| thelifatree said: And the other good JRPG's Like Dragon Quest, Besides Japan... are more hardcore, and more gameplay based and that gameplay doesn't seem popular here anymore... just my thinking sorry for the ramble |
And that's the thing. SquareEnix has been focusing 99% of its marketing on two series. FF and Kingdom Hearts. And almost all of that has gone to focusing on the graphics and storyline. Its no wonder people were putting so much pressure on FFXIII to be the 'end all' of JRPGs this gen. Becuase frankly, games like Dragon Quest, Persona, Tales, Disgaea, Phantasy Star, etc don't get anywhere near the advertising (if any) that just one Final Fantasy game gets.
The reason JRPGs are 'in decline' is because the companies who produce and distribute them aren't working to advertise them. They've gone entire generations riding hype and free publicity on systems such as SNES, PSX and PS2. Now they need to step up and start advertising the games on the level of such titles as Fallout 3, Mass Effect 2 and Fable.
At the same time, Final Fantasy itself has a second problem. Whereas JRPGs are less popular in gameplay (due to a lack of marketing), Final Fantasy focuses even less on gameplay than many JRPGs, opting to focus on storyline and graphics. Its not necessary a negative, and its helped the series for its 20+ year run. But it may not keep it going forever. In this day in age where 'good graphics' and 'deep storyline' are about as common as peanut butter and jelly, Final Fantasy games no longer have the upper hand. They are no longer one of the 1% of games with the best graphics and 60+ hours of content. They are one of many. So perhaps its time they focus on something else. Say....balancing good graphics with gameplay content.
Six upcoming games you should look into:
