I have been playing JRPG's for so long that I have become a clouded tradionalist and like the developers that develop this this style of RPG, cannot see the outside the tadional box that includes all the commmon elements and themes that comes with them. People scream "annoying voices" and I lol and shrug them off because I see at as petty whining but I dont realize Ive benn playing for so long that something like annoying voices or stupid teen drama might seem natural or bearable compared to the casual or non JRPG fan.

Its no secret that the JRPG is falling off in popularity and sales( or continues to sell on par with last gen when they should be improving) and some say they might end up going the portable only due to the rising cost that it takes to create them and the little return there getting. There are several reasons to this but the biggest I belive is that the JRPG fan and Developer and clouded and have be become blind to the faults of JRPG which leads to not fixing them thus continuing of lack luster sales and dwindleling reputation of the genre.

What is the premise of this thread?

As the title states:

This thread is about the recongnition of faults and the recovery of the JRPG genre.

What are the commmon complaints about the genre and what are ways that they can be improved.

I espeacially want to hear from people who play other types of RPG's but get putt off by JRPG's

* this is not a western vs Japanese thread so please stay on topic

* this is not a JRPG defense thread so becuase you can stomach annoying voice or charcter doesnt mean somebody else wants to JRPG fans.

my favorite genre is rpgs and if I had to find a fault with jrpgs it would be that they keep alot of the same themes that they have been using for years. Im not saying that its wrong to keep them its just that too many jrpgs use similiar settings and such and that sometimes lessens my experiences with them. Though there are plenty that dont do this (ff 13,resonance of fate).

Well, I still love most JRPGs, but I can see where this problem is coming from. I think it stems from a desire to change either nothing, which doesn't bother me much, but makes it stale for many others, lowering sales, or a desire to throw everything out and make practically nothing the same, turning off many of the core JRPG fanbase from the drastic change. I think the best way to do it is to do small and gradual changes. The changes can be bigger than they are in Dragon Quest (2 introduced a party, 3 the idea of multiple words, 4 the chapter system, etc), but when FF7 and FF8 have almost nothing in common outside FF staples, then too much changed.

I guess the best fix, is don't be afraid of change, but also don't abandon what works. Old fans want something familiar to lean back on, whereas newer ones want something different and, well, new. Where this balance is may be a tricky game, but they really could start trying to close in on it.

The one thing that ruins (for lack of a better word) many good JRPGs for me is a bad script.

One JRPG recently made me go into an utter nerd rage.  I really enjoyed the game (gameplay, story, characters, everything) up until one point where whoever was writing the script just plain hit a wall.  

Spoiler:

In Star Ocean: The Last Hope International, when Edge decides to give his technology to the human researcher and ends up blowing up the planet. That entire scene was so badly written I actually got angry. It was bad enough that he went completely emo afterwards, but good god how can I take a game seriously when that kind of bullshit happens? it was completely redonculous. Been awhile since a game has done this to me.

End Spoiler

It is one thing when the script is meant to be zany, wacky, or whatever, but there are to many times JRPGs want to be taken seriously, then just completely go off the deep-end and cannot be taken seriously.

Grinding, an overbearing story, and how sluggish and tedious it seems to get halfway in the game. I haven't played a JRPG in a long time where you can just play it and not have to feel like you just want to get it done with. I'd rather all the character development be optional like in games like Mass Effect so I won't need to trudge and remember all those things the whole game. I think JRPGs should take hints from games like Fallout 3 an Mass Effect that you can have a good story without forcing it onto the players all at one time. The last JRPG I played like that was probably Kingdom Hearts 2, where you could basically pick out what you wanted and had different play styles instead of "click box to attack". I think games like that and Tales of Vesperia do a great job of making it not feel sluggish.

JRPGs sales are down?

I swear DQ IX is on target to become the best selling Dragon Quest game yet, Pokemon D/P/Pt/HG/SS are selling absolute shitloads and I'm pretty sure Mario and Luigi: BiS has sold more than M&L: SS.

Make more games like Folklore, Tales of Vesperia, Demon's Souls, and Valkyria Chronicles and make less games like Culdcept Saga, Spectral Force 3 and The Last Rebellion. I don't like JRPG's and yet I liked a handful of titles which have introduced me to the genre because there RPG approach is different. Final Fantasy XIII was so boring (for me, someone who has never played FF before) because it followed the guidelines of those old JRPG's which consists of this constant grinding without any sort of action provided by the player.

I haven't got much experience from the genre, but I do know that the games I do like are the ones which allow me to actually 'play' the game, not sit there and click on a character to watch him perform an action.

Here is why I went from playing JRPGs in the 1990s and early 2000s to exclusively playing WRPGS:

1. Turn-based gameplay of "Attack, Magic, Item" in Final Fantasy, the biggest JRPG series.

Final Fantasy has never wavered from this formula and it is real hard to go back and enjoy them once you play a dynamic, real time WRPG along the lines of Diablo or Borderlands.

2. Linearity to the extreme

I like to explore and no, I don't care about all the 48 hours worth of cutscenes some hotshot Japanese director enjoyed and thought I would enjoy. I don't enjoy them, I want to play a game, not purchase a $60 dollar anime dressed up as a game where you shove your philosophical and political views down my throat.

3.. Overtly feminine males

Why does almost every single JRPG male protagonist look like a sexually confused emo hipster? Where are the scars, ugly faces, bulging biceps, and handlebar mustaches? Seriously, I cannot take seriously a male protagonist who looks like he has not even hit puberty to gain the muscle mass to swing that 20 foot sword he lugs around on his back.

4.. Grinding (stated in an earlier post)

I want to go where I want when I want no matter if I am risking getting 1-shotted. I do not want to spend half an hour in a dungeon or instance to find out that I am a level or five from being able to beat the boss. If I wanted to grind, then I would go back to the World of Warcraft where at least I can have a conversation with a guildie.

oh wow...not many jrps are as you have described.

I am redacting my formal statement because this a genre I love and a battle I will choose.

First, no not all JRPGs are exactly as I described. I am speaking mainly about the JRPGs I have played which include almost every single Final Fantasy game (I have played up till 10), Xenosaga, Suikoden, Brave Fencer Musashi, Secret of Mana, Earthbound, and on.

Not all JRPGs have every single fault I listed. However, all of them do have male protagonists or party member who falls into the sexually confused emo hipster stereotype. Furthermore, JRPGs do have more of an emphasis on leveling and character development before gameplay and exploration as is the reverse in WRPGS. You can play and be good at a Diablo type game spending only a third to half your current skill points. You will die easily and often if you do not level and develop your character properly in a JRPG.

Finally, linearity and a movie like game has become common with Final Fantasy games since Final Fantasy 7. It was very apparent in Final Fantasy 8 and is in your face in Final Fantasy 13. I have a friend who is playing Final Fantasy 13 and he had to get to Ch. 11 or so before he could freely explore the world map. We are talking close to 40 hours of linear gameplay here where the developer gives you no freedom until a certain point.