Listen up, guys. If you really want to compare (linear) "storytelling" between Western and Japanese games, don't compare JRPGs to WRPGs. Instead, compare JRPG to Western ADVENTURE games: The Longest Journey. Dreamfall. Syberia. Grim Fandango. etc. In the West, Adventure is the "storytelling" genre in gaming. In Japan, it's RPG.
I'd say the stories and storytelling in the Western Adventure Game genre are far, far superior than JRPG.
Just a few points I want to make:
What American gamers generally want from our games is GAMEPLAY. We don't want inflexible linear storytelling with little or no gameplay in some gcinema-pretending-to-be-game. We can get our "story" fix from films and movies, which are really the superior formats for telling linear stories anyway. We really don't need to play a game to get a good linear story. When I want a good story and beautiful cinematics, I go to a movie theater or rent a DVD. Seriously, games can't compare to movies in terms of cinematic storytelling.
That's the reason why American gamers have generally move away from JRPGs -- because we have movies. Nowadays American developers no longer makes adventure games -- simply because American gamers don't like them and don't play them, but Europeans still make them.
Why do Europeans still make storytelling adventure games? Europeans, like Japanese, no longer have a prosperous movie and film industry. Hollywood basically killed off the movie industry in Europe and Japan -- because Americans ARE much, much better at making movies and telling cinematic stories. Here in America, the best and the brightest artists and storytellers go into moviemaking. In Europe and Japan, which really do not have a movie industry to speak of, the best and the brightest artists and storytellers either (a) are lured away to Hollywood, or (b) go into making games.... and those guys who go into making games really aren't as good as the best and brightest in the movie industry, i.e., James Cameron, Peter Jackson, Christopher Nolan, JJ Abram -- these are the storytelling masters in Hollywood. No one from Japan can serious compare.
We have James Cameron and Peter Jackson and the best storytellers here in Hollywood. We really don't need to play games to get a good story. Japanese, on the other hand, who no longer has a movie industry, have to get their story fix from playing games.
Seriously, if you want to compare who -- the West or Japanese -- have the best storytelling, don't compare WRGP and JRPG. Let's compare James Cameron's Avatar, Peter Jackson's Lords of the Rings, or Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight -against- Final Fantasy, Naruto, Slamdunk, Dragonball. The West's BEST against Japanese' BEST. Let's be honest here: Who do you think comes out atop? Puh-lease.
Japanese best storytellers are making Final Fantasy and some JRPGs. The West's best storytellers are not making phucking games. They are making EPIC MOVIES.
P.S. Do you know the guy who made God of War was a Hollywood reject? He couldn't cut it in Hollywood... so he went to make games. He's the top of the world in the game industry. In Hollywood, he's a nobody and failure.
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