2017: The Year Japanese RPGs Caught Up To Western RPGs

GameRevolution: "For gamers who grew up in the 80's and 90's, it hasn't been easy to watch JRPGs fall from grace. Really, if it weren't for FromSoftware and its Souls series the circumstance would be ugly... or at least that's what the previous few years would lead you to believe."

[FallenAngel1984]

Why no mention of Pokémon, the most successful RPG series of all time

[naruga]

imo always western RPGs/or devs were inferior to the japanese ...Japan was just been left behind from tech standpoint .... western devs were like one-eyed kings in the land of blind..nothing interesting came from them, but in an era where japan couldnt develop worthy in visuals games, Western devs became temporary kings ......take for example Dragons Dogma (a good effort from Capcom that imo had only given the 50% of their potential ) literally tears apart the "saint chalice" of west --Skyrim

[mikeslemonade]

Bungie sucks

[Bimkoblerutso]

I certainly think Japanese developers have made a comeback this generation, if just for the fact that they're still delivering a lot of variety among their franchises when Western developers seem to be obsessed with converting all of theirs into generic open-world crap (not that there aren't any Japanese developers guilty of this too).

[indysurfn]

No mention of Pokemon because they are trying to compare westurn rpg's to JRPG's that are trying to be western rpg's hinch leaving out turn based.

[ULTp0ltergeist]

@naruga
I still see no comeback, if anything might be a last dying gasp of JRPGs. The quirky anime JRPG era was only unique in its own time. Western RPGs are out-rightly dominating not only in terms of technical prowess but financially with well established franchise that will out last JRPGs. Also JRPGs are designing their games to appease western audience not Japanese anymore. So if anything this is just hopeful thinking than it is an actual catch up.

[QUIMICOMORTAL]

Said no one ever!

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Really?

[XanderZane]

There were like 100+ JRPG's on the DS / 3DS. Don't think they needed to do much catching up. I'm glad to see a lot of Western PC RPG's coming to game consoles now though. Games like Diablo 3, Divinity: Original Sin, Torment: Tides Of Numenera , Incredible Adv of Van Helsing and so many more.

[KingKionic]

Not even close. None of these games maybe except Final Fantasy the KING of JRPG dont even touch the new ip Horizon Zero Dawn made by a western developer Guerilla games.

I doubt any of these games will sell better then Mass Effect Andromeda either even though that games a fumble but still posting in sales.

https://www.chart-track.co....

Western developers will forever be head over shoulders the Japanese devs.

Its whats what the people want and whats best for business.

[JonnyBigBoss]

Embargo for Persona 5 lifts in less than 48 hours. I'm patient, I can wait that long before roasting you.

[KingKionic]

There will be no roasting of anything by looking at the chart i posted.

If you wanna wear horseblinders be my guess.

But when you got Forza 5 outselling Nier Automata...that should be enough evidence.

[Razzer]

"But when you got Forza 5 outselling Nier Automata...that should be enough evidence."

Doesn't mean anything. Racing games are extremely popular in UK. You think Forza is outselling Nier in the US?

But this isn't just about game sales numbers. The quality of the games......it matters.

[PaleMoonDeath]

Cold blooded, I like it. Boss.

[UCForce]

Oh really ?

[gangsta_red]

I have to agree, as much as I enjoy JRPGs they still fall way behind their western counterparts in many, many areas and that is not even considering sales of the games, just design and story for me.

I did enjoy FF 15 but even that game had some serious issues I found puzzling not to mention again the ridiculous, confusing story it told.

Japanese role playing game devs need to seriously spend some more time on their games just ironing out and updating the little things to bring them up to speed for this gen. For example I'm playing the new Tales game, Berseria and while I am enjoying the game it still annoys me how their NPC's stand still and don't move inside the cities. It's little things like that which makes me smdh. A western developer could never get away with that in their role playing game nowadays.

[CDbiggen]

I happen to agree. JRPGs have more charm but can feel so restricting.
I like both for what they are.

[gangsta_red]

@CDbiggen

Agreed, JRPGs have that charm and humor with their characters that for some reason western devs can never replicate.

Maybe it's because how most WRPG's always have realism with their art and graphic style while most JRPGs go for the anime look.

I also like both and what they do, but I feel in terms of design the Japanese can step it up a notch.

[remixx116]

I just think for starters Japanese need larger budgets. They lose in the small areas that matter and just don't have the funds to push everything and miss out on their true potential.

[rainslacker]

I've always considered JRPG's more what they used to be. Whatever they became when they tried to cater to the western market just was never as good.

