This end is just totally an anticlimax - I would be very disappointed, thank god Grimjack has another opinion.
What surprises me is love of specific types of RPG around the world. Americans seem to focus on building their party/troups with a high regard to stats. The statistics even seem to outweigh the story that is often obscured due to the raw interface and numbers on the screen.
Asian RPGs focus on the story, often nice cutscenes or demo-like intros are used. And of course stats do matter but in the execution of the game it serves more of a purpose in the battles. It drives that interaction and gaining experience. Asian RPGs seem less static and more adaptive to the player.
Both originate from slightly different eras where game play was influenced by technical limitations to a greater and lesser extent. Anyways, Europeans never caught on to the stat-intensive US-style RPGs which do leave a lot to the imagination of the player with the sparse graphics. In Europe RPGs Asian style are more accepted and played. Correct me if I am wrong ;-P
The only thing I'd want to add is a personal clarification. (I'll use your terms) The story is important to "American RPGs", but since the player is free to play his character or characters pretty much as he or she sees fit, it can't necessarily be as tightly integrated or as intricately woven as an "Asian RPG". Asian RPGs are more rigid and linear. The big downside to me of those games is that you have 100 players of an "Asian RPG", they more or less have the same story to tell, as progressing through the game triggers the same exact plot points/cut scenes/etc. You have 100 players of an "American RPG" and they'll more or less have a different story to tell, usually being able to approach the game's events in a different manner.
To me, being able to create your own character (or preferably characters to make up a party), play the game in your own way and get a different experience (i.e., unique to you) from someone else who plays the game, always makes "American RPGs" of the classic variety a far superior game playing experience. With that said, I think "Asian RPGs" are a different genre of game than classic "American RPGs", so the comparison is not entirely a fair one (it's a bit like if I compared an Infocom text adventure to a Sierra adventure game--there are many parallels, but they don't deliver the same experience).
Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
*************************** Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
This end is just totally an anticlimax - I would be very disappointed, thank god Grimjack has another opinion.
What surprises me is love of specific types of RPG around the world. Americans seem to focus on building their party/troups with a high regard to stats. The statistics even seem to outweigh the story that is often obscured due to the raw interface and numbers on the screen.
Asian RPGs focus on the story, often nice cutscenes or demo-like intros are used. And of course stats do matter but in the execution of the game it serves more of a purpose in the battles. It drives that interaction and gaining experience. Asian RPGs seem less static and more adaptive to the player.
Both originate from slightly different eras where game play was influenced by technical limitations to a greater and lesser extent. Anyways, Europeans never caught on to the stat-intensive US-style RPGs which do leave a lot to the imagination of the player with the sparse graphics. In Europe RPGs Asian style are more accepted and played. Correct me if I am wrong ;-P
The only thing I'd want to add is a personal clarification. (I'll use your terms) The story is important to "American RPGs", but since the player is free to play his character or characters pretty much as he or she sees fit, it can't necessarily be as tightly integrated or as intricately woven as an "Asian RPG". Asian RPGs are more rigid and linear. The big downside to me of those games is that you have 100 players of an "Asian RPG", they more or less have the same story to tell, as progressing through the game triggers the same exact plot points/cut scenes/etc. You have 100 players of an "American RPG" and they'll more or less have a different story to tell, usually being able to approach the game's events in a different manner.
To me, being able to create your own character (or preferably characters to make up a party), play the game in your own way and get a different experience (i.e., unique to you) from someone else who plays the game, always makes "American RPGs" of the classic variety a far superior game playing experience. With that said, I think "Asian RPGs" are a different genre of game than classic "American RPGs", so the comparison is not entirely a fair one (it's a bit like if I compared an Infocom text adventure to a Sierra adventure game--there are many parallels, but they don't deliver the same experience).
Wii: 1345 2773 2048 1586 | PS3: ArmchairArcade
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director | Armchair Arcade, Inc.
***************************
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.