JRPGS: Can It Revive Itself?

Some RPG’s need to make a comeback

Lets take a second to give credit where due though, JRPG’s absolutely dominated the 80’s – 90’s. I’m not exactly sure why things slowed as much as they have, but if we look back at some of the titles that really set the bar like Legend of Dragoon and Breath of Fire; you’ll surly see that these kinds of titles and games have kind of died off. Wouldn’t it be nice to see some of these titles make good comebacks? In fact in this time period some of you may remember a little “game” called RPG Maker, which has all different types of variations now, but essentially they give you an engine and all the resources to build your own RPG. Of course developed in Japan, but there are English versions and I have actually spent quite a bit of time using it.

What are some of the best WRPG’s out there though? Over the course of the last 10 years we have seen some really solid titles come to the surface to represent the west such as, Mass Effect, Oblivion, and Vampire: The masquerade. All of which were very highly respected at their point of releases. If you notice all of these games have very good stories and pretty solid voice acting. As for JRPG’s some of the great you can find are Zeno Gears, and Star Ocean, all of which are great titles.

Are graphics important?

I think graphics are kind of obsolete when it comes to RPG games. More importantly a story and good game play is what drives RPG fans to continue playing. There are of course text based RPGs which many people enjoy, and to be honest, sometimes I rather enjoy the more simplified visuals of an older JRPG as opposed to most of the attempted 3D graphics that we saw on the PS1. There are some nice fancy graphics on all the newer games that come out, but sometimes it’s better to simplify than to try and make up for sub-par writing and or game play with next generation visuals.

Conclusion

Honestly I don’t find it fair to declare a winner when it comes to the question of which is better, as both have a large amount of really solid franchise titles. I think that the two need to live in harmony as truly, they both bring separate respected offerings. Although predominantly you will see more WRPG’s on store shelves these days, there is no denying that JRPG’s are still alive and kicking. I think RPG fans can all agree that the more the merrier, and that both can learn from each other.  So hopefully we will see some great mash-up genres that have both great story and depth along with fun and functional fighting systems.

Let us know what you guys think in the comments section below.