JRPG's are not RPG's.

[QUOTE="f50p90"]

Leveling system is what makes a game an RPG

Literally....I don't know what ur trying to say....

PelekotansDream

That would mean Dead Rising is an RPG though.

RPG video games seem to be games where the idea is to give the feeling of delving into another world, either by embarking on a long journey and being part of a long story, slowly levelling up along the way; or by offering a lot of freedom of choice, again slowly levelling up along the way. With JRPGs, I definitely get that feeling described in the first description. I think with JRPGs, like any kind of game, some people just don't "get it". I can understand that though.

Alright, first of all, I know I'm probably gonna be flamed for this, but whatever. This has really bugged me for a long time. It's like if a game has turn-based combat, leveling and some dialog it's a RPG. This just sounds wrong to me. As of late, anything with leveling and an inventory is automatically a RPG.

When you play a JRPG, you don't define your destiny. I play a role, but I have no control of my character. JRPG's are extremely linear with absolutely no choices and consequences. JRPG's have dialog, but I can't chose what I want my character to say. It's like you're watching a movie (or more like reading a novel) with some turn-based combat. I don't get it. What's so great about this? Let alone what's so RPG about this?

I have a friend who thought (and probably still does) Final Fantasy VII is the best RPG ever, and probably the best game ever. I borrowed it since he couldn't stop talking about it. Also before this I've never in my life touched a JRPG, so FFVII would be my first. So, yeah, I completed it. Did I like it? It was alright. Story was OK, the dialog was weird, gameplay was kinda boring and repetitive (I move 2 steps at a time and have to fight the same monsters over and over, wooh, fun), I thought Cloud was a pretty good character and I liked the art design. But I thought it was melodramatic.

Then about 2 years later I found Fallout. The copy was sitting in a bargain bin in my local video game store, and on the cover it said "Remember Wasteland?" and I was sure I had played it at some point in my youth. I sat down to play it at 9 in the evening, and I didn't even notice I had played it for 6 hours straight. This game was mindblowing to me. This is a RPG! I called the same friend who thought FFVII was the best ever to say I had found a better RPG. He played it for 1 hour and he said "This isn't a RPG... it's a shooter game".

To this day I can't believe he thought Fallout was a shooter! A shooter!!

So, my point is... I'm not criticizing anyone's taste in games, just... don't call it a RPG.

Spikenenspikspi

Well, personally, I don't like JRPGs. They don't seem to let you make choices or customise in any meaningful way, and there are too many confused teens in it for my liking.

The truth is, there are two definitions of an RPGs from my experience. There is the classical view and the evolved view.

The classical view engulfs all RPGs. The oldest RPGs I can remember playing were text driven ones where you could essentially do what you want in terms of movement and killing and interaction, but at the end of the day, there was a linear storyline progression and any choice you made beyond that story line was very very shallow (eg. Police Quest. You had to go and get in the car, but you could do any number of things before you got there, like take a shower or talk to friends, but they would not impact the game in anyway). So, if we go by classical RPGs traits, JRPGs are still part of the family.

The evolved view is where we look at the progression of RPGs through the years and the traits which are considered the norm in this generation, define what an RPG should be. This would mean taking stock of all recent good RPGs and define other RPGs by their common traits. If we do this, then JRPGs are lacking in major qualities which puts them outside the standard RPG formula.

The "RPGs have levelling" arguement doesn't work because other games have levelling too and are not RPGs. GTA: SA had tonnes of leveling (respect, sex appeal, skill with each individual weapon, skill with each individual vehicle class, stamina and strength) but that isn't an RPG. Cal of Duty 4 has a levelling system to some extent too, as does Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 with their online systems and they almost certainly aren't RPGs.

With something like GTA, I don't feel like I'm slowly getting more and power powerful in all kinds of intricate ways and that it's a major, essential part of the game, like you get with an RPG. I don't really think you can have a specific definition of an RPG, but I feel a huge number of items and different ways to become more powerful is generally another part of it, along with the things I described in the previous post.

Witcher is one of the most non-linear RPGs ever made. It's actualy truly non-linear as the main storyline changed a lot depending on your actions. While in most RPGs the main storyline stays the same, you can just choose variety of subquests.

AdrianWerner

I'm calling out his point that in order to be a "true" RPG, you must create your own character.