If Japanese developers started making RPGs like Skyrim or Fallout...

[Scoobes]

DevilRising said:

Scoobes said:

 

The primary difference between the two genres is that WRPGs give the player an avatar to explore a world and/or story whereas JRPGs have pre-contructed characters and storylines. The main character is not really and avatar of the player, but a fully fleshed out character in a wider story.

From this regard, Demon's Souls and Dark Souls are both very much WRPGs, allowing the player to customise their character from the very start and allowing the player to determine how their avatar interacts with the world around them. This is the very core of why I'd consider these games more WRPG than JRPG. They may take influence from Japanese style games/culture, but then Bioware was influenced by FFXII in Dragon Age Origins, but that is still very much a WRPG. I also see just as much influence/similarity from Western titles as the games you mentioned above (namely Legacy of Kain, Darksiders, Dragon Age).

 

 

That is only true for more modern games. The first Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, for example, have you name your character from the get-go, they are basically a blank slate, and "avatar of the player" as you say. The same can be said for some early Falcom games. Or hell, even though it's NOT an rpg, the same could be said for The Legend of Zelda, where you name your character (even though he's "Link"), and Miyamoto's intent was always for the player to feel like THEY were Link, adventuring around in the game world themselves. That trait has been in Japanese games for a longtime. I think in more modern times, the trend started of having set characters you play.

When you go as far back as Dragon Quest and the original Final Fantasy you're entering the time period when the genres only just started to diverge. You genuinely could argue that at that point they were just good old fashioned RPGs.

Regardless, I don't see a simple name change as really distinguishing the genres. There are multiple methods for making the main character an avatar. Even in WRPGs where the main character already has a backstory (e.g. Geralt in Witcher or The Nameless One in Planescape Torment) the games are built around giving the player major choices in a game world (influencing character stories, world events etc.). That way, even though the main character has their own backstory, they're still an extension of the player's own personality and bias.

JRPGs on the other hand diverged to the point where they specialised in telling some incredible stories with fully fleshed out characters. Whilst the player can still explore the world, the main character(s) has their own personality and biases. The divergence probably started around the late NES/early SNES years.