What will make jrpg's popular in the west again?

@Zelyre said:

Voice acting. Its all horribad. There's no reason for something like the primary, numbered Final Fantasy games to have crappy voice acting, yet it does. The Metal Gear series, while silly Japanese in terms of story and dialogue pacing, has great voice acting.

Remove the pre-rendered CG stuff. Its not needed in this day and age. You can save so much room without that crap and you can avoid having a game have nine different, jarring appearances for characters. It made sense in the PSX era, when blocky handed Cloud looked pretty dope in CG. Now? The pre-rendered models look nothing like the in-combat models that look nothing like the in-game cutscene models. Stop! Why does Tidus look white in game, like Meg Ryan in some cutscenes, and like a Japanese guy with bleached hair in others?

Better translations. We don't talk or act like the Japanese and its translations that make it so that ruin it for me. Without the pre-rendered crap, you've saved gigs upon gigs of space on that disk. Give me a proper, Westernized voice acted script and for those who like the Japan-isms of a JRPG, put in the Japanese dialogue with subtitles. The hrrrngh, uuungh, nnnnngh, oowaaaa sounds characters use for dialogue? We don't do that here and it grates on my nerves as someone who watches anime. The flow of dialogue is different, as well, and translations which work fine as text don't do so in voice.

"We need to get the Moonshadow Ultier"

"Moonshadow Ultier?"

"Yes, the Moonshadow Ultier. In 20x6, blah blah."

Western dialogue doesn't flow like that. As text, it's fine, but read out loud? Yuck. If a properly translated and re-written and English voice acted script bothers you, then the proper Japanese voice with a strict translation would be available.

This. If localization teams here in the west actually made the effort to make a game's dialogue sensible to an English-speaking audience, it would be fine. Other than Atlus's works in Persona and most recently with Catherine, you don't see 'good' localization that much nowadays. I also think the reason why a lot of JRPG fans want the original Japanese dubs is because of the very fact that the original Japanese text makes way more sense for the Japanese audience. Another reason is the demographic they're going for, which is unfortunately for younger kids. If they changed the tone to a more mature one, it'll probably attract more people to it.

At the same time, I kinda don't want it to lose its Japanese flavor, just enough to make more sense in context, particularly to a Western audience.

Xenoblade Chronicles is one of the best games this generation and addresses some of the problems you people have and I really hope you don't fucking ignore it.

Nothing. They would have to change so much that they would no longer be what you consider a jrpg to be.

Another thing, I have a 360 but not a PS3 or any portable system. Why can't I have nice things?

KILLSTREAKS

Good games.

THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP

It usually takes a good game. 7 years ago there was no hope for a batman game really. Look at Batman now to people they are fantastic games! To make JRPGS popular again it takes 1 good game. To me Ni No Kuno (spelling?) could be the next good game thats a jrpg. If you check out the DS its ripe with AMAZING jrpgs... Just wish they where on home consoles.

Massive social change and quality.

I think Resonance of Fate was a greatly overlooked super original JRPG that did a lot of things I thought were very cool.

You could customize the clothing of all your party members and there were tons of shirts, pants, even hair dyes so that it fit your style.

Had an interesting and unique combat system that was affected over time by leveling (you gained more bezels for more hero actions although at midpoint you had more than you ever needed)

The weapon customization system was completely insane but really fun - almost like a puzzle in itself

The story was interesting even if they did an AWFUL job with it. I mean it had potential.

The world map was another minigame in itself and was not just going from point A to B

Had funny dialog between characters

I actually wish they made a sequel where they fixed some of the issues in that game like monotonous level design; fighting color palette swapped enemies; actually told the story rather than dropping hints here and there as to what the hell is even going on - stuff like that.

More Tales games. I love them anywhoo, but if they want me to buy more of them they gotta release the bloody things over here!

I think people like JRPG because it's "SOOOO JAPANESE!!" Whatever that means to people, they like it because it's different. Granted JPRG hasn't been doing well these days if you solely look at FF series. Persona series is doing super well(I mean come on. Giant Bomb and the users LOVE Persona even though they don't really know well about it) and Valkyria Chronicles has steady but enthusiastic followers(If you haven't played it and if you have PS3, you owe it to yourself to play it), Eternal Sonata did pretty decent and hey, Lost Odyssey. Some say it was the JRPG that Square should have made.

