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Forums - Gaming - Are RPGs becoming niche on consoles?

shio on 18 February 2009
Impulsivity said:
Rei said:
In short: yes. And do wRPGs healthy sales performance outweigh the lack of Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest/KH titles? I guess they do. But wRPG and jRPG are so different they are almost considered 2 different genres.

wRPGs are better than ever this gen (sales-wise), quality-wise they are in a constant decline though. jRPGs sell the same they always did, but there are not nearly as many of them on current-gen consoles as there were on PS2. This+lack of FF/DQ/KH titles+the fact that console jRPGs this gen are split between the 3 consoles (while last gen almost all of them were on PS2) makes it seem like the genre is dying.

I think jRPG genre needs a blockbuster title to gather some interest of masses. Once it happens things will start getting better. However, it is already clear that the home for the genre this gen is DS and not the consoles. I dont think this will change.

 

  Where's this quality decline?  Fallout 3 was one of the best games I've played and Dragon Age looks like its going to be awesome.  If anything the quality has improved over the last 5 years since KOTOR started the WRPG resurgance

Play Falout 1 and 2, and you'll see what he's talking about. Fallout 3's only advantage over it's predecessors was the technology, because in everything else, from writing to mechanics, it is several times below their standard.

Dragon Age does look like it's going to be awesome.

Just a note, I'm not saying Fallout 3 is a bad game. It's actually a solid 7/10 in my book, but it's nowhere near the artistic masterpiece 1&2 were.



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shio on 18 February 2009
Rei said:
Impulsivity said:
Rei said:
In short: yes. And do wRPGs healthy sales performance outweigh the lack of Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest/KH titles? I guess they do. But wRPG and jRPG are so different they are almost considered 2 different genres.

wRPGs are better than ever this gen (sales-wise), quality-wise they are in a constant decline though. jRPGs sell the same they always did, but there are not nearly as many of them on current-gen consoles as there were on PS2. This+lack of FF/DQ/KH titles+the fact that console jRPGs this gen are split between the 3 consoles (while last gen almost all of them were on PS2) makes it seem like the genre is dying.

I think jRPG genre needs a blockbuster title to gather some interest of masses. Once it happens things will start getting better. However, it is already clear that the home for the genre this gen is DS and not the consoles. I dont think this will change.

 

  Where's this quality decline?  Fallout 3 was one of the best games I've played and Dragon Age looks like its going to be awesome.  If anything the quality has improved over the last 5 years since KOTOR started the WRPG resurgance

Fallout 3 really is great. But Oblivion was worse than Morrowind. Mass Effect was a dissapointment. Neverwinter Nights 2 was a dissapointment (although it isnt on consoles). Fable 2 I havent played, because I absolutely didnt like Fable 1.

   The genre used to be better. Now wRPG devs try to take a different approach and sometimes they succeed and make something awesome and interesting - Fallout 3, but sometimes they fail and make something that is boring and doesnt even feel like an RPG - Mass Effect.

   overall wRPGs nowadays are okay, but they are worse than they used to be, thats why I am saying they are in decline.

 

If we're not including western MMORPGs: the best WRPG this gen is The Witcher, but you seriously gotta play Mask of the Betrayer, which has the best story and writing in a RPG since Planescape Torment.

 



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Mr.Y on 18 February 2009

I thought RPGs were always niche games?



Swtchmob on 18 February 2009

ya jrpg dont sell because of the lack of guns and rancid death.



antfromtashkent on 18 February 2009
Impulsivity said:

I think the general level of suck RPGs, in particular JRPGs, have demonstrated is solely responsible for that. I mean if they're going to churn out crap like Blue Dragon and Lost Oddyssey (which wouldn't even make the top 25 best PS2 RPGs in a million years) then yes, sales will be bad.

The only bright spot is PC flavored WRPGs like Fallout 3 and Mass Effect. With more like Dragon Age and the Witcher making it to multiple consoles there is certainly hope for RPGs, probably just not JRPGs which are looking more and more dated whenever I try playing them lately. I mean it was great in 1987 when Dragon Warrior was new, but games like Fallout 3, Mass Effect, the Witcher, Knights of the Old Republic and the rest of the WRPG crowd have raised the bar so much higher the last few years that JRPGs just look....passe.

   I mean the least they could do is add moral choice, branching dialogue and the ability to make characters that don't look like hermaphadites (like ALL JRPG protagonists seem to be).  Adding some combat that isn't as stale as 3 year old bread wouldn't hurt either.

   Valkaria Chronicles was a big step in the right direction, and the white knight chronicles might be too if they would fin release the damn thing over here.

   Also I bet you anything the boatload of MMOs eats into that non MMO RPG market a fair bit.  I buy less games when I'm playing MMOs actively pretty decidedly.

lost oddysey was one of the best games i ever played imo.... and if you havent played VC how do you know it was a step in the right direction.... but i will agree with the WRPG's takeover..

 



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Mummelmann on 18 February 2009
disolitude said:
Impulsivity said:

I think the general level of suck RPGs, in particular JRPGs, have demonstrated is solely responsible for that. I mean if they're going to churn out crap like Blue Dragon and Lost Oddyssey (which wouldn't even make the top 25 best PS2 RPGs in a million years) then yes, sales will be bad.

The only bright spot is PC flavored WRPGs like Fallout 3 and Mass Effect. With more like Dragon Age and the Witcher making it to multiple consoles there is certainly hope for RPGs, probably just not JRPGs which are looking more and more dated whenever I try playing them lately. I mean it was great in 1987 when Dragon Warrior was new, but games like Fallout 3, Mass Effect, the Witcher, Knights of the Old Republic and the rest of the WRPG crowd have raised the bar so much higher the last few years that JRPGs just look....passe.

   I mean the least they could do is add moral choice, branching dialogue and the ability to make characters that don't look like hermaphadites (like ALL JRPG protagonists seem to be).  Adding some combat that isn't as stale as 3 year old bread wouldn't hurt either.

   Valkaria Chronicles was a big step in the right direction, and the white knight chronicles might be too if they would fin release the damn thing over here.

   Also I bet you anything the boatload of MMOs eats into that non MMO RPG market a fair bit.  I buy less games when I'm playing MMOs actively pretty decidedly.

 

 Standard Impulsivity post.

Parise PS3/PS2 games - Check

Dis 360 games - Check

Mostly opinion - Check

 

The bottom point you made is correct, but then 95% of all posts on Vgchartz should be disregarded if simply being someones opinion disqualifies the content.

The topmost points; I've read over his post many times in search of this dissing and praise but I honestly cannot find it at all, where does he do this again?



Rei on 18 February 2009
shio said:
Rei said:
Impulsivity said:
Rei said:
In short: yes. And do wRPGs healthy sales performance outweigh the lack of Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest/KH titles? I guess they do. But wRPG and jRPG are so different they are almost considered 2 different genres.

wRPGs are better than ever this gen (sales-wise), quality-wise they are in a constant decline though. jRPGs sell the same they always did, but there are not nearly as many of them on current-gen consoles as there were on PS2. This+lack of FF/DQ/KH titles+the fact that console jRPGs this gen are split between the 3 consoles (while last gen almost all of them were on PS2) makes it seem like the genre is dying.

I think jRPG genre needs a blockbuster title to gather some interest of masses. Once it happens things will start getting better. However, it is already clear that the home for the genre this gen is DS and not the consoles. I dont think this will change.

 

  Where's this quality decline?  Fallout 3 was one of the best games I've played and Dragon Age looks like its going to be awesome.  If anything the quality has improved over the last 5 years since KOTOR started the WRPG resurgance

Fallout 3 really is great. But Oblivion was worse than Morrowind. Mass Effect was a dissapointment. Neverwinter Nights 2 was a dissapointment (although it isnt on consoles). Fable 2 I havent played, because I absolutely didnt like Fable 1.

   The genre used to be better. Now wRPG devs try to take a different approach and sometimes they succeed and make something awesome and interesting - Fallout 3, but sometimes they fail and make something that is boring and doesnt even feel like an RPG - Mass Effect.

   overall wRPGs nowadays are okay, but they are worse than they used to be, thats why I am saying they are in decline.

 

If we're not including western MMORPGs: the best WRPG this gen is The Witcher, but you seriously gotta play Mask of the Betrayer, which has the best story and writing in a RPG since Planescape Torment.

 

I have. It really was much better than the original NWN2, but it was way too short. The problem with NWN2 is that they failed to capture the atmosphere of the first game. TMoB has the atmosphere of its own, it has kind of reminded me of Planescape:Torment actually.

   The Witcher - I have played the original version which suffered from a lot of technical issues. However it still was a great experience, dialogues were especially well-written.

 



Esa-Petteri on 18 February 2009

Jrpg:s are niche. Superior wrpg:s are selling quite well.



antfromtashkent on 18 February 2009
Esa-Petteri said:
Jrpg:s are niche. (IMO Superior) wrpg:s are selling quite well.

 

 fixed for ya... youre welcome ;)



Johann on 18 February 2009
Esa-Petteri said:
Jrpg:s are niche. Superior wrpg:s are selling quite well.

You know, sometimes I see someone make a great post, that makes me rethink my JRPG preference. It's rare to see such people, but when they do appear, they are just so eloquent, and make such a fine job praising their beloved WRPGs, while still understanding my point of view, that I can't help but think: "you know.... I might just be missing something here!".

But then I see posts like the one above, and quickly snap out of it.

 



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