What's the Most Important Thing in JRPGs?
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- Опубликовано: 23 сен 2024
- What's the most important thing for you in a JRPG? What is it that really matters the most?
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Yes, this is a re-upload. Original video was published on November 1, 2020.
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Fan service gets me to the door, story gets me to step through, gameplay keeps me in the room.
While watching the video, I jokingly thought "being able to play with one or more waifus is obviously the number one thing" and intended to post that, but then I scrolled down, immediately saw your comment and realized you summarized my post with your first two words 🤣Jokes aside, it IS important to me. One of the reasons I've never been interested in FFXV and I don't feel attracted to FFXVI. Boys will be boys (but yeah, the gameplay will keep me in the room - if the only good thing in the game is the waifus, even if it has good story, if the gameplay sucks I'm out). My order would be : Gameplay > waifus with good graphics (even Cold Steel 1 is ok to me in this department) > story > music > waifus with bad graphics > graphics
@@armorvil Trails of Cold Steel should be the gold standard for you then. Lots of cute waifus to play as, deep and compelling story, and fun, rewarding gameplay. Who's your favorite girl in the series? I like Laura the best because she's mature, elegant, tall, powerful and beautiful.
Same
So Characters, Story than Gameplay?
@acidwizard6528 Laura is definitely best girl.
For me, What matters for jrpg's are
-1. Gameplay (i prefer turn-based)
-2. Soundtrack
-3. Story
For me personally, how immersive it is. That's something the encompasses everything you've mentioned & more. I _love_ feeling like I'm living in whatever JRPG I'm playing and it being detrimental to my personal life and sleep pattern.
That's an interesting take. I've never felt "immersed" in a JRPG before. I play games like The Elder Scrolls when I want immersion. I mean, it's mostly just that I have trouble feeling immersed with a 3rd-person camera. I think the only JRPG that I've played in mostly 1st-person is Suikoden 4, but I still wouldn't say I felt "immersed".
@@guruthosamarthruin4459 I think I get what the OP is saying. I have never "seen myself" in a video game character (or a character in a movie or tv show, or novel or comic); rather, I get immersed in the world building / mythos / lore that's in the entertainment I'm enjoying, and I also get immersed in great storylines / plotlines and interesting characters. It's kind of like the old saying about "a book that you can't put down" - I become invested in the strange worlds, the expertly written stories, and the intriguing characters. That's what makes me get immersed in a piece of entertainment.
I think what JRPG's do for me that no other genre does better isn't the story or gameplay. It's how they are married in a combo that immerses me and makes me feel like I am in the world.
I played some rpgs for the good story, some for gameplay, and some for characters. I think the most important aspect of any game is not to mess up the gameplay making it frustrating with bad controls.
Falcom is a great example of how story, gameplay and great characters can save a game even if the graphics are admittedly not the best. Falcom is probably never going to win any awards for their graphics, but the stories told in their games are among the most loved in the genre among fans...
thats why I want an Ys like game made by ark system works
Cold Steel is a series that covers all the bases Falcom definitely know what they're doing
Agreed, their graphics will always be behind, but in addition to great stories with great characters, Falcon also is great with music and is great with gameplay and gameplay mechanics. Graphics are really the only box they don't check, and not checking that box doesn't really matter to me. Top-end graphics are at the bottom of the list of why I play games. Their visual style is clean, easy to understand and presentable, so it's not a mess that takes away from the other elements. It's just not a plus.
Add amazing soundtracks to the list (although it seems that aspect is starting to suffer, after Unisuga left).
What do you mean? The Ys games look amazing. What do you guys want for graphics? It's mostly preference at the end of the day. I dislike photorealistic stuff for example and consider them not very good
Story, gameplay, and characters are characters are the reason why RPG's are popular in the first place. Those 3 are the most important aspects of the games in my opinion.
Narrative/story is the most important for me - I can overlook shortcomings elsewhere if this is top notch. Having at least 1-2 compelling characters to latch onto is also important, if the rest are insufferable - ideally they are all good in their own way though, which I know doesn't always happen lol.
for JRPG i put gameplay mechanics just a little above the others because that is what ill be doing the entire game
as well as watching the story and characters
@@SuperCoreyBlack highly depends on the game being played
I play jrpg for the story and characters. Now if it's turn based, that's definitely a plus for me but I love action jrpgs as well
just the Gameplay, if it's fun i'll play it
This
the gameplay mechanics are the ones that states how you get the lore, the characters lore, the new ost and somehow how much effort they put into the graphics as you explore new areas, met new enemies and characters
Gameplay! Story and characters are an added bonus if also good.
