1eyedking Japanese games are shit. Here's why.

[Vagiel]

A few years ago i really wanted to know what the codex consensus was on jrpgs. It really never bothered, there were some random hate but it pretty much stopped there. Yet this last few days we have the equivalent of homophones bashing jrpgs left and right and frankly blindly. I feel many really want to come out of the closet at this point.

If anyone wanted to take this arguement of jrpg vs wrpg more seriously try to work on comparisons of certain games where we can actually have a discussion. torment vs nocturne could be a fun thread to watch or maybe wizardy 8 vs wizardry tales of the forsaken land for something more close in consept.

And Alexandros as a fellow country man i have read many of your posts and you seem like a very nice guy yet you must have known that starting a thread like this wouldn't really go anywhere. I could understand bashing a game but a whole genre? really? how can you bash the art direction of hundred of games simultaneously for example?

Any way i am secretly enjoying this so please do go on.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Yeah, most western games have awful art direction and awful character design. You should know, what with your amazing taste in art.

The only style in JRPGs is animu. With slight variations in eye size and hair spikiness.

And i can also make you a pretty long list of japanese games that doesn't do the thing you just mentioned,

I would be so curious. I haven't seen one where the characters don't look like kids or teenage emo fags. Or where monsters are not pokemon look-a-likes. Not ONE. But I'm sure there are SO MANY of them.

 

[Zomg]

I dunno, this has kinda burned out at this point until some people do the homework with the game Black Cat recommended. I'm in the Porkamorka "I have played JRPGs, I am not irrationally biased against them, but the best are about equivalent to second or third tier Codex Classix at most" line of thought at the moment.

 

[Zeus]

2. Combat is simplistic. It may be turn-based, but it's like a heavily stripped-down version of the turn-based combat present in classic PC games of the West. Limited (if any) movement, lack of options, severely limited choices for engaging the enemy or defending.

Lies. Japan releases more tactical turn-based RPGs each year than America can even dream of. Disgaea, Front Mission, Valkyria Chronicles, the list goes on.

Meanwhile, Americans get Action RPGs like Oblivion, Fallout 3, Mass Effect, etc., with Dragon Age: Origins being the notable exception. If we want tactical combat, we have to resort to translated imports (Drakensang), buying indie (Spiderweb Software), or both (Knights of the Chalice).

 

[Black Cat]

I could understand bashing a game but a whole genre?

He's not bashing an entire genre, he's bashing the entire japanese game industry, since he both refers to japanese games and posted this on general gaming. Basicaly, if it comes from Japan...

1. The art direction sucks regardless of it being Final Fantasy XII, Kuon, Strange Journey, Forbiden Siren, or Silent Hill.

2. Combat is simplistic, regardless of it being Chrono Trigger, Nocturne, Devil May Cry, or Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI.

3. It has bad writing, regardless of... etc.

4. It's silly.

5. It's porn.

Oh, and if you go by Hamster's enlightened opinion...

6. All characters look like five years old.

So, like, yeah.

The only style in JRPGs is animu.

Which animu is it? Miyazaki's? Clamp's? Ghibli's? Otomo's? Mamoru Oshii's? I forgot, they are all the same.

You, sir, have no fucking idea of what you are talking about. It's kind of funny.

I would be so curious. I haven't seen one where the characters don't look like kids or teenage emo fags. Or where monsters where not pokemon look-a-likes. Not ONE. But I'm sure there are SO MANY of them.

Koudelka, the Silent Hill games, the Forbiden Siren games, Kuon, Strange Journey, Haunting Grounds, the Deception games, Hellnight, Theresia? Those are just the ones i can see from where i'm sitting.

 

[Hamster]

6. You mean, like most western games?

Well, let us look at those "most western games" that have character design so offensively childish and retarded as in most jrpgs. Name some titles.

 

[FeelTheRads]

Which animu is it? Miyazaki's? Clamp's? Ghibli's? Otomo's? Mamoru Oshii's? I forgot, they are all the same.

Post pictures for all and we'll play "spot the difference" together, ok?

the Silent Hill games, the Forbiden Siren games,

Those are not JRPGs, are they? I also know Super Mario which is not animu.

Don't know the other games you listed, though. Any of them a JRPG?

 

[Sceptic]

The only style in JRPGs is animu.

