I have that problem with JRPGs myself. I wouldn't call them a snore, but I always try to put everything in them into real world context. Most of the time I'm usually just frustrating myself really, and I've been turned off JRPGs in the process. I'm not saying that this problem (for me) doesn't exist in other genres, but I just find it the most prominent in JRPGs.

Nier kinda helped though.

There is only one game that ever threw me off because of it's setting and that was bully. I had flash backs within the first 10 minutes and never touched the game again.

Thanks for clearing that up Patrick. (nobody cares)

Thanks for clearing that up Patrick. (nobody cares)

i dont really understand this. Its the quality of the game that draws you in, not the setting or form of gameplay.

Skyrim rules. FF8 sucks.

I wouldn't say i love fantasy but i really enjoy any setting where people fight battles with swords and shields.

I kinda couldn't care less about Skyrim

Also FFVIII is certainly not better than VII or IX, and I'm not even a gigantic fan of those

So basically this article is for crazy people by crazy people

P.S. Shouting things at a dragon to make it weaker sounds like the most absolutely retarded mechanic I've ever seen in a video game, ever.

@selbie: @selbie said:

i dont really understand this. Its the quality of the game that draws you in, not the setting or form of gameplay.

I'd say the latter draws you in while the former gets you to stick around.

haha man, This Patrick dude has some hang ups. I wonder if he slipped into shock when he first played GTA?

This is like reading a Surfing Blog where the writer has a bad case of hydrophobia. Baby steps I guess.

I'm right there with you Patrick don't love fantasy can't wait for this game.

I love fantasy and I really enjoy the Elder Scrolls games. So I am stoked for this.

FF8's battle system was cool. Shame the story was complete trash though.

Very excited for Skyrim. I really hope it live up to its hype.

 

P.S. Shouting things at a dragon to make it weaker sounds like the most absolutely retarded mechanic I've ever seen in a video game, ever.

Did he say whether or not he liked, or even played, Oblivion?

I tend to have the same reaction to open world games, though I do love fantasy. I just think that the world is a bit over-saturated with it.

By the way, Final Fantasy VIII....yes...

There is a great deal of angst expressed in these comments by people who think they deserve Patty's job more than he does or understand writing better than he. If you have the skills, go get his job. If you're not brave enough or skilled enough to do so, try not to be petty and resentful.

This article and whole thing is w3ird.

FFVIII, also known as the best of the PlayStation Final Fantasy games. Haters of the Junction system can take a hike, thank ya. 

@UnbreakableVow said:

P.S. Shouting things at a dragon to make it weaker sounds like the most absolutely retarded mechanic I've ever seen in a video game, ever.

Have you tried it?

Great blog post! Boy I love coming to Kotaku and reading these... wait...

This is news?

I still freeze up when I play open world games. And like Patrick my fear was quelled when I played Fallout 3. I can't wait for Skyrim.

FFVIII is indeed the best.

Me and Patrick had similar experiences with Fallout 3. I too am easily overwhelmed by games with this much scope. Fallout 3 was no different, and literally with in an hour of leaving the vault, I gave up. A year later, I bought it again on PC, forced my self through 2-3 hours past where I got before, and lick Patrick said, it just clicked. Fallout 3 is now easily in my Top 5, and I can't wait for Skyrim as a result. No interest in fantasy, what so ever, but after Fallout 3, I will play ANYTHING by Bethesda.

@kilaen said:

Fantasy is silly? And the premise of Fallout 3, Mass Effect, or Dead Space wasn't silly? You can imagine that happening? Really? Puhleeeze.

Don't forget all the Final Fantasy games and their whatthefuckJapan storylines.

You know what? Final Fantasy VIII is totally the best Final Fantasy. Deal with it. Well except for the draw system. Drawing 100 spells of just about everything, is no bueno on multiple playthroughs...BUT WHATEVER BEST GAME EVER.

Keep on fighting the good fight Patrick!

I am willing to bet $60 that the whole burning the whole forest as a dynamic way to destroy a town's economy is just another marketing lie from Todd and will not actually be in the game outside a scripted event.

I'm in a similar boat. Dragons and mages are the limit of my fantasy love and elves, orcs, goblins, and dwarves (especially dwarves) are immediate turnoffs for me but Dragon Age is one of my favorite games. I can't say I'm interested in Skyrim though. I hated Oblivion so I won't be giving the follow-up a shot.

Wow. Final Fantasy VIII? Get a life dude.

Many people play fantasy games because most of them take place in a large, natural beautiful world. The ridiculousness of fantasy isn't any more ridiculous than science fiction.

Skyrim will be great, but I think people expectations are overblown.

With me it's the complete opposite. Looking at my gaming history I should have much interest in Skyrim, yet I have none. Don't know how to explain it really.

I don't see a problem with this, I guess. I mean, everyone has that genre they just can't get into. For Jeff it's....almost everything, it seems (okay, maybe just cowboys), and for Patrick it's sword and sorcery fantasy.

I just think it's kinda silly if Patrick is expecting Skyrim to be Fallout. From what I gather, they are quite different.

@smellylettuce said:

The only thing worse about fantasy than orcs and elves are dire badgers, cats, wolves, mice etc.

While I agree with the random fauna being repetitive, dire badgers will never be old. What fiercer creature is there to fight than the tenacious badger? A goddamn giant one.

Yea I can't wait to spend hours and hours exploring Skyrim.

I think that people who reduce everything fantasy to 'orcs and elves' have never read any fantasy beyond the first chapter of LotR. Sure, there's alot of stuff that uses those cliches, but there's plenty of stuff that goes beyond those and even some stuff that manages to work despite using the generic fantasy tropes(The Witcher, for example).

There's so much more to the genre than just that. Especially modern fantasy in which you won't see the tired old tropes of the genre anymore.

I think it is really easy to be turned off of the fantasy genre if the game is not fully realized. I think it's really unfortunate. Personally I love both fantasy and Sci-fi, but there have been games that I didn't complete because they weren't very good. Two Worlds comes to mind.

First off, IX is better than XIII. Just saying.

Secondly, the only thing that gets me about fantasy is the adherence to Tolkien in much of the genre. Elves are arrogant naturists, orcs are mindless barbarians, dwarves are drunken Irishmen, etc. This is what I love about TES - the mythology is all its own. The various elven types hate eachother, the orcs/Orsimer have formed something of an actual society in Orsinium, the dwarves are a long-extinct race of hyper-intellectual inventers, and there are other races and creatures unique to the setting.

I'd love to see an Elder Scrolls game in Orsinium or Elswyr (sp?), or even outside the Empire, in places where other fantastical races have pushed humanity away (Akavir, for example).

The Klepek syndrome: smart on the outside, jammed up with preconceptions on the inside.

Free your mind...

1. Excellent story Patrick. I especially like the closing lines.

2. According to acclaimed J.R.R. Tolkien borrower Terry Brooks, one day there will be a nuclear war, and the remaining humans will evolve into, y'know, elves and dwarves and shit. So, it's possible that one day, humanity will actually turn into a magical fantasy. I hope there are unicorns. I like unicorns.

3. Is it okay if we dislike Final Fantasy VIII not for the combat, but for the six painfully bland, whiter-than-snow main characters?

'FFVIII, also known as the best of the PlayStation Final Fantasy games. Haters of the Junction system can take a hike, thank ya.'

Damn straight!! I cried like a bitch at the ending sequence to that game.

Best... Game... Ever.

@craigbo180: I see what you did there.

And I agree.

I love you Patrick! buuut i hate to point this out, but on Final Fantasy 8 your clock didn't max out, it changed colors and started back at 0:00:00