Why do I keep buying console JRPG's?

[heybtbm]

I just saw Record of Agarest War on Amazon for $18. I bought it. Another JRPG to sit sealed on the shelf for years.

I'm starting to wonder why I keep buying cheap JRPG's. I rarely open them, let alone play them. Finish one? Not since FFXII in late '06. (Handheld JRPG's are a little easier to digest. I've can get through 1-2 per year on the DS or PSP.)

The fact is...I've bought over 25 JRPG's for the 360, PS3, PS2, and Wii in the last 6 years and have only attempted playing 2 or 3. I still have that PS1/PS2-era mentality that if I don't buy a JRPG when it's available at retail, I'll be forced to pay 3x the amount on eBay later.

The JRPG genre used to be my favorite genre, easily comprising 90% of my play time. Now I have a fraction of the time to play and most of that is spent with friends playing online FPS's. While the desire to buy JRPG's still exists, the desire to play them is gone. Or at least is 99% gone. Tastes change and responsibilities increase as the years pass by.

Not a big deal, just wondering if anyone else is still buying these things and never opening or playing them.

[kupomogli]

I still purchase them and play them for handhelds because the games are better. So far every JRPG I've played on the PS3 aside from Valkyria Chronicle(and Demon's Souls, even though I don't count it as an RPG) has either sucked, or hasn't had even near the quality that RPGs during the PS2 era and especially the PSX.

The problem with RPGs now days is that most RPGs are being developed by either NIS, Gust, or Idea Factory. In my opinion, these are three companies that make games in the genre but they're not any good. NIS developed the PSP game ZHP Unlosing Ranger vs Dark Death Evilman I liked, but other than that they haven't developed any RPGs I like, PS2 or otherwise.

NIS should really stick with games that aren't in the RPG genre. Prinny and Prinny 2 are amazing. I haven't yet played Badman, but it looks like it would be good.

[Fontaine Le Funk]

If you're so burnt out on JRPGs, maybe you just need a long break- like 10 years...develop a new obsession. I too have a large backlog of RPGs on the shelf, but I'm gonna finish them all, damnit. I'll be 99 years old, just cracking open Ys 7 with a toothless grin.

[Fontaine Le Funk]

:oops:

[Aussie2B]

That's my million dollar question. The rate at which I buy them versus the rate at which I complete them is so horribly off. I still want to play them, but it's slow going and I don't have the stomach to play them back-to-back. For every RPG I do play, I need a few short, action-based games in between.

[megasdkirby]

I'm currently trying to play Infinite Undiscovery...the clue word being TRYING.

For some reason, I just can't get into the game. Same with other games of the genre. Part of me thinks it's because I miss the old, classic RPG's.

I've pretty much stopped getting games in general, for similar reasons mentioned above.

[Aussie2B]

I'm currently trying to play Infinite Undiscovery...the clue word being TRYING.

For some reason, I just can't get into the game. Same with other games of the genre. Part of me thinks it's because I miss the old, classic RPG's.


It's just 'cause the game stinks. I'm probably the biggest tri-Ace fan on the entire board, and as much as I tried to make myself find the best in the game, it was still like pulling teeth to play it. It's got heart and interesting ideas, but it's basically a half-finished project. Most people are even harsher on the game than I am. If you're trying to form an interest in modern RPGs, I think you'll have to try out a different one.

[Richter Belmount]

This is a forum for collectors right? You dont need to beat your games right away , all of us on this forum got a huge backlog of games rpg and non rpg. I eventually get to a game i bought earliar cause it just hits me to get into it , maybe you should stop acting like you need to finish everything you get , i dont think most people here could ever finish their whole collections.

[Richter Belmount]

This is a forum for collectors right? You dont need to beat your games right away , all of us on this forum got a huge backlog of games rpg and non rpg. I eventually get to a game i bought earliar cause it just hits me to get into it , maybe you should stop acting like you need to finish everything you get , i dont think most people here could ever finish their whole collections.

[ClassicGameTrader]

I feel the same way!

Similar to how a heroin addict tries to relive that first "high" or a gambler attempts to relive the big "score" is the RPG addict trying to relive the moment when they were playing FF6 and it just seemed like the most enthralling and rewarding experience in video gaming. You can but I think everybody knows what I'm talking about.

We look at the cute graphics, the box art and the characters and think "maybe this is it".

