Why JRPGs Are The Best Videogames

For me, RPG are a combination of my two favorite indoor hobby : play of words and circumstances (reading, watching, listening, story and fiction, etc.) and play of logics an commands (solving puzzles, playing detective, math, physic, observation, etc.)

I think there are overall three types of gamers: experiential gamers, mechanical gamers and cozy gamers. Everyone has an overlap of the three but I think one will always stick out. Experiential gamers approach a game like a book or a movie, Mechanical gamers approach a game like a board game or a sport, while cozy gamers approach a game like a hobbie. "What's the story and themes" vs "what's the core mechanics and rules" vs "whats the mini games and relaxing areas". All are valid gaming criteria. JRPGs are one of the few genres that can hit all three in one game and hit them extremely well.

I think its insane you didnt talk about the soundtracks for these games. games like smt 4, ff7 and xenoblade have some of the strongest ost's in gaming period.

Yeah, I love the variety that JRPGs can give, both in story and mechanics. I also think a huge draw of the genre (for me) is the sheer earnestness. They're not ashamed to take their wacky stuff seriously, or to really commit to their emotional beats. Also, if you