How come PC gamers in general think all JRPGs are linear and like Final Fantasy?

Alot of PC gamers here seem to think that all Japanese RPGs have linear stories and Gameplay is like Final Fantasy style or some similar turn based RPG.

But not all Japanese RPGs are the same!!!

Take the greatest Japanese RPG SERIES EVER(and greatest RPG series along with The Elder Scrolls):

SAKURA WARS

Unlike Final Fantasy and the steriotypical JRPG,Sakura Wars is the most unique RPG experience(and series)you will ever play.

Unlike Final Fantasy,where you spend much of your time traveling and fighting random encounters,in Sakura Wars you spend most of your time interacting with very pretty anime like girls.There is a Turnbased Strategy Combat system that appears in each episode in the game,but you really spend most of your time trying to interact with the awesome gorgeous girls of the games including samurai lady Sakura Shinguji,Rich lady Sumire Kanzaki,Badass Russian ex soldier Maria Tachibana,Psychic French girl Iris,and Karate Blackbelt tough lady Kanna Karisshina.A;sp the leveling up system is the most unique in all of RPGs.Instead of earning experience points from battles like Final Fantasy,how you raise the levels of the characters in game is based on trying to increase the affection of each girl in the game.The more a girl likes the stronger she will be in battle.The more she hates you the weaker she will fight in combat.The simdating part completely interacts with the leveling up system.What decisions you make when interacting with the girls affects how much they are fond of you.You have to be careful when making decisions to raise the dispositions of each of the girls because while one action may make one girl like you more,it may decrease how fond another girl in the game is of you.

Also the Sakura Wars series is not linear.It has an open ended story where your decisions when you interact with the girls could affect yhe story branches.Sakura Wars also contains multiple endings,which will appear based on which girl is most fond of you(and is probably also in love with you by the end of the game).

So what is up with PC gamers thinking all Japanese RPGs have linear stories and has the Final Fantasy style gameplay?Not all Japanese RPGS are the SAME!!!

Sakura Wars is the greatest RPG series ever along with The Elder Scrolls.

I simply just love both series so much!!!

Here is a review about the series as a whole:

http://diehardgamefan.com/2009/09/09/30-days-of-dreamcast-day-9-sakura-taisen-complete-box/

BTW they are releasin Sakura Wars 5 in the US in Jan. 2010!!

Most elitist fans of WRPGs think all JRPGs are like FF.

some people might think me crazy but...I prefer Suikoden than FF gameplay (please dont hurt me)

bu I dunno they dont like to read all that much? or they prefern non stop action (FO3, Oblivion, etc......)

I agree that FF,though a fun RPG ,is not the best JRPG.I never play Suidoken so I can't comment on that title. Have you ever played Sakura Wars?

Did someone make this thread before or am I losing my sanity? To answer your question TC its because the more popular mainstream JRPGS feel that way.

Mass generalizations are much easier to process than actual facts.

Because it's easy to think that.siLVURcross

Inexperience with the Jrpg genre.

Did someone make this thread before or am I losing my sanity? To answer your question TC its because the more popular mainstream JRPGS feel that way.

Espada12

Wait... they do?

They think like that?

If so then its probably just a common, ignorant thought. No real reason behind it other than the thought that JRPGs are less vast than WRPGs.

I'm a console gamer and a JRPG fan. I think most JRPGs have been pretty darn generic this entire generation except for Demon's Souls and I guess Persona games pass. The rest are just.. meh. Sakura Wars? Never heard of it. Usually thats a sign of it being lackluster.

Most elitist fans of WRPGs think all JRPGs are like FF.

Yandere

Most are. The thing is, most JRPGs that are linear ... wouldn't really benefit from being non linear either, so they shouldn't feel compelled to be.

Wait... they do?

lundy86_4

Persona series says hello :Psalxis

Just having played Persona 1 & 2, they're just as linear as FF if not moreso.

How come PC gamers in general think all JRPGs are linear and like Final Fantasy?

STXSambodog

[QUOTE="STXSambodog"]How come PC gamers in general think all JRPGs are linear and like Final Fantasy?

AdrianWerner

I can only speak of the JRPG´s i´ve played.

So,as for FF games,I played all since FFVII(and the old ones in compilations and emulation)so I can say that FF games are pretty much linear and the stories,although some are quite good,are predictable and somewhat childish.

I enjoyed games like Dragon Force,Shining force 2 & 3,all Phantasy star games(the old ones)but they all seem(and are)linear.

I would probably say that Persona 4 and Skyes of Arcadia are the best JRPG´s I´ve played.

But WRPG´s suit me a lot better.

Alot of PC gamers here seem to think that all Japanese RPGs have linear stories and Gameplay is like Final Fantasy style or some similar turn based RPG.

But not all Japanese RPGs are the same!!!

Take the greatest Japanese RPG SERIES EVER(and greatest RPG series along with The Elder Scrolls):

SAKURA WARS

Unlike Final Fantasy and the steriotypical JRPG,Sakura Wars is the most unique RPG experience(and series)you will ever play.

Unlike Final Fantasy,where you spend much of your time traveling and fighting random encounters,in Sakura Wars you spend most of your time interacting with very pretty anime like girls.There is a Turnbased Strategy Combat system that appears in each episode in the game,but you really spend most of your time trying to interact with the awesome gorgeous girls of the games including samurai lady Sakura Shinguji,Rich lady Sumire Kanzaki,Badass Russian ex soldier Maria Tachibana,Psychic French girl Iris,and Karate Blackbelt tough lady Kanna Karisshina.A;sp the leveling up system is the most unique in all of RPGs.Instead of earning experience points from battles like Final Fantasy,how you raise the levels of the characters in game is based on trying to increase the affection of each girl in the game.The more a girl likes the stronger she will be in battle.The more she hates you the weaker she will fight in combat.The simdating part completely interacts with the leveling up system.What decisions you make when interacting with the girls affects how much they are fond of you.You have to be careful when making decisions to raise the dispositions of each of the girls because while one action may make one girl like you more,it may decrease how fond another girl in the game is of you.

Also the Sakura Wars series is not linear.It has an open ended story where your decisions when you interact with the girls could affect yhe story branches.Sakura Wars also contains multiple endings,which will appear based on which girl is most fond of you(and is probably also in love with you by the end of the game).

So what is up with PC gamers thinking all Japanese RPGs have linear stories and has the Final Fantasy style gameplay?Not all Japanese RPGS are the SAME!!!

Sakura Wars is the greatest RPG series ever along with The Elder Scrolls.

I simply just love both series so much!!!

Here is a review about the series as a whole:

http://diehardgamefan.com/2009/09/09/30-days-of-dreamcast-day-9-sakura-taisen-complete-box/

BTW they are releasin Sakura Wars 5 in the US in Jan. 2010!!

STXSambodog

...aaaaaand HOW many games in this series have been released in North America!?!?

No other RPG is even close to FF so I can't blame them.

Of course no one can claim that EVERY SINGLE JRPG is linear. But the reality is, most of them are. As to whether "linear" is bad or not, it has something to do with what you enjoy, and not how bad it is. For the goals set by good JRPGS, it can be great for the people that like that sort of thing. However I enjoy non-linear RPGs because that is my view of what a real RPG is like. I don't want to just watch the roles on a game unflold, I want to PLAY the roles, and change the game based on the roles I play. Not every WRPG is nonlinear either.

Actually, most jrpgs are in fact somewhat linear and similar to FF.

Where people get their assumptions wrong is that that is supposed to be a bad thing.

I'm sure I can't be the only one who thinks that non linearity often leads to sacrifices as far as plot and setting goes.

I've never even played a jRPG. :o Are there any good ones on PC?ManicAce

they are linear but at least they have story and try to have always a different universe.

[QUOTE="lundy86_4"]

Wait... they do?

Cait__Sith

I've never heard it. Especially "PC gamers in general".

Inexperience with the Jrpg genre.

Bigboi500

Hardly. I've played almost every JRPG in existence and they definitely all feel the same after a while. WRPGs have far more diversity.

[QUOTE="Bigboi500"]

Inexperience with the Jrpg genre.

ChrisJ2004

Hardly. I've played almost every JRPG in existence and they definitely all feel the same after a while. WRPGs have far more diversity.

[QUOTE="ChrisJ2004"]

[QUOTE="Bigboi500"]

Inexperience with the Jrpg genre.

Vandalvideo

Hardly. I've played almost every JRPG in existence and they definitely all feel the same after a while. WRPGs have far more diversity.

Clearly because Fallout, Planescape: Torment,Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Jade Empire, The Witcher are all "tweaking of either blade runner or tolkein"...

[QUOTE="Bigboi500"]

Inexperience with the Jrpg genre.

ChrisJ2004

Hardly. I've played almost every JRPG in existence and they definitely all feel the same after a while. WRPGs have far more diversity.

Wow man, wow, you REALLY think that? Do you REALLY THINK THAT?

[QUOTE="ChrisJ2004"]

[QUOTE="Bigboi500"]

Inexperience with the Jrpg genre.

Yandere

Hardly. I've played almost every JRPG in existence and they definitely all feel the same after a while. WRPGs have far more diversity.

Wow man, wow, you REALLY think that? Do you REALLY THINK THAT?

I've played them since I started gaming, some 15 years ago, and some of them still feel very fresh. The Last Remnant on PC whilst not widely acclaimed was very good, and I found it quite unique.

[QUOTE="ChrisJ2004"]

[QUOTE="Bigboi500"]

Inexperience with the Jrpg genre.

Vandalvideo

Hardly. I've played almost every JRPG in existence and they definitely all feel the same after a while. WRPGs have far more diversity.

Parasite eve was a JRPG? Damn lol I guess I was too inexperienced in gaming to realise. I always looked at that game as survival horror.

[QUOTE="Yandere"]

[QUOTE="ChrisJ2004"]

Hardly. I've played almost every JRPG in existence and they definitely all feel the same after a while. WRPGs have far more diversity.

lundy86_4

Wow man, wow, you REALLY think that? Do you REALLY THINK THAT?

I've played them since I started gaming, some 15 years ago, and some of them still feel very fresh. The Last Remnant on PC whilst not widely acclaimed was very good, and I found it quite unique.

Him saying he has played ALMOST EVERY JRPG released is just completely ignorant.

[QUOTE="Vandalvideo"][QUOTE="ChrisJ2004"]

Hardly. I've played almost every JRPG in existence and they definitely all feel the same after a while. WRPGs have far more diversity.

Espada12

Parasite eve was a JRPG? Damn lol I guess I was too unexperienced in gaming to realise. I always looked at that game as survival horror.

It is a survival horror role-playing game :P

JRPG's in general aren't linear? That's news to me. As for being like FF, well many games from one genre can seem similar to one another but that's to be expected.

[QUOTE="Vandalvideo"][QUOTE="ChrisJ2004"]

Hardly. I've played almost every JRPG in existence and they definitely all feel the same after a while. WRPGs have far more diversity.

medicine_freak

Clearly because Fallout, Planescape: Torment,Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Jade Empire, The Witcher are all "tweaking of either blade runner or tolkein"...

[QUOTE="Bigboi500"]

Inexperience with the Jrpg genre.

ChrisJ2004

Hardly. I've played almost every JRPG in existence and they definitely all feel the same after a while. WRPGs have far more diversity.

Because most are? Very few modern JRPG's really try to break the stereotypical "FF" JRPG convention. Even Shin Megami Tensei follows a particular formula.

[QUOTE="medicine_freak"]

[QUOTE="Vandalvideo"] Yeah because clearly tweaking blade runner or tolkein by changing the names of the species clearly makes them unique. In my humble opinion, as a man who has TRULY playedevery JRPG in existance, I can safely say that I've found more variety in JRPGs. Games like Linda Cubed, Koudelka, and Parasite Eve truly set the bar.Vandalvideo

Clearly because Fallout, Planescape: Torment,Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Jade Empire, The Witcher are all "tweaking of either blade runner or tolkein"...

[QUOTE="Vandalvideo"][QUOTE="medicine_freak"]

Clearly because Fallout, Planescape: Torment,Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Jade Empire, The Witcher are all "tweaking of either blade runner or tolkein"...

tagyhag

Although I wouldn´t say necessarily better stories but more complex ones(WRPG).

Some JRPG´s have good stories but in general they seem more simple and straigth forward.

[QUOTE="ChrisJ2004"]

[QUOTE="Bigboi500"]

Inexperience with the Jrpg genre.

siLVURcross

Hardly. I've played almost every JRPG in existence and they definitely all feel the same after a while. WRPGs have far more diversity.

Quiz me through PM, check my posting history, and see my posts here: http://gemini.aerdan.org/forums/index.php?PHPSESSID=e548c8c54d40568cd5fb675f17e7be5c&board=10.0

[QUOTE="Vandalvideo"][QUOTE="medicine_freak"]

Clearly because Fallout, Planescape: Torment,Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Jade Empire, The Witcher are all "tweaking of either blade runner or tolkein"...

tagyhag

Less variety? Are you joking? JRPGs have no variety. Meanwhile, check the different types of settings in WRPGs from Fallout, to Mass Effect, to Jade Empire, to KOTOR, to Planescape, etc. The only way you could think otherwise is if you don't realize that BioWare made so many games the same because they were in the same universe.

[QUOTE="Vandalvideo"][QUOTE="medicine_freak"]

Clearly because Fallout, Planescape: Torment,Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Jade Empire, The Witcher are all "tweaking of either blade runner or tolkein"...

tagyhag

I think it's the other way around...