2012 4:32 p.m.

    Your logic says every game is a role playing game. You can't just slap a level system to a shooter and call it an RPG, that is a shooter with RPG elements. RPG's are what they have been for years(besides rocket propelled grenades). Look at Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Phantasy Star, Xeno games, SMT... those are games that define the genre. Borderlands, Call of Duty, Mass Effect... they are shooters for the most part but if you look closely you can level up all of your equipment and mess with your character stats, really that's as RPG as BL and COD gets. Mass Effect takes it a step further with character customization, detailed character dialogue but calling it an RPG is a travesty... that is why they came up with the WRPG title... apparently anything can be one of those Lmao

  • RonnyLive19881 - September 21, 2012 4:34 p.m.

    That was at awesomesauce Lol

  • winner2 - September 21, 2012 5:32 p.m.

    Lol'd at the Jesus Christ sword

  • awesomesauce - September 22, 2012 12:40 p.m.

    Well when all the games are made the same you basicly have to stick with your steorotypes. I mean FF, Dragon's quest, dothack all look the same. They all try to be cute.

  • BladedFalcon - September 22, 2012 2:13 p.m.

    Thanks for reinforcing your ignorance man, you really do a great job at it! Because, surely, Yuri Lowell from tales of Vesperia, a vigilante who actually murders the villains of the game and doesn't give them mercy like the typical Hero is certainly the exact same kind of Cloud from FFVII. Or even Terra Brandford from the previous FF game? a woman who's being persecuted for being different and actually uses nothing resembling a sword!!! Surely she's the exact same thing as well!!! Also, just because most Japanese RPGs have a certain type of aesthetic doesn't make them all be the same. otherwise, this applies equally if not more to all the FPS and TPS genre, all with those buzzcut marine dudes who pump more steroids than all the Wrestlers in the world joined together, and all with a color pallet that ranges from sand brown to poop brown. See, the above is also an over-generalization, but it's just as valid as yours. Sounds stupid, doesn't it? Again, at least bother to play the games you're going to criticize before actually judging them. Or keep making an idiot out of yourself, whichever you prefer ^^

  • awesomesauce - September 23, 2012 11:01 p.m.

    Yo, i don't know where this little asshole attitude of yours came from, maybe cause you feel i've insulted your little fantasy of small chibis. I was just expressing my view of Japanese game in general. All of a sudden this guy jumps out of his naruto chair and takes it to heart. Western and Eastern games have huge differents sure. But if you feel that tryin to berate some guy on the internet increases the point you're trying to prove then sure go on and try

  • BladedFalcon - September 24, 2012 7:22 a.m.

    "Yo" Here's some news flash for you, when you're "Just expressing your view", try to avoid stating it as if it was a fact or as if you were right. Otherwise, you only sound pedantic AND ignorant in the process. Also, nice try to try and insulting me, but again, you're foolishly generalizing, and assuming I even like Naruto when in fact I haven't even watched a single episode of that series. Once again, nice work of showing off your stupidity and ignorance ^^ Really, have you even played more than one or two JRPGs? or is your "view" formed out of just watching pretty pictures on the Internets? Again, if you don't want to be mocked, or "berated" then try avoiding commenting on subjects in which you clearly don't know a shit about ;) Same thing if you're tying to insult someone, personal attacks only work if you actually know the person, otherwise you're only gonna make them laugh. Thanks for the amusement, by the way!

  • bamit11 - September 24, 2012 9:54 a.m.

    Fallout: New Vegas is a good example of a WRPG that has a good, clear ending and gives you multiple endings. Best of both worlds.

  • BladedFalcon - September 24, 2012 11:38 a.m.

    Too bad it's a technical mess and bloated with glitches.

  • awesomesauce - September 25, 2012 6:13 p.m.

    I honestly don't give a damn whether you like naruto or not. Doesn't have to be true to insult someone. Like you coming at me with your ignorant comments commenting on my ignorance. So if you're gonna laugh go ahead and laugh at your own hypocritical statement, narrow-minded attitude, and choice of video of video games. Cause i'll go on and laugh right at you too!

  • profile0000 - September 21, 2012 2:49 p.m.

    While I originally grew up on JRPGs, I got really into WRPGs in the last ten years. I can't honestly choose one over the other, as I still thoroughly enjoy both. Having said that, I want to give Dark Souls some credit. It really plays like a combination of both "schools" of RPG design. While an action-JRPG at heart, it definitely plays like a WRPG at times. I can't recommend enough that fans of JRPGs and/or WRPGs play Dark Souls. It's the perfect bastard child of both.

  • Wunderbolt - September 21, 2012 2:24 p.m.

    Frankly, I'm just glad there are so many good options in either genre. Shouldn't we just be thankful for that?

  • RonnyLive19881 - September 21, 2012 1:24 p.m.

    WRPG's are slightly polished trash imo. I have yet to play all the way through one(besides Mass Effect's 1&2, I'm saving 3 for the Wii U) but own many Lol It is painfully clear Hollander hasn't played any recent JRPG's, he'd of never made the comment of them having bad music if he had played Xenoblade, The Last Story, Lost Odyssey, Dragon Quest IX, Tales of Vesperia or Eternal Sonata. Saying you like western RPG's these days are like saying you perfer shooters or button mashers like God of War over RPG's... True JRPS's from this generation(though NOT all of them) seem to be ditching the open world set up and it would be kind of neat to see a Mass Effect level of character and story(although that is part of the reason it is HARD for me to get through those games) but in the end JRPG's still end up having better characters and stories so it's not like we are missing anything.

  • RonnyLive19881 - September 21, 2012 1:28 p.m.

    Seriously? J-pop or techno? Have you only played FFXIII? Mass Effect is almost all techno...

  • zombi3grim - September 21, 2012 9:06 p.m.

    "I have yet to play all the way through one(besides Mass Effect's 1&2, I'm saving 3 for the Wii U) but own many Lol" Do I....do I really have to say something about this sentence? Can I just let it speak for itself?

  • IamTheBalance - September 21, 2012 9:47 p.m.

    Yea Mass Effect 3 on the Wii U? More like Pee U. amirite?

  • zombi3grim - September 22, 2012 5:33 a.m.

    That wasnt what I was refering to but thats also pretty fuckin stupid.

  • RonnyLive19881 - September 22, 2012 9:36 a.m.

    It'll be the best version and it's on a console I am looking forward to so I waited. Now if your saying I only think this because I have only finished the Mass Effects... you do realize Kingdoms of Alumar, Dragons Dogma, Witcher, Dark and Demon Souls, Fable and Skyrim are pretty much all riffing off of each other right? Same tone, setting, mission/quest structure, types of spells, hoarding... Unlike the JRPG's that share similarities they are all boring and feel to same-y... all of these "WRPG's" feel of the same developer or series. JRPG's you don't get this unless the games are of the same series and even in that case most of them are widely different from title to title. I'd compare WRPG's to the Dragon Quest series... DQ is the clear winner in the comparison BUT what they share in common is YOU KNOW when you are playing a game of the series just from a glance or even a clip of a sound clip, same could be said with a bunch of WRPG's you see/play one you've basically played them all, they just don't have the charm of bringing you back for the next one and most people that do enjoy them have OCD and a LOT of time on their hands. That's the way i see it at least Lol

Showing 21-40 of 104 comments

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