The death of epic single player Japanese Action RPGs in the late 90s is one of saddest events in gaming imo.  These days it's pretty much just Zelda, Ys and awful crap like Kingdom Hearts keeping it going. ;_;

all i can say is FF XIII 1.2 MILLION SALES IN THE WEST FIRST WEEK!!

Final Fantasy didn't kill it.  It did just fine in all regions.  Instead, SquareEnix itself were the ones putting too much hype on the series and were their own worst enemies, putting out all this PR beforhand stating things like 'it'll sell better than FFVII' and 'it's the biggest FF game ever.'  But the 'hype' and peoples interest are two different things.

And there's still plenty of oppertunity for other JRPGs to sell well on consoles,  Including a major one coming out in a few years, Dragon Quest X.  The problem is two fold this gen as JRPGs have had to focus on handhelds (the market Japan loves) and the console market this gen is highly unpredictable and skewed against JRPGs.  It also doesn't help that nearly all third parties, including SquareEnix, have all but ignored the one console that playes best to their market, the Wii.  Its only here near the END of this generation that they're even attempting to put decent console JRPGs on the system.  And even then, they don't have the same budget or time put into them as the HD or DS projects before them.

If anyone can blame the lackluster sales and state of console JRPGs this gen, its the third party producers of those games themselves.  For spending millions on games like Infinite Undiscovery, Star Ocean 4 and to a lesser extent, Final Fantasy XIII.  When they were wasting millions of dollars on a system the Japanese market wasn't even paying attention to and games the American market was less inclined to buy.

I actually just played Ys for the first time on the DS and am surprised how much fun it is. I heard of it back then, but I guess it was never released in Europe - just like 95% of all JRPGs back then.

Zelda I would count as dead as well, as the shift to 3D has totally changed gameplay and hence its not the same anymore.

No, there is still too much of it.

OMFG, that's like the worst version of Ys though! :X

Get to your Wii and download Ys Books I & II on the Virtual Console immediately! Unless you don't have it on VC in Europe, in which case I'll weep for you. ;_;

Is it different/better? How and why?

And yes, I think it is on VC.

Looks, sounds, plays better.  The TG16 version is generally considered the best of all the Ys I&II versions (at least besides the Eternal remakes). I have the DS version too (it's based off Eternal btw), and while it's not as bad as some say, it's still pretty janky and low budget imo.  I'd definitely recommend doing the VC versions first though.

Virtual Console's been my saving grace this gen though, with so many great ARPGs to replay though (Zelda 1-3, Ys I&II, Neutopia 1-2, LandStalker, Beyond Oasis, Monster World 1-4, Secret of Mana).  Man, I miss 16-bit.

I'm not sure if someone said this previously, as I only have a small amount of time, but I think it's safe to say that the JRPGs that we once knew and know now are simply links in a chain. Another better analogy may be steps in a unending staircase.

If one looks back to the earlier games, say the original Final Fantasy in the late 80s, there's a pretty distinctive shift. As each generation passes onward, ideas change along with the gamers who shift dependent on their generation. Those who played the original Final Fantasy have a much different perspective than someone who is new to gaming and only recently came into it.

I often hear FF7 held up as the echelon of greatness in that series. While some would agree while others would not, the actual decision on that is somewhat moot. What would be noticed is that FF7 is just another step in the entire works. Obviously, it's a good bit different than, say, FF10 or FF13 because of how the industry and gamers themselves have shifted. Now we get HD, ultra high resolution TVs and much more powerful consoles. We are in the middle of another little micro-renaissance of the industry trying to figure out what the hell we want.

I think it's safe to say that that developers are basically grabbing hold of this industry that is moving like a bullet train and are doing their damnedest to hold on tight. It's not so much that the JRPGs are dying so much as they are forcibly being evolved to try and hit the interests of new and older gamers alike. What might be fun to a younger gamer might be disliked by an older one.

Give it a few years and things might just change enough that the JRPGs once known might be a very different beast before long. FF13, Lost Odyssey, White Knight Chronicles...they're trying different things to see what works. Unfortunately, most of us are just going to have to wait and see what they turn into.

OK, thanks for the info.

I guess I need to check the highlighted games out. And yes, VC has done me good as well so far.

I am still amazed that Secret of Mana is still as glorious today as it was back then - couldnt put it down.

Also, zelda 2 was fun until I screwed up and used some keys from Castle 3 in Castle 4 - am scared now to go back and find that missing key in castle 4 - stupid open world stuff....