Comments on: Siliconera Sounds Off: Are JRPGs Being Phased Off Consoles?

By: Sean Rohde

Sean Rohde — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:14:16 +0000

I third this. The last console games I spent tons of time with were Half-Life 2 and Tales of Vesperia. Other than that, I get bored just sitting and playing games on my TV, even if I enjoy them. But I always have my DS in my hands. I'm still grinding away on Chronotrigger. And I still play both Taiko games trying to get perfect scores. But I can play them for a few minutes, stop and do something else, and then keep playing. And I don't have to just sit on my couch for hours on end.

By: Sean Rohde

Sean Rohde — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:14:16 +0000

By: Ereek

Ereek — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:55:07 +0000

For me the motivation to finish Oz was simply the experience. I loved the atmosphere in the different levels. In fact you may say the levels themselves were my motivation. The battle system ended up annoying me after some time, but the entire package was worthwhile for the atmosphere and designs. It's corny, but I'd say the game's world did, in fact, feel “magical” and beautiful. It's a very impressive feat for something like that to be said of a DS game, especially when the DS doesn't have the most amazing 3D graphics.

Of course, I can't say everyone else will have the same experience with the game.

By: matty

matty — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:28:38 +0000

Yep, there seems to be a bit of unbalance there, but it still has a fighting chance. The PR needs to be a little more aggressive and build the confidence they need to sell these games on the system. I want to see them have some success because I find what games they're making to be really interesting.
I think Famitsu even had an article of “10 Xbox Games we like!”. I can't recall what exactly which games showed up, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were half Japanese based games and the other half western based.

By: cowcow

cowcow — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:44:01 +0000

Its actually cheap/cheaper to develop on the 360 which is why you see more Japanese niche titles on it than the PS3, but the problem is no one in Japan really cares for the 360.

By: ElTopo

ElTopo — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:12:50 +0000

I think the relatively low cost for developing on the PSP and DS are the main reasons they are so much more successful. The Wii market seems to be over saturated, not too mention that many core non-first party titles just don't seem to sell as well on the Wii.

By: rinshu

rinshu — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:30:30 +0000

I'm amazed all three of them held that discussion without bringing up on of the main reason the JRPGs are primarily on the DS and PSP this generation. They are the systems that are selling in Japan. Every generation the JRPGs usually gravitate towards the system with the biggest installed user base. And this gen its the DS. It makes perfect sense that's where the JRPGs are. Add to that the relatively low cost for developing a DS JRPG as opposed to a PS3/360 and its a no brainer why the JRPGs are where they are for the most part.

So to me the fascination isn't with the move of the JRPGs from consoles to handhelds. The real interesting thing is why did the Japanese as a society move from console to handhelds?

By: Jirin

Jirin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:25:34 +0000

Ok, you caught me. I agree, FPSes and other genres can be just as tedious as turn based RPGs. When I play games like Bioshock it gets to the point where I feel like all I'm doing is pointing and shooting without any thought. It really depends on the game. The key to being tedious is in two aspects: Lack of thought, and slowness. Action RPGs often have a lack of thought (Don't get me started on Star Ocean 4), but at least they're moving quickly. And Demon's Souls can be repetitive, but if your brain stops paying attention, you're going to die.

Whereas in a Final Fantasy game (Or 90% of the turn based RPGs made since 1997 that expect to sell more than 100,000 copies) it's not only thoughtless, you have to wait like half a minute in between every action.

The thing that I think makes Dragon Quarter especially tedious is the scenario overlay system. I don't really feel like starting the game over again and again with slightly higher stats each time. And it's utterly ridiculous to have a dungeon that takes two hours and doesn't have any save points, with enemies that are easy but only kill you because they slowly wear down your healing supply with no chance to replenish. The combat may have more strategy than a Final Fantasy game in that you're not just choosing the biggest summon you have over and over and healing, but not nearly as much as any SMT game. SMT games, by the way, will kill you just as much, only they actually have checkpoints scattered around the dungeons so you only lose like half an hour progress tops.

So yes, I'd much rather play Dragon Quarter than say, Final Fantasy X. But why play either when I've got an SMT game? Or an SRPG? Or an NES sitting right there in my closet with a lot of fast moving, difficult games, just ready to be dusted off and plugged in?