"animu" isn't a style.

 

[Zeus]

What's this about JRPG monsters looking like Pokemon? Even back on SNES, there were awesome looking beasts.

7th Saga not only had great design, but disturbing animation: everything skittered around like a broken insect.

I can understand not hearing about 7th Saga, but what about FF6?

That ain't no Charizard.

 

[Black Cat]

Well, let us look at those "most western games" that have character design so offensively childish and retarded as in most jrpgs.

Being offensively childish wasn't one of the original points. Also, let's check Strange Journey's cast, Koudelka's cast, and Shadow Hearts' Cast. Who looks like a kid?

Those are not JRPGs, are they?

1. "Japanese games are shit. Here's why."
2. "General Gaming."

Uh?

But, okay:

Or where monsters where not pokemon look-a-likes. Not ONE.

Baroque, Koudelka, Shadow Hearts.

I haven't seen one where the characters don't look like kids or teenage emo fags.

Strange Journey.

Happy now?

Post pictures for all and we'll play "spot the difference" together, ok?

Ok.

X-1999

Jin Roh

Ergo Proxy

Blame

Metropolis

Witch Hunter Robin

Utena

Howl's moving castle

 

[Vagiel]

Since we apear to be very focused i might add this here.

Has anyone heard of Hungry Ghost? Here is a discription i found

This idle nitpicking, however, may be a little premature?especially since Hungry Ghosts is trying to do something with the horror genre that's never been attempted before. Set in a ghostly, not-so-friendly version of the afterlife, your character (either male or female) must make his way through a wealth of ghastly hazards and to the Final Judgement waiting for him at the other side of the realm. Once you reach this last stop (if you make it there), you'll either be sent to hell for eternity or reincarnated anew as a human being?a momentous decision that depends entirely on your actions within the game. Every item you take, every enemy you encounter and every conversation you have with this world's denizens could affect your ultimate destiny, meaning that no two games of Hungry Ghosts will end up exactly alike.

This sense of foreboding that pervades the game's plot is enhanced greatly by its original interface. Hungry Ghosts is shown entirely from a first-person viewpoint, with your character collecting items from chests and exploring the assorted worlds that make up the afterlife. To help create the feeling that you're really there, Deep Space has chosen an odd control setup?to take items or wield weapons, you don't just press a button; you press R3 then push the right thumbstick around to jab your spear forward or reach towards an item with your hand. This is important, because many items are booby-trapped in one way or another?you'll have to pull the stick back to retract your hand from danger, assuming you want to hold on to it for the long term.

Main character
http://www.juegomania.org/Hungry+Ghosts ... E9s%29.jpg

In game visual
http://xyz.talkyshow.info/uploadfile/Im ... -15/26.jpg

It apears to have C&C built around it aparently great visuals and setting. Very intresting

 

[Trash]

It's the jap prevalent art style, wierd and most often cringeworthy storylines and bizarre fetish themes that seem to pop up in most games which make them unbearable to me.

 

[Hamster]

Well, let us look at those "most western games" that have character design so offensively childish and retarded as in most jrpgs.

Being offensively childish wasn't one of the original points. Also, let's check Strange Journey's cast, Koudelka's cast, and Shadow Hearts' Cast. Who looks like a kid?

Strange Journey does look good, i will try it on DS after Etrian Odyseey, but you see, the thing with western rpgs is that you don't need to search for some obscure titles to get character design that is safe for your brain cells.

 

[Raghar]

6. You mean, like most western games?

Well, let us look at those "most western games" that have character design so offensively childish and retarded as in most jrpgs. Name some titles.

Dragon Age: Alistar. (and some others, Alistar just stood out)
Main protagonist in ME2 wasn't something extra.
AP: Sean Darcy, Mina Tang

I haven't seen one where the characters don't look like kids or teenage emo fags. Or where monsters are not pokemon look-a-likes. Not ONE. But I'm sure there are SO MANY of them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4y0FMVO ... =1&index=2

Set position to 0:44.

 

[FeelTheRads]

X-1999

Jin Roh

Ergo Proxy

Blame

Metropolis

Witch Hunter Robin

Utena

Howl's moving castle

Yeah, sorry, maybe I'm not versed enough in the subtleties of animu, but they all look the same to me, with just what I said.. small differences in eye size and hair spikiness.

