fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2452 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2452 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

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02.

[Giles Coren and Sue Perkins, The Supersizers Eat… The Eighties]

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03.

[Jeff Davis/Teen Wolf]

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04.

[Django Unchained]

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05.

[Valiant Hearts: The Great War]

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06.

[Child of Light]

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07.

[Jurassic Park]

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08.

[Hate Plus]

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09.

[The Three Investigators]

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10.

[Charlie Hunnam]

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 011 secrets from Secret Submission Post #350.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, like I mentioned in the secret, what I'm primarily considering is what I personally call "cinematic RPGs"--games that have RPG mechanics but are otherwise intended to play like interactive movies. The main characters have defined personalities, character customization is typically somewhat limited, and there's more of an emphasis on graphics, music, and storytelling than on gameplay. (In other words, I'm not considering stuff like Etrian Odyssey, even though it's made in Japan.)

Okay, I kinda think that's a bullshit way to define a JRPG. Not all JRPGs are 'cinematic RPGs', and calling them that kind of makes me wonder how many pre-PS2 era games you've played, because the majority of the ones I've played have very few cinematics (Suikoden I and II, Legend of Dragoon, the early Dragon Quest games) and some even have some character choices and non linear gameplay or out of the box character customization (Vagrant Story, Phantasy Star III, Star Ocean II). I would still very much call all of them JRPGs, despite the variety. If it comes out of Japan and it's an RPG, it's a JRPG. It's pretty, y'know, simple. And no, I wouldn't call an RPG that comes from China or Korea a JRPG. It's an RPG, but not a JRPG, regardless of style.

Yes, those examples are all connected by having a linear story, but here's the thing. 95% of RPGs made in the past (and today!) have linear stories because they're defined by the architecture of the systems they're on. Until recently, consoles haven't been powerful enough to support completely open environments and character creation. They had very limited ram, cpu power, graphics cards, etc. to deal with. They couldn't make epic stories like Skyrim on a PS2; it would be physically impossible given the limitations of the system. And I'm not aware of very many JRPGs for the PC that have come to the states (where I am).

And the simple fact of the matter is that even without console limitations, the sheer point of an RPG is to tell a story. You're playing the role of the main character, seeing their story play out. If you take out the story, you have a plain shooter/fighting game/racing game/etc. Of course, how to arrive at that story, well, sometimes that varies. Sometimes you don't even have to go with the main story at all and can do side quests. Sometimes you can ignore all of that even and just build your character. But at the heart of all RPGs is a story for you to play out and experience. Take it away and you have to take away the genre, too.

Besides, going with your definition for a JRPG, the Mass Effect games qualify as a JRPG (rpg mechanics but play more or less like interactive movies with shooter elements between, characters with defined personalities (yes, even Shepherd has a pretty linear personality no matter what way you slice it), character cust. is limited, and so on), and they are most definitely not JRPGs.

If you're going to call them cinematic RPGs, then call them that. Call a spade a spade, and stop trying to put it into the box labelled rakes (JRPGs). They're both gardening tools, but that's as far as the similarity goes. You have a term that fits well, why are you trying to force a different term on top of that, that's entirely the wrong shape? I am very confused.

Uh, like I said earlier, Diablo is considered an RPG. That's not a game about telling a story, that's a game about collecting phat loot. The larger genre term of RPG is already essentially meaningless.

As for Mass Effect, I think it's at a halfway point, but I don't think you can reasonably argue that it was more linear than Final Fantasy XIII, or that it had less character customization than, well, most of the FFs before XIII.

As for really old JRPGs, I will admit that I'm mostly talking about the more modern stuff like The World Ends With You.

As for calling it a cinematic RPG, no one would have any idea what I was talking about, because that's not a recognized term. If I call something a JRPG, people immediately assume something like FFXIII or The World Ends With You.

[ SECRET POST #2452 ]

Re: OP

Re: OP

Re: OP