It is definitely a combination of being fun, ie gameplay, and being interesting, ie story, although this leaves room for interesting game play and fun story!
If depends of JRPG. Some games i play mainly for gameplay (SMT, Ys, Dragon Quest, Disgaea, Xenoblade), some for characters (Persona, Sakura Wars, Trials of Cold Steel, Tales of ), some i play for story with decent gameplay (Valkyria Chronicles, Digital Devil Saga, Final Fantasy), some just for music (SMT, Sakura Wars, Alundra, Gravity Rush). I dont play fanservice games like Neptuna, they are so dumb for me.
Star Ocean video coming soon? I bought it despite the "meh" reviews online and I'm actually really enjoying it.
I bought it as well, so far I am enjoying it. I don't really care what reviewers have to say.
High magic fantasy setting > story and world building > characters and their interactions/ motivations > gameplay systems (ease of understanding and exploiting) > everything else.
Being drawn into a vibrant magical world is the initial appeal... more innovative the story and exotic the world will start to draw me in... characters and their responses will get me to kick off my shoes and stay awhile... gameplay will get me to turn off the lights and just play with no distractions... everything else is just a bonus.
We play games for fun. We play RPGs to invoke a highly emotional experience as well as have fun. The visual art style, the music & sound, the character development and story arc, and world building all effect the user experience just as much as gameplay.
I think gameplay and pacing are the most important aspects to me, to decide whether I'll continue spending my time on a game. Even if I adore a JRPG's story and cast of characters, bad gameplay or pacing will prompt me to quit playing and instead watch the cuscenes or a summary, as was the case (for me) with Trails in the Sky and Tales of Berseria.
story and gameplay are the most imporant to me. though they're not both strictly necessary for me to continue playing, if one is lacking that's a major blow to the game but it can be salvaged if the other aspects are good enough. Music is the next most important aspect to me and then graphics. Fan service can be a nice little extra but it ain't a factor in whether I decide to play a game or not.
Its not the most important thing necessarily, but a thing I don't see talked about often is Presentation. As in how are all these elements presented to you. Is it a VN style or is it motion captured cutscenes, and how many cutscenes are there compared to characters standing idly with unvoiced dialogue.
While not a visual thing, I think the Tales has a great example of unique presentation with its party scenes. That little bit of extra character interaction that I didn’t see from other games I’d played at the time made me want to see more of the world for the sake of my party. It was never intrusive, and humour was always done right.
@@TheLegendofLeo Tales of (especially the most recent ones) are a great example of a good balance between all different types. The skits are a great way to add more dialogue without blowing through the budget, and they add Anime cutscenes, Motion captured scenes and even the Mystic art animations spice it up.
Presentation is important, but you can also get away with if your game isnt strong on that aspect. Thats because RPGs are slow by nature, spending time to establish worldbuilding (think about all the comments about RPGs that say 'it gets good after a couple of hours'),
Presentantion is way more important on action games for instance.
I think story and gameplay are the most important part. But the gameplay itself will be more important in the long run. The Story is what makes the game memorable for the first playthrough and fills the world in it with live. However the gameplay makes it so that you want to play and especially REplay them. While I love everything about the first two Xenoblade games including their amazig story it was the interesting battle system that made me want to enter the world of Bionis and Mechonis. I decided to watch a playthrough of the game because I had no option to play Xenoblade at the time and that got me into the story. And it kept me there. Later on I would play Xenoblade Chronicles X and fall in love with the planet on Mira. And despite the much weaker story of that game I embraced the gameplay and fell in love with building up New LA by solving all kinds of sidequests while simultaneously building up my cast, getting equipment for the Skell Mechs, etc. Finally Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has my favourite battle system of all time and also one of the best stories I was allowed to witness over the years. So while I definitly wanted to return to the first game and X (and did eventually) it mostly is the gameplay that kept me hooked. Reliving an amazing story is great, even greater when you have fun gameplay. But I even like to put in Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE in my WiiU every now and then simply because of the Battle System. I'd also say that this is why Final Fantasy titles such as 7 and 8 are so beloved since you can always try out new things in these games when replaying them. FF7s system is simple and lets you play with your favourites, while FF8 can be overwhelming and strange but gives you the power to customize a party in which ever way you like - and even overpower everything in the game if you know how to. The only case where I would say that I wished more from story department or more specifically character interactions would be Octopath Traveler. Here the battle system is excellent, story is good too, but it lacks the connection of the party and locks it behind dialouges that can be missed and your own imagination. The latter can be a powerful tool but if everything else is so on point it feels a bit lacking if such a crucial part of the story is missed out on. Which is why I hope that Octopath Traveler 2 (thank you god in heaven) will fix this and add characters to cutscenes of other stories as well.
