81) Hats and helmets will never make anyone judge your faction alignment. Wear some Brotherhood power armor with that NPR's Hero face showing though? Blap blap blap.
NPR in the morning when I'm doing count-in at work, BBC.com during lunch break, and Jim Lehrer when I'm home for dinner. I don't exactly actively try to keep up with the news, just generally happen to be free with nothing to read/watch/listen to at those times. Used to try to keep up with Al Jazeer and Sinovision as well but that was back when I was in highschool and had mountains of free time.
" @Turambar: Valkyrie Chronicle does look fantastic...but its still a tactical turn based RPG akin to fire emblem opposed to a JRPG. I'll accept that its a JRPG if you accept that advanced wars is a JRPG or warcraft 3 is a WRPG (opposed to their respective turn based / strategy genres).
As for Resonance of fate it does seem like a step in the right direction but when it gets described as ' ...told in a drawn-out, stilted way that only reveals its agenda dozens of hours into your quest' HOWEVER it is totally great news to hear 'one of the most inspired approaches to the JRPG seen in a decade' But i'll repeat my point. Steps in the right direction are fantastic but the genre is still plagued with poor pacing and legacy features being included in simple reverence (random encounters). I didnt come into this thread in order to exclusively trump on JRPGs and have even made slurs against RTS, western RPGs and FPS. Why did the fan force come out for only this genre? It seems odd that everyone always complains about the FPS defense force but they didnt seem to care when the genre was called generic and uninspiring. "
Regarding Valkyria Chronicles, so what narrow definition do you have for JRPGs? Advance Wars has nothing but the most bare bones of a storyline nor does it have any character advancement system. Warcaft 3 lacks the character leveling aspect that's expected of any RPG (the hero mechanic doesn't count). If they had those, I wouldn't have a problem fitting WC3 into the WRPG slot or Advance Wars into the JRPG slot. The J in JRPG merely stands for where it is created/where the ideas for many of its thematic elements come from as far as I'm concerned. As for RoF, no, its not perfect by any means. However, its a game that prioritizes telling the stories of the individual characters over an overarching tale. Condemning it for that is silly.
As for why fans of other genres don't make objects, ask them. I'm don't play many FPSes so that's a line of argument I'm ill-suited to enter on either side. That and I don't see much one sided condemnation of many western RPGs either. I have opinions of Bioware and Bethesda rpgs and note them in relevant threads.
" @Turambar: Then tell me some good ones to play and i will. I shouldnt have to find obscure titles to see the genre shine. "
Valkyria Chronicles and Resonance of Fate both come to mind rather easily. Hand held games like Rondo of Swords and Yggdra Union do as well. Hell, even FFXIII lacks many of the criticisms you just laid down.
Except the only thing truely different about Earthbound was its unique setting, something plenty of jrpgs have aimed to achieve.
Like i've expained. While theres several series that have taken the genre into new, modern day / not cliche settings. That doesn't excuse the fake that the majority really don't. Not to mention the fake that Earthbound as well as Chrono Trigger had a means to make combat skippable (by actually seeing the enemy on screen before the encounter) and even better, if the enemy was too low a level, they'd instantly die. This was obviously a step forward for the genre, yet here we are in 2010 and we STILL have random encounters. The other aspect these two games well was pacing. This is largely a personal preference but there is a clear difference between the pacing of JRPGs and WRPGS (or eastern and western games in general). I do enjoy a thrilling story but if the first hour of gameplay is describing, again and again, how i am the 'chosen one' of some 'lost tribe' and the evil 2nd in charge is planning to overthrow the 'king' or whatever...im going to not play because it is NOT interesting. I feel that JRPGs excuse poor pacing as 'long gameplay'. Hint - I'd rather play a really well told 20 hour RPG then a RPG that takes 20 hours just to reach the world map. "
You'd be right if the bulk of what you just listed have been absent in plenty of JRPGs recently.
@extremeradical: I'm happy to explain my self about JRPGs. I just want something more like earthbound and chronotrigger. Taking the genre in different direcitons and not just accepting random encounters and turn based combat. I understand theres ALWAYS going to be games that want to change it, but its like saying 'well that part of the ship isnt sinking' to justify the titanic. "
Except the only thing truely different about Earthbound was its unique setting, something plenty of jrpgs have aimed to achieve. Chrono Trigger changed the perspective you view the ATB system from, and removed random encounters, also something plenty of jrpgs have done. If it's those two things you're looking for, then you should already be satiated.
On topic: - Developers will be praised for copping out and using Player Created Protagonists to mask their own inability to craft an interesting character. - The most "meaningful" of choices will continue to lack any significance in terms of gameplay or story.
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