College Humor's take on every JRPG ever

Wow, my eyes are watering a bit.

Obviously, this is a piece of satire but there are numerous elements that ring VERY true.

A couple items I think they left out, though:

1. Main character with memory loss
2. Ridiculously oversized melee weapons
3. Some sort of commentary on random battles

But yes, JRPGs certainly have their fair share of tropes that nearly all of them rely on. Bizarre mixes of primitive and technologically advanced societies (Star Trek levels of tech but somehow the most effective weapon is still a sword) being one of the most notable examples.

What JRPG tropes have you noticed appear in most games of the genre?

-Byshop

This video was entertaining.

Almost always one fisticuffs fighter who is stronger than the others with guns and sharp weapons.

Royalty disguised as a commoner (usually a girl).

Hmm, fun or something :)

luckily i haven't played that many JRPG´s

You know every genre have tropes. Many make fun of JRPG because they do not like it and use the tropes as a way to attack them.

@so_hai: @NIkoscho: Yup, and they had both of those covered.

And?

-Byshop

OMG this is so awesome.

I haven't played many JRPG's but the part at the end with the multiple forms and "secret plot device weapon" seem very true in my limited experience.

Yes, arguably the laziest, most derivative genre ever. Oh well, it has its charm.

Funny because it's true however I still love the genre sometimes in large part because of those tropes.

True as this may be, I still love this genre. Most games do it all very creatively.

The multiple forms thing is in nearly every single one of them. Not just JRPGs, either. Horror genre games often include it as well, where you "beat" the end boss only for it to come back bigger and weirder than before. Pretty much every Resident Evil game does this, too.

As for the "secret plot device attack", not every one does that but Final Fantasy springs to mind. The final, final, final battle with Sephiroth (again, after you defeat his various forms) exists just so you can hit him with the Omnislash limit break move which is now suddenly available to you if you hadn't already found it in the game. You hit him with it once and then the game is really over.

I wouldn't say lazy so much as formulaic. Many JRPGs I have played are bizarre and creative as hell and clearly a lot of work goes into them, even if they all still conform to some of the same specific design ideas.

@mastermetal777: @Archangel3371:

I also love the genre while at the same time agreeing with most of the ideas in the video. Wiouds seems to have gotten offended like JRPGs are being unfairly attacked but pointing out that other genres also have tropes is like pointing out that water is wet. Of course all genres have tropes. If they didn't have common elements then they wouldn't be a "genre".

-Byshop

@Byshop: Agreed. They could have based this video on any genre.

They are like that, though that is not an insult to their quality.

I loved the part where they had the villain talking forever and giving explanation about what is happening while everyone stands there during a stressful moment.

And the bald old guy sounded like master roshi

I just finished Persona 3 Portable. Persona 4 Golden is also another Persona game I've played. They both do those two things almost too similarly. Ni No Kuni is another JRPG I've played fairly recently. Its ending boss fights drag on with there being multiple forms and whatnot. I absolutely love the few JRPG's I've played, but I'm not a huge fan of the long, drawn out endings with boss fights that never seem to end lol.

Persona 3 and 4 are some of the most interesting and unique JRPGs ever made. Ni No Kuni is also pretty cool but I have a few complaints about the realtime combat system and conserving resources.

-Byshop

I lost it at the start with the black screen and "Wake up!" lol. That's probably the most common JRPG opening.

To be fair, you could have called this "every anime ever" just as easily. Most of these tropes are common to Japanese sci-fi/fantasty and so appear commonly in all media of that type.

It doesn't really focus much on the actual gameplay commonalities that we've all experienced...like being ambushed by a 30 foot monster in a narrow hallway (thanks random battles), or being unable to tie our own shoes because we haven't talked to the right NPC yet, or how enemy strength is a function of distance from your house, etc, etc.

The 5 year old video linked at the end of this one with the hero walking into a peasant's house and stealing their shit is hilarious, though. Haven't seen that one before. Sword of Grandmas...nice.

Nope, thats the FPS genre. And this is video should be renamed to every JRPG ever made by squaresoft.

Eh, it's a tough race.

Every genre has its tropes.

Good point. On a related note, the sky is blue.

-Byshop

It may be something obvious but it seems many people refuse to admit that fact. For example its funny how people complain about JRPGS being derivative and at the same time do not realize that nearly every single fantasy-themed WRPG, or at very least the modern ones, are blatant Tolkien rip offs.

Hmm, never met anyone who denied that.

Yeah, that was my point to Wiouds. The video is funny, but calling out some of the ridiculous aspects of JRPGs in no way means that other genres are faultless.

-Byshop

Yup. It's the old "tu quoque" fallacy.

But like I said this video covers exclusively the tropes found in squaresofts old JRPGs, not the genre as whole, therefore is flawed.

The first voice in the video reminded me of another video I enjoy. I'm not sure if it's the same guy but I dug up the video and will share anyway...

You have The Legendary Gunzooka Blade of Power that can demolish bosses 3 stories tall, yet you can't use it to bust open that wooden door. No, for that door you need a key. Stranger, this hero is trying to save the world but you won't let him have they key until he collects 5 mutant rat pelts for your doll collection. Just give him the damn key already.

And why was that mutant rat carrying refined metals and bottles of elixir anyway?

I see other uses tropes as reason why JRPG are bad.

Infinite inventory space its quite common in JRPGS too.

Reckless levels of child endangerment?

:D That video was great. Thanks for posting it!! :D

Over-burden is a stupid thing to put in games. Suddenly I can't walk fast if I pick up this extra herb or dagger.

I think most games do it wrong. Particularly the Bethesda games.

I generally like the idea of inventory burdens if it impacts you in a way that also allows running light will offer gameplay advantages. It's also a good way to balance the games' economy and also acts as a UI choice to prevent clutter from hoarding.

@Bigboi500: @illmatic87 : i talk about tropes not that how good it is. I mostly dont like it in Witcher 2 i was really annoyed that i must first take materials, than go make items,then return materials. Stupid.

The somewhat binary nature of "full range/speed of movement" versus "overencumbered" doesn't make a lot of sense in most games (i.e. 99 lbs worth of equipment and I'm fine but at 100 lbs I can barely walk). I liked Dark Souls II's system where every additional bit of weight incrementally slowed the movement speed and increased stamina drain for your character.

-Byshop

@Byshop: i have a vague memory that this was present way back in Demon Souls first not DS II.