131 replies to this topic

[needler420]

Time to start a JRPG vs WRPG war.

Which one do you prefer and why?

This is the results of the poll on gamefaqs.

http://www.gamefaqs....tion-3/64784633

I pick JRPG.

When I think of Japanese games, I think of Mario, Link, Cloud, Crono, Moogles, Snake, Ryu, Ken, and on and on. So many memorable characters and creative fantasy worlds.

When I think of Western games, I think of faceless soldiers and generic men with guns, Tolkien ripoffs and lots of browngrey. I really want to like more Western games, but the lack of creativity and variety just bores me with most games

Edited by needler420, 01 December 2012 - 06:54 AM.

[panzerfaust]

Both are so different, don't think I could live with only one country's games. However, I do tend to prefer linearity, so the Japanese style is easy for me to get into, as are the more linear WRPGs we see now like the Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises. Shit like the Witcher or Elder Scrolls just has too much going on at once for me to appreciate.

[dmaul1114]

WRPG for me. Haven't played JRPGs for years--FFX was probably the last one I played. I don't like anime style settings/stories, hate turn based combat etc.

I prefer the real time (or semi real time) combat of games like Skyrim, Mass Effect etc. a lot more, love the more open worlds and quest log systems etc. (relaxing to just veg out and wander around exploring and doing quests) etc.

Edited by dmaul1114, 01 December 2012 - 02:50 AM.

[R. Kasahara]

I prefer JRPGs, but I do love me some Torchlight. I also enjoy JRPG-inspired WRPGs (Rain-Slick Precipice series, everything Zeboyd makes, etc.).

[The Crotch]

They're both extremely broad genres with some awesome shit and some fucking terrible shit. Xenoblade Chronicles aside, I haven't actually touched a recent JRPG in ages, but I can't really vote for WRPGs given how uninteresting they've been lately.

In conclusion, burn all videogames.

[Luxuria]

WRPGs are a lot better than anything else. Nothing beats choosing the gear and items my character can use in Call of Duty. The story is okay but there are many choices in Black Ops 2. It's so good. Anime characters are dumb.

Srs: Although I like WRPGs like Mass Effect, Fallout, and KotoR, I rarely find myself actually caring about a character in 'em, which is not the case in a JRPG (not all the time, of course). Then again, I haven't bothered playing many this gen JRPGs so meh. They both do have their pros and cons.

FPS > RPG.

[Mixer236]

So now you've started your own thread, huh?

I like how the whole purpose of the thread is about WRPG vs. JRPG, but then half of the characters you mention have nothing to do with RPG's(and three of them don't even really talk!). Not only that, the only ones you mention that actually are in real RPG's are all in Final Fantasy(except for the Crono nod, which has also been around forever).

I'm not sure why you think 95% of all Western-developed games are so bad and have unmemorable characters... I think the Western side of things is generally much better at story-telling and having more fleshed out characters(although there are obvious exceptions). Sometimes the Japanese just make things too weird.

All that being said, I couldn't pick one over the other. I love them both. You're hatred for anything developed outside of Japan just baffles me.

[Luxuria]

What are you talking about? Ken and Ryu are JRPG characters.

[The Crotch]

To be fair, he could be referring to Capcom's other, less profitable Ryu.



I mean, he totally wasn't, but he could have been.

[Mixer236]

What are you talking about? Ken and Ryu are JRPG characters.

Oh yeah, they were in that one with Duke Nukem & Kirby, right? How could I forget.

[R. Kasahara]

To be fair, he could be referring to Capcom's other, less profitable Ryu.

Dammit, where's Breath of Fire VI, anyway? It's long overdue

ETA: I found the Ken!

Edited by blueshinra, 01 December 2012 - 05:57 AM.

[Mixer236]

To be fair, he could be referring to Capcom's other, less profitable Ryu.



I mean, he totally wasn't, but he could have been.

Lol, you should have kept that under wraps... Now he's going to insist that's what he meant.

[elessar123]

[mr.ratburn]

Hmm, this is tough, especially for me as RPGs are my favorite genre of games and I'm an avid retro game fan and modern gamer. The problem is, the best JRPG's by far came out in the pre-PS2 era which IMO is still part of the retro game era. This last few years have seen far far less quality JRPGs (at least in the US) than say, the mid-nineties, with the exception of Xenoblade, which is MINDBLOWING. While WRPG's have been flourishing, with the pinnacle that is Skyrim, but also the inclusion of RPG elements into nearly every genre now (Darksiders II, Borderlands, are a few that come to mind but there are many more).

To me it seems that JRPG's future will always live in its past, it will always be a nostalgic "throwback" or a comparison to older titles, kind of like newer adventure games or 2D platformers. WRPG's future lies in creating new inventive gameplay, or making a huge open-world, or mixing itself with other genres to create a unique experience. Don't forget that strategy games such as XCOM, Fallout 1+2, Civilization are WRPG's too.

Because of this, to me this is an argument of retro (JRPG) vs. modern (WRPG). All my favorite JRPG's are old while all my favorite WRPG's are fairly recent. In the end, though I can't live without having both, I chose JRPG's because I have much more fond memories of them than WRPG's.