Overall, I don't think JRPG needs to "change" to adjust to the "westerners." I think they're doing pretty well. It's just that nobody cares about FF anymore.

I would argue they still kinda are, I just bought one today actually, but I think the competition has increased from other RPGs and game types. I think it will take a change in taste, the majority of people want more action oriented games, so JRPGs and the old CRPGs are just not want the market wants right now. I'm going to guess that will change again, but anytime soon. I guess I think that the "decline" of JRPGs has more to do with changing tastes and increased competition then it does with some sort of decline in product quality.

Am i missing the point here? Do you want them to be more popular or are you just asking what it would take out of curiosity?

@spazmaster666 said:

@sanchopanza said:

What a load of shit, little kids have no trouble relating to/likin say Indy, Han Solo, Luke, Ripley, Batman etc. Anakin on the other hand...oh god. Don't ever remember liking something when I was younger just because the main character was a 12 year old retard, but maybe kids these days do, I don't know.

Because little kids know exactly what it's like to be adults? That makes no sense what so ever. Kids didn't relate to those characters, they looked up to them, they idolized them. There's a difference between relating to a character because you can understand their circumstances vs. looking up to a character because they are the idealized version of heroic protagonist.

I doubt it really matters to a kid can relate to a character in a game he's playing. If kids had the choice between playing a character they can relate to versus one they idolize, they will pick Batman over Robin.

@nohthink said:

Overall, I don't think JRPG needs to "change" to adjust to the "westerners." I think they're doing pretty well. It's just that nobody cares about FF anymore.

Bingo. More so, Japanese developers have to either think of mechanics that are universally sought in both markets (Which makes the project infinitely more difficult to design) , or focus on one specific market. This generation in particular has lost their rose-tinted glasses that they had during the PS1 an 2 eras in which people just enjoyed japanese games for the fact that they where crazy and different and didn't step on the toes of modern games design. These days those toes are generally broken and bleeding as the West has since moved forward in usability design drastically, where a lot of Japan has not, mostly due to how the market is out there: nearly everyone plays hardcore RPGs with these old design philosophies, and they all enjoy it for the most part.

Instead of better voice acting, let me turn OFF the voice acting. I don't always need to hear someone. I was furious when I played FFX and you were forced to hear that horrible voice work. It's like they found some acting school dropouts and payed them in chicken mcnuggets to say some shit into a mic.

I like JRPGs and turn base gameplay.

Make them into modern military first person shooters.

Make them into modern military first person shooters.

I don't know that they'll ever become popular in the west again.

Final Fantasy VII started the craze but it seems to be over now. Tastes have changed.

As long as I get my Persona games I don't really care if they're huge mainstream successes or not.

Get rid of terrible, cliched character designs.

Get rid of terrible, cliched characters.

Get rid of horribly outdated game mechanics.

Get rid of the superiority complex endemic to many Japanese game developers that prevents them from acknowledging when Western games do some things better, and instead has them stick with shitty game design that takes away from what might otherwise be a positive experience.

Don't ruin good, mature, intelligent plots with any of the points above.

Get rid of the sexism and racism (nowhere near as common these days, I grant you), it just makes Japanese games look backwards (Western games are sexist and occasionally racist in a whole different sense, admittedly, but in a way that apparently doesn't bother people).

I think in most basic terms it would take Japanese developers to break from tradition. That means stop random encounters, don't just show us a story, but let us participate, and don't make them overly flashy at the expense of fun gameplay.

Less kids and better player Characters.

Sorry, but that ship has sailed.

As a former lover of jrpgs, the stories suck. I got tired of wimp ass characters, who you spend 100 hours grinding through legions of monsters with, all the while saying how they want peace.

I played Xenosaga once, and the characters who all wanted peace but joined the army pissed me off so much that I dont think I've played one since.