Unfortunately all good things must come to an end. These games are being churned out at a frantic pace using a generic, repetitive format. The focus has shifted from storyline, gameplay, character development, etc. to making the coolest looking CGI, the coolest looking spell casts and the most feminized characters that now always seem to be falling in love with each other.

Not to mention most of us who grew up on quality "golden era" RPGs are in out 30s now or older. We just are not as easily captivated nor have the time we once did.

It's complicated...



I just saw Record of Agarest War on Amazon for $18. I bought it. Another JRPG to sit sealed on the shelf for years.

I'm starting to wonder why I keep buying cheap JRPG's. I rarely open them, let alone play them. Finish one? Not since FFXII in late '06. (Handheld JRPG's are a little easier to digest. I've can get through 1-2 per year on the DS or PSP.)

The fact is...I've bought over 25 JRPG's for the 360, PS3, PS2, and Wii in the last 6 years and have only attempted playing 2 or 3. I still have that PS1/PS2-era mentality that if I don't buy a JRPG when it's available at retail, I'll be forced to pay 3x the amount on eBay later.

The JRPG genre used to be my favorite genre, easily comprising 90% of my play time. Now I have a fraction of the time to play and most of that is spent with friends playing online FPS's. While the desire to [I]buy JRPG's still exists, the desire to play them is gone. Or at least is 99% gone. Tastes change and responsibilities increase as the years pass by.

Not a big deal, just wondering if anyone else is still buying these things and never opening or playing them.

[Zama]

I have a big collection of RPG games in my room and yet, I only finished about 40% of them :) To me, RPG games have this amazing aura that is beyond the concept of artistic and economic value and surmount most (if not all) sport games for some mysterious reason. xD

[Tempest]

I'm currently trying to play Infinite Undiscovery...the clue word being TRYING.

For some reason, I just can't get into the game. Same with other games of the genre. Part of me thinks it's because I miss the old, classic RPG's.

I've pretty much stopped getting games in general, for similar reasons mentioned above.
It turns out to be alright, but nothing special. It was worth playing through once but it's hardly the best RPG on the 360. Try Lost Odyssey instead, it's a better game.

Tempest

[LaughingMAN.S9]

i realized that i no longer give a fuck about jrpgs after playing resonance of fate for around 10 hours and realized this shit felt like homework


at first i thought the decline was just in final fantasy, but now its every jrpg i touch, i think its because after playing through a good chunk of my ps1 jrpg backlog, i realized i was just basically playing the same game over and over again, the graphics have just gotten better



its time for western rpgs to shine, no more blue eyed blonde haired japanese kids with 17 zippers in their jackets with amnesia or newly discovered magic powers saving the world, i dont want the story dictated to me, i want to make my own story



.....i do love the persona series tho, goddamn do i love that series

[G-Boobie]

i realized that i no longer give a fuck about jrpgs after playing resonance of fate for around 10 hours and realized this shit felt like homework


at first i thought the decline was just in final fantasy, but now its every jrpg i touch, i think its because after playing through a good chunk of my ps1 jrpg backlog, i realized i was just basically playing the same game over and over again, the graphics have just gotten better



its time for western rpgs to shine, no more blue eyed blonde haired japanese kids with 17 zippers in their jackets with amnesia or newly discovered magic powers saving the world, i dont want the story dictated to me, i want to make my own story



.....i do love the persona series tho, goddamn do i love that series

I totally agree, especially in regards to the Persona series. Goddamn amazing.

There's no shame in a significant backlog (assuming that your bills are paid and you bathe regularly): you own the games, not the other way around. If you're getting your jollies playing with your friends online, who cares how many JRPG's are sitting on your shelf?

Make sure you open that Agarest War though, just for the ridiculous MASSIVE TITTY MOUSE PAD WITH REAL WRIST-ON-TITTY RESTING ACTION. A classier and more sophisticated pack in item there never was. Thanks, Japan!

[Tempest]

If you want a JRPG that will renew your faith in the genre, try Rogue Galaxy. I'm in the middle of playing it right now and it's an amazing game. Good graphics, good voice acting, interesting story, good gameplay, etc.

Tempest

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I'm currently trying to play Infinite Undiscovery...the clue word being TRYING.

I'd still like to know how somebody can un-discover something, much less do it infinitely.

[megasdkirby]

I'd still like to know how somebody can un-discover something, much less do it infinitely.

Probably trying to emphasize that there is an infinite amount of undiscovered items/events on the game.

That, or the game designers were high when they came up with the name.

I say the later.