[The Crotch]

Hmm, this is tough, especially for me as RPGs are my favorite genre of games and I'm an avid retro game fan and modern gamer. The problem is, the best JRPG's by far came out in the pre-PS2 era which IMO is still part of the retro game era. This last few years have seen far far less quality JRPGs (at least in the US) than say, the mid-nineties, with the exception of Xenoblade, which is MINDBLOWING. While WRPG's have been flourishing, with the pinnacle that is Skyrim, but also the inclusion of RPG elements into nearly every genre now (Darksiders II, Borderlands, are a few that come to mind but there are many more).

To me it seems that JRPG's future will always live in its past, it will always be a nostalgic "throwback" or a comparison to older titles, kind of like newer adventure games or 2D platformers. WRPG's future lies in creating new inventive gameplay, or making a huge open-world, or mixing itself with other genres to create a unique experience. Don't forget that strategy games such as XCOM, Fallout 1+2, Civilization are WRPG's too.

Because of this, to me this is an argument of retro (JRPG) vs. modern (WRPG). All my favorite JRPG's are old while all my favorite WRPG's are fairly recent. In the end, though I can't live without having both, I chose JRPG's because I have much more fond memories of them than WRPG's.

Burn all videogames forever.

[Mixer236]

Dammit, where's Breath of Fire VI, anyway? It's long overdue

ETA: I found the Ken!

Ahaha, you guys are the best!

Side note: SMRPG is one of the top 3 best SNES games.

[GogetaSS4]

I enjoy them both so I choose them both. I've played just about every RPG that has come out this gen and the last couple gen's and I have only had a few I didn't enjoy out of the bunch.

[needler420]

I meant for the poll to say both not goth lmao.

And for the record I don't consider mass effect a rpg. One day ill be responsible for changing every interwebz and gaming magazines etc. to take mass effect out of the rpg genre.

[elessar123]

So far, more people like waffles than WRPGs.

[GhostShark]

To be fair, Waffles have more character and tension than JRPGs.

[Poor2More]

Lost Odyssey best JRPG this gen

[Mixer236]

I think if you'd have added a "I like them both" option then that would be the one with the most votes.

I really need to stay away from this thread...

[needler420]

I think if you'd have added a "I like them both" option then that would be the one with the most votes.

I really need to stay away from this thread...

This is a war. You have to choose sides. You can't fight for both sides.

[Mixer236]

This is a war. You have to choose sides. You can't fight for both sides.

What are you, 12?

These are games, not political matters... I can't pick one over the other and I think lots of people are in the same boat.

Edited by Mixer236, 01 December 2012 - 05:11 PM.

[elessar123]

Which is why I chose waffles. Duh.

[R. Kasahara]

I chose waffles, too, because really. I personally prefer JRPGs, but I'm not going to shit on WRPGs simply because most of them aren't to my taste. Neither genre is "better" than the other.

Hmm, this is tough, especially for me as RPGs are my favorite genre of games and I'm an avid retro game fan and modern gamer. The problem is, the best JRPG's by far came out in the pre-PS2 era which IMO is still part of the retro game era. This last few years have seen far far less quality JRPGs (at least in the US) than say, the mid-nineties, with the exception of Xenoblade, which is MINDBLOWING. While WRPG's have been flourishing, with the pinnacle that is Skyrim, but also the inclusion of RPG elements into nearly every genre now (Darksiders II, Borderlands, are a few that come to mind but there are many more).

Every time I see an argument like this, I think, God damn, this person's really missing out on the fantastic JRPGs exclusive to portable systems.

[needler420]

I chose waffles, too, because really. I personally prefer JRPGs, but I'm not going to shit on WRPGs simply because most of them aren't to my taste. Neither genre is "better" than the other.


Every time I see an argument like this, I think, God damn, this person's really missing out on the fantastic JRPGs exclusive to portable systems.

You don't have to vote to shit on WRPG. Saying that was good enough lol.

[Vinny]

Until recently, I liked JRPGs more. That changed after Fallout 3/Mass Effect though, and now I like both. JRPGs have been on the decline since the PS1 days but there have been a few gems (Radiant Historia, Xenoblade Chronicles, Tales of Symphonia, Shadow Hearts 1/2, etc.).

Still, if you asked me for my favorite RPGs, the list will be mostly populated with JRPGs.

[gnargnargnar]

Generally WRPG, since the combat is typically more interesting.
The story and characteres within JRPG's are the big turnoff for me, since they assume I am a 13 year old anime fan -- JRPG plots seem shallow and cliché compared to some stuff that has come out in WRPG's recently.
I also favor that most WRPG's portray your character as merely an exceptional person, not some guy that in the next cutscene will run up a 100 foot tower, triple backflip off while wielding 4 samurai swords and destroy an army of 500 guys in the blink of an eye (while you spent the last 2 hours slogging through small groups of enemies in the actual game).

In an interesting turn of events, two of my favorite games that I played this year are "western" style RPG's made by Japanese studios (Dark Souls, Dragon's Dogma). They also have almost no plot to them, but I still feel that is an improvement over your typical JRPG storyline.

[Ryuukishi]

Mass Effect and Final Fantasy are my two favorite series so... waffles.

Honestly I like different elements of both. My favorite WRPG series are Mass Effect and Dragon Age, which lean a little closer to the JRPG mold of well-defined characters and a more linear/guided experience. Final Fantasy XIII is one of my favorite games this gen. Although I had a lot of fun with Kingdoms of Amalur and right now I'm enjoying Skyrim too. So in conclusion, waffles.