How to Revitalize JRPGs

When one thinks of JRPGs (which stands for Japanese Role-Playing Game, for those with a social life), one imagines strange-looking characters with pointed faces, big eyes, spiky red, purple, and blue hair, who inexplicably emit mushroom shaped clouds whenever they speak. When one thinks of the type of people who play these said JRPGs, they probably conjure up images of acne-ridden, chubby, unemployed people who dwell in their mothers’ basements, possibly dressed as their favorite JRPG character.

JRPGs seem to have been stuck in time. While the production values have naturally been ratcheted up over time, the core gameplay elements have remained the same. Here are some simple ideas to improve the genre.

Plot: JRPGs follow adhere to similar plot lines. A simple, teenage boy with blue or green hair reluctantly becomes a hero, who eventually has to go up against an evil empire/emperor. Break the mold, craft something unique and creative. Throw in plot twists that come out of nowhere (Baten Kaitos). Spice things up, and don’t turn the story into that mini game where I keep mashing the A button to scroll through text.

The Crew: Limit the number of characters in the main cast. Throwing in too many characters into the mix makes developing meaningful character plot lines very difficult. This isn’t the Brady Bunch. The ideal cast should consist of a badass hero/heroine (Kaim from Lost Odyssey), a goofy sidekick for comic relief (Jansen from Lost Odyssey, or even Mario and Luigi from the Paper Mario series), and the insightful/studious third wheel (Velma from Scooby Doo), who keeps the crew headed in the right direction. Also, I never want to see a child in the main cast ever again (Karol from Tales of Vesperia, Sam and Cooke from Lost Odyssey, those two irritating kids from Infinite Undiscovery, etc.). Prepubescent characters only provide banter on nonsensical topics and an inordinate number of fart jokes. Honestly, who wants to deal with that?


This crew is a bit too motley


Strategy and skill: JRPGs boil down to selecting the biggest and baddest sword at your disposal, and then swinging it around for 60 hours by pressing a single button, only to pause the screen to use healing items (Tales series). Imagine a JRPG where skill actually mattered! I’m thinking about properly timed button presses (ring system in Lost Odyssey, many of the ideas in the Paper Mario series) and timed decision making sequences (Baten Kaitos Origins). Level grinding will always be a JRPG mainstay, but make it challenging and fun! The bonus board from Star Ocean, in which you rack up combat bonuses based on how well you perform in battle, is a neat idea.

Villain: The villain should actually strike fear into your heart much the same way that Scar did when you watched Lion King for the first time. But, if the game is going for the more blasé we-don’t-take-ourselves-too-seriously approach, then I guess a blundering idiot villain like Eggman from the Sonic series would suffice. Just give the villain a consistent personality, one that matches the tone of the game.

Choice: The one category that western RPGs absolutely demolish JRPGs is in the category of choice. Games like Mass Effect, Oblivion, and Fallout 3, give the players an incredible amount of freedom, and every choice has a consequent repercussion some time down the road . Remember in Fallout 3, where you actually have the choice to BLOW UP one of the towns?!?! JRPGs are comparatively far more linear. The Tales series does a good job in giving players numerous ways to traverse large world maps, and go anywhere at any time. But the plot rarely changes and character development is scripted. After you beat the game, few things change in the second play through.

Dialogue: Make dialogue funnier. Please, that’s all I ask. I’m sick of this pseudo-epic Dragon Ball Z nonsense. If you need an example, look at Jansen from Lost Odyssey. He was actually funny.



Dude was actually funny.

Hub Cities: Make them varied and unique (Eternal Sonata). Find a way to make hub cities more than just places with a market, an inn to rest in, and a person to talk to in order to advance the story. Populate the cities, make them come alive, toss in NPCs Mass Effect style. Throw in hidden items, sprinkle in the occasional mini game, add some non fetch-quest side quests, and now you’re in business.


Now that's a baller hub city.

Well, these are just a few that I came up with off the top of my head. If you have any more ideas, post them under the comments section…let’s see if we can get at least 1 comment!