Western RPGs Vs. JRPGs

[NESpowerhouse]

RPGs are some of the most prominent genres of gaming, but they do come in different flavors: JRPGs and Western RPGS. JRPGs would be traditional-style RPGS, usually contain many long cutscenes, are always made in Japan, and include games such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and XenoSaga, while Western RPGs are RPGs with elements from other genres of gaming, usually made in America, and usually contain customizable characters, and include games such as The Elder Scrolls Series, Fallout, and Dark Souls. Personally, I prefer JRPGs because I am most familiar them. I also can't really get into games such as Skyrim and Fallout 3. But what do you prefer?

 

[Honorable Hero]

I prefer JRPGs, but I do like WRPGs as well. Skyrim is one of my favorites.

 

[Zenox]

How is Western RPGs not winning. JRPGS are terrible. Like. The only thing they have going for them is a good storyline in most cases. You don't play JRPGS for the gameplay, you play it for the story. That is so backwards it isn't even funny. Sure the story is great in most games, but the gameplay in JRPGS is pathetic. I'm not against turn-based battling, Paper Mario is great, but it is so bland, and all JRPGs use a slight variant of the same system, and it sucks.

Western RPGs are far superior. Most games have a unique combat system, which normally is engaging and fun to use. The Open-endedness of most Western RPGs is the real turn on for them. Sure Morrowind's combat isn't great (leagues better than Final Fantasy, though) but just how vast the game itself is is so ... I don't even know. I've been playing the game for 11 years and still haven't done everything. Western RPGs build on each others successes, while JRPGs just rehash the same game with different characters and different story. I'm sorry, but it's almost pathetic how terrible JRPGs are.

 

[Austin]

Dark Souls is Japanese.

I strongly prefer Western RPGs to Japanese ones. The Fallout series, both Knights of the Old Republic games and the Elder Scrolls make it a great genre for me. I can enjoy JRPGs but never to the same extent.

 

[Yoda's LSD Dealer]

For me, it's gonna be JRPGs.

Three words: Ni No Kuni.

 

[ThePurpleKnight]

How is Western RPGs not winning. JRPGS are terrible. Like. The only thing they have going for them is a good storyline in most cases. You don't play JRPGS for the gameplay, you play it for the story. That is so backwards it isn't even funny. Sure the story is great in most games, but the gameplay in JRPGS is pathetic. I'm not against turn-based battling, Paper Mario is great, but it is so bland, and all JRPGs use a slight variant of the same system, and it sucks.

Western RPGs are far superior. Most games have a unique combat system, which normally is engaging and fun to use. The Open-endedness of most Western RPGs is the real turn on for them. Sure Morrowind's combat isn't great (leagues better than Final Fantasy, though) but just how vast the game itself is is so ... I don't even know. I've been playing the game for 11 years and still haven't done everything. Western RPGs build on each others successes, while JRPGs just rehash the same game with different characters and different story. I'm sorry, but it's almost pathetic how terrible JRPGs are.

Never played Tales of Vesperia or Tales of the Abyss? Tales of Symphonia 2?

 

[Zenox]

Never played Tales of Vesperia or Tales of the Abyss? Tales of Symphonia 2?

I have played Tales of Symphonia 1. It was a great game, but still doesn't change the fact that it really only had story going for it. Same rehashed battle system (which makes up 98% of the gameplay)

 

[ThePurpleKnight]

I have played Tales of Symphonia 1. It was a great game, but still doesn't change the fact that it really only had story going for it. Same rehashed battle system (which makes up 98% of the gameplay)

yea I specifically left that one out, Vesperia is much better, Symphonia 2 > Symphonia one by a lot.

 

[Justac00lguy]

This is mainly going to be a bias opinion because I haven't played many JRPG's....

But for me it would definitely be Western RPG's. Games like Skyrim, Morrowind, Deus ex, Mass Efffect and my all time favorite series Fallout, more specifically Fallout 3 and NV. However I am looking into playing the likes of Tales of the Abyss and Xeno Chronicles, so maybe I'll change my opinion then who knows?

 

[Zenox]

yea I specifically left that one out, Vesperia is much better, Symphonia 2 > Symphonia one by a lot.

I haven't played Symphonia 2, but a friend of mine was showing it to me, and it was basically the same game.

If you can find a JRPG that doesn't have the same piece of gameplay as the rest of them, then maybe you'll have a case.

 

[Spirit]

I suck at both but if games like Fallout and skyrim etc are examples of Western RPGs then i'm going with JRPGs all the way, JRPGs feel less generic, are more intricate and engaging, are a lot grander in scope and ambition, the characters are recognisable and usually have wonderful designs and overall theyre just a lot more fun and engaging to play,

 

[Zenox]

I suck at both but if games like Fallout and skyrim etc are examples of Western RPGs then i'm going with JRPGs all the way, Western RPGs feel less generic, are more intricate and engaging, are a lot grander in scope and ambition, the characters are recognisable and usually have wonderful designs and overall theyre just a lot more fun and engaging to play,

You had a typo. I just had to fix it.

 

[Ventus]

I much prefer JRPGs to Western RPGs. As it happens, the Js are typically faster, more action oriented and have lots of things going on at once. It makes for a much greater call in regards to micromanaging. Miss one detail and BAM, you're dead. Of course, grinding exists in JRPGs and it's oftentimes more beneficial to do so than in the Western counterparts.