By: Jirin

Jirin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:24:11 +0000

By: Marcus70

Marcus70 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:10:31 +0000

This question is for Nick Doerr:

Nippon Ichi created several SRPGs for the PS2: Disgaea, Disgaea 2, Phantom Brave, La Pucelle and Makai Kingdom.

After three years, Nippon Ichi has only created one SRPG for the PS3: Disgaea 3

Do you plan to make any more SRPGs for the PS3? And if so when?

By: Xeahnort

Xeahnort — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:06:52 +0000

I hate how in this gen the graphics whores have been bashing niche RPGs and greats developers like N1 and GUST get shot down for not following the HD trend. Rpg's are built on mostly story, then gameplay.

By: manga

manga — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:27:19 +0000

With the reason of "seen before" being how some journalists decide to cast of most JRPGs as bad or just mediocre and fully openly love games like Fable 2 or Fallout 3 that do not just resemble their earlier versions but also have a lot of gameplay mechanics and storyparts that are mostly the same it is hard for me as a reader to understand what they are doing.

It is sad to see that they knowingly decide to thrash the JRPG genre. It still has so much to give.

I´m playing Agarest: Generations of War now and while I see a lot of resemblance to Cross Edge there are still so many variations that I just can´t seem to stop playing. It´s to much fun to play.

Hearing that Luminous Arc 3 has dating elements in it is enough for me to take a closer look at it. I´m against handheld games since my hands apparently are to big for me to hold them comfortably. That and when I want to play I don´t stop after few hours, I play them for 2-8 hours straight with just taking breaks to eat or use the toilet. And having to watch that small screen, holding it right is hard for my hands.

That way I want them to be on console that I can use a television to play them. It is my prefered way of playing.

But with all great titles that are appearing on the handheld systems I don´t have much of a choice, I need to buy some of them at least.

To the topic: As things are now, then yes the JRPG genre is forced to be put off consoles. The variety of things that have been said as reasons all apply. But for people like me that have nothing against turn based combat or if the game should be a little bit to easy then I´m crying inside for the lack of games.

Cross Edge is terrible in that sense that you have to be perfectly fine with strategy, otherwise you´re dead. The weapon/armour rate is also bad. I´m at lvl 8 and then all of a sudden I get to face lvl 10 enemies that do 1000 worth of HP damage in one attack each round?

That amount of luck that is needed for them NOT to do that attack is not something I want to see in a JRPG as it destroys the game.

Or like in Agarest: The skill counter when I first encountered it killed 50% of my team in one hit just because I wasn´t carefull. Having a physical attack countered for in this case more damage than the enemy can lash out or I can lash out in a single attack is horrible.

So while this gives a new level of challange. It is a dead center for why some people do not like the genre as they seem to think all games are like this.

Which they of course aren´t. Wanting to see what Atlus can do with a new Persona title :)

By: wildarms

wildarms — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:05:23 +0000

lol gaming career xD, yeah it was a great system, i cant understand why ppl cryed so much about it, just because is “hard”, i mean, they want new battle systems but when they have one nice battle system its just “too hard for them” *sigh* most of the reviewers must really train their brain (specially gamespot(also another good example is their monster hunter review. i always laugh when i read it -.- , lol i cant count how many ppl have insulted them already))

By: Aoshi00

Aoshi00 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:20:22 +0000

I alrdy imported Oz many months ago but didn't finish it. I also found it difficult as it was necessary to grind for coins to get yourself more well equipped, as regular enemies could kill you easily (even if you make a wrong move in one turn) and restorative items are hard to come by, though Dorothy has a healing spell, also the more useful spells weren't easy to obtain unless you face the dragon master like a mini-boss. I don't understand how some could say the game was easy at all. I know the game was on sale on Amazon for ~18 one day and I missed it.. it was definitely not worth $30, but I wanted to get it for cheap and give it a second chance.

By: Sami Elo

Sami Elo — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:18:45 +0000

Half-Minute Hero is one of the most awesome games I've played all year, and I believe it could be on the Wii just as well the PSP, but obviously it's a great fit for a portable platform. When handheld consoles are so popular in Japan, it's obvious their favorite genre has followed there too.