the gameplay mechanics are the ones that states how you get the lore, the characters lore, the new ost and somehow how much effort they put into the graphics as you explore new areas, met new enemies and characters
My top 3 is usually (an the order can change) is story, characters, and gameplay staying fun and not feeling boring or samey
Fan service is love, fan service is life.
Replay value, a well written ,deep intriguing story, good gameplay, decent graphics (being I like og rpg games) character development and unique identity, unique game mechanics.
Story and character development are the most important thing for me. Then gameplay is the add on after
Gameplay! I can overlook everything if the gameplay is worth it.
Fan Service is the utmost important aspect
The Megaman Battle Network series and Golden Sun series are a great example of subpar stories with amazing gameplay in the JRPG genre
For me the most important things in the JRPG is story and overall atmosphere. Sometimes I like mediocre story with characters that not really cool, but if the overall sense of adventure is great, I can play this game through and may even like it for second playthrough. Most memorable example of this for me is Tales of Graces F. Not a bad game overall, with clishe story and clishe characters, but still with an adventure that was so nice, that I didn't wanna leave. Same can be said about Ys series, that don't have mind-blowing story or character cast, but overall adventure is so cool that you just can't stop playing. Yeah, gameplay can have a massive influence, but for me it's more of a secondary part. Not that I can't play games without a good story, but most of the time, I like to enjoy a nice adventure
I think story is only a part of the answer. To me, it has to be player agency. RPGs do something that few other games can; it lets you embody one or many characters, and you can shape them to your own preferences to better align to your individual choices. The story is the setting, and the gameplay loop is what hooks you. But if there is no player agency, or weight to your choices, then it is more a novel than an RPG in my mind.
I found your videos in the last 3 weeks or so. I enjoy your analysis and delivery - it’s ok to think aspects of games we love have flaws that drive us nuts. FF9 is a good game, but the battles were soooo slow. Doesn’t mean I won’t play it again and again.
I guess gameplay is the make or break aspect of any kind of game, but after that, the most important thing to me in an RPG is WORLD BUILDING. I've developed a strong attachment with games that have very simplistic story and characters that merely suggest themes that touch deep fibers, and that can sometimes be more powerful.
For me the most important thing is the characters.
Because even the average adventure book will be written better than 95% RPG. If I want a good story, I'll just read a book.
Format of games gives us the opportunity to get used to the role of heroes. We fight battles, we are present at the dialogues and we live part of the experience of the characters. Movies or books don't give that kind of contact with heroes.
Gameplay is important, but for me the average level is enough to not drop the game.
My priorities are usually: Gameplay > Characters > Story > Music > Artstyle/Graphics
For me, I first want to say it's the cast of characters, even moreso than the plot. This is because I lean hard toward big-picture/analytical thinking, so to me, individual scenes just get filed away for later reference, and I only really start judging things after it all comes out in the wash. I find it easy to like most characters, and often care more about how they go through the story than what the overall plot is. I think what matters to me more is how the characters are presented? Like, if I feel like I rarely hear the characters speak up or react to what's going on, it sort of feels dry after a while, so I like systems that make the characters more talkative, like in Namco's games.
For gameplay, because there are just TOO many damn games, I stick to ones with my favorite gameplay genres like 3rd person action. However I find, as per my recent comments about Astral Chain, that 'Organization' is also a huge factor to me. Forget the 'storycombatcastgraphicsandplot', how are the game's systems designed and how is the content organized? I find that I really don't want anything to do with games that organize themselves in a way I don't gel with. Trying to put chains on saving or retrying content in order to make it more 'hardcore' in some way is a sure fire way to piss me off. Saving and progress structures also play into how things are organized and how you track your progress, and that needs to work as well, because it can actually become confusing to track things and that really sucks.
