It’s kind of funny that we consider JRPG’s role playing games
- Thread starter Gizmo_Duck
- Start date
True, but you do have a ton of influence with the social links/dialogue on top of the actual gameplay of planning how you wanna handle your time, leveling up, & creating new shadows for your character, etc. The story may be somewhat linear but there’s enough choices and freedom that everybody’s gonna play it differently
The new God of War is an action rpg, they added RPG elements to it, you can change your gear and weapons however you see fit
The original God of War is a platformer beat'em up slash platformer, you are in control of characters you are not stepping into his shoes and living as him, your weapons are upgrades like power ups in contra
The original Final Fantasy, you are assuming the role of Cloud, you can even change his name to your name or whatever name you want as well as name all the characters in your party, you can choose which characters you want to romance, choose his equipment, and explore the world as you see fit
The remake is an action RPG, it's an action game with RPG elements like the God of War remake, so it's not the same thing
Dragon Quest XI, the main character doesn't even speak, but its the same thing, jrpgs have silent protagonist where you choose their names, and fill their responses with your imagination
this games are for people with Imaginations, that's why people comparing Cyberpunk 2077 to GTA don't understand, because they don't have an imagination so they don't get the game
JRPGs, at least as I remember them, since I haven't played a traditional JRPG in forever, fulfilled the most basic task of RPGs by having characters have clearly defined roles.
Where it started going of the rails, I think, was when Square and Enix (I'm old enough to clearly remember when they were separate
) started writing more clearly defined narratives for individual characters. When that happened, they drifted from jobs (and thus classes) being a thing the player had some control over, to those things being predetermined. Level ups became automated stat increases based on the characters' archetypes, and you were really just deciding who was in your party, maybe what spells they had equipped, and chasing gear.
Where it started going of the rails, I think, was when Square and Enix (I'm old enough to clearly remember when they were separate
) started writing more clearly defined narratives for individual characters. When that happened, they drifted from jobs (and thus classes) being a thing the player had some control over, to those things being predetermined. Level ups became automated stat increases based on the characters' archetypes, and you were really just deciding who was in your party, maybe what spells they had equipped, and chasing gear.
Typically older JRPG characters would usually fill in certain roles in a party. Fighter, healer, thief, mage, etc. Japan seemingly got rid of the traditional role-playing concept in place of more tightly driven narrative stories, but all this shyt still stems from D&D. Even looking at a game like Persona, there's melee-based party members, healing-based party members, magic-based party members, and the MC gets to be whatever they want. Job/Role systems are probably the only things keeping JRPG's distinctive enough from being considered a full blown action/adventure game.
Played out like the old tabletop RPGs but in video game form. In those games, you'd assume the role of whatever the fukk and play out the story/campaign/etc and usually have a stat system (like DnD) to take care of.
In fact, Dungeons and Dragons is probably the best classic example to use.
In fact, Dungeons and Dragons is probably the best classic example to use.
Gizmo_Duck
blathering blatherskite!
If only in D&D everything was hand picked and set for you before you started playing with a predefined outcome. Most people don’t play D&D like that
This is flat out wrong. The job system first appeared in final fantasy 3 and that wasn't the first jrpg that had that type of class system in the game. It wasn't encouraged by western rpgs.
Think of the characters like chess pieces, every character you control has strengths and weaknesses, they excel in certain situations while being a liability in other situations. Every character has a role to play and your job as the player is to strategize and figure out which characters and what skills you need in any particular situation.
When you think of it like that, turn based rpgs are very similar to games like D&D.
In something like darkest dungeon (not a jrpg but it is turn based) choosing the wrong character or not understanding the role certain characters should play in combat will end in a game over.
Gizmo_Duck
blathering blatherskite!
Yeah but how many jrpgs require specific people in specific roles, breath of fire, final fantasy, Xeongears, chrono trigger, earth bound..you can literally use any combination of characters and the game will play the same.
In western rpgs you usually need a dedicated tank, healer, damage dealer, and party buffer. Those things don’t exist in jrpgs
Of course it isn't 1:1. For games, that was mostly limitations of the times. Just having having an option for multiple paths was a big thing. Nowadays, non-linearity is fairly standard.
Just noting (and using the best example of) where those types of RPGs came from.
Those games are just extremely easy, the concept of how they're supposed to play is the same tho.
I know it's not the same thing as dice roles, but my point is that it's stat/probability based combat. JRPG's were also traditionally party based, with a story that involved the interactions between members of the party. these are the things that define a JRPG in my mind
I agree some of these modern "JRPG's" really aren't JRPG's. there was always a debate about if Zelda was a JRPG. I don't think it was
Khalil's_Black_Excellence
The King of Fighters
Cloud (and the rest of the party) still has an active time gauge command to actually initiate his stronger attacks, like all the FFs of old. Thus, a less direct controlled action to do select moves. All of Kratos actions are direct commands/actions, thus is one of multiple reasons why FFVIIR is still a RPG and GOW is an action game with rpg elements....Fool.