They need to go back to their roots, FF9 is my favourite because of the simple gameplay, fantasy world and characters. The only JRPG ive enjoyed on current systems was Lost Oddesey. They wont be as popular again even look how popular Skyrim is in Japan and the amount of returns FFXIII-2 is getting. IMO they just have to scale back the budget, focus on more stylized worlds instead of realistic everything, a story that is easy to follow and characters you want to hang with for 50 hours. I think a remake of FF7 with the same camera angles/fight system with cartoony characters would be awesome for a start, it doesnt have to be a 100 million dollar budget either.

I think if a JRPG can get made that is a new IP, with no previous history for people to say "I already know I don't like that, and be both accessible and somewhat deep while doing away with some common tropes, attention would be directed at it much easier.

Realistically, it isn't that JRPG's are bad anymore, hell, they are basically the same as they were over 10 years ago. It's just that gamers either become whiners/haters really. I will give reference, FF10 vs 13... I know this will get flamed, but they are spread ten years apart so I am going to say this.

They are exactly the same in terms of gameplay and pacing. Hell, even enemy design/world design overall. It's just that, literally, gamers became whiners overnight.

Japanese video gamers and western video gamers combined have created a damned if you do or if you don't for many Japanese companies anymore. I mean, Hell, no matter what FF game comes next it is gonna to get hated on just for the fact of it being different. I honestly feel bad for square for the fact of the matter that they are seen as WORSE than George Lucas is anymore, when in reality they basically stayed at the same fucking quality bar over all these years.

Also, with video game pubs/subs like Atlus and Square enix being around, JRPGS will always be made and allways be imported, it's just that they spread out all their games on way to many different systems. amazing JRPG's are on every system and not on others so I do think that this is another problem since it WAS obvious that JRPG consoles like the SNES and the PS1 were the main dealers in that genre, it is just too spread out right now.

Also the sheer fact that their seems to be a hatred of all things Japanese in todays climate of buying things from America, is not helping ANYONE out in the slightest.

@kingzetta said:

@MyNameIsJoe said:

Make them into modern military first person shooters.

Also, I would buy this... for real.

Nier has fantastic voice acting, a grown-ass manly man for a main character, and a story that gives JRPGs cliches a wide berth and is told in a brilliant fashion. Sadly enough, it didn't exactly set the world on fire, and its developer, Cavia, is gone now. Have to say that if more JRPGs were like Nier, I'd play more JRPGs, I'm not sure if they'd become popular again, though.

A lot of this has already been touched on, but as someone who has played JRPGs since Dragon Warrior 1 (Dragon Quest), I think there were two main things that attracted people to the genre

-Story & Exploration

The exploration stuff, WRPGs games like Skyrim do really well so I don't think there's much they can do to better that, but I do think if if JRPG upped their storytelling they'd win some people back. Once voice acting and hi-def FMVs and Anime tropes started becoming really noticeable in JRPGs at least for me they really became less appealing. The cultural differences are much much more noticeable and clear now. There's less room for interpretation to suit your needs (and perhaps makes Nintendo's decision to avoid voice acting look smart)

but I doubt they'll ever fully reclaim their glory. When they were king they were heads and tails more innovative and more graphically impressive than other genres, and that can no longer be said. If anything it's the reverse now.

Better combat mechanics.

I still can't believe there hasn't been any further refinement on the rhythm based battle mechanic in Legend of the Dragoon.

I'm still hoping Double Fine does a Costume Quest sequel with that games combat as inspiration.

I can't speak for anyone besides myself, but speaking as someone who used to really enjoy JRPGS, but rapidly developed a severe distaste for most of them over the last decade, here's what Japanese RPG devs could do to appeal more to me:

1. Stop it with the outlandish, overwrought designs on god damn everything! Buildings, clothes, wild animals? Doesn't matter. ALL OF IT apparently needs a ton of superfluous bullshit attached to it to make it seem "cool" or "stylish", but it just makes it look ridiculous. CUT. THAT. SHIT. OUT. Seriously.