This stuff is important because I want to EXPERIENCE the game, not just 'play' it. I could just mindlessly slap my way through Astral Chain if I wanted to, it's not a hard game, but it wouldn't be anything like actually playing and enjoying it. I want to vibe with the content at my own pace, while experiencing the content as it's meant to be as well. I don't want to have to compromise that just to 'get through it'. If I have to, it's a problem for the game, and I may just have to set it aside. By contrast, Star Ocean 6 has been one of those rare experiences where I felt like everything was 'correct' almost out of the box, and I love it. (Been playing it on the Series X and I feel like the upgraded version looks a lot brighter and more colorful than I remember from the demo.) :)
Pacing and setting for me. Of course, gameplay will always be the most important but itll never be enough
For me, the most important aspect is the gameplay(on any game), second music and third would be story, characters and graphics. Is true that the story is very important on RPGs, since the player is playing the roll of an X character. But for me gameplay is always first, second music that I would say is the game's soul, and third the story. Even if there are really good stories on some RPG games, I recommend to get a good book and read it if you are looking for a good story. Games meant to be played and that's the first aspect for me, now and always
I feel i have to say that story is composed of multiple parts like world-building, plot and lore. One could say that they are distinct enough as well.
Some games have that more than the others (for example Dark Souls/Elder Scrolls games have week plots, but immense lore and very good world-building)
Anyway the answer to your question is that all of that stuff matters, but story makes a game stand above the crowd. If combined with serviceable gameplay, the game is timeless.
Gameplay and atmosphere (which can include fan service, art style, or music) keep me playing. The main story points don’t really matter as much to me as what happens in between them.
Fps and fighting games are good for that. RPG is story driven.
You I like, I got your “Rpg hidden gems” and immediately subscribed
I think of games like
Pokémon for example. The story is usually not great but the gameplay is so fun that most don’t mind the story or characters
I could do without Fan Service almost 100% of the time.
Give me a good story, great menus and great voice acting.
I would like all those things in a JRPG, but nowadays I feel like fan service is getting less and less from companies like Square Enix. I wouldn’t mind fan service in those JRPGs. Though Falcom delivers on all those aspects, story, characters, fan service, etc.
I personaly love jrpg coz its own unique mechanic and battle system,, story wise doesnt make me love or hate the game
I think story. Alot of the times people say that random encounter jrpgs are hard. Thats what I grew up with. But it was awesome anyways cause the fights was often Nice but especially the story was great!
Ha, a very familiar topic for me, but I didn’t limit the scope to JRPGs when I spoke on this question. I saw another commenter mention immersion, and I’d agree with him. What it boils down to is even if gameplay is mediocre, if there are intriguing characters, a cool setting, and interesting environments, then I can keep on trucking.
Something that I didn’t consider until now was bias for certain games/series. If you’ve been a lifelong fan of Final Fantasy, then you’ll put up with some of the slop in the 13 trilogy because you want to see that experience through to the end. I have no particular affinity towards something like the Breath of Fire series though, so if that doesn’t click with me when I eventually play it - I’m sure it will - then I won’t feel obliged to complete it.
For me the most important is the story, then music, then game play
Gameplay and (to a certain degree) characters are the most important things for me, especially the former. I am okay with a weaker plot if the gameplay and characters are good.
I'd argue that in doubt gameplay (especially combat) is the most important thing for me. And I think that a bad/meh story can relatively easily be saved by great gameplay (see Fire Emblem Fates or mainine Pokemon for example). The other way around I think is much more difficult and the only game I can think of that I enjoyed playing because of the story despite having bad gameplay is Drakengard 1.
Gotta go with Story #1 with gameplay a close 2nd. 3rd for me would be world building, lore and how immersive the game is.
Story, character progression and music for me.
Has to be gameplay for me. Two rpgs come to mind as examples. FFXII had great gameplay and battle system, but lacked story. It’s still one of my favorite final fantasy games. Octopath travel has a very fragmented story system, but I love the gameplay. Bad gameplay makes it a pain to stay with, but good gameplay can keep you interested despite a bad story.
I disagree, but hear me out. Story is a catch all term. It is composed of many parts which is plot, world-building, lore. FF XII is okish on the plot, but excellent in the world building and decent in the lore. For a series that is poor on the plot (worse than FFXII) but excellent in lore (all those books) see Dark Souls series or Elder Scroll series (except New Vegas, that one has a serviceable plot).
