I can't believe it, I'm loving FPSs more than J-RPGs...what's happening to me?!

I'll humbly confess to everyone that I was pretty narrow minded when it came to games. For many years, I for the most part touched nothing unless it was made by a Japanese developer. I think this partiality was due to my addiction to JRPGs. I think this certain fad into anime and manga unconsciously creeps into you and lies into your mind that western gamers are inferior and not worth anyone's time...but I'm a changed gamer, and lately, I'm thinking the exact opposite.

I'm starting to grow a great respect and appreciation for western games. After playing Starcraft again after all these years, reminded me how much I loved RTSs. This addiction grew into a buying spree for more and I got Warcraft III to satiate my craving. Than one day, I heard of a game called Company of Heroes. It was a RTS set in WWII. I thought to myself that this was a dream game for me because it was WWII with RTS, and nothing could be better than that. And as I kept playing more and more RTSs, for some reason, something deep inside me made me miss the FPSs I played in the past...so I longed for a new experience.

I already played Half-Life 2, Halo 1 & 2, but that's about it. I know, I'm pretty narrow with my experience. But I was lucky to find a old copy of Far Cry, and I've been realizing how fun FPSs really are. I know, I know, I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't played Far Cry until recently. And you know what...it's more fun than playing a JRPG. I love the action-packed, faster gameplay that keeps my heart pumping than those mellow, passive, turn-based battles, roaming around town, talking to townspeople, etc. And for the first time in my life as a gamer, I realized how boring JRPGs really are and don't even know anymore why I was so addicted to them in the first place. What's going on with me, I wondered.

Of course, I don't hate JRPGs; I still love them. But I do see myself being a more mature gamer nowadays. Or maybe it's because of time constraints that makes FPSs the genre of choice? Whatever it is, this little faze I went through showed me a theory to why there could be a barrier that blocks JRPG fans from seeing how great western games can be. Is this another reason why Japanese gamers show no love to the 360? I'm living proof of how a certain blind love for a genre can blind me from everything else. I don't know...maybe I'm wrong, but one thing's definitely for sure...Japanese gamers who hate western games are missing out...Star Craft II, Far Cry, Half-Life 2, Brothers in Arms, Dreamfall, Crysis, Call of Duty 4, Bioshock, Gears of War, Dawn of War, God of War (and all those other Wars :P ),...the list goes on and on.

I say the best gaming is experiencing the best of both worlds. Not only does this make one a more mature gamer, but it also garners more respect to the talented developers who create games for us to enjoy. And most of all, they're fun to play, and that's all that matters, for both western developed and Japanese developed games, equally.

Nice post... however, it should have been put into a blog... ;)

Yeah, I kind of see what you mean. I remember being the most J-centric 14-year-old on the planet, not just in regards videogames, but with any sort of product, artform or human endeavor imaginable. If it came from Japan, it was superior to that which did not (including surrounding Asian countries). My narrow, black-and-white teenage mind wasn't quite ready to accept that things got a little more complex than that.

Nowadays, my extensive gaming repertoire and wishlist still primarily consist of Japanese games, but this is probably more coincidence than anything. I've also been bored of turn-based RPGs for nearly a decade, bar the first two Paper Mario titles. I'm thinking of slowly easing back in with a few J-RPGs on the virtual console, but I don't know how appealing they will be anymore.

As far as FPSs go, I'm still rather annoyed that they make up at the very least 80% of Western games, and I still don't really enjoy them much. I guess I just prefer to be able to see my character. Otherwise I have extreme difficulty judging my character's proportions, whether I'm trying to evade enemy fire, turn around, jump, mount a ladder or whatever. I couldn't even play Metroid Prime for more than a few minutes because of this (and the fact that MP games rely far too heavily on distracting HUDs, and always involve time-limited evacuation of levels, something I can't stand even in games I enjoy like LOZ:OOT and RE4).

My dislike of FPS, however, is probably the only reason for my lack general interest in most Western titles. Ultimately I end up playing more games that happen to be Japanese, but not just because they're Japanese.

I never liked FPS games... but I do own a few. I remember when I was a kid I didn't like RPGs. I owned Swords and Serpents (on the NES) and it bored me ridged, but then again, it was first person. =P It wasn't until I was about... 17 or 18 that I got hold of Final Fantasy VII. Dear God I was dissapointed when I saw how it worked... but then I kept playing and got totally ingrossed. I didn't have the internet, so it was totally spoiler free for me too~! After that I just got more and more into RPGs and now it's my favourite type of game.

I guess early gaming experiences can lead you to missing out on some seriously awesome games, just cos you were put off a certain kind of game.

I say the best gaming is experiencing the best of both worlds.

ASK_Story

Pretty much; anybody who confines themself to one style of game is missing out... and will probably eventually get bored.

Now what you should do ASK is go after the FPS/RPG games... Deus Ex 1 and 2, Vampire the Masquerade, System Shock, STALKER...

see how you like those games.

So basically,

"Hey guys I played a lot of JRPGs for a period and I got bored, now I'm playing FPSs and I'm not bored because they are faster paced".

So basically,

"Hey guys I played a lot of JRPGs for a period and I got bored, now I'm playing FPSs and I'm not bored because they are faster paced".

toment

yes but that's a lot less dramatic... imagine if you will, J.K. Rowling writing a book about "A young wizard that fights against an evil wizard and defeats him with ingenious magic every time."

Harry Potter wouldn't have sold as much

[QUOTE="toment"]

So basically,

"Hey guys I played a lot of JRPGs for a period and I got bored, now I'm playing FPSs and I'm not bored because they are faster paced".

smerlus

yes but that's a lot less dramatic... imagine if you will, J.K. Rowling writing a book about "A young wizard that fights against an evil wizard and defeats him with ingenious magic every time."

Harry Potter wouldn't have sold as much

Here's my thoughts on the subject: I think that if you grow up playing just one genre, you'll eventually get sick of it. Personally, I'm sick of shooting games. I'm just tired of them, I never enjoy them as much. Likewise, you've played too many JRPGs. You're sick of them, which is definetely understandable.

For me, yes, it's the best of both worlds. Sometimes I want to play an action game, other times I've had this big craving for an RPG that I can sink my teeth into. It just depends on how I feel at the time. Furthermore, the games I feel that I get the biggest kick out of these days are games that give me a unique expierience. That's why I play very few shooting games, and very few JRPGs, they're both stale genres, which are only classified as "genres" mostly because they all have the EXACT SAME basic gameplay components.

I think it's called Stockholder's syndrom or somthing?

Like when you getkidnapped and start really liking your kidnapper?

Also, it disturbs me everyone is rooting for FPS and bashing other things.

Why does playing FPS constitute "Welcome to videogaming"?

Thats not right! There are all kinds of video games, many which, in at least opinion, are better then FPS.

And some wonder why almost every anticipated, non-nintendo game, is a first person shooter, or at least has similar elements?

In the year 2000....