Maybe it's personal preference, and actually growing up during the JRPG heyday during the PS1/2 years...or even before really....but I think Japanese JRPG developers just kept things where they always were because they weren't as interested in making games like western games.

Obviously, some western based RPG's would appeal to the western audience more, because they were made for that audience, so that's why they moved ahead...and not sucking ass like they did back in the PS1/2 days....or beefore....really helped.

But overall, I don't think JRPG's really went downhill, they just became less relevant to the bigger gaming market. I think they stayed about where they always were....popular among the Otaku gamer, with the exceptions of things like FF, DQ, or Pokemon.

Then of course, the sudden drop in big JRPG franchises last gen, particularly new IP's, didn't help either. There is something seriously wrong when the most notable new JRPG series to actually come about last gen was Hyperdimension. Good series sure, but about as basic as it gets on RPG mechanics.

[Goldby]

Just a head ups Kionic.

Guerilla Games is in Amsterdam. not the most western place.

[Phill-Spencer]

While i completely disagree with kionic i have to say that the netherlands, just like france, germany, italy..... generally are also considered as THE WEST

[Imalwaysright]

What?

[IAmLoki]

What?

[gangsta_red]

Nani?

[Razzer]

You must live in California.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

What are u talking about

[rainslacker]

everything is west of something.

Otherwise, Western devs are generally considered anything not Asian. That would include Europe. Technically, the US would be east of Japan by the shortest route.

[Dragonscale]

@kionic, the souls games beg to differ. They are head and shoulders above most western devs . And just because m e andromeda is selling don't make it a great game. 'Its what the people want' only seems to apply to a certain console and its fanbase, no wonder ms struggle to gain Japanese support lol.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Souls games aren't RPGs.

[remixx116]

@343

LOL WOT?

[Dragonscale]

@343, thats like saying cod isn't a fps. They may be action rpgs but still rpgs non the less.

@kwiet exactly, to muddy the waters.

[TheOptimist]

lmao..... Except Bioware's (Baldur, Neverwinter etc) older titles, The Witcher franchise, The Older Fallout's, Obsidian Games (Pillars of Eternity), Deus Ex and a few others, nothing comes even close to what Persona, SMT, Nioh and most recently Nier Autotmata (Which I am currently playing) offer in terms of RPGs

[_-EDMIX-_]

"except Final Fantasy the KING of JRPG dont even touch the new ip Horizon Zero Dawn"

I don't know about that I own both games and I actually believe Horizon zero Dawn is miles better game but in regards to sales Final Fantasy 15 on multiple platforms is easily going to continue to move more units especially when you factor it is yet to release on PC.

But if you're just going on a sales basis most of these titles are not going to surpass Pokemon releases....

[mastiffchild]

Wouldnt you agree, though , that Pokemon is a very special case existing primarily(almost exclusively)on handhelds. Also, a lot of Pokemon players play literally no other jrpg at all and it owes loads of success to things other than just the games-cartoons, card games, an augmented reality phenomenon etc. Its pretty atypical in profile even if a lot of mechanics are classic turn.based jrpg. As such id ignore it here.

I, also, wouldnt say western devs or jap devs are more or less advanced. Certain devs in both geographical areas are ahead in specific things and on top of that the two are.moving closer overall with open worlds and real time combat, seen.as western things becoming prevalent all round. If by catching up we mean japanese devs using these features then , sure, more japanese games have more common western features than in the past.

However, jrpg are often more story driven, have quirkier characters and follow a different artistic approach to the usually realistic western one. You could argue that shows more artistic freedom because of animes influence. Point being theres things the west can.learn and things japanese davs can learn. Above that, though, companies like SE have a lot of western subsidiaries these days and cross pollination is unavoidable so we are bound to see examples of the two moving closer in many ways.

As long as both improve as a result and we keep the variety, even extend it as we see another Ni No Kuni arriving for example(so still more turn based in this action rpg age)games then rpg players are the winners. For me, even.today, the difference between the Witcher and Persona is beyond huge and I couldnt split them in terms of quality

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Why do you keep bringing up sales?

[Edito]

For you best is equal to sales? Following your logic COD is better than ever... Japan has a different taste and for sometime they forgot why they games were so special and gladly they recovered they inner soul and are delivering top notch games that only Japan can do, games like Nier, Nioh, Bloodborne, Yakuza even FF XV after so many years it's a big accomplishment for them and the game industry as a whole.