Only played a little of ff12 so can’t really say too much. I liked octopath traveller but dropped it as they made the bosses way too difficult. I’ve dropped games if it’s hard
@@leeannvan1422 I actually felt the same way about octopath. I came back to it over a year later just to see if I was doing something wrong. I grinded a little bit and finally got a level where things weren’t as tedious and have been able to keep up with the game without any further issues of being underpowered. The game is getting kinda repetitive now but I dont want to waste the 60 hours I’ve put into it lol. I am on chapter 4 for all characters.
Fun factor and replayability
Good gameplay is everything i need 👍
Fan service isn’t necessary but a little bouncy-bouncy is nice. Same for graphics and music too. Music is something I greatly appreciate though, my taste in music is as eclectic as it is thanks to the different types of music I’ve heard in video games. The story and gameplay are what make it and break it for me. I need both. Good story with bad gameplay or good gameplay with bad story is a no 🙅♂️ from me.
Both Characters and story gets me interested, deciding factors are then the art style+graphics and gameplay, if the artsyle+graphics work with each other and the type of game, will buy, if the gameplay is boring to me or something really lacking I’ll drop it/or rush through it (depending on if I purchased it after disregarding the gameplay or not seeing any of it yet)
Great story/world where the characters engage with it and gameplay is the way you travel through that story i.e. fantasy battle in a fantasy setting and so on.
Recently discovered your channel and loving what you do. I am an old school gamer and mostly play GB Advance, Genesis, Master System and NES but still use my commodore 64. I played a game called Kyle's Quest on the Palm Vx and Windows CE PDA's. That game is what made me an RPG fanatic. Track it down if you have never heard of it. You will probably need an emulator to use it or old hardware but it is one of my favorite games of all time across any system. Simple and old school but still haven't found any game that gives me that same feeling. I would say maybe Dragon Warrior on the Gameboy advance comes closest but still not quite.
I am surprised that i see Asdivine game footage in this video, love for those games
I always put gameplay for No.1 reason. For me Good Character is more important to good story. But Good Character for me actually mean his/her attribute/skill build is Good. But I not gonna to lie Art Style is the main reason attracted me buy/try the game. I never play JRPG on easy mode.
I can put up with almost anything if I love the characters. If I dislike the characters then the gameplay needs to be absolutely S tier.
One of the “best” rpgs recently was tales of arise who had the most boring cast ever but was visually appealing with pretty engaging combat. Its like a balancing scale. I got through it. I didnt love it like YS: Lacrimosa of Dana precisely because the plot literally was go collect five things
I need everything to be serviceable, there's nothing that can suck. I need a balance. One thing people overlook about RPGs is pacing, even an otherwise perfect game can lose me if it drags.
It depends jrpg goes in many directions in story telling. Gameplay just has to make sense and fun. Music has be very great in order to make liked enough to handle long battles.
For me, it's the plot. That's why Xenogears is No. 1 game on my games list.
After some thought, it's gameplay. It shouldn't be too dull or difficult. As for story, characters, and fs I can watch anime or something.
Ah! Good points, Erick! For me, what really matter are two things, with equal weight:
-The first is the storytelling, the narrative. With a good narrative, even bad stories can be interesting. And on games, narrative goes beyond the text. The presentation of the scenes and the use of the right music have a big impact in the storytelling.
-And second, obviouslu is the gameplay. Don't need to explain I think.
I can play a game with thrash gameplay and a good narrative (FF8, I'm looking at you) and have fun, and can play a game with bad narrative and good gameplay (none gets to mind atm, but any dungeon crawler can fit). One thing compensates for the other. But with these two being bad, a game is just unplayable for me.
Most important; having fun. If anything doesn't make you feel like that, quite the game. I liked the story of TLOZ: Skyward Sword, but hated the gameplay. God knows how I managed the finish it. Played many SRW games, who are Japanese exclusive, loved them all. Can't say I know anything about the story. Final Fantasy XIII also has some strong points, but in the end I only remember Lightning.
Good story and game play is a must. Music is a secondary. If the music sucks you can always mute it. Graphics aren't that important to me since I've been gaming since the NES.
