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IAmCrimsonLegion on 27 June 2015
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I actually do believe the homogenized, anime-moe look of JRPGs for the past decade has done a number on the western fanbase. Before, during the SNES/PS1/PS2 days, JRPGs had many different art styles and systems. SaGa was different from Mana, Mana was different from Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy was different from Dragon Quest, Dragon Quest was different from Chrono, Chrono was different from Lunar, Lunar was different from Grandia, Grandia was different from Wild Arms, Wild Arms was different from Shadow Hearts, Shadow Hearts was different from Shin Megami Tensei, Shin Megami Tensei was different from Tales, Tales was different from Legend of Dragoon, Legend of Dragoon was different from Suikoden, and so on and so forth.

There was far more variety in art back then than there is right now. Could be Japan's culture shift to JPOP and Lolicon or whatever, but it's clear there's a divide between the games released in the 90s and early-mid 2000s versus the games released in the latter 2000s and early-mid 2010s.

As a JRPG fan, I feel it too. I buy a few of the JRPGs being made today because I like the genre (like various NIS/Idea Factory/Compile Heart/Gust games), but they're definitely not what I grew up on. I find myself playing these games less nowadays than I would've done a decade ago if they were replaced by the games I named in the first paragraph.

Perhaps it could be because Square-Enix is no longer a juggernaut. Their dip in quality, domestic releases coincides with the cultural shift. When Square and Enix were at the top of their game in the 90s and early 2000s, there was a plethora of different choices to choose from in the JRPG genre because other companies were enjoying the exposure these games had. Now, all I see are Compile Heart/Gust/Idea Factory/NIS and there's a very homogenized look. I shudder when people say JRPGs have never evolved - if anything, they were at their experimental and creative height during the late 90s and early 2000s. When that went bust, well...

Tales and SMT are really the only relics left from the age being consistently released and supported, at least in the West. Dragon Quest fans are left in the cold while the mainline Final Fantasy games take time. I do miss those old JRPGs, though. A shame that companies just don't make 'em of that ilk anymore.