Japan should absolutely be proud of their amazing gaming legacy. There is an unexplainable style and flare to Japanese action games, and non-Japanese 3rd person action games come across as jank to me fairly often. I’m sure there are exceptions to this, just not as many.
The term that’s stuck for this subgenre (for better or worse) is “Character Action”. It’s not particularly descriptive - I agree with Kamiya in that it ought to make clear that it’s in reference to the Japanese school of action game design, which is very distinct from western sensibilities.
That said, I’d consider the best western take on the genre is the indie game Furi.
These already exist. Almost anything Platinum Games and the Devil May Cry series for example.
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You know that Kamiya is the creator of DMC and a founder of PlatinumGames, right?
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“For us as Japanese developers, the first time we heard it, it was like a discriminatory term, as though we were being made fun of for creating these games, and so for some developers, the term can be something that will maybe trigger bad feelings because of what it was in the past,” he said.
Really? Is there more information about this?
My understanding has always been that JRPG is a specific sub-genre of RPG with a very Japanese-style drawing and story construction, with less emphasis on customization and more emphasis on power ramping. So they’ll usually have anime-style drawing, anime-style story, and a steady power-ramp throughout the game (just like many anime series). Western RPGs, however, seek more realism in art, and more flexibility in how the player constructs their character. There are pros and cons to both options, such as:
- JRPG - pros: more involved storytelling, which results in a more “curated” experience; cons: less replayability
- western RPG - pros: more customization and thus replayability; cons: less interesting storytelling
I loved JRPGs when I was a kid because I didn’t understand the complexity of western RPGs, and I really liked having an OP character at the end. As a teen, I loved western RPGs because I had a ton of time and replaying games was a lot of fun. These days, I dislike RPGs in general, but still play JRPGs from time to time for the crazy storytelling. At no point did I ever consider one inherently “better” than the other, they were always just different genres.
J-Action
How about just lean more into ARPGs? The Japanese basically created that genre, and I still think of Japanese studios when I hear that genre to this day. Perhaps they could prefix with a J to note that this is a Japanese-style ARPG, meaning less emphasis on loot and leveling and more emphasis on action and story. Western ARPGs tend to focus on loot and leveling, which is why I avoid them.
In short, when I see a genre prefixed with J, I know it’s going to have a crazy, interesting story, a smooth leveling system that I don’t need to mess with (if it exists at all), and if there’s a ranking system, it’ll include an S-tier. That’s really cool. If it doesn’t have a J prefix, then I’m not really sure what I’ll get.
I lived through the whole saga, and I never thought “JRPG” was a slur until a Japanese developer said it a few years ago.
My theory is that they get a lot of hate directed right at them because they’re the developer, and don’t realize that it isn’t a slur to most people. There’s no label out there that isn’t used as a slur by someone, especially while spewing their particular brand of hate.
IMO, Japanese developers should get over this label and just keep making good games. Ignore the idiots. You’re never going to turn them into customers.
Perhaps. Or maybe the culture in Japan is a lot different (i.e. maybe Japanese people use it as a slur).
Regardless, I have nothing but respect for JRPG developers and games, the genre has some of my favorite games of all time.
The articles complaining to begin with were trash. JRPG is a distinct very clear genre, and everyone but the authors of the complaints knows exactly what it means.
I’ve always wondered if the east call western RPGs, W-RPGs?
Nah, they don’t differentiate and just call them all roleplaying games. Same as how there is no differentiation between animation here and anything animated is anime.
Or maybe CRPGs?
Crpgs are their own thing. They are computer RPGs that seek to emulate ttrpg systems and storytelling style, like Solasta, divinity, bladurs gate, and the pathfinder games from owlcat
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