As they say: the difference between poison and a medicine in the amount of it.
the new star ocean is pretty dope. i hate talking to npcs but its strange that theres so few npcs to talk to in star ocean divine force lol. so far anyway
I'm playing it as well, and yeah the npc are pretty boring to talk to. 😀
MUSIC, all those games had great music and great stories.
if a game has SOMETHING i really like about it, then ill play it.
however, if a game has SOMETHING i really dislike about it, then i wont REplay it
I know its not THAT important, but music plays a role as well ♥
I played through Rule of Rose to the end. Though not an RPG the gameplay mechanics were abysmal but I wanted to finish the story.
Gameplay will always come first for me after story and character. Because if the gameplay isn't fun which that still majority of the game just because the story is amazing then I can just watch a let play or youtube video about that later if I was that invested in a story over the gameplay not being fun and forcing myself to play through.
Exactly, and I actually do this. When a series that I like suddenly changes genres, and I lose interest in actually playing it, I usually just watch it.
Story and characters for me personally, then gameplay, graphics i'm less bothered about (my last 3 jrpgs completed were Phantasy Star II,Asdivine Hearts and a port of the original Final Fantasy VII), so graphics are not the be all and end all for me. A couple of motivating factors for myself to complete jrpgs, i've played quite a few that started very slow but improved as time went by and i've spent my hard earned money on it, so i want to see it through.
For me, it's Gameplay > Characters > Plot > Graphics > Music. An annoying plot or cast can be drowned out but gameplay is something you have to participate in, and if it's bad then what's the point?
The most important for me is combination of all the elements you said above (story, gameplay, music, graphics) while the first two play a greater factors and the latter is good to have.
A good game must have a superb story, but i think the writer need to kow how to split it and when to combine it with gameplay. The information which given to player must be pretty simple to digest, better if they can have hidden information with dialog with NPC, in game information etc.
one of the latest game that i feel a little out is Triangle Strategy, i know both the story and the gameplay is great, but the story part turned me down, not because it's bad, but the information we need to consume on every dialog is too much, i even feel the dialogs are turned into wall of never ending text.
Awesome topic for a video. I have finally subscribed!
Before watching the full video I get turned off at two different points. Early on, battle mechanics (that's why I don't like Tales of...) or lackluster story/characters. Later on, repetetive enemies/battles/etc. and ridiculous difficulty spikes are what normally turn me away.
The battles. Everything else is secondary to me.
story and the gameplay loop for me like trails of coldsteel i lovve that kinda loop
it's actually the music!
For me, the best in a rpg is the gameplay itself. Story later.
When you are not fluent in english, tons of dialogues and text at all are a pain to bear for a long time straight. A game with 45h hours doubles the time, or more. It's frustrating and any difficultt spikes in the game make us drop it, sometimes, forever.
And, I don't even know if all that I wrote is right, to help in my point. 🤷
It used to be characters for me. I could still enjoy a game with a meh story but great characters.
Now landscapes and gameplay have gotten more important
I can't play a game - not just a JRPG, but any game period - unless its got a good story. If I wanted to spend time on a video game for the gameplay, I'd play a plstformer (and even then I would want cinematic cutscenes like the NES Ninja Gaiden games), or Tetris or Minesweeper and Freecell or something. A well written JRPG is like interactive fiction, like those choose-your-own-adventure books from the eighties, except it's kuke that in the best way since it's often got an epic saga and larger than life characters, and maybe it might have good looking graphics and an awesome soundtrack, too.
You need all three. I hate a game that doesn’t respect my time and money so if the story drags that isn’t good. A good story needs good characters that the audience can root for. You could have a game with a fantastic story and characters but if it sucks to play and it isn’t enjoyable then that story doesn’t matter
lol yeah I'm playing Edge of Eternity, that's a JRPG with 0 fan service. I definitely feel the missing. Not paid attention to Xenoblade 3, finally saw a trailer and I was SHOCKED that Boobage Blade 2 gave way to 3 which looks as conservative as EoE.
Definetly gameplay. Good story and characters are important only when gameplay is bad or mediocre. I think music is more important than graphics.
Story,gameplay and music.
graphics is just a bonus, hell even the older games got better story, depth plus gameplay wise than the newer ones 😂
I think what it comes down to for me is, is a JRPG a positive experience? that meaning, the balance between all its elements turns out positive. A trash system with good music and story/characters? you could call it good, if you paced yourself so you did not reach peak frustration. A good system with mediocre cast and story? Without saying any names I think every RPG lover has a game they care about more for the gameplay than anything else, if it isn't a huge time investment it can actually end much more favorable. I can also think of a few times in which I found story and gameplay mediocre too, but the characters were compelling enough for me to want to see them through. So long as their personal story delivers you can derive fulfillment from that.
