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Launch Player

Community Games Round-Up #2

Let's Get This Party Started

Feature

7 J-RPG Hates (And What Needs To Change)

31-Jan-2009 The genre needs to improve and this is how.

18 Comments

So, you've probably seen the new FFXIII trailer by now.

Me, I've been playing through another JRPG the last week and whilst Square-Enix's newest game in the franchise looks promising, I'm hoping for something better. Something more. Something... different.

Here are seven ways that Japanese RPGs could change for the better, starting with the most important...

1. Stop with the kid characters joining your party.

Nearly every JRPG this generation has seen a childlike or childish character joining your wandering group of adventurers and yet none have been either sweet or funny. You're on a do-or-die mission and you want to bring a nine year old with you for 'comic relief'? What the hell's wrong with you?

2. Villains have to be cool.

Looking at the Lost Odyssey poster across from my desk reminds me how crappy (bad guy) Gongora's design is. There's been a lack of truly memorable villains in the genre lately and I have to go back to the 90s to find someone that really stood out.

Wouldn't you want to clash with someone whose character you had a grudging respect for and was in better threads than you?

3. Change is good.

You're finally able to afford that piece of stat-boosting armour with the classy name. You enter into the menu, equip it...yet come out and your character is still kitted out in the same clothing they started the quest in thirty hours ago. One, it doesn't let us relish in seeing the fruits of our labour and two, how do we believe our hero has made the transition between whining teenager to ice-cool monster-killer if he hasn't got the kit (and scars) to prove it?

4. Good voice acting.

One of the reasons we check to see if there's an original Japanese voice-track in JRPGs is because the western attempts are pretty poor. If we're going to spend forty hours watching a group of characters interact and grow, it'd be nice if we could have some quality voice actors who could deliver hurt, anger and shock with believability.

5. Cut scenes that aren't over the top.

The dramatic effect of a character being killed suddenly and easily unravels when a few cut scenes ago they were dodging gunfire and leaping huge monsters in a single bound like an extra from the Matrix. Keep the abilities believable (as they can be in a world were magic and airships exist).

6. Puzzle-based dungeons.

I'd like to see dungeons that don't have me groaning at the prospect of another slog through random battles until I luckily stumble upon the boss. Let us break up the action with head-scratching puzzles. While its more action-adventure than RPG, Zelda's dungeons are a great mix of fights and problem-solving.

7. Heroes are bastards too.

One for the older JPRG fan this. As gamers grow older they find it harder to empathise with story arcs of youths growing into heroic adulthood. The world's has a few shades of grey in it, so why not reflect that in a story and character-driven genre? Let's see more complex and deeper storylines and heroes that we don't necessarily like (but are still interesting). In fact, why not flip things on there head? How about a game were you set out to destroy the world rather than save it?

Gillen McAllister