Do you think Japan is still God tier?

Specifically, for software? I mean they did give us Dark Souls, Bayonetta, and Pokemon. But what about the household names like Final Fantasy, Mario, Zelda, etc. Do these games truly get you excited like the days of old? I ask you SW because we're all in this together, homie.

No, Japanese console gaming has been in decline since the PS2 days. The 7th generation transformed that. There were so many games them there were plenty of gems, now not so much, but there's still a few damn fine games coming from Japan. Nintendo still makes great stuff but not as frequently as they once did, certain franchises like Legend of Zelda and Metroid have been pretty much ignored. Seems like the home for Japanese gaming is primarily on handhelds.

The Wii sold a lot, but people weren't receptive of 3rd party games. PS3 development was too timely and costly for smaller third party studios, and nobody in Japan gives a damn for Xbox. Seems natural that the industry there moved on to handhelds. Development costs are cheaper and smaller studios can thrive instead of losing it all competing in the AAA market. Even now my worry is that handhelds aren't enough anymore, that developers are ready to move onto the mobile smartphone/tablet platform for their games.

Metal Gear Solid.

I just really want there to be another game.

Kojima for sure.

Japanese game development is merely a shadow of its former self. Its kinda sad really.

It's been mobile central for a very very long time now.

The only relevant devs is Fromsoft and Kojima's studio. The rest is worse than current Bioware!

Japanese game development is now the Rust Belt of the global industry. Its best days have already passed.

They still deliver on some of my favorite games, but in much less volume. Like back in the day I could've gotten by on a strict diet of Japanese only games if I had to, not anymore though.

But yeah, my top five favorite games of the gen in no particular order:

• Metal Gear Solid V
• Bayonetta 2
• Street Fighter V
• Bloodborne
• Shovel Knight

Four out of five for me, so not bad. Also enjoyed stuff like Mario Maker, 3D World, Guilty Gear Xrd, and I'm still needing to get around to stuff like Dark Souls 3.

Personally, I think Japans best devs are still some of the worlds best, they're just so few in number.

lol no. Japan hasn't been great since the N64 gen.

How does one nationality make you better at making video games?

The design is far behind Europe and US devs imho, the aesthetics as well. The graphics are also, for some reason, like an era behind, for so many japanese devs. Also, many Japanese companies dont do shit for optimization. I mean hell, Dark Souls 3 is just now playable on my system at or near 60fps. It looks like an early 360 game, and yet still performs crappily. I mean, come on.

depends on the devolpers if its say spike chunsoft chances are its going to be a game i will enjoy i.e fpwr way of the samurai series ect ect

Well they just scored high with MGS5.

MGR was great last gen

Nier automata, scalebound are due. I don't do the "god" bullshit. That's babybackballbag BS as we said in the Army. When you put the worthless word "god" in anything It's weak shyte.

@ConanTheStoner: I think due to the nature of gaming becoming big business, that is the way it is world wide. For major releases at least. And it's gamers fault. They complain about a 1.8 or 1.34 tflop console, which are visibly better than the previous ones, not being up to snuff. So as a business where do you put your funds?

Really only the lems will say they arent good anymore, but the truth is there have been great games from jp devs recently and they are still coming. Anyone who says that there are no good games coming out of Japan is being dumb...

@Wasdie: Brazilian women are better at many things, physically

Why can that stand for games with other nationalities?

@aigis: That's horse shyte, because they're plenty of Japanese developed games on the system. Get off SW, real people don't bite.

So, I am supposed to accept the fact that they put out a multiplatform game on pc, then dont optimize it? Plenty of devs, worldwide, optimize their games well on all platforms, and they dont deserve medals, because it's the right thing to do. Seriously, is it on me the fact that From Software made games that only utilize one core, even though dual core pcs have been out since before the first dark souls?

@cainetao11: maybe im generalizing too much, but the majority of people I see calling jp games bad or "for weebs" are usually the lems. Its not a secret that xbone caters to a western audience for the majority of the time. This is just what I observe, take it or leave it, there is no need to get personal

@hillelslovak:

So, I am supposed to accept the fact that they put out a multiplatform game on pc, then dont optimize it"

Are you suggesting you have an option other than NOT buying it?

Go cry. That's the free market

@aigis: I don't disagree, whole heartedly.

If the bulk of my consumer market was a certain demographic, I certainly would NOT expect to be successful catering to, primarily different.

That said, a person made a thread here in late 2015 showing the eastern support of the Xbox. It isn't the jrpg, turn based shyte maybe (thank lord) but it's there. It has about a 1000 games available, many are Japanese

The best Japanese games are still among the best in the industry, but overall no.

Obviously, Japan ain't creating masterpieces like before, nevertheless, they are still better than western games, because they prioritise the most important aspects of a game, namely gameplay and level design.

I mean, this gen, no game western RPG has better gameplay and level design than Bloodborne.

No western fighting game has better gameplay and mechanics than Street Fighter V, Guilty Gear XRD and Tekken 7

No western third person game has better gameplay and controls like MGS V.

No western action game has better gameplay than Bayonetta 2 or Transformers Devastation

Even in shooters, no western game comes close to Splatoon in terms of creativity and innovation.

The only thing western games have over Japanese games is high budget, therefore, better graphics, better production values, better voice acting and better story. Because that's what they prioritise and that's what sells.

Only Titanfall and The Witcher III have tried to be creative and innovative.

Also, western games still don't have good boss fights. So terrible.

Next year, Resident Evil 7, NieR Automata, Nioh, Persona 5, Scalebound, Kingdom Hearts, Mario switch, Zelda will destroy all western games in terms of gameplay.

Hell, most of the shit that comes out of japan is just plain shit. So far we have barely gotten any good games from Japan. Mostly games that appeal to low life anime/hentai weaboos.

Such a shame, Japan used to be such a great country. They appear to have lost all their dignity after ww2.

Unfortunately other than the odd gem, the Japanese game industry is stuck in the past.

Yes and the xbone getting owned there more than anywhere else is a testament on how much they care about quality and real gaming. Really admirable culture. TLHBO desu.

Fromsoft and.... that might be it right now

I think that Nintendo still is, but the rest of the Japanese developers are a shell of what they were in the 80s and 90s back when the vast majority of great games came from Japan. Western developers started surpassing Japanese developers in the 2000s.

World of Final Fantasy, Project Setsuna, Final Fantasy 15, and undeniably final fantasy 7 remake and kingdom hearts are good games.

Persona 5 and Disgaea 5

Yakuza 0, Kiwami, and 6 are all well reviewed games and the games are the best game that people aren't playing

Bloodborne and Dark Souls 3

Nioh

MGS 5 and Death Stranding

Resident Evil 7 and isn't like 2 or 3 getting a remake

Gravity Rush 2, The Last Guardian, and Gran Turismo Sport

DIgimon Cyber Slueth and the next one

The King of Fighters XIV, Tekken 7, Guilty Gear, and Blazblue

God Eater 2

Bayonetta 2, The Wonderful 101, Nier Automata and Scalebound

Shenmue 3

Let It Die (suda51's upcoming game)

Hopefully deep down comes back

This all is without Nintendo even being added for pokemon base games, pokken tournament, splatoon, smash, upcoming mario, possibly luigi's mansion 3, etc etc

If we're talking companies, square enix literally owns the companies that make hitman and deus ex.

Japan and Europe are the gaming powerhouses of this gen, America is the one lagging behind.

If you don't see how damn good japan is (albeit their market is more word focused than japan focused now), then you honestly don't give your hobby of gaming much attention and don't seek out the good games.

In terms of pure creativity and artistry (and sound tracks, usually) they are to me. Also, they're not distracted by gun fetishization and the hyper real design meme that won't go away.

Hell no! Japan has fallen flat big time ever since the rise of FPS/RPG games coming from the West, Japanese games developers are sooo way behind and they pretty much lost to the West. But in the end, they still make awesome JRPG games and still can put up a fight though.

And Japan still rules the Anime realm.

Yes, Japanese is still a God of gaming development.

All I can say is, without Japan's addition to gaming, gaming would be boring.

Not quite as dominant as they used to be, but they still pump out some of the best games in the biz.

As a whole no. They do occasionally have a good game come out though.

Only God is in fact God tier.

That said... Japan? Never heard of'em. lol :P

The last Japanese games I bought were FF: Crisis Core on the PSP 1000 and GT5 Prologue on the PS3. Both remain unfinished, although perhaps, I'm just not interested in their genres.

One day, they just might click and then, I'll finish them.

The same thing happened with the Metro games and STALKER: Call of Pripyat. I found them MEH for years. Then, all of a sudden, I found them awesome.

Really? If Microsoft released a console that was indisputably the best gaming device in the history of civilization, it would still bomb in Japan. xbone bombing has nothing to do with "quality and real gaming".

Yes, Nintendo and others are still God tier.

Alot of it has to do with what you grew up playing I reckon. I played more or less entirely on PC and so Japanese games and very little impact for me and I almost never play them. I could be wrong here, but don't think I've played a single one this gen. (TBF I play mostly strategy, sims, RPG's these days so there's not alot from Japan there)

@blue_hazy_basic: Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, Pikmin 3, Animal Crossing, Zelda, and Xenoblade Chronicles X would be good ones to try then.

Im not saying its void of jp games, but if you are a fan specifically of jp games then chances are your first choice of console isnt Xbox just because they cater to the more western audiences. Thats not even a bad thing at all, it just means per capita xbox users will probably care less about games from Japan as their interests are in western type games

I think those are a little different style of game than those a prefer. Not in any way saying they are bad games though, but on a bit of a different scale to say Stellaris, Civ VI or TWW.

yeah of course

FFXV alone is better than every current western RPG combined.

@blue_hazy_basic: They are different, which makes them special. Me being a strategy fan appreciates the diversity in my strategy games.

Those 3 strategy games i named arent the only ones available, but they are my favorites. I come from a strategy background from PC. I still play EuropaIV.

Well I wouldn't use the term god tier for any dev no matter what country of origin. Games are about choice. You either like IPs or you don't. Can't say I'd say any country is leaps and bounds beyond any other.