I think the main problem with JRPGs is actually that they play it too safe most of the time. JRPGs have their tropes well known for a reason and they are fine to use, but they dont often spin them in an original manner; for a time it can pass, but it gradually wears on tolerance. Worst of all, once the experience is soured it can be hard to get that engagement back. I remember way back when we started having titles that more commonly tried to branch their paths and endings as a remedy, and it was fantastic for a time, but when there was no care for their quality or at least equal care among the choices presented, then that soured everything too.
All that said, my mind goes back to: If you played X game, do you find it worth talking about? Do you find it worth sharing? Do you find it worth experiencing? If the answer is yes, without the malice of sharing a bad experience, then I think it was a good RPG.
I’d say the combat for me. If it’s too confusing, slow or grind heavy then I’d rather watch a let’s play of it instead
I always judge jrpgs by 3 things, Gameplay, Story (which would include characters) and Music. If a jrpgs have at least 2 out of the 3, i can enjoy it.
One of the biggest things for me is convenience. There are a lot of JRPGs that do not respect the player's time and are just very inconvenient to play. I need features like:
- the ability to frequently save your game
- fast travel
- skip-able cutscenes
- minimizing load screens
- intuitive systems (shops, crafting, etc.); I shouldn't have to use a wiki to understand the basic systems of a game
- clear objectives. if you are going to make the player do something specific to continue the story like talking to a specific NPC, you need to guide the player to that NPC rather than making us talk to everyone
- quick gameplay. animations, transitions, and menus should all be quick and snappy and preferably skippable. if I have to watch a +10 second to open a menu every time, that will kill a game for me
- relatively quick build up of game mechanics. I shouldn't have to play 20+ hours before you unlock the majority of the combat mechanics
- English voice acting. I don't mind reading subtitles, but if I look away from the screen for a second I may miss a line of dialogue. If the voice acting is in English then I am less likely to miss something. It just makes it easier and I am less likely to have to re-watch a scene
- smaller file size. RPGs often have relatively large file sizes. I have +5TB disc space and I still can only install a fraction of my games at one time. and I like to play RPGs on my Steam Deck lately but that only have 512GB built in storage. I am finding myself only installing a few RPGs at a time because they tend to take up too much memory
- the ability to pause the game at any time (including cutscenes). what if I have a pizza in the oven I need to take out before it burns? let me pause the game
- no pay to win mechanics. I refuse to play any games that have microtransactions for any content that is not purely cosmetic. those are the most inconvenient of all
I understan what you mean, but it seems you describe Hybrid RPGs. Hybrid is when a genre game borrows elements from other genres.
In the case of RPGs, some Hybrids are the new Assassin's Creed games and the new God of War games. They dont really play as RPGs but have some RPG elements into them.
To me, the fanservice is to the voice. If I found familiar voices I heard from another anime or game.
I hear Yggdra Union ost, I respond.
To me, its my epic struggle on the game.
If gameplay is terrible. Just read a visual novel instead for stories.
Gameplay has to be at the top of things to make it very fun. I wouldn't want to slug around bad gameplay for a good story. Character wise same as story both have to come good enough to keep me invested. Bad characters equals no care for thier fate at all.
Design I play fire emblem. Small sprites and character cut outs have given me more emotions than full 3d games.
You nailed it on the head what matters most is story and gameplay and they can have varying degrees of which of those two elements are stronger. The other things can effect gameplay experience which is why things like graphics and music can matter. I refuse games with paper puppet physics I think its a lazy artistic choice as you see it most often in mobile cash grab games. Music I will either have it on or off but music is key to story telling its creates an atmosphere or emotional response when done correctly. Think about any show or movie you consider great and think of those scenes that stuck with you in the back of your mind is the music that was playing.
For me honestly the story and visuals are strongly tied together. Not graphics, visuals. I mean a game with a good art style can overcome some weak graphics obstacle and still look amazing decades later. For example the Odin Sphere still looks fantastic. We can also take another PSP or PS1 games with great visuals.
Then comes the gameplay, which needs to be at least not sadistic (making you ro grind endlessly).
But what's more important, there mustn't be 1-2 elements totally ruining the experience and making the game a suffering instead of a pleasure and fun. That's the most important part, The rest is really a matter of taste.