[maxlords]

I will agree about Rogue Galaxy...although some of the dungeons are LOOOOONG! Everything Level 5 does is totally kick-ass so far!

I really liked Last Remnant but it got so overwhelming...just too much to do! I liked FFXIII but it was VERY linear...almost too much for the story to overcome.

JRPGs need to learn to focus on the story and not the battle system. We don't need a million fetch quests anymore. We don't need a bajillion hidden items. RPGs need to be about telling a great story and making it flow. That's the problem. And with regular games getting near as complex as RPGs, it's hard to condense the format to flow as well as more action based story games.

I think JRPGs just need to work on story pacing...keep things flowing regularly, and work on trimming down the ridiculously complex battle systems

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Probably trying to emphasize that there is an infinite amount of undiscovered items/events on the game.

That, or the game designers were high when they came up with the name.

I say the later.

I think that they should have titled Borderlands "Infinite Gun Discovery"

BAZINGA!

[old_skoolin_jim]

I stopped buying new JRPGs around 2006 after Valkyrie Profile 2 (which was awesome, but like the 1st, I couldn't sink the time into it to finish). I bought FF 13, was terribly disappointed, and sold it a few months later.
The closest things to JRPGs I've played, enjoyed, and FINISHED on current consoles are the Yakuza series. Good stuff.
My problem with JRPGs now is they just feel like the same old, stale, plots rehashed from ten years ago.

Silent/angsty teen + a funny person + an annoying female anime cliche + quest through X amount of dungeons to obtain Y things to stop demon overlord/military dictator with evil scheme and maybe angsty teen learns how to deal with life and/or falls in love with annoying female anime cliche.

That about sums up 90% of JRPGs. Follow this formula and you'll save yourself hundreds of hours of your life!

[Aussie2B]

Probably trying to emphasize that there is an infinite amount of undiscovered items/events on the game.

That, or the game designers were high when they came up with the name.

I say the later.

Not high, just Japanese. :P They had a long, fruity explanation for it, but that's basically what it boils down to, yeah. Originally the game was supposed to have a time system, which would change things based on how much time had passed, and certain actions/decisions would affect things elsewhere in the world, and so on. In concept, there would always be new things left to discover. They had all these ridiculous ambitions a la Earthbound 64, and just like with that project, it ended up being a disaster.

[Graham Mitchell]

I have high hopes for Shin Megami Tensei: Catherine...though I still can't figure out if it's an RPG or not.

Just about every other SMT game I try (including Persona) is great...though I never finish them. I'm about 50 hours into Persona 4, so maybe I'll finish it off.

[Queen Of The Felines]

Catherine is supposed to be a puzzle game. I think.

[exit]

Only JRPGs I'm able to get into anymore are the ones from the Shin Megami Tensei series, since they're the only ones that actually try to tell a good story.

[eskobar]

Catherine is supposed to be a puzzle game. I think.

Yep, it's a Puzzle .... but the background story alone is worth the purchase.


And about the JRPG phenomena that you are experiencing, the same happened to me .... :puppydogeyes:

JRPG got to a point in my life that were pretty much ANNOYING !!!! .... and quite frankly they suck much more with every release and only a few have real quality, like Ps1 RPGs.

Demon's Souls
3D dot game heroes

are both great JRPGs but the style is quite different from what we are used to. Ar Tonelico Sucked, Neptunia is ok but not particularly great ... Resonance of fate is good but in times is frustrating ...


Try more genres and re-discover the joy of gaming !!!

and of course: try borderlands, dragon age, oblivion or fallout 3 :)

[portnoyd]

The problem is we became enamored with JRPGs because they can be quite good. What we didn't realize is they're not all that good. Combine in the fact that as collectors, we want them in case one becomes valuable and you have a recipe for a lot of shit on your shelf.

I know I'm guilty. I've tapered off with 360 stuff, which seems to get the bulk of JRPG and JRPG LEs but my god, is my PS2 collection littered with this garbage. Do you think we've touched Ar Tonelico or Mana Khemia? Not a fucking chance.

[Tempest]

Do you think we've touched Ar Tonelico or Mana Khemia? Not a fucking chance.
That bad eh? I was considering getting those because they *looked* interesting. Guess I won't bother now.

Tempest

[Tempest]

Damn gateway timeouts...

