By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Gaming Discussion - Suspension of Disbelief(Why western fans dislike JRPG's)

 

What is the main reason Westerns dislike JRPGs?

Aesthetics 66 26.83%
 
Suspension of Disbelief 16 6.50%
 
Convoluted Stories 43 17.48%
 
Linearity 24 9.76%
 
They are simple not open minded.... 97 39.43%
 
Total:246
NightDragon83 on 27 June 2015
Aerys said:

Because no partnership with moutain dew and duritos, no badass heroe with big muscles and a gun to make big explosions 

 

An open minded gamer knows how to enjoy more than western games

Well that explains why Final Fantasy VII was such a big hit with western audiences...

 



On 2/24/13, MB1025 said:
You know I was always wondering why no one ever used the dollar sign for $ony, but then I realized they have no money so it would be pointless.

Around the Network
Paatar on 27 June 2015

JRPG's have always had that anime influence. It's just way more noticeable now than before due to the extreme bump in Japanese Anime popularity.

That being said, JRPG's have been and will always be my favorite genre of games. Which is why I look forward to getting a PS4. It's going to be an RPG machine with quite a bit of JRPG's.



[Switch Friend code: 3909-3991-4970]

[Xbox Live: JissuWolfe]

[PSN: Jissu]

IgoRPGam3R on 27 June 2015
Areym said:
The JRPG genre has become stale. It's always the same tropes and cliches. With WRPGs, you have a wide variety of stories, settings, etc. You have Mass Effect with space exploration, Fallout with Post-apocalyptic, Dragon Age/Elder Scrolls with medieval/fantasy, Deus Ex with Futuristic, etc. WRPGs cover a wide range of locales and worlds while, as big a fan as I am of JRPGs, stay in the same realm of teens saving the world with the power of friendship.


As opposed too middle age, bearder, muscular man trying to unite all races to overcome powerfull evil that is threatening the world/universe and at the same time dealing with a lot of greedy politicians. That's basically story in 98% of WRPGs. At least in JRPGs with the same "teens saving the world" type of story i have story about parody of console wars, slice of life story and WW2. As for settings, JRPGs also have all that you mentioned: SciFi (Star Ocean, Xenoblade Chronicles X), fantasy (Fire Emblem, Tales of), post-apocalyptic (Shin Megami Tensei) and with that modern high school setting, JPOP and idol RPGs that you will never see in WRPGs. 



ctk495 on 27 June 2015
Nuvendil said:
I think that you have made a fundamentally flawed assumption: that suspension of disbelief is achieved by "tricking" the player with elaborate explanations and realistic visuals. This is not the case. The key word in the traditional term is "Willing." Willing Suspension of Disbelief. We know fiction isn't real, that it's not real. No amount of elaborate backstory will draw us in by tricking us. Suspension of Disbelief isn't something I, as a writer, cause. It is something the reader or player volunteers as their end of a sort of contract. They agree to provide their attention and the writer agrees to provide a story worthy of that attentiveness.

Therefore, the issue many JRPGs have is that their writing is either poor or just doesn't cross cultural bounds. Bad writing, regardless of it's elaborateness, will not maintain suspension of disbelief in the reader. Because it fails to hold up the writer's end of the deal. And then the issue of cultural bounds: games heavily rooted in Japanese culture - Persona (from my understanding, not a player of it myself), Youkai Watch, etc are rooted in Japanese culture, folk or otherwise. It's got little to do with realism; unrealistic stories have drawn in western and eastern viewers/players/readers for centuries. But it has to be internally consistent and engaging. Failing to be those, the Willing Supsension of Disbelief will be broken.

I disagree. I think that suspesion of disbelief wll be much easier for Westerners to achive if the game takes place in realistic setting with a detail background infomation on the nature of the creatures. Just quoating Todd Howad when says "It's super fantastical[JRPG'S] [while] in western art it tries to get more realistic as much as it cans...it has to feel real..this could happen ..[JRPG's] super high fantasy... I can't wrap my hands around it"

Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiXOMWD3X-o



Kuksenkov on 27 June 2015

I love JRPGS, and I'm not Japanese or into Japanese culture as whole. But I do think that cultural/educational backgrounds play an important role in the whole "I don't like JRPGs because...", "I don't like WRPGs because...".

I can see the appeal in the type of experience that games like Skyrim, Witcher, Dragon Age, etc, can bring to the table. Classical S&D with magic and open world? Awesome!
But the Fallout, Mass Effect, type of games with their "morality" and shooter-like presentation doesn't appeal to me at all.

JRPGs on the other hand, while I do dislike some of their cliches, and how predictable they can be... I just love the gameplay, the whole "level up your party and see how they develop their skills", and the "fantasy setting and adventure to save the world while getting to know characters" appeals to me.

I don't want to bash anything/anyone, but culture and what the mainstream dictates as "cool" (shooting, M rated, sci-fi, realistic graphics, in the west. Beautiful looking characters, big boobs, fantasy settings, huge swords, cel shaded-anime style, in the east) does take a huge part in why western gamers usually don't like JRPGS, and when they do.. There's a high chance they'll be labeled.



Around the Network
Wagram on 27 June 2015

Honestly, I think it's quite interesting how some dislike JRPGs but love WRPGs and some love JRPGs but hate WRPGs. There's a very different design style in both of these genres I think.



Acevil on 27 June 2015
Wagram said:
Honestly, I think it's quite interesting how some dislike JRPGs but love WRPGs and some love JRPGs but hate WRPGs. There's a very different design style in both of these genres I think.


Well the reason one could dislike either could be the same reason. I usually see it is as style choice for either that can be seen as generalization.

WRPG generally in large have used the very bland D&D lore for a large percentage of the games. 
JRPG generally and more so recently have been using a very cliched set of tropes and art style. 

By the way, these two are my favorite genre.



 

outlawauron on 27 June 2015
Acevil said:
spemanig said:
No, it's because Japanese culture is extremely alien to western culture, and some people find that unfamiliarity unappealing.

Also, most JRPGs today fall under the new "Anime-RPG" subcategory, which is frankly generally of a lower quality to classic JRPGs.

So it has nothing to do with suspension of disbelief. Nothing to do with justification. Just the age old tale of cultural barriers, lest we forget how niche western games are in Japan.


This is the number one reason, most of my friends would never play a JRPG, and the main reason the quality of JRPG has gone drastically. 

I find this a very poor reason and not really ingrained in reality. Anime JRPGs always existed, you just don't have the open mind you did when you were younger. Chrono Trigger, FF4, FF6, etc. all would be considered an Anime JRPG if they were made today.



"We'll toss the dice however they fall,
And snuggle the girls be they short or tall,
Then follow young Mat whenever he calls,
To dance with Jak o' the Shadows."

Check out MyAnimeList and my Game Collection. Owner of the 5 millionth post.

Acevil on 27 June 2015
outlawauron said:
Acevil said:


This is the number one reason, most of my friends would never play a JRPG, and the main reason the quality of JRPG has gone drastically. 

I find this a very poor reason and not really ingrained in reality. Anime JRPGs always existed, you just don't have the open mind you did when you were younger. Chrono Trigger, FF4, FF6, etc. all would be considered an Anime JRPG if they were made today.


I still think the fact that many different styled existed in the SNES-PSX compared to now. It might also be the curse of the medium, like any genre or medium, when it reaches a maturity stage, it feels like the same. What other reason do you find for people disliking JRPGs?



 

WC4Life on 27 June 2015
IAmCrimsonLegion said:

I actually do believe the homogenized, anime-moe look of JRPGs for the past decade has done a number on the western fanbase. Before, during the SNES/PS1/PS2 days, JRPGs had many different art styles and systems. SaGa was different from Mana, Mana was different from Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy was different from Dragon Quest, Dragon Quest was different from Chrono, Chrono was different from Lunar, Lunar was different from Grandia, Grandia was different from Wild Arms, Wild Arms was different from Shadow Hearts, Shadow Hearts was different from Shin Megami Tensei, Shin Megami Tensei was different from Tales, Tales was different from Legend of Dragoon, Legend of Dragoon was different from Suikoden, and so on and so forth.

There was far more variety in art back then than there is right now. Could be Japan's culture shift to JPOP and Lolicon or whatever, but it's clear there's a divide between the games released in the 90s and early-mid 2000s versus the games released in the latter 2000s and early-mid 2010s.

As a JRPG fan, I feel it too. I buy a few of the JRPGs being made today because I like the genre (like various NIS/Idea Factory/Compile Heart/Gust games), but they're definitely not what I grew up on. I find myself playing these games less nowadays than I would've done a decade ago if they were replaced by the games I named in the first paragraph.

Perhaps it could be because Square-Enix is no longer a juggernaut. Their dip in quality, domestic releases coincides with the cultural shift. When Square and Enix were at the top of their game in the 90s and early 2000s, there was a plethora of different choices to choose from in the JRPG genre because other companies were enjoying the exposure these games had. Now, all I see are Compile Heart/Gust/Idea Factory/NIS and there's a very homogenized look. I shudder when people say JRPGs have never evolved - if anything, they were at their experimental and creative height during the late 90s and early 2000s. When that went bust, well...

Tales and SMT are really the only relics left from the age being consistently released and supported, at least in the West. Dragon Quest fans are left in the cold while the mainline Final Fantasy games take time. I do miss those old JRPGs, though. A shame that companies just don't make 'em of that ilk anymore.


Good post and pretty much everything I could not put into words. Identity is the main thing for me, jrpg-games today do feel homogenous. Looking it now, I'd say it all started in the PS3 era. Maybe jrpgs didn't find enough success in the PS2 era and publishers started to target more specific audience.



I cannot imagine toilet-free life.

Kebabs have a unique attribute compared to other consumables. To unlock this effect you need to wolf down a big ass kebab really fast, like under 10 minutes or so and wait for the effect to kick in. If done correctly your movements should feel unbelievably heavy to the point where you literally cannot move at all.

-Downtown Alanya Kebab magazine issue no.198