Now, I'm not saying WRPGs are bad; I do enjoy a few of them myself (I liked Fallout New Vegas a bit). I just don't play them often because of the ones whose memories are not worth remembering in my mind. The ones I remember were excruciatingly slow, didn't have nearly as much detail, and really were just hack and slash. :brow:

How is Western RPGs not winning. JRPGS are terrible. Like. The only thing they have going for them is a good storyline in most cases. You don't play JRPGS for the gameplay, you play it for the story. That is so backwards it isn't even funny. Sure the story is great in most games, but the gameplay in JRPGS is pathetic. I'm not against turn-based battling, Paper Mario is great, but it is so bland, and all JRPGs use a slight variant of the same system, and it sucks.

Have you ever played Star Ocean: Till the End of Time or SO:The Last Hope? Those games have some pretty terrible stories, but they more than make up for it in the gameplay which, by the way, is more than pressing the "attack" button in most WRPGs.

 

[Hanyou]

I voted for JRPGs. Much as I like KotOR, The Elder Scrolls, and...well, that's about it, Skies of Arcadia, Final Fantasy, Pokemon, Phantasy Star, and Tales games are more likely to end up in my favorites.

WRPG worlds often feel sterile to me, and I like the characters and story focus of JRPGs. I prefer turn-based combat to real-time RPG combat, which, in the case of The Elder Scrolls, is often clukny. I do like the Tales series, but it also boasts better real-time combat than any WRPG I have ever played.

I do want to say something: I think most of the people who've posted here (correct me if I'm wrong) are speaking from a position of ignorance on WRPGs, whichever side they vote for. I see a lot of talk about Fallout (which often means Fallout 3--a totally different game than Fallout), Mass Effect, Knight of the Old Republic, Skyrim, etc. While these are examples of RPGs, keep in mind that they're simplified in the extreme, and you're only looking at part of the much longer history of WRPGs.

Both JRPGs and WRPGs owe their gameplay to the Western RPG tradition--games focused on stat-building. RPGs are, at their core, about numbers. Both modern JRPGs and modern WRPGs still focus on this, but there's been a trend of hiding the stats and/or leaving fewer decisions to the player. Take The Elder Scrolls. I love adventure games, so, well, Morrowind is one of my favorite games of all time. I don't much like Daggerfall, but even though it's not a "hardcore" RPG in the traditional sense, its RPG elements are its main draw. It's not about adventuring, it's about how strong you can make your character. Every Elder Scrolls game since Morrowind has followed the newer template.

In other words, WRPGs are underplaying their WRPG traits now.

JRPGs started out this way. Take Phantasy Star, one of the most important JRPGs ever released. The stats are buried, and gameplay is very, very simple. It's so simple that it's probably more accessible than modern RPGs like Skyrim. This holds true for most of the popular games.

JRPGs and WRPGs have a similar story by now. It'd be hard to pin either one as "worse." It comes down to story/character/perspective preferences. Do you like more freedom? WRPGs are probably for you, but there are exceptions (for example, Knights of the Old Republic is no more free than Chrono Trigger).

How is Western RPGs not winning. JRPGS are terrible. Like. The only thing they have going for them is a good storyline in most cases. You don't play JRPGS for the gameplay, you play it for the story. That is so backwards it isn't even funny. Sure the story is great in most games, but the gameplay in JRPGS is pathetic. I'm not against turn-based battling, Paper Mario is great, but it is so bland, and all JRPGs use a slight variant of the same system, and it sucks.

I tend to play RPGs for the world first and foremost, and your argument falls flat in the face of the richness of some JRPG worlds. As for using a "slight variant of the same system," what?! So Pokemon, FF IV, and Eternal Sonata have variations on the same system? Heck, you could say that about anything.

Skies of Arcadia works against all of your arguments. Its story is decent, but not spectacular. On the other hand, its intense, often difficult turn-based combat (two types--ship battles and battles between characters) is engaging. Its world, which is vast, varied, and constantly opening up to you, is the main draw. There's some customization--not too much, but enough to make the experience feel like your own.

Take a look at this early ship battle:

[video=youtube;ilvu6UuxLDc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilvu6UuxLDc[/video]

Yes, they get even better. And you might not be able to tell here, but like Sega's classic 8 and 16-bit series Phantasy Star, Skies of Arcadia kicks your *** repeatedly. You can't just jam the attack button. It's some of the best combat, turn-based or real-time, I have ever seen in a game.

Ultimately, I don't think the argument that one is great and the other sucks makes much sense. JRPGs simply would not exist without games like Ultima, and WRPGs have clearly been influenced in some instances by JRPGs. You might prefer one, but that doesn't make it better.

I'm sorry, Jarl, but I'm having a tough time taking the broad brushstrokes you use to paint your argument seriously.

 

[Sir Quaffler]

I'm not that well-versed in either genre, but my hand's gonna tip towards JRPG's.

I think I might like WRPG's more if their worlds were more interesting. I really do like the fact that I can just go out and... explore EVERYTHING... but what's there to explore is so bland I lost interest, and since the main story's so bare-bones for me I lose interest. It happened for Oblivion and Skyrim for me, so I'd imagine every WRPG set in a stereotypical medieval or space-aged setting's gonna do that. I don't find either fantasy setting very engaging to me, but... if they ever release a steampunk WRPG or a Pokemon WRPG I'll be forced to give it a try. Just sayin'.

I still see better execution in the JRPGs that I find. Whereas I've yet to find a single WRPG to grab my interest, I've played some JRPG's and a few of them, Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 in particular, have really stuck with me. I don't like the current direction most JRPG's seem to be going these days, but then I can always just go back and find older stuff I like; I'm thinking of giving Earthbound and Secret of Mana a try if I ever find them.