Why do people say that WRPG's have terrible storys?

I never understood this really. I like WRPG's more then JRPG's because they keep a good balence of gameplay and story. While JRPG's mainly aim for story and care less about the gameplay.

But I really have to question why people would say WRPG's do not have good story's. The majority of WRPG's give you a choice and allow you to countrol the story as you see fit. It depends on what kinda character you want to be overrall. Mass Effect,Fallout,Baulders gate,Neverwinter nights,The Witcher, and kotor are great examples of WRPG's that have great story's overall. I am not bashing JRPG's at all. I am just saying that WRPG's can have a great story experience just like JRPG's

Thoughts?

i honestly haven't heard this. I will say JRPGs are more about the story and WRPG are more about the choices you experience. It's personal preference, do you prefer to be told a story or have a hand in shaping it yourself?

I never understood this really. I like WRPG's more then JRPG's because they keep a good balence of gameplay and story. While JRPG's mainly aim for story and care less about the gameplay.

But I really have to question why people would say WRPG's do not have good story's. The majority of WRPG's give you a choice and allow you to countrol the story as you see fit. It depends on what kinda character you want to be overrall. Mass Effect,Fallout,Baulders gate,Neverwinter nights,The Witcher, and kotor are great examples of WRPG's that have great story's overall. I am not bashing JRPG's at all. I am just saying that WRPG's can have a great story experience just like JRPG's

Thoughts?

JangoWuzHere

Weaboos say that wrpg's have bad stories. You can figure out why.

Because Oblivion somehow becamed the defining wRPG for this generation :) In reality wRPGs can have stories that easily rival best jRPGs: Vampire: Bloodlines and Torment are best examples of that.

It is no secret though that generaly jRPGs put stronger focus on storylines than wRPGs. The source of this is very simple: japanese devs never actualy managed to get into adventure genre. PC european and US devs did and thus adventure becamed the main genre for storytelling (and it's no surprise, it is a lot more suited for telling stories than jRPGs ever were, while jRPGs might overall have better stories than wRPGs, adventure games have most of the time lot better stories than jRPGs), adventure genre never did catch on among japanese devs, so they made RPGs into their storytelling genre

It's true for the most part. Bioware games are the only exception. Bethesda WRPGs always have garbage stories with awesome sidequests.Parasomniac

[QUOTE="Parasomniac"]It's true for the most part. Bioware games are the only exception. Bethesda WRPGs always have garbage stories with awesome sidequests.AdrianWerner

Its not so much they have worse stories, but that they tend to be "weaker" stories. Because they let the player have a direct influence on the world, they have to write a different kind of story than you would see in a JRPG. That makes it more open which greatly enhances the player's immersion in the game world and the effect they have on it, but can end up producing a weaker story overall. The sacrifice in JRPGs is that the player has less direct control over the story, but the story is more solid. Hope that makes sense.Skittles_McGee

That's a nice explanation, but I disagree. I think both genres have good stories but they are told differently and that the way they are told doesn't affect the quality of them. You have to ask yourself, "Do I want a mature fantasy/sci-fi story where I'm partly responsible for the outcome(WRPG) or do I want to be told fantastic tale where I have to make strategic choices(combatwise) instead of moral choices(JRPG)?".

I love both genres but before I start on a new RPG I always ask myself the above question.

They don't say tehy have terrible story, they have terrible gameplay. Its basically just point and click. Its time for WRPG's to innovate once and a while.MachineLike7

They don't say tehy have terrible story, they have terrible gameplay. Its basically just point and click. Its time for WRPG's to innovate once and a while.MachineLike7

They don't say tehy have terrible story, they have terrible gameplay. Its basically just point and click. Its time for WRPG's to innovate once and a while.MachineLike7

Joke post?

And JRPGs are soooo innovative??

Its not so much they have worse stories, but that they tend to be "weaker" stories. Because they let the player have a direct influence on the world, they have to write a different kind of story than you would see in a JRPG. That makes it more open which greatly enhances the player's immersion in the game world and the effect they have on it, but can end up producing a weaker story overall. The sacrifice in JRPGs is that the player has less direct control over the story, but the story is more solid. Hope that makes sense.Skittles_McGee

They don't say tehy have terrible story, they have terrible gameplay. Its basically just point and click. Its time for WRPG's to innovate once and a while.MachineLike7

For example Fable 2, Mass Effect and Fallout 3 don't play the same at all.

Because for whatever reason, the average *CONSOLE gamer seems to have a thing for overly-dramatic stories with B-movie writing and voice-acting.PBSnipes

[QUOTE="Parasomniac"]It's true for the most part. Bioware games are the only exception. Bethesda WRPGs always have garbage stories with awesome sidequests.AdrianWerner

so your saying that both knights of the old republic and mass effect have bad stories?

mass effect made me feel like i was playing star trek

[QUOTE="AdrianWerner"]

[QUOTE="Parasomniac"]It's true for the most part. Bioware games are the only exception. Bethesda WRPGs always have garbage stories with awesome sidequests.mlbslugger86

so your saying that both knights of the old republic and mass effect have bad stories?

mass effect made me feel like i was playing star trek

I never got around to playing KOTOR, but there was nothing about Mass Effect that I would call 'good writing'.

[QUOTE="PBSnipes"]Because for whatever reason, the average *CONSOLE gamer seems to have a thing for overly-dramatic stories with B-movie writing and voice-acting.blue_hazy_basic

[QUOTE="AdrianWerner"]

[QUOTE="Parasomniac"]It's true for the most part. Bioware games are the only exception. Bethesda WRPGs always have garbage stories with awesome sidequests.mlbslugger86

so your saying that both knights of the old republic and mass effect have bad stories?

mass effect made me feel like i was playing star trek

[QUOTE="mlbslugger86"][QUOTE="AdrianWerner"]Bioware games are exception? They are better than Bethsoft, but I have yet to play Bioware RPG with truly great story

AdrianWerner

so your saying that both knights of the old republic and mass effect have bad stories?

mass effect made me feel like i was playing star trek

Do you know what really annoys me about western gamers (excluding me of course...im too sexy :D)? Their obesssion with space and aliens. I cant stand it anymore. Why are StarWars and Star Trek so big? Those are the most abnoxious and annoying shows/movies to ever disgrace the world. Then Bioware had to go ahead and make an RPG based on Star Wars. I give them props though, Bioware actually managed to make a SW game that I hated more than SW itself :xII_Seraphim_II

Jrpg stores are better but Wrpg's deserve credit oblivion,mass effect,fallout 3 kemar7856

I think what it is is that the WRPG and JRPGS have gone to extremes. WRPGs are too free (and thus become easy to get lost in) and JRPGs are too strict (leaving no room to wander). I think the RPG genre as a whole would do with a few hybrids: games where you get a decent amount of freedom to move around (leaving you to set the pace) but every so often you get guided or even yanked into a story element or even a plot twist (you need some linearity to perform a plot twist since you need specific elements in place) or other dramatic device that keeps things interesting.HuusAsking

[QUOTE="HuusAsking"]I think what it is is that the WRPG and JRPGS have gone to extremes. WRPGs are too free (and thus become easy to get lost in) and JRPGs are too strict (leaving no room to wander). I think the RPG genre as a whole would do with a few hybrids: games where you get a decent amount of freedom to move around (leaving you to set the pace) but every so often you get guided or even yanked into a story element or even a plot twist (you need some linearity to perform a plot twist since you need specific elements in place) or other dramatic device that keeps things interesting.JediRiff

They don't say tehy have terrible story, they have terrible gameplay. Its basically just point and click. Its time for WRPG's to innovate once and a while.MachineLike7

[QUOTE="JediRiff"][QUOTE="HuusAsking"]I think what it is is that the WRPG and JRPGS have gone to extremes. WRPGs are too free (and thus become easy to get lost in) and JRPGs are too strict (leaving no room to wander). I think the RPG genre as a whole would do with a few hybrids: games where you get a decent amount of freedom to move around (leaving you to set the pace) but every so often you get guided or even yanked into a story element or even a plot twist (you need some linearity to perform a plot twist since you need specific elements in place) or other dramatic device that keeps things interesting.blue_hazy_basic

I never understood this argument. It's like jRPG haters have never seen an adventure game in their livesAdrianWerner

I never understood this really. I like WRPG's more then JRPG's because they keep a good balence of gameplay and story. While JRPG's mainly aim for story and care less about the gameplay.

But I really have to question why people would say WRPG's do not have good story's. The majority of WRPG's give you a choice and allow you to countrol the story as you see fit. It depends on what kinda character you want to be overrall. Mass Effect,Fallout,Baulders gate,Neverwinter nights,The Witcher, and kotor are great examples of WRPG's that have great story's overall. I am not bashing JRPG's at all. I am just saying that WRPG's can have a great story experience just like JRPG's

Thoughts?

JangoWuzHere

JRPGs are more linear and so they lend themselves to better storytelling with character development and plot twists, etc. It is easy to tell a story when certain bits are scheduled to play out at certain points.

Western RPGs are more free roaming and give you more control over the character's actions and what happens in the game. Because of this increase in personal freedom, it makes it very difficult to write a cohesive story with the same depth as a more linear game.

JRPGs are like interactive books. You can do different things, but ultimately you are playing through a story. WRPGs are more like oldschool D&D type play...the story isn't as good as a book, but you have more control over what happens, when and what you do with your character.

[QUOTE="JediRiff"][QUOTE="HuusAsking"]I think what it is is that the WRPG and JRPGS have gone to extremes. WRPGs are too free (and thus become easy to get lost in) and JRPGs are too strict (leaving no room to wander). I think the RPG genre as a whole would do with a few hybrids: games where you get a decent amount of freedom to move around (leaving you to set the pace) but every so often you get guided or even yanked into a story element or even a plot twist (you need some linearity to perform a plot twist since you need specific elements in place) or other dramatic device that keeps things interesting.blue_hazy_basic

[QUOTE="AdrianWerner"]I never understood this argument. It's like jRPG haters have never seen an adventure game in their livesblue_hazy_basic

And what;s more it seems you don't know what adventure game is, even if somebody would accept the logic that jRPGs somehow aren't real RPGs, they still play ten times more similiar to wRPGs than to adventure games. It's ironic, because jRPGs have stayed true to their RPG roots most of the time, while wRPGs have been becoming more and more action-adventures pretending to be RPGs