The (Eventual) Death of the JRPG

….on console.

After reading Eugene Kang’s “Complexity is Killing the JRPG,” and the point/counterpoint from B. Chambers and Jon Porter about whether JRPG’s need to be fixed or not (not to mention the 120+ hours of Dragon Quest 9 I’ve played,) I’ve, understandably, had Japanese role-playing games on the brain.

I personally don’t have an opinion on whether or not the genre – or sub-genre, if you prefer – is in need of a tune up. I’m more interested in what’s going to happen than what I hope to happen.

With that in mind, I don’t see how the JRPG – or rather, what we recognize as a JRPG – can survive on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, or any future home console.

Referring back to Kang’s article, the Japanese RPG is becoming too complicated…on consoles. His example of Final Fantasy 13 with its complex paradigm shifts can be overwhelming for even veteran RPG players.

I don't even begin to understand this. What's the bonus even for?

But simply simplifying modern JRPG’s doesn’t fix the problem. Take a game like Blue Dragon for instance. It’s about as vanilla a JRPG as they come, and it was universally panned for it.

The Catch 22 of the situation is that gamers appear to want a more complex style of game, but the more complexity and layers and crap thrown into a game, the less of a JRPG it becomes. Thus, the JRPG as we know it will become extinct, giving way to a new genre unrecognizable from the Japanese role-playing games we are familiar with (though the term JRPG will likely survive.)

But for those of us displeased with the path the genre is taking, there remains one last bastion: handhelds.

120+ hours of this, and I'm still completely hooked.

The Nintendo DS series, PlayStation Portable, and even the iPhone have proven that the classic JRPG style can live – and thrive – in this day and age on these systems. Recent releases Persona 3 Portable and Dragon Quest 9 are selling quite well and are good examples of classic mechanics and styles with updated interfaces and visuals. And with games like Golden Sun: Dark Dawn on the horizon (there might be an unintended pun in there,) the future for JRPG’s looks to be long and strong.

…at least, on handhelds it does. What do you guys and gals think?

Tags: Final Fantasy 13, Golden Sun, Blue Dragon, Persona 3, Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels of the Starry Skies, JRPGs

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Chase Koeneke

July 29, 2010

I've always been taught you're not supposed to argue against yourself within a single article or essay, so I'm doing it here in the comments. I'm sure I'll still look silly, but here's a counterpoint to my own article.

Genres evolve all the time. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is virtually unrecognizable from Super Mario Bros. This added complexity could just as easily be part of the evolutionary process.

As for how handhelds have kept up the classics, they've always been a little behind the times. Eventually, they'll change too.

Basically, whether you think I'm wrong or right, you agree with me!

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Zach Fleeman

While Dragon Quest IX is a JRPG in every way shape and form, but its predictability is oddly drawing me in further. It has all of the traditional quirks, but it does them perfectly in a way that has me coming back for more.

Eugene "Keugene" Kang

I see you've gotten around to writing this article.

Good read, although you don't really expand on the actual subject matter. After reading the entire thing, you hardly substantiate why JRPGs will die on consoles other than a quick Blue Dragon reference. You seem to imply that the JRPG will not exist on consoles in future because Blue Dragon (apparently) failed to appeal to the masses.

I was kinda hoping there would be more depth and scope for discussion. Nevertheless, thanks for the read.

Cheers

p.s btw, its 'Kang', not 'King'

July 30, 2010

@Eugene sorry about the name thing, I wrote it at 4am last night.

While I certainly wouldn't mind a little more expansion, I don't think I did too bad a job. My point isn't that JRPG's will die on consoles because of Blue Dragon. My point is that they will because of Final Fantasy 13 and games like it.

Ben Villarreal

July 31, 2010

Your counter-point is exactly what I was going to say (on a side note, I teach my students that it helps your credibility to bring up the opposing points).

On the one side, I'd have to agree that I haven't played a "traditional" JRPG on my consoles in a few years. But on the other, you're right--genres evolve. I would argue that games like Muramasa and Little King's Story are products of JRPG evolution. And Demon's Souls is a JRPG experimenting with very non-JRPG conventions. Just some thoughts.