The only two that look considerably different are Jin Roh and Ergo Proxy (somehow I suspected you will gonna use that one as it is the last resort of weaboos when trying to convince others of the so many different styles the japs have) but that hardly means they have any artistic merit save for not making you want to claw your eyes out.

 

[Trash]

To be honest, they do all look alike with that trademark jap character art.

 

[Raghar]

X-1999

Jin Roh

Yeah, sorry, maybe I'm not versed enough in the subtleties of animu, but they all look the same to me, with just what I said.. small differences in eye size and hair spikiness.

Do you have any artistic feeling? Can you spot the difference between high end non commercial art and a shitty commercialism?

You might like to visit an eye specialist.

 

[Trash]

See?

 

[Black Cat]

Strange Journey does look good, i will try it on DS after Etrian Odyseey, but you see, the thing with western rpgs is that you don't need to search for some obscure titles to get character design that is safe for your brain cells.

It depends. What makes the western fantasy style any less brain damaging, retarded, empty, and souless than the standard japanese one, other than cultural preferences? Is fantasy setting #8756 any less unoriginal and retarded than anime setting #6754? The mass of an industry is always cheap recycled and regurgitated crap. We, being in the west, are more familiar with the western exeptions, but those titles i am mentioning aren't precisely obscure on Japan. To say Strange Journey is obscure, for example, would be kind of ridiculous since Shin Megami Tensei is the third greatest RPG franchise in Japan.

I am not going to deny that most of it is crap. Sure. Most of the western releases are also crap. The western exeptions to that rule, though, reach us much easier than the japanese ones, let's not even mention the chinese ones. Obscure, one of a kind games don't get worldwide distribution, to begin with.

Oh, and ignore Etrian Oddysey if you dislike cutesy childish art. Do yourself a favor.

that hardly means they have any artistic merit save for not making you want to claw your eyes out.

If you can't tell the diferences between some of those art styles you are either blind or trolling. Actually, to say Blame! is anything like Utena qualifies of mental failure.

 

[Trash]

It does look eerily alike when you look past the grimdark vs neon colours thingie.

 

[Malakal]

It does look eerily alike when you look past the grimdark vs neon colours thingie.

Alike how? Two hands two legs alike? Fuck its all the same!

...seriously what?

 

[Trash]

Facial features, hairstyles, long elongated limbs.

 

[Hamster]

Strange Journey does look good, i will try it on DS after Etrian Odyseey, but you see, the thing with western rpgs is that you don't need to search for some obscure titles to get character design that is safe for your brain cells.

It depends. What makes the western fantasy style any less brain damaging, retarded, empty, and souless than the standard japanese one, other than cultural preferences?

Well, i don't really know how to properly explain it, just look at those godawful models they use for the characters:

It's an abomination When i was searching for games for my DS i kept seeing this shit in almost every title.

Btw, i am playing Etrian Odyssey right now and it 's art style is bearable. Largely because they don't use those horrible character models, just portraits that are usually not as offensive in jrpg's. You can also create an all female party. Aside from charaters design is pretty good, dungeon and town look very good and i don't mind pokemon monsters.

 

[Archibald]

Facial features, hairstyles, long elongated limbs.

I`m sorry, hairstyles?

 

[Black Cat]

Facial features, hairstyles, long elongated limbs.

Welcome to RPGCodex, where Blame! ...

... and Utena ...

... share the same art style. Really. They both have, like, oval faces. And stuff.

Also,

I`m sorry, hairstyles?

This.

Let's just stop the discussion here, it's pointless.

Btw, i am playing Etrian Odyssey right now and it 's art style is bearable. Largely because they don't use those horrible character models, just portraits that are usually not as bad in jrpg's. You can also create an all female party. Aside from charaters design is pretty good, dungeon and town look very good and i don't mind pokemon monsters.

Ah, yes. I can understand that. I thought you had a problem with the general style instead of with particular things like the (ab)use of SD models and sprites, etc. I don't like SD sprites and models outside comical, cartoony, or lighthearted fairy tale like games myself. They do kind of ruin the mood.

Though Yume Nikki actually managed to use the cute sprites to great effect, but that's more of a surreal adventure game made on RPGMaker than a role playing game, anyway.