2. Change the setting. This "We're in some kind of ultra sleek and glossy future, but everyone still uses swords for some reason" nonsense is soo played out. By setting games more in antiquity or even in modern-ish settings it would make for more interesting cultures and social dynamics in the game, it also would allow artists to design costumes and other things with a little more flair without it seeming totally ridiculous, and I think it would just generally appeal to more people.

3. No more nonsensical titles. "Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel" Oh my god, Japan! WHAT DOES IT MEEEEEAN??

4. Release them on the HD consoles and PC. I know generating assets for HD games is expensive and time consuming, but with digital distribution on the rise, that's becoming more and more of a great way to expose the "smaller" JRPGs that might typically only see release on handhelds to much wider audience.

That's all I can think of for now, but my post can be summed up as:

More of this:

Less of this:

Using Final Fantasy X as a baseline I will think of what I thinkt he genre today is missing from its glory and what it needs today to get relevant again.

The first thing that FFX does perfectly is the item system. Every item is usefula t every point of the game: from its basic use, to its ability to sell for gil, to weapon/armour customization, Aeon ability teaching, to Rikku's mix ability. Even money stays useful throughout as it starts being almost the main way of getting new equipment all the way through to the end game where it is used to fight Arena monsters or get much more useful items through bribing. And the customisations and rewards for going through every route are truly worth ones trouble, even allowing the player to create more useful weapons and armour than the suppossed best ones in the game - and different for certain play styles [even though there is an agreed most useful set of armour by fans the way someone can mess aorund with it and still become as good is a testiment to the ballancing and the freedom given to the players]. The weapon/armour is also binded to characters adding personality ot them and actually making the story ideas for the characters make sense to the gameplay and give an identity, while at the same time allowing customisation in the latter half of the game to make any character able to use any ability to make a single character unusable because their equipment just doesn't meet the need. It has the best of both worlds.

• Taking two titles now we can see a clear difference. Final Fantasy XIII almost completely debunks this as almost all drops are used for selling for gil or for the same customization in a very linear fashion, and even these drops are better to sell for gil to then buy the items that are more effective at levelling your equipment. And the worst part is the levelling up doesn't feel useful at all, as from a gameplay standpoint spending the time one could level up and fiddle with the items to get the best weapons instead fighting enemy after enemy to get CP to put up attributes that make a bigger difference, or do quests to simply be given accessories that make a difference. When it comes to character binded equipment it is a joke. They have almost no personality other than the asthetic for each character, even the few items specific for each character which include an added affect aren't actually as useful as going for a pure stats item and augmenting it with accessories. There are hidden away flourishes like Sazh allowing for double damage with certain attacks as he uses two pistols but it is so tiny someone can get pretty far into the end game content without even noticing
• Another title I will break down is my second favourite Wii title of all time and my 5th favourite title of this year: Xenoblade Chronicles. It is a fantastic game, but even this title falls into some large item-system traps. There is customisation to make better equipment with a slot per item base, and the ability to craft these gems is a fantastic addition. Still enemy drops and items found in the world are lacking, used for the sole purpose of quests giving a jarring point where you want to sell them but you fear they may be used for a future quest so hold on to them since it is such a hassle and the worst kind of game-grinding to go back and get them, especially since a lot of them are random ones appearing in the world so you don't even get the joy of fighting for them - or spending hours searching trade-characters for the one person with the one right item I needed for that one quest with that equipment reward item which is weaker than the items I already possess and am only doing it to complete a questline for the character affinity metre. (Seriously if the armour dropped by the enemies I fight for the misc item needed for the quest is better than the reward for the quest then there is a serious problem going on int he design).
• Now I have been extra hard on them for these things even though I like both of these titles because not only have previous JRPG's done it better but current western RPGs are doing so too. Skyrim for instance has multiple uses for items; with its basic use, quest uses, sell use and simple qorld use for decoration. Now it has some serious pitfalls too but at least it negates some of the other problems by making sure useful items are littered everywhere and you can take only the ones you want/need for the game you are playing. It shows quite an interesting take on an area which at its core is a JRPG system but taking it into a context that doesn't feel so old.

