| midwinter said: I used to really love JRPGs back when I was in high school and college. Final Fantasy VII was a revolutionary gaming moment for me. As I have grown older and got married I have a harder time dealing with the weak main characters, apathy and grinding battle sequences to level up. I still like to play a good JRPG every now and then, but they don't hold the same appeal for me any longer. I don't necesarrily agree that WRPG games are better than JRPG games just in the sense that they are made for two totally different audiences/markets. I have tried to get in to the past few Final Fantasy games even and failed to be engaged by them. Final Fantasy is normally the best that the JRPG crowd has to offer. I find that I should just go put in a movie and watch a fantasy story line instead of battling through the game. I do agree with comments that WRPG doesn't engage my story/emotional side with the characters of the games. I do agree with this also. Mass Effect was a great game and probably the best WRPG story I have seen. Yet in the end I still didn't feel the attachment to the characters and story that I felt so many years ago playing Final Fantasy VII and VIII. I guess it is just like novels and movies. Certain games will ring true during certain periods of your life and define and grow you in those moments, but as you grow and time trudges on you may venture onwards to continue your journey.
|
JRPG's are psychologically targeted towards tweens and teenagers, hence the characters look. Those games are made for them and they are not marketed towards adults. Adults can buy them, but thats just the way it goes. I used to love JRPG's myself, but I grew out of them, because I wanted more in a game. My friends got me into pen and paper Dungeons and Dragons, WOW and Champions of Norrath, and I loved it, but had to quit early before I wasted too much of my time after highschool. I went into an RPG shop with my friends to play Dungeons and Dragons one day and most said that they didn't play JRPG's very much, because they aren't RPG's; but they do collect anime. I was confused. I was living off of the old glory of FFVII, so I can definitely relate. I tried arguing the validity of a JRPG to Hardcore RPG fans and was totally destroyed. The whole concept of what they said made perfect sense. Most of the JRPG fans I know, grew up just like me on Playstation and Nintendo products, before I even played real RPG's.