[Aussie2B]

My PS2 collection is exactly the same. I got around 80 games, most are RPGs, and I've beaten 3 or 4. It's just sad. At some point, I got obsessed with buying the special boxed ones too, buying several at the MSRP. I hope in the long run that'll be a worthwhile decision. What's even sadder is that I still want to buy so many more PS2 RPGs, haha. And the worst part is that I'm not even that into PS2 RPGs in a general sense. Most are too bogged down to me. I prefer my RPGs more streamlined like on PS1.

[kupomogli]

Do you think we've touched Ar Tonelico or Mana Khemia? Not a fucking chance.


That bad eh? I was considering getting those because they *looked* interesting. Guess I won't bother now.

Tempest

They're both from Gust. They haven't developed a single good game, or if they have then I haven't played it.

[heybtbm]

Final Fantasy IV (The Complete Collection) just arrived today from Amazon. It was a $19.99 DOTD and I had an extra $10 off game credit...so for $9.99 I decided to bite. I beat it years ago on the PS1 FF Chronicles disc and later on the GBA. Even so, I have a sincere desire to play the whole thing again, so this one will be opened.

I think.

Also, a few people mentioned trying Western RPG's. Yeah, those are great. I've played (and beaten) all the Mass Effect's, Fallouts, and Elder Scrolls. Love them.

[The 1 2 P]

I have one JRPG that I played for 10 minutes and have never picked up again. Well I also tried FF7 but I couldn't get into that either.

As for western rpg's, I still have Mass Effect 1 and 2 and Dragon Age Ultimate Collection sitting on my shelf factory sealed. I got them because they were cheap and had good word of mouth. Rpg's, rather western or jrpg are just not my genre. However, if Bioware made a real Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic 3 I would buy that at release and play it instantly. The first two games are two of my all time favorite games and the only rpg games I have ever completed.

[megasdkirby]

I admit, I really like games like Baldur's Gate. Recently, I played for the DS Fighting Fantasy and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Other games I loved were Eye of the Beholder and Dungeon Master II, both Sega CD versions. I've yet to play the first Dungeon Master.

[pseudonym]

Disgaea and Prinny were pretty good, other than that, I don't know of any other good NIS/Gust games. Ephemeral Fantasia is probably the worst RPG I've played on a relatively recent console. It's like Majora's Mask, but way worse.

[SpaceHarrier]

I have a decently expansive backlog of jrpgs going back to the PS1 days... the last one I actually finished was Persona 3.. after almost 100 hours. After that I pretty much said, "Well, it's never going to get any better than that!" I've been unable to get into any RPG other than Skies of Arcadia since..

[old man]

There's a few more PS1 games I want to get, but other than that forget about it. This is the only genre that I actually grew to hate.

[sisko]

At least you buy them when they are cheap. I used to buy them at full MSRP and let them sit on the shelf. I've gotten better by waiting until they are cheap, but I am having difficulty not preordering the Disgaea 4 SE set....

[dystopian]

Frankly, I think Lost Odyssey is the best JRPG I've played since FF7, and perhaps ever. If you are there for narrative, you can't beat it.

[VSquad]

Same issue here. I buy jrpg's like crazy... And almost play none of them. They used to be my favorite genre. Just don't have enough time. I guess I just like the idea of having them while I get my gaming fix from 30 mins of xbox live or some shooter on an old console...

I always have the dream of that one rainy day to dive into one...

[VSquad]

At least you buy them when they are cheap. I used to buy them at full MSRP and let them sit on the shelf. I've gotten better by waiting until they are cheap, but I am having difficulty not preordering the Disgaea 4 SE set....

Damn you for telling me about the Disgaea 4 SE set....

[heybtbm]

I always have the dream of that one rainy day to dive into one...

Then that rainy day comes and you think of 100 other things you need to get done.

[Rickstilwell1]

I've pretty much turned into an anti-backlogging collector. I decided that at the start of this year I would re-play everything I've beaten before, buy everything I am missing when I come to a gap in a series, and not re-play any of the games I beat this year once I do. The only games exempt are quick little arcade classics or going back to previous games to try their harder modes or find additional secrets I passed on.

I think this strategy will eventually get all of my unfinished RPGs played. Those 8-bit ones are harder to stay glued to so I play them more slowly, but when I want to play something else I go ahead and do it as long as it's not a sequel to something I haven't beaten. I am recording video of everything I play so if I forget what I need to do next I can watch the video of my progress.

Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy series are going to be a looooong battle, but having beaten a game as slow as Pokemon Red version this year I think I might actually be able to have the patience to complete some of those. Not till my familiar PS1 RPGs and adventures are done though! Especially Vandal-Hearts, Suikoden II and Alundra.