Anime JRPGs just triumphed.

[Ryzer]

Can we admit once and for all that JRPGs have completely beaten western RPG genre? Nobody plays western RPGs anymore except the 20 years old software from the dusties. Meanwhile weaboos play recent releases constantly.

 

[Losus4]

Both genres have good and bad games and let's not pretend otherwise. I thought and still think FF12 (non-Zodiac version) is excellent, it's just a pure adventure game. The sense of crossing an enormous world full of different biomes is unmatched. By the end of the game you feel like you're on the other side of the planet and that you've made that journey. The same cannot be said for pretty much every WRPG sans DA:O. The Zodiac version's speed up mechanic completely ruins the game imo, it turns an epic adventure into a wildlife slaughtering to gain more numbers simulator.

 

[ropetight]

jRPGs are just more retarded, so they are behind 5-10 years of western decline.
They are trying very hard to close the distance as fast as they can, though.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I have always preferred the JRPG genre over WRPGs. The Japanese know how to create great looking aesthetics from character designs to monster designs to spell VFX to the camera framing during battles and cutscenes, etc, memorable melodic music, and write stories with sincere heroism and camaraderie and some introspection. Now the Japanese entertainment industry has not escaped decline - anime peaked during the OVA era and is now in the gutter, visual novels are borderline dead and many JRPG devs went extinct, but I am still playing new JRPGs like Monochrome Mobius or Trails rather than whatever new WRPG releases. The last WRPG I bought was either The Banner Saga 3 or Shadowrun Hong Kong. I finished TBS3 and dropped Hong Kong at the tower raid. I still check out new WoW expansions if that counts, but WoW is exceptionally in its art design and attention to music compared to other Western games.

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

I've been saying this for a while now.

 

[Sergio]

Third poll option is sus.

Both genres can have good games, it's just that the japs release a fuckton of games that are at least decent. 2024 had a bunch of good releases, and in 2025 there were already 3 big ones. Meanwhile decent WRPGs are actually rare. Then again, when a WRPG game slaps, it slaps HARD. 3 out of 4 of my most favourite games of all time are WRPGs.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Can we admit once and for all that JRPGs have completely beaten western RPG genre? Nobody plays western RPGs anymore except the 20 years old software from the dusties. Meanwhile weaboos play recent releases constantly.

https://store.steampowered.com/charts/mostplayed/
7. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
14. Baldur's Gate 3
45. Cyberpunk 2077
54. Kingdom Come: Deliverance
90. Witcher III
91. Avowed

 

[Thalstarion]

Nah.

Older JRPG's were made in good faith and were a lot more experimental than the slop put out at present. They're just as overly sanitised as many Western RPG's. Deliberately censored, plagued by questionable and spiteful localisation and pushing women into roles traditionally held by men at the same time as designing many of the men in the cast to be androgynous.

 

[Sergio]

Can we admit once and for all that JRPGs have completely beaten western RPG genre? Nobody plays western RPGs anymore except the 20 years old software from the dusties. Meanwhile weaboos play recent releases constantly.

https://store.steampowered.com/charts/mostplayed/
7. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
14. Baldur's Gate 3
45. Cyberpunk 2077
54. Kingdom Come: Deliverance
90. Witcher III
91. Avowed

Great list, there's a clicker game called "Banana" ranked 6th.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Can we admit once and for all that JRPGs have completely beaten western RPG genre? Nobody plays western RPGs anymore except the 20 years old software from the dusties. Meanwhile weaboos play recent releases constantly.

https://store.steampowered.com/charts/mostplayed/
7. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
14. Baldur's Gate 3
45. Cyberpunk 2077
54. Kingdom Come: Deliverance
90. Witcher III
91. Avowed

Great list, there's a clicker game called "Banana" ranked 6th.

There's nothing wrong with the list, this is just what people play nowadays.

 

[Sergio]

Can we admit once and for all that JRPGs have completely beaten western RPG genre? Nobody plays western RPGs anymore except the 20 years old software from the dusties. Meanwhile weaboos play recent releases constantly.

https://store.steampowered.com/charts/mostplayed/
7. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
14. Baldur's Gate 3
45. Cyberpunk 2077
54. Kingdom Come: Deliverance
90. Witcher III
91. Avowed

Great list, there's a clicker game called "Banana" ranked 6th.

There's nothing wrong with the list, this is just what people play nowadays.

Yeah. On Steam. Meanwhile JRPGs have always been mostly console games, because japs are mostly console (and mobile) players. Many didn't even get PC releases until recently.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

Can we admit once and for all that JRPGs have completely beaten western RPG genre? Nobody plays western RPGs anymore except the 20 years old software from the dusties. Meanwhile weaboos play recent releases constantly.

https://store.steampowered.com/charts/mostplayed/
7. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
14. Baldur's Gate 3
45. Cyberpunk 2077
54. Kingdom Come: Deliverance
90. Witcher III
91. Avowed

Great list, there's a clicker game called "Banana" ranked 6th.

There's nothing wrong with the list, this is just what people play nowadays.

Yeah. On Steam. Meanwhile JRPGs have always been mostly console games, because japs are mostly console (and mobile) players. Many didn't even get PC releases until recently.

What does it have to do with anything? Western RPGs were always released on STEAM and contrary to what OP claimed somebody is playing them.

 

[Shinji]

Neither side has triumphed.

Everything's too safe and stale now, because every company wants to appeal to everyone to please investors and maximize profit.

 

[Rean]

They didn't 'just' triumph, Japs have been releasing vastly superior videogames ever since videogames have been a thing. The worst Japanese game shits all over the best Western offering.

As for the depressed self-hating weebs in this thread (you know who you are), you'll never be accepted by the curmudgeons you desperately try to lick the boots of. If you want to try to potentially save Japanese games from the suicidal path they're on (since western games died decades ago), make an effort and start sending emails to the publishing companies and politely present yourself as a real fan. Participate in fan translation projects. Make good games known. Everything helps in the long run.

 

[Jvegi]

Felvidek proves your case. Kinda.

 

[Melcar]

Don't forget the katana.

 

[Maldoror]

Good and bad in both camps, but I do find that JRPGs are doing better overall than modern WRPGs.
13 Sentinels and Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth come to mind as two of the best JRPGs of recent years. Unicorn Overlord also had a great demo but I haven't bought the full game yet.

Having said that, indie WRPGs are trending toward incline, I would say.

 

[The Decline]

Woke translators pull JRPGs down to the sane level as western RPGs.

 

[Modron]

JRPGs have declined as much as western RPGs in the past 25 years

 

[mediocrepoet]

That last poll option is fire.

 

[Skinwalker]

Can we admit once and for all that JRPGs have completely beaten western RPG genre?

Yes.

 

[Sweeper]

Ryzer wrote: ↑ February 18th, 2025, 12:06

They deny it but when they talk about Underrail, they discuss about what builds to use but never about the game itself.

It tells you much about the main quest ( it's a chore they had to go through until they reach the actual enjoyment with the game which is the end game like some chinese Hack and slash).

Dis u?

 

[StaticSpine]

I've been thinking about this lately.

The thing is, JRPGs are much bigger as a niche in terms of released games and just because of that there's more incline but also more mediocrity simply in numbers. The majority of JRPGs are still generic slop. I played through around 40 of them as of now, and maybe 5-10 I really loved, other ones could be easily skipped.

And I don't consider modern Action "RPG" games like Avowed or Dragon Age as CRPGs, I consider CRPGs only stuff like Wasteland or Colony Ship - these games are rare, but the percentage of good ones is also higher.

In any case, I admit that I have played more Japanese stuff than Western since the early 2010s.

 

[Grauken]

That last poll option is fire.

Only correct answer

 

[d1r]

JRPGs have declined as much as western RPGs in the past 25 years

This.
But JRPG's still have the edge over WRPG, because of the SMT series. :^)