JRPG WRPG WTF LOL

Well this is a topic that I personally have been avoiding talking about for a while because it has causes many debates within the gaming community. However  because of a recent comment made by a well known game developer I had to throw in my two cents on this topic.  Recently Daniel Erickson, a writing director of BioWare when asked about his opinion of Final Fantasy XIII said, “You can put a ‘J’ in front of it, but it is not an RPG.”

I have to say, that is a very bold statement indeed to say, however that was only covering his opinion of the Final Fantasy XII which has a very linear storyline. However, when I spoke with other people concerning this they agreed with him. They said that its true, JRPGs aren’t really RPGs. Unlike WRPGs (that is the name the Japanese have for our RPG games), the actions you make during a game do not affect the games outcome at all. All your actions that you make are part of pre-programmed linear storyline and that the only RPG element of it is the full out character equipment customization. That right there is something to think about, does the Japanese game market have games where your actions affect the games progress and outcome? Yes, they are called DATE SIMS, which are pretty much an RPG as anything. You PLAY the ROLE of a character in a GAME, if its not any more clear than that I don’t know what is. There are even RPG games that have Date Sims within them, thus making this statement even more false.

A ninja approaches! I wonder how much EXP I need to get into her pants...

Now those who support the JPRGs with their “mini-skirt female character wearing with giant breasts and male lead characters with giant sword ways” have their own opinions of WRPGs. When I asked them several statements were that the characters in WRPGs lack the colorfulness and uniqueness  that the cast of a JRPG has. The music isn’t as memorable, or the storyline is too bland and bleak. Now lets see, concerning characters look at the Mass Effect series. I myself have my own negative opinions of it but I will admit the characters are very unique and memorable. They may not be the typical “Girl With Mini-Skirt Love Interest” or “Broody Guy With Dark Past” or the ever favorite ”Hey Is He a Guy Or a Girl?”. Music, WRPGs music is unique to its own game, not a remake of a song that has been used for over 20 years. After that it doesn’t become memorable, it becomes just plain annoying. On the subject of the settings being bland or bleak, it all depends on the writer themselves. The settings themselves may not be bland, however they do have a dark tone to it because if you look back at western fantasy and sci-fi novels they do have a very serious tone to them and a lot of game writers get their inspiration from these books. Which is in the same way many JRPGs get their inspiration from anime.

So what do we see in the end, pretty much what I have always said on the subject of East vs West in the RPG market. The Japanese have one way of making RPGS while American developers have their own ways of making them. They will always butt heads because they each have their own ways of targeting the market. There is no universal grand rule on how to make games because everyones tastes, and creative processes are different. Reply with your opinions, CL Gamer nation, you know I love to hear them.