[quent]

Bioware helped

[DragonDDark]

Lol

[jc48573]

you know, I am glad they see Yakuza as an rpg

[DragonDDark]

More of an adventure/action game

[theshredded]

Wow...caught up? WRPGS are getting worse meanwhile jrpgs are getting better now...other than the Witcher 3 and HZD there is no other great western rpg except maybe divinity (heard lots of good stuff) and lots have become shooters or different than previous games. Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, FFXV, Pokemon, Nioh, Nier, Persona 5, SMT...Both quantity and quality they're beat hands down.

[Pintheshadows]

Tyranny, Pillars, Torment, Wasteland 2. There are some gems.

[tulholdren]

For me JRPGS over American RPGS I just get more feeling from the characters then I have from American ones in general. Love horizon but when persona drops all others RPGS go on hold.

[ninsigma]

I always found the JRPG games I played to tell the most epic stories while having such an incredible charm to them. Western RPGs generally don't pique my interest us much with exceptions from Witcher 3, Skyrim and Horizon Zero Dawn. Never played a Persona game but I have the 5th pre-ordered. Really looking forward to giving that series a go. Heard so many good things about it.

[Inzo]

If you like JRPGs then you will love Persona, if P5 holds true to the series then it should be fantastic.

[ninsigma]

I'm not a JRPG die hard or anything like that but I've had a lot of fun with those that I've played. Really like the style of Persona 5 and everything looks pretty slick. Haven't played a turn based game in a while besides Pokemon so it'll be good to get that fix too!

[_-EDMIX-_]

Caught up? I think a lot of people just haven't been paying attention to Japanese games because a lot of these Games sequels are very similar to their previous entries especially with Persona and Yakuza.

I don't know if it's just the timing over the releases but it seems that the only reason people are even writing articles like this are because of the illusion of something brand-new happening, when in reality any fan of the series actually knows this is normal from what we've seen from any of these properties.

Unless somebody wants to write an article showing some huge substantial before and after in regards to some of these franchises I'm not too sure I would be ready to say all that.

In my personal opinion catching up would mean one of these titles has completely out sold a major Western RPG by a significant degree.

[LordoftheCritics]

Nope.

Nothing touches Witcher, Mass Effect, Skyrim and WOW.

Those japanese titles have a long way to go.

[Inzo]

FF, Persona, Kingdom hearts, Ni No Kuni, Nioh, Bloodborne all says hi.

None of those games you mention even come close to the legendary FF 7. That heading should be the other way around.

[LordoftheCritics]

Believe what you want.

[_-EDMIX-_]

But I think in regards to what the article is trying to say specifically 2017

It doesn't necessarily make much sense you would have to argue that you also agreed with such a thing it last generation as well.

A lot of the games you mentioned are sequels or spiritual successors to existing Concepts.

Now I'm not entirely sure what the author is trying to say about Japanese Games catching up in regards to what respect.

Both from the west and the East the games you guys mentioned are series that we've seen for multiple Generations.

The only way anyone could say catching up is if there is some sort of sales figure to show the series selling better or something.

That is if that indeed is what the author is talking about but from my perspective a lot of the titles that are releasing right now are no different than what we've seen the previous generation if you were a fan of Japanese RPGs in the first place.

[Chexs1990]

Witcher and Skyrim are really awesome games yes, but that's 2 games! And to that point, Bethesda is getting lazy as hell.

Mass effect Andromeda has fun gameplay, the skybox is beautiful. And then you have exceptionally poor writing, bad VA, Bethesda level glitching and no imminent feeling of threat from the kegg.

WoW used to be fantastic, then they screwed it up with numbers over skills in wrath and they are still trying to get back in line. Personally I prefer FF14 as I think it has been tweaked better in terms of polish and content.

With this gen of games, there has been an influx from the east, proving that graphics are inconsequential to joyful gameplay. Couple that with interesting casts/stories and you have something tangible.
Western devs are for the most part stuck in shareholder purgatory. At least the bigger publishers are.

Peace and love from dk baby!

[BlackDoomAx]

* Laugh in Japanese *

[Tross]

I'm not going to indulge a clickbaity title and description built on a notion that's subjective at best. How exactly have JRPGs fallen from grace? If anything they've maintained the status quo, and may be more niche now, but even in their prime weren't exactly the top selling genre. The Souls series is technically made in Japan but it feels more like a WRPG, so what's the point the author is trying to make?

I mean, yes, character customization options and open ended stat allocation are staples of WRPGs but not so much JRPGs, but that's nothing new. JRPGs are also often more linear. However, what they lack in current fads, they more than make up for in style and creativity, and both the East and West can make great games.

I'm currently running a vs. series of Mass Effect: Andromeda and Persona 5 as they are my two most anticipated RPGs, and suffice to say, as much as I'm enjoying it, Andromeda has left the goal wide open for Persona 5 to take the crown.