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Alphachris on 17 October 2012
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Scoobes said:
AllfatherStarr said:
One thing that needs to be kept in mind is Combat Mechanics is what makes or breaks a JRPG.
History shows us that there are well-loved WRPGs which have a less than perfect combat system, but a JRPG with a sh***y combat system is not even worth a single playthrough. Not because of a difference in standards of either fanbase but because good WRPGs offer the gamer considerably more beyond the actual combat. Actually, imo, this has become more and more apparent over recent years. JRPGs of yore had a certain charm about them, which their more contemporary counterparts somewhat lack( in most cases)

I completely disagree. The most important thing about a JRPG to me is the story and having an interesting world/lore. I loved a lot of the older Final Fantasy games but the battle system was something I was willing to put up with, not something I really enjoyed engaging in. The story and the wider mythology was what kept me playing.

I agree. The main point of a JRPG is the STORY and Character development. And the main story, the characters and the world should really feel connected. Games like Final Fantasy X or Final Fantasy XIII shine with their story. There are not many games that offer that quality of storytelling. The last few final fantasy games made you think about blind belief and its risks, the consequences of atomic bombs or the effects of propaganda... The last FF offered really mature stories... and this "mature" does not mean massive depiction of violence, blood and gore. It means mature ethical topics.

Suikoden offered 108 different characters, but only some of them were really strong. The focus however lied also on the narrative. It was not the battle system that kept you going. It was the story.

A game, where the combat mechanics are the main point... thats a strategy RPG for me. Like Final Fantasy Tactics. There is a story, but the characters are there to give you more variety in combat. Final Fantasy Tactics has random characters that can fulfill different jobs and they are not important for the overall story.

The main problem in discussing RPGs online is that some people limit RPG to D&D. That is just one form of RPGs. A game like Oblivion felt not really like a true RPG for me. It was just a huge action-Adventure with some RPG-elements for me. It was a huge world, but I couldn't care about anything in the world. The main quest was disappointing and I never felt the world cared about the main quest. And the sidequests was just repetitive and I lost interest pretty soon.

Ultimately I feel that WRPG and JRPGs just can't be compared. They offer totally different experiences. And I personally feel that the WRPG dropped everything that I like about RPGS and concentrate on the bits that I do not like.

I like to play a RPG focusing on the story. I do not grind xp unless I have problems with the difficulty. I do not even try to maximize character stats. In the older FF's I used my mages only at the bosses because I didn't want to waste my mp on normal enemies that would go down after I short time anyway. Before the Boss fights I only used normal attacks with my mages to conserve mp... I do not care if I can complete my bestiary because I do not want to spent much time to see if there could be a rare enemy that I am still missing... I do not care about sidequests that much. Final Fantasy does it just right with a quest for the ultimate weapons and the ultimate magic/Summons.

The one thing that puts Rpgs over all other genres for me is that they are games that make you think about  certain issues. Most western games only try to deliver a cool character that is a kind of superhero and that can cope with every problem.