Next is the story. FFX spreads it throught every aspect of the game like tiny touches like the Sphere grid levelling pushing characters at the end of their main path into another that fits their story arc [i.e Rikku being afraid of magic but as the story progresses she is convinced to try it out so at the end of her path she moves onto Lulu's path to learn magic]. Or dialog that happens at certain spots in the game like using certain character in particular areas or using an ability for the first time. But it is the pacing that makes it work, FFX is primarily a linear story throughout but it paces it perfectly within so that the player never feels like they have no control as well never putting the player in an overloaded scared feeling. From the start where the player learns the ins and outs of the characters to starting to learn the versitility of armour/weapons, to then getting to the point of breaks in the levelling system to make decisions of how your characters progress to then getting the ability to truly customize your entire weapon/armour and Aeon abilities to finaly being able to go anywhere and getting total freedom.

• This is because JRPG's have some of the best settings ever created and they still haven't lost that, but they have lost the connectivity between the story, the player and the gameplay. Take FFXIII which has a fantastic setting, but why do I have to read the entire condex to care? There was a disconnect clearly ruined the experience for a lot of people (and I don't even want to bring up its pacing again). On the other hand, Xenoblade does do it much better making the quests actually feel like they mean somehting trying to get the affinity up and seeing the page of links between characters grow, but the pacing was broken. The start of the game is fantastic but in the middle it runs out of things to keep me playing. It does introduce interesting characters which do bring some new things to combat each time, but they are spread way too far apart and the depth of the characters for the connection to me was so diluted I didn't want to try to understand each new characters play style and even when I did they weren't a big enough different to breath life back into the gameplay. It did so much right but fell at the biggest hurdle.
• Dark Souls is probably the non-JRPG masterclass at this. Every thing in the game fits the atmosphere and setting of the game, and the freedom within that game completely suits its story. There is a spark there that makes the player truly understand the world even if they decide to venture off immediately in a completely different direction. And the pacing is well done too adding more things for the player to fight against and learn throughout, while rewarding going back to earlier places and killing that stupid enemy form before that caused so much grievances (even if I am not a fan of putting traps into it).

The point is, I truly believe JRPG's can be fantastic again but they need go back to what made them spectacular in the first place:

1. The Story
2. The freedom without losing the fantastic character identity
3. The pacing and ever growing complexity
4. The feeling of character progression along side the story
5. The versitilaty of items and choices

There are other things but I feel these are the most important, and I probably badly articulated them but I did try. Sorry for bad spelling mistakes and the long post - I am not very good at writing or being concise, but this is an issue I truly care about.

The Japanese game industry as a whole needs to look to the West and see what modernization is.

i think JRPG are genarally made to cater to a certain age group and once you outgrow that theres not much left, if they made a game with the same huge production values and tight gameplay but made a more mature plot (not mature as in tits and violence) i would give them a shot again but the fact that all the main characters are basically adolescent teens is what stops me from enjoying them, i mean i could relate when playing FF7 at 13 but now im 25 i cant imagine it having the same impact.

It just confuses me that people seem to live in some weird alternate reality where JRPGs were ever popular outside of Japan. Outside of Final Fantasy and Pokemon(which should go without saying that they still sell crazy amounts outside of japan) and a few others to a lesser degree what JRPGs were ever huge popular games "in the west"? Pretty much none. Sure there are a few outliers here and there (Dark Souls being a pretty good example for recent years but it is still fairly niche) but man for some reason people seem to think JRPGs were some big popular thing when it just never really was the case.  
 
Yeah we saw tons of them on consoles in the PS1 and PS2 era but now since game development has gotten so expensive most are just on handhelds and some of those fine folk are even putting their stuff on Steam now, which is nice. All of this talk about JRPGs being as popular as they were 10 or 15 years ago is so confusing when their popularity is really about where it has always been in terms of sells and such. Maybe people are strictly talking about how much people actually discuss them on forums, I dunno, but GB is defiantly not the website for that since the staff nor most of the audience they attract give a damn about them, but if you care enough there are still plenty of good places to have discussions about them.

@Zenaxzd said:

It just confuses me that people seem to live in some weird alternate reality where JRPGs were ever popular outside of Japan.

This. The only time I hear or see people that are going to buy a JRPG over here in the states are they are either fanatics or are part of a group who likes that sort of thing. Do not get me wrong, there are some nice games out there like Lost Odyssey but other than that to ask or believe that in America JRPG's are widely accepted is little on the crazy side.

On point, however, I think if the Japanese decide to make their stories make sense and not go completely AWOL when it comes to common sense I think we could see more people enjoying them. The fact that every JRPG ever has at least one flamboyantly outward or cowardly character makes me grate my teeth. I loved FFXIII but Hope made me want to put the stupid game down every five seconds. Not to mention it seems that with the culture they have, women are either quiet, submissive, or overall don't matter in the scheme of things.

Not that you'd care to listen to any of what I have to say given that you're little more than a foolish troll.

@EpicSteve said:

The Japanese game industry as a whole needs to look to the West and see what modernization is.

Bullshit of the highest order, right there.

@Dixavd said:

Using Final Fantasy X as a baseline I will think of what I thinkt he genre today is missing from its glory and what it needs today to get relevant again.

The first thing that FFX does perfectly is the item system. Every item is usefula t every point of the game: from its basic use, to its ability to sell for gil, to weapon/armour customization, Aeon ability teaching, to Rikku's mix ability. Even money stays useful throughout as it starts being almost the main way of getting new equipment all the way through to the end game where it is used to fight Arena monsters or get much more useful items through bribing. And the customisations and rewards for going through every route are truly worth ones trouble, even allowing the player to create more useful weapons and armour than the suppossed best ones in the game - and different for certain play styles [even though there is an agreed most useful set of armour by fans the way someone can mess aorund with it and still become as good is a testiment to the ballancing and the freedom given to the players]. The weapon/armour is also binded to characters adding personality ot them and actually making the story ideas for the characters make sense to the gameplay and give an identity, while at the same time allowing customisation in the latter half of the game to make any character able to use any ability to make a single character unusable because their equipment just doesn't meet the need. It has the best of both worlds.

• Taking two titles now we can see a clear difference. Final Fantasy XIII almost completely debunks this as almost all drops are used for selling for gil or for the same customization in a very linear fashion, and even these drops are better to sell for gil to then buy the items that are more effective at levelling your equipment. And the worst part is the levelling up doesn't feel useful at all, as from a gameplay standpoint spending the time one could level up and fiddle with the items to get the best weapons instead fighting enemy after enemy to get CP to put up attributes that make a bigger difference, or do quests to simply be given accessories that make a difference. When it comes to character binded equipment it is a joke. They have almost no personality other than the asthetic for each character, even the few items specific for each character which include an added affect aren't actually as useful as going for a pure stats item and augmenting it with accessories. There are hidden away flourishes like Sazh allowing for double damage with certain attacks as he uses two pistols but it is so tiny someone can get pretty far into the end game content without even noticing
• Another title I will break down is my second favourite Wii title of all time and my 5th favourite title of this year: Xenoblade Chronicles. It is a fantastic game, but even this title falls into some large item-system traps. There is customisation to make better equipment with a slot per item base, and the ability to craft these gems is a fantastic addition. Still enemy drops and items found in the world are lacking, used for the sole purpose of quests giving a jarring point where you want to sell them but you fear they may be used for a future quest so hold on to them since it is such a hassle and the worst kind of game-grinding to go back and get them, especially since a lot of them are random ones appearing in the world so you don't even get the joy of fighting for them - or spending hours searching trade-characters for the one person with the one right item I needed for that one quest with that equipment reward item which is weaker than the items I already possess and am only doing it to complete a questline for the character affinity metre. (Seriously if the armour dropped by the enemies I fight for the misc item needed for the quest is better than the reward for the quest then there is a serious problem going on int he design).
• Now I have been extra hard on them for these things even though I like both of these titles because not only have previous JRPG's done it better but current western RPGs are doing so too. Skyrim for instance has multiple uses for items; with its basic use, quest uses, sell use and simple qorld use for decoration. Now it has some serious pitfalls too but at least it negates some of the other problems by making sure useful items are littered everywhere and you can take only the ones you want/need for the game you are playing. It shows quite an interesting take on an area which at its core is a JRPG system but taking it into a context that doesn't feel so old.

Next is the story. FFX spreads it throught every aspect of the game like tiny touches like the Sphere grid levelling pushing characters at the end of their main path into another that fits their story arc [i.e Rikku being afraid of magic but as the story progresses she is convinced to try it out so at the end of her path she moves onto Lulu's path to learn magic]. Or dialog that happens at certain spots in the game like using certain character in particular areas or using an ability for the first time. But it is the pacing that makes it work, FFX is primarily a linear story throughout but it paces it perfectly within so that the player never feels like they have no control as well never putting the player in an overloaded scared feeling. From the start where the player learns the ins and outs of the characters to starting to learn the versitility of armour/weapons, to then getting to the point of breaks in the levelling system to make decisions of how your characters progress to then getting the ability to truly customize your entire weapon/armour and Aeon abilities to finaly being able to go anywhere and getting total freedom.

• This is because JRPG's have some of the best settings ever created and they still haven't lost that, but they have lost the connectivity between the story, the player and the gameplay. Take FFXIII which has a fantastic setting, but why do I have to read the entire condex to care? There was a disconnect clearly ruined the experience for a lot of people (and I don't even want to bring up its pacing again). On the other hand, Xenoblade does do it much better making the quests actually feel like they mean somehting trying to get the affinity up and seeing the page of links between characters grow, but the pacing was broken. The start of the game is fantastic but in the middle it runs out of things to keep me playing. It does introduce interesting characters which do bring some new things to combat each time, but they are spread way too far apart and the depth of the characters for the connection to me was so diluted I didn't want to try to understand each new characters play style and even when I did they weren't a big enough different to breath life back into the gameplay. It did so much right but fell at the biggest hurdle.
• Dark Souls is probably the non-JRPG masterclass at this. Every thing in the game fits the atmosphere and setting of the game, and the freedom within that game completely suits its story. There is a spark there that makes the player truly understand the world even if they decide to venture off immediately in a completely different direction. And the pacing is well done too adding more things for the player to fight against and learn throughout, while rewarding going back to earlier places and killing that stupid enemy form before that caused so much grievances (even if I am not a fan of putting traps into it).

The point is, I truly believe JRPG's can be fantastic again but they need go back to what made them spectacular in the first place:

1. The Story
2. The freedom without losing the fantastic character identity
3. The pacing and ever growing complexity
4. The feeling of character progression along side the story
5. The versitilaty of items and choices

There are other things but I feel these are the most important, and I probably badly articulated them but I did try. Sorry for bad spelling mistakes and the long post - I am not very good at writing or being concise, but this is an issue I truly care about.

Did you write all that. If so, am impressed.

@Tomkang said:

JRPG's have that super stylised look over the realistic look of WRPG's. I don't care if JRPG's are not the most popular genre of game, as long as they keep making good ones.

Some people do not like the turn based gameplay of JRPG's, so unless developers make them less japanese, they won't attract the west like Modern day shooters.

Kids these days look at competitive games where they can show they are better than everyone else sadly

On voice acting, I always use the Japanese option with subtitles, english dubs of high voices for kids and female characters does not work in my mind with the japanese art styles in games

See, thats's where i agree with you. I completely despise turn based gameplay but I love the look of JRPG's. I find them more interesting to watch than to play.

Get rid of the emo anime dudes. Final Fantasy, Persona, all that looks the same to me. Why does everything coming out of Japan have to be anime style?

@cloud360: Thanks, yes I did. I probably spent way too much time on it that I should have but I am happy about it - and it is something I think about shamefully often lol.

Make a JRPG that has the general look and feel of Cowboy Bebop. See money being thrown at you shortly afterwards.

People taking their heads out of their asses.

A Lost Odyssey sequel would be a fine start...  

Get rid of the emo anime dudes. Final Fantasy, Persona, all that looks the same to me. Why does everything coming out of Japan have to be anime style?