For my preferences and tastes, having first come from a background of paper RPG's (mostly TSR, early on, with some variances like Steve Jackson stuff, and later moving to more diverse publishers) and with the first CRPG that I purposely went out and bought and then specifically played 100% to completion myself being Phantasie (SSI, 1985) on the C-64, the whole concept of what such a game should be are heavily biased.
I believe you should be able to create your own character, or preferably characters, to form a unique party. Choice is key, with different races, classes and sexes. Some of those you may have to use your imagination on, but the basic concepts of creating who you want, and PRE-strategizing about your parties makup is key. Part of the fun to me is reading the manual, getting a sense for the game, then figuring out ahead of time what a basic party should consist of for maximum success. Of course you may not always guess right and most likely that party will get killed off early on, but the idea is that you should need to put some thought into who and what you want your character or group to be. To me, this is a major difference between Western and Japanese RPGs. Western you can usually create your own character or party, while Japanese usually gives you exactly who you're playing. If you don't like the character you're playing in the Japanese RPG, tough luck.
Naturally there will some type of linear play and/or areas that you can't yet reach in just about any RPG. However, you should never feel guided or overly restricted. Again, generally speaking, you have this freedom in Western CRPGs, where you usually don't in JRPGs. In JRPGs you're generally guided by the confines (and needs) of the so-called story telling, whereas in CRPGs story elements do not necessarily have to be uncovered in order, as you sort of have to piece together the overall arc.
The end goal. This to me is the failing of most RPGs, regardless of origin or design. It's the rare title where your goal is not to kill the big baddie at the end. There are some exceptions though and for those games we should be thankful. What can be jarring is when the game just ends. I actually kind of like those games where after the big end battle and your "victory", you can still tool about the world a bit as the conquering heroes. There's nothing much left to do, but the reality is, the evil is gone. In any case, in JRPGs, generally the ending is pre-determined and fully scripted - there is a "proper" ending. When playing with characters of your own creation as in Western RPGs, the ending is often more free form. Again, it's the difference of playing to a heavy handed script or playing to a loose script. Obviously, I prefer the latter.
Finally, it comes down to one's taste in aesthetics. Having been first weened on Pong, Atari VCS, Vic 20, C-64, etc., and exposed to mostly Western cartoons and what-not (save for Star Blazers) in my early formative years (as well as classic D&D art) and being a conisseur of realistic art, I have a hard time being immersed in the anime/JRPG aesthetic, which can often involve super-deformed or exagerrated characters, with often effemiate males and demure females. It's a cultural thing for me. I wouldn't mind so much if it didn't permeate every Japanese game and it fact I might find it refreshing, but too much is too much. On the other hand, I don't really tire of the Western style and aesthetics. Probably a cultural thing and what I was brought up on.
Again, with my own biases in mind, I can't rightly say one class of games is better than the other - there are great games and stinkers in both paths - but I believe we MUST treat them as entirely different genres, even if we use "WRPG" and "JRPG" to distinguish the two different design philosophies. Bottom line, there's just no way they're the same type game when you really look at it and that's not a bad thing.
======================================
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
======================================
*************************** Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
For my preferences and tastes, having first come from a background of paper RPG's (mostly TSR, early on, with some variances like Steve Jackson stuff, and later moving to more diverse publishers) and with the first CRPG that I purposely went out and bought and then specifically played 100% to completion myself being Phantasie (SSI, 1985) on the C-64, the whole concept of what such a game should be are heavily biased.
I believe you should be able to create your own character, or preferably characters, to form a unique party. Choice is key, with different races, classes and sexes. Some of those you may have to use your imagination on, but the basic concepts of creating who you want, and PRE-strategizing about your parties makup is key. Part of the fun to me is reading the manual, getting a sense for the game, then figuring out ahead of time what a basic party should consist of for maximum success. Of course you may not always guess right and most likely that party will get killed off early on, but the idea is that you should need to put some thought into who and what you want your character or group to be. To me, this is a major difference between Western and Japanese RPGs. Western you can usually create your own character or party, while Japanese usually gives you exactly who you're playing. If you don't like the character you're playing in the Japanese RPG, tough luck.
Naturally there will some type of linear play and/or areas that you can't yet reach in just about any RPG. However, you should never feel guided or overly restricted. Again, generally speaking, you have this freedom in Western CRPGs, where you usually don't in JRPGs. In JRPGs you're generally guided by the confines (and needs) of the so-called story telling, whereas in CRPGs story elements do not necessarily have to be uncovered in order, as you sort of have to piece together the overall arc.
The end goal. This to me is the failing of most RPGs, regardless of origin or design. It's the rare title where your goal is not to kill the big baddie at the end. There are some exceptions though and for those games we should be thankful. What can be jarring is when the game just ends. I actually kind of like those games where after the big end battle and your "victory", you can still tool about the world a bit as the conquering heroes. There's nothing much left to do, but the reality is, the evil is gone. In any case, in JRPGs, generally the ending is pre-determined and fully scripted - there is a "proper" ending. When playing with characters of your own creation as in Western RPGs, the ending is often more free form. Again, it's the difference of playing to a heavy handed script or playing to a loose script. Obviously, I prefer the latter.
Finally, it comes down to one's taste in aesthetics. Having been first weened on Pong, Atari VCS, Vic 20, C-64, etc., and exposed to mostly Western cartoons and what-not (save for Star Blazers) in my early formative years (as well as classic D&D art) and being a conisseur of realistic art, I have a hard time being immersed in the anime/JRPG aesthetic, which can often involve super-deformed or exagerrated characters, with often effemiate males and demure females. It's a cultural thing for me. I wouldn't mind so much if it didn't permeate every Japanese game and it fact I might find it refreshing, but too much is too much. On the other hand, I don't really tire of the Western style and aesthetics. Probably a cultural thing and what I was brought up on.
Again, with my own biases in mind, I can't rightly say one class of games is better than the other - there are great games and stinkers in both paths - but I believe we MUST treat them as entirely different genres, even if we use "WRPG" and "JRPG" to distinguish the two different design philosophies. Bottom line, there's just no way they're the same type game when you really look at it and that's not a bad thing.
======================================
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
======================================
***************************
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.