JRPG fans, what are your favorite aspects?

[Setharion]

Of the JRPG genre that is, what exactly draws you to them and makes them an enjoyable experience to this day.

Ill reply further in.

[Phoenix S117]

There are a few factors.

First and foremost - the gameplay, especially the combat system. It has to be fun and/or strategic. I prefer active time battle set-ups, such as any of the Tales games. FFXIII was cool because the paradigms required a little strategy.

The leveling system is important, too. I like having control of leveling. The sphere grid from FFX and the Crystarium from FFXIII are a few of my favorite models. I also enjoy the leveling in Lost Odyssey.

Story is also important, but I can deal with a bad story if the combat system is fun. For example, the 360 version of Eternal Sonata. I loved the battle system so much but the ending of the game made no sense whatsoever! Luckily they fixed it for the PS3 edition and so I will probably play it again because it's one of the best battle systems, IMO.

I guess what is really the most important is the characters, though. Having characters that I like is what keeps me playing.

Lightning and Fang really made FFXIII for me. The battle system is ok and the story is ok, but I am playing this game and awaiting the sequel because of Lightning, pretty much.

Music is another element. JRPGs usually have really epic music. I love being able to associate music with a particular part of a game. When I hear Mirrors from Tales of the Abyss, I remember what scene that was from. All of the Tales games and most of the Final Fantasy games have really amazing soundtracks.

[Eventide]

Man, i just want the Japanese to 'get it' again. They refuse to a fault to change to the point where within the first hour or 2, i feel like im playing the same exact game i played 10 years ago with a different coat of paint. We could get into the fact that they are getting destroyed by american and european developers in sales and creativity but everybody already knows that and so do the Japanese.

The last JRPG i enjoyed from start to finish (for the most part) was Lost Odyssey...and it might the last honestly

-I would want inventories to be simplified
-Open world within the first few hours (no tubes for 25 hrs like FF13)
-COHERENT story
-Save anywhere anytime
-Combat that doesnt require a degree from MIT
-Characters that are far removed puberty

I might come up with a few more later

[Eventide]

Oh yeah and melodic music

[teylix]

Excellent character development is a big one.

That ties into my second aspect which is their way of storytelling. It seems more... fantasy-oriented rather than gruesome realism.

Otherwise western RPGs are really starting to drive the innovation. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Witcher 2, etc. Those games are far cries from the run-of-the-mill hack-n-slash RPGs of yonder.

[Mithan]

I can't stand JRPG's anymore.

A few reasons:
-They are juvenile, meaning that you play stupid kids or retarded teens and I find that to be a big turn off.
-They seem to never strike the right balance as far as length is concerned, becoming far too boring. I recently tried playing Dragon Quest 9 on the DS and I fell asleep around the time you kill the Leviathan.
-The stories are down right fucking retarded and similar at that.

Basically, I have virtually no desire to touch a JRPG anymore.

I used to play a lot on the SNES but I have no desire to even touch them anymore.

However, give me a game like Risen or Oblivion, and I eat it all up.

[Phoenix S117]

Jun 16, 2011 21:58:15 GMT -5 Eventide said:

-Save anywhere anytime

I'd really love for this to be in more rpgs.

Additionally, I would like more battle systems like FFX where you can switch party members during the battle. Far too many jrpgs are still set up so that the party you go into battle is the party you have for the whole thing.

[Freneticburn]

for the most part I like the character development and pace with small rewarding goals. I'm all for a long term goal but I despise when games dangle a carrot and NEVER let you take a bite until tens of hours later like most WRPGs. Fortunately those WRPGs usually have some redeeming factor.

[rusty]

atmosphere of the game and characters

[NeoFoxTrot]

I'm a grinder and explorer. I love seeking out hidden places, and I love random battles. JRPG's are just a natural fit for me. I can spend an entire game session grinding out mobs for certain items, or just to reach a certain level so I can create X item or access X location.

[BuckFly]

Guys, forgive me and this is not to hijack this thread, but was Knights of the Old Republic the "game changer" with respect to the JRPGs?

In other words did that start the real trend of Westernization of these games with respect to the developer and the game play.

[Setharion]

Buck, i think to answer that question...id have to say yes and no perhaps. What i think KOTOR did was make people fall in love with WRPGs more, but then again its a different genre and i dont think for JRPG fans the game changed their thoughts. Least not for me, i love wrpgs and jrpgs in different ways.

But thats definitly an interesting question. I think KOTOR just really brought about an eye opener with that style of rpgs for many people.

[dunker]

Jun 24, 2011 8:16:50 GMT -5 NeoFoxTrot said:

I'm a grinder and explorer. I love seeking out hidden places, and I love random battles. JRPG's are just a natural fit for me. I can spend an entire game session grinding out mobs for certain items, or just to reach a certain level so I can create X item or access X location.

I fall into both of these categories. As I've become older I kept the lust for new places to explore, but have also become a more disciplined grinder.

However, some negatives have been mentioned for me.

Some of the newer characters have just killed me. I'll discuss FFXIII. I enjoyed Fang, Sazh, and Lightning. The other three, I couldn't stand. Literally. Muted them when they talked. I want more compelling characters. Give me that fantasy world, but with older, more developed characters... and maybe one brat.

I enjoyed FFXIII's paradigm system, but at times it seemed a burden. Like you had to switch, just to switch. It was annoying.

Leveling needs to be premier and a focus. I enjoyed the crystarium system, hell I enjoyed the board from FFXII.

The world needs to be open. I didn't feel this until I was on Pulse, and even then once you got away from the open area you were back in linear mode.

[NeoFoxTrot]

Agreed, dunker. The linearity of FFXIII was an immediate turn-off for me.

[BuckFly]

Jun 24, 2011 9:31:52 GMT -5 dunker said:

Jun 24, 2011 8:16:50 GMT -5 NeoFoxTrot said:

I'm a grinder and explorer. I love seeking out hidden places, and I love random battles. JRPG's are just a natural fit for me. I can spend an entire game session grinding out mobs for certain items, or just to reach a certain level so I can create X item or access X location.

I fall into both of these categories. As I've become older I kept the lust for new places to explore, but have also become a more disciplined grinder.

However, some negatives have been mentioned for me.

Some of the newer characters have just killed me. I'll discuss FFXIII. I enjoyed Fang, Sazh, and Lightning. The other three, I couldn't stand. Literally. Muted them when they talked. I want more compelling characters. Give me that fantasy world, but with older, more developed characters... and maybe one brat.

I enjoyed FFXIII's paradigm system, but at times it seemed a burden. Like you had to switch, just to switch. It was annoying.

Leveling needs to be premier and a focus. I enjoyed the crystarium system, hell I enjoyed the board from FFXII.

The world needs to be open. I didn't feel this until I was on Pulse, and even then once you got away from the open area you were back in linear mode.

[Phoenix S117]

I am ok with level grinding, but it's definitely not my favorite thing. Having a fun battle system and a fun leveling up system really helps, though. I really enjoyed going around the Sphere Grid and even moving into other characters' parts of it in FFX. Putting Lulu on Yuna's path and Yuna on Lulu's path made some awesome black/white mages. =P