Playstation 2 the definitive master of RPG gaming of its time, the Gameboy Advance and its predecessor the Gameboy Colour ultimate RPG handhelds that time just cant erase. So many wasted hours upon hours spent squat down cross legged in your bedroom staring so close at a digital/TV screen your eyes become that of Sony’s new upcoming EyePet, But was it really all worth it?
In my opinion yes, I would drop any boring day for a good smash up on Skies Of Arcadia or a nice afternoon round of Final Fantasy X, but what happened to that? That feeling of bonds or relations to the characters. Purposely spending hour after hour re watching cinematic’s you’ve seen countless times or grinding your mon’s to do the next gym on Pokémon for the 232213th time.
Have RPG games lost their grasp?
I remember all these times all too well and now I think what the hell happened?
When I was a child, we would all congregate outside each others houses trading are Pokémon or comparing RPG times anything and everything that revolved around those gaming universes (Until we would get complained at for not being out playing football or something). Even at school play times the first thing you’dreach into your bag for before your lunch would be the trusted ol Gameboy just so for a few moments of the day you could be taken away to another place.
Games today just tend to seem more effects, gun blazing action, which don’t get me wrong is great but it doesn’t hold the same quality as the old games we used to play. They just don’t seem to have that form of emotion grasp. Great titles like Final Fantasy VII and Tales Of Symphonia really form a relationship with the player where as games today seem to be more about the action, visuals and bonus content of which becomes dull after a week.
There are still good games today that attempt to have those emotional ties such as Eternal Sonata which come close but still no cake…
Are gamers more easily pleased by fancy visuals rather than emotional ties?
Maybe yes we are and the time for thrilling heart beating stories with characters that bring tears to the eye, that lift you’re
arse off the sofa are long out the window or perhaps no, as we age we begin to accept reality as what it is and having less respect for the gaming world or are they even still there and I myself have just lost that grasp?
So for now I guess we will have to do with Enchanted Arms, Disgaea and Eternal Sonata and other titles but I for one await the day those emotional ties are reborn into RPG’s.
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Games today are a lot better and more technically sound then the ones that came out years ago.
Also, remember to proofread your blog before you post it next time. The grammar, the grammar, it HUUUUUUUUURTS.
They still fulfill their niche, however, and will not die.
So yeah, RPGs have not lost anything. They're better than ever actually.
Also all the old RPGs are exactly as good as I remember them being.
Regarding RPG's, there are still many people that enjoy them, but I don't think we'll see a resurgence in RPG games until they start to have more of an online component. This seems to be one of the things about Fable, Borderlands and other upcoming games that has people excited. The Agency, the Superhero MMO's - people seem to want these. RPG's do tell a story, but they are a solitary adventure... when RPG's start to do the same as shooter games (have an offline story mode and an online mode they can play with friends) I think we may see them become more popular than shooter games. The potential is certainly there as FF online games have shown (not to mention WoW, Guild Wars and other MMO's) but I think that if they can add a social element to more standard RPG's they may become much more popular.
Myself, I never got into JRPG's for some reason. The primary characters seem very young, and love stories seem forced and more suited to teenagers rather than adult sensibilities. The western RPG's have just always appealed much more, so I can't really say why JRPG's might be losing their grasp on gaming. It does seem that western RPG's such as Oblivion and Fallout 3 possibly appear to an older group and maybe JRPG's aren't keeping up with the aging gamer base.
Eh... I probably got off track and rambled... but I tend to do that! :)
Fixed for you.
Like Elsa, I'm old enough to have actually played the classic western RPGs when console folks were amazed at the Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger which I maintain is subpar when compared to classic western RPGs. To be honest, I find JRPGs completely stagnant and unwilling to enact drastic change. It's still the same mechanic (albeit with a few tweaks here and there) as the first Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest.
RPGs are an odd genre, I never understood what it is I liked about them, I've always hated level grinding but I would continue to play anyways, I guess for the stories, which doesn't seem to have changed much. Today, I just don't have the time for them and I fear I'll never be able to recapture those emotions from RPGs of any year.
I also agree with MIODD. Our age also has something to do with it. RPGs used to strike an emotional cord. Now that I am not locked in my parents house with acne, RPGs do not have the same impact. Just like MMORPGs no longer apeal to me. With the exception of ST:O!
I'm not sure what is culling the herd of the JRPGs but I personally think it had to happen since while there were quite a few amazing ones there *was* a serious bloat of same-ish titles of JRPGs.
Ironically I notice a lot of JRPG companies are going back and actually making Western-like RPGs akin to the old Wizardry and Might & Magic Western series.
I still have a ton of RPGs to play, but I find that they don't captivate me the same way that they used to, and yet when I go back to play my old RPGs, I'm completely sucked in. Funny how that works.
Lost Odyssey and Persona/SMT series are the only jrpgs of late, to move the eastern side of the genre forward, but its unfortunate that japanese developers learn or try new ideas at a very slow pace. There's also a sense of idol worship that goes on, where Square are the kings of the jrpg, and japan being very conformist, many developers hold them to too high esteem. I can understand this to a degree for Square have done some good things for jrpgs, but they also are the genres biggest crutch.
Without a doubt, its the free thinking renegades of Atlus, Mist Walker, Platinum Games and hopefully Tri Ace, that can make jrpgs evolve, out of their emo angst laced, mega grind rut.
From the western viewpoint, Mass Effect, Fallout 3, Bioshock and Fable 2 are indeed more adult based rpgs, but they are also breaking the fantasy straight jacket grind, that has dog them for many years. Now we are starting to see different kinds of rpg universes emerge.
I admit, I too have become burnt out on jrpgs, because they have failed to change the formula enough over the years, possibly not to alienate japanese gamers. This is why many of us are becoming turned off. FFXIII and XIV may sell well, but the day might come when many of us stop playing them and sales start to dip, if they haven't already.
What would change things for the better for jrpgs? Their devs learning to use the concept of hard drive quick saves, real believable characters, better stories (even one set in the real world), and for them to learn from other devs, something many japanese devs seem to fear. Delivering DLC is something japanese developer also have to adjust too.
So far, jrpgs that look promising are Resonance of Fate and Infinite Space, to take the jrpg forward. FFXIV looks like that last, so it gets no love from me. Western rpgs are on a good track for the future, though.
I do agree, that as we get older, you only have so much time and patience. I'm 31, and have countless jrpgs I haven't finished. Kids have more time.
After much reading of replys and my own views i do tend to favour the fact that as we age we tend to lose the amoutn of time we have for these games. I suppose you could use the term "the magic fades", But with alot JRPG'S the magic is still there, you just got to look for it.
And as for the online aspect, yes i do think that would help the gaming community alot round RPG'S.
I just hope the upcoming FF games will do some good.