Gaming Journals

As the years have passed, JRPGs have come and gone.  They have been a hot topic among most dedicated gamers since the days of the Famicom, where they initially rose with Final Fantasy 1.  But what became the “JRPG” was, as I understand, a mutant of the western RPG– founded in Dungeon and Dragons. The JRPG took many systems from D&D. Characters who leveled up, dice roll hit and damage counting systems, characters who learned skills and spent MP to use them.  Some basic premises.  The JRPG took these systems and tied them to a specific story, a specific world. A story in which you played the role of the featured character, not YOUR character, but the character of that story.

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Right away at this segregation we find a loss of some imagination.  With it was replaced charming 20×20 pixel designs of characters on a tile-based overworld, and in battles, enemies were detailed like games had not witnessed before. This moment of awe, grasping the world that has been created for you is what gamers began to love. And as time passed these worlds became more detailed along with the characters and the stories they lived.  Nearly 25 years have passed since Final Fantasy first appeared.

Growing up, there was always a sense of wonder surrounding the final fantasy series, or any RPG because of the worlds the developers brought to us. World after world, the charm of experiencing these stories would fade, however, as concepts such as crystal gathering became cliche, then the silent protagonist, then the “emo” protagonists (Cloud, Squall) would become antagonized by many gamers after the PSX era ended.  The systems changing slightly along the way.

This sense of wonder that revolved around RPGs climaxed at the release of EarthBound on the SNES.  At the age of 11, the idea of an RPG set in modern america, starring characters around my age, was something almost magical to experience. The worlds of Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy were almost trite and silly in comparison to a setting that I could relate too.  Without derailing too much, the point is EarthBound made it’s stand betwixt the fantastical worlds of the rest of RPGs with it’s modern setting. That is why it was great.  This is why Persona 3 and Persona 4 have been a sensation as well, in my eyes.  In these cases, the setting makes them stick out among the others.

In 2020, the JRPG is as dead a genre as shmups are. Both had their golden age but now are delegated to the dedicated fans. Ones awash in nostalgia of those old days, for the ones who enjoy a full universe to explore. Imagination is forsaken for a beautiful presentation of HD graphics and CD quality audio.  Characters with voices and motion actors and NPC’s alike.  The worlds become like our reality in this case, manifesting in technology to present a more life-like story.

In Persona 4, the emphasis on the characters was special. I felt that I could have known these characters in my own High School, or that I knew iterations of them in the personalities of my very own friends. I don’t know what makes a believable character, per say, but Persona 4, with it’s modern setting, made me feel like this was something I was actively partaking in myself.  (Over the course of a year, I finished Persona 4.)

In Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 the gimmick that gives up imagination is a world so detailed, so crisp and beautiful, it is a microcosm of life itself. Some other RPGs may invoke this feeling, but I boast this statement on the fact that games in the value of FF XIII and XIII-2 are stocked in just that, production value, a high budget, by the grandfathers of the JRPG themselves.  The battle system of FF XIII was not something to take a high regard too, however. Instead, it was more-so a part of a cinematic presentation that engaged me to the battles.  Where mashing ‘X’ was enough control for me to become engaged yet relaxed enough to take in the incredible presentation overall.

I recognize that fans of the older games in the FF series began detesting the series at FFX. Gone were so many mechanics that made Square’s JRPGs as robust as they were.  Gone was an explorable overworld, a plethora of equipments, some mini-games, character management overall. At FFX many of these things became streamlined to do what? I believe it was to tell a more meaningful story.  FF XII is sort of an odd cookie in this equation, I’d like to exclude it from this thought process for a moment. In fact, I feel like FFX, and FF XIII, FFXIII-2 are very similar games. The primary feature of both being a disregarded overworld for a linear story progression.  A story that held your hand more closely, to keep you in its nestle for a leisurely yet focused 70 hour experience.  And the characters in these stories I felt were closer together than any characters in any previous FF game. With FFX, FFXIII and FFXIII-2 I suspend my disbelief and give my senses to the video game to mold.

Because I am not jaded to the phenomenal CG these games have produced. I have a high appreciation for the presentation of these games in fact. Gamers will argue just how much the new FF’s are even games anymore, but as long as I can feel somewhat in control of establishing my power.   FFXIII did this nicely with the Paradigm Shift system, as long as something simple  for battle exists like this, I will be pleased.  It WAS pretty simple, though.

FFXIII and XIII-2 tell despairing stories of humanity in their high budget microcosms that I really quite enjoyed. There was an array of emotions displayed by the characters that conveyed themselves onto me, coupled by the amazing music of Naoshi Mizuta and others who aren’t Nobuo Uematsu.  Square Enix have become my favorite modern story crafters, creating worlds so delicate that I felt like I was in them.  And even if I lost my place in their story slightly, I fell back on the music, sound effects, the facial models or a variety of things that make these games amazing to me.

So shout outs to the haters out there. These are phenomenal places for the mind to take a breather, if you are so inclined to repose. Then I recommend you do.

Footer: This article is intentionally written in a careless, holistic manner. So take these thoughts, incomplete if some may be for how you will. Because I wanted to show how I appreciate JRPGs today.  I hope that has come across in some way.