(Please listen to the ending theme song君がいるから while you read my post :3)
Last night a facebook post about Squaresoft attracted my attention. It went something like this:
Because Square-Enix is like every other video game company. They just want to earn more money. A company is a company regardless. You know that tons of people will buy XIII-2 even if it's a bad game, that's how Square-Enix products work. Gone is the day of amazing and creative RPGs like Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Chrono Cross, Vagrant Story, Xenogears and Final Fantasy IV,VI,ect,ect. The bottom line is video game companies don't know when to stop. They are companies. I can think of a handful of video game companies that actually cater to their fans. Square-Enix is not one of them.
Maybe they want to redeem XIII, it may have sold well but overall it got mediocre reviews. Even in Japan. Maybe they felt the story didn't end well enough, or who knows what's going on with Versus XIII (they are supposed to be linked somehow.) All I know is, that yes XIII isn't the best Final Fantasy and yes it was cheesy, but it was supposed to be. XIII fits a very common formula found in Japanese stories and cinema, one with a happy ending. People seem to forget XIII is part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series ( XIII, versus XIII, Agito) and that XIII is supposed to be the lighthearted game while Versus is depressing and dark. You can clearly see this by the imagery associated with each game. Even the main character is named Lightning. That certainly shows an emphasis on light.
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| Light vs Dark |
Also, people seem to forget that JRPGs are under constant criticism from the West for being too boring or more of the same thing but usually when they try something new people hate it (except for XII but it took some of the major elements out of what defines a JRPG.) The creators of XIII even cite shooters as a source of inspiration for XIII, making the battles quick, and the rating system. XIII was hyped way too much and people expect so much out of Square-Enix. So many other games don't meet expectations but I rarely hear people complain about how horrible they are. I wish people would stop attacking JRPGs, you are destroying a wonderful genre that I think is integral to video games.
I love Final Fantasy, I probably always well and yes XIII is probably one of the worst but overall it's still a good game. It's still a decent game. I liked that not all of the characters fit into archetypes. Who knew Vanille wasn't innocent, or that the story would focus mainly on Vanille and Fang? Not to mention it has a wonderful soundtrack, the visuals are great (as always), and it followed a non-traditional storytelling method. I was frustrated with the game until I got to the Pulse, it really started to feel like a Final Fantasy then and I completed every mission, platinumed the game. Heck, I even enjoyed X-2 because it was fun. Not because it was amazing.
Also, this Square-Enix isn't Squaresoft. Squaresoft died a long time ago :/.
"The fall of the JRPG in large part is due to a lack of evolution, a lack of progression," BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk told Destructoid last week. "They kept delivering the same thing over and over. They make the dressing better, they look prettier, but it's still the same experience"."My favorite thing, it's funny when you still see it, but the joke of some of the dialogue systems where it asks, 'do you wanna do this or this,' and you say no. 'Do you wanna do this or this?' No. 'Do you wanna do this or this?' No. Lemme think — you want me to say 'yes.' And that, unfortunately, really characterized the JRPG.""We have big debates on whether GTA is an RPG, for example", he adds, highlighting some of the differences between Western and Japanese approaches. "It's got all the elements, it just doesn't have the numbers. And what gamers here want is that higher depth, that higher integration of features...Mass Effect 2 is in some ways a continuation of that evolution."Ah, there's the BioWare plug. Still, he's got a point; the more you push those traditional RPG elements under the hood, the more accessible you make the game. The more accessible you make it, the more people will play it, the more money a company makes. Easy!
(http://kotaku.com/5430803/bioware-on-the-decline-of-the-jrpg)
Here is the biggest threat to JRPGs- bashing them. But let me ask you something: Are Bioware games really comparable to JRPGs? I don't think so primarily because majority of Bioware games are either WRPGs (Western RPGS- why can't I use it? everyone uses JRPGs these days) or FPS with RPG elements (Mass Effect 1).
The bottom line is this: people that don't like JRPGs don't understand their charm and wonderful qualities. I love the humor found in so many JRPGs like Earthbound, the goofy translations of older JRPGs (like Secret of Mana or Final Fantasy IV) , the quirky characters like Lucca, Cid (FFIV), Kid (I'm gonna kick yer arse so hard, you'll kiss the moons!) the lush and beautiful environments, and of course the cinematics and soundtracks.
Bioware may hate that when given two options you have to select one but honestly it doesn't bother me because JRPGs are like novels. That is the main difference between JRPGs and WRPGs. Bioware emphasizes different storyline paths and progression but believe me, they did not come up with it. And in a way,isn't that all the same? Since I am categorizing Western made RGPs into a category, are they really that much better or different or innovative? No one seems to complain about great literature telling one unchanging story. JRPGs do that too, and in a way I really enjoy that aspect because it does feel like I am playing a visual novel. If I am lucky enough to discuss the story of an RPG with a friend, we can reflect on it and share ideas and theories because we completed the same paths among an immense story.
I find that usually the people that bash JRPGs the most are people that have rarely traveled or experienced different cultures. Trapped in their mother culture, without an understanding of anything beyond their small bubble of a world, they live each day doing the same thing, thinking the same things, enjoying the same mindless entertainment (SHOOTERS!!!) With such a conservative thought process, it's no wonder that they hate JRPGs. They are something foreign and different to our indigenous games. One could make a counter argument about Mario or Pokemon, but in reality are they on the same level? Do Mario games espouse cultural values and practices of Japan? A little bit, but not really. They are pretty universal.
Square-Enix USA hardly makes any products at all. They just translate, stamp on hideous ending theme songs like Leona Lewis's My Hands and reap tons of profit. The standard gamer forgets there is a whole different audience- one in Asia that loves these type of games. In my opinion, the "decline" of JRPGs can be attributed to Western gamers who despise anything that isn't profusely violent. Every game genre follows a formula, that is why we have genres for video games. Yet I don't understand how a formulaic genre like shooters goes under the radar. JRPGs do so much more, they invoke thought and develop characters, they create immense worlds. But developers in Japan are trying to hook everyone, they are trying to change the JRPG. Both Final Fantasy XII and XIII attest to this. Not to mention all of the new XII clones out in Japan like Xenoblade and White Knight Chronicles. Not to mention how popular Kingdom Hearts is (Action RPG).
I just wish that Square-Enix was less focused on profit. Why can't they make amazing games like they used to? Who cares what people think?
Final Fantasy XIII Developers Couldn't Cater To Western Tastes
"No one seems to complain about great literature telling one unchanging story."
ReplyDeleteThis.
Unfortunately, it's mainly a generational thing. Most of these people decrying the recent JRPG trend are people that did not grow up during the "golden age" of gaming (as we view it); the time of the Xbox is what they know. People fear what they don't know and unfortunately a lot of these peoples' first/only experience with JRPGs are those that came out in the next-gen era, which honestly are just not that good.
As for the people that did experience all that, such as your friend clamoring for the FFVII remake I think it has to do with the shift in domination that happened this past gen. Squaresoft/Enix ruled with their RPGs for years and so now that there's something else different, ANYTHING else different people think it's the bee's knees. I'm too distracted to expound on this point lol but we'll talk about this later, maybe.