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S.T.A.G.E. on 05 January 2010
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silicon said:

So all the WRPG vs. JRPG threads got me thinking… what is the difference?

I think the main difference between WRPGs and JRPGs is the way the stories are told.

WRPGs are up front. In most cases the story arc is revealed at the beginning. The player acts as the protagonist completing mini-stories within the main story arc. The player is forced to make choices along the way.

JRPGs don’t tell you the overall story arc. As the player progresses through the game they learn story elements that reveal the elements of the story. In some cases, the protagonist you play knows more than the player. The player is drawn into the story by the mystery surrounding the story arc. As the player continues through the game, various story elements are revealed.

 

For an example, take Fallout 3. The story arc is fairly simple. First you need to find your father. Once you find him, he tells you how to save humanity. When you play the game, you explore a world where you are confronted with choices. I.e. Should I kill everyone in this town? These choices impact the rest of the game play experience.

As a JRPG, the game would start off with a character getting a vision of a man and water etc. Eventually you would learn a cool name for a power source, but you wouldn’t know the significance of it yet. As you played the game you would eventually meet the man in your vision. At that point you would discover that it was your father.

 

 What do you think?

 

Also, I haven’t played many JRPGs so I could be way off.

-JRPG's are one big story and you're just playing the story. It's like reading Lord of the Rings and wondering what it is like to play as the characters, but have no affect on the story. Plain and simple concept. The only thing you affect in in JRPG's are your players EXP, Armor, ETC.

-WRPG's you affect the world you are in and a story already exists, but you manipulate it in your own way with the decisions you make. Much like JRPG's you have EXP, Armor. WRPG's are the truer concept for what RPG's are because you literally become the role with all the decisions you have to make.

The biggest problem that held back WRPG's is the fact that the stories weren't larger than life and today they are starting to with games like Fallout 3, KOTOR 1 & 2 and Mass Effect.