What makes a jrpg

Sobrio View Profile View Posts. Originally posted by Zapix :. Tpyn View Profile View Posts. Tr0w View Profile View Posts. So literally any rpg made in japan? Why not just categorize them as RPG. Why the J distinction? Zadrave View Profile View Posts. Because JRPGs tend to play differently from western ones. I mean, why is anime categorized separate from cartoons? It's the same kind of logic. Both have a different style to them. Western RPGs tend to be more slow and methodical, JRPGs tend to be a lot more focused on action and have almost an arcadey feel to them.

Last edited by Zadrave ; 20 Mar, pm. Why does it matter? It becomes a running joke. JRPGs are often mocked for their tropes. Funny how that works. Imagine if Dark Souls looked like this. In Dark Souls the storytelling is atmospheric. It has a European medieval fantasy setting. The characters look realistic and its all grimy. Great, something different! Does it really come down to superficial features like eyes and style of armor?

That makes about as much sense as calling Jade Empire a Chinese RPG because Bioware made the premise around kung-fu gameplay and oriental architecture. Maybe it could get away with its dull visual style if the main character was a blindfolded smoking hot android girl.

Because that just feels more Japanese, you know? This leads into insulting territory. Because it has normal looking eyes? Stereotypes can be helpful in casual scenarios when a point needs to be made quickly.

But are those two classics and their designs the end all decider for a genre 40 years later? And is the anime style all Japan is allowed to do in order to stay…Japanese? Backtrack a bit. In the early s there were two groundbreaking American made computer role-playing games: Wizardry and Ultima.

They were famous in the West, yes, but rose to even bigger popularity in Japan. These games created a computer RPG boom in Japan. Eventually, clear lines of influence can be traced over to the first Dragon Quest and original Final Fantasy by Japanese developers a few years later.

You can read more about this phenomenon in Japan in this article. It explains how before Wizardry and Ultima, Japan was already doing its own thing with computer games and RPG concepts. Japan already had computer RPGs built around character stats. Like in the title, Seduction of the Condominium Wives , where the main character sold condoms to women. Of course, Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy were immensely more popular designs within the Japanese game industry.

A trend so popular that many attribute them as the definers of the JRPG genre. But trends come and go. Final Fantasy today, for example, is unrecognizable compared to its precursors. But let me pick apart my own definition as well. The inevitable issue that will arise with this JRPG meaning is that of ethnicity and geography. What if I have one foot in Japan and the other in the pacific ocean, etc….

During the s, Japanese RPGs began appearing in the market. In addition, Nihon Falcom, another Japanese video game company, made a game called Dragon Slayer which featured a hack and slash dungeon crawler gameplay and is considered to be the first Action-RPG [2]. Dragon Quest is known as a light RPG because it does not require the player to draw his or her own maps, memorize specific names of spells or commands.

Dragon Quest did not require the player to learn tons of complicated rules but rather offered an intriguing story with intuitive gameplay.

The 90s was an era were many JRPGs debuted and became masterpieces. However, the line between Western and JRPGs has become blurred making it difficult to properly categorize certain games into a genre. When RPGs began to gain popularity, hardware limitations restricted games to have 8-bit graphics. Such a style is noticeable in games like Pokemon, Persona, or Dragon Quest. Final Fantasy's graphics have changed over time and begun to approach a more realistic look but the crazy hairstyles remain.

The majority include a basic stat system. Depending on the genre, the combat system differs. In action RPGs, battles occur in real-time but in turn-based RPGs, a player must use a menu to decide his or her attacks.

All games that fall under the RPG genre, require the player to strategize by exposing enemies' weaknesses. Depending on the JRPG, there can be random encounters which occur when the avatar is traversing along the main over world.

Random encounters depend on the game but random encounters can be avoid, like in Pokemon, or completely turned off like in Bravely Default. Generally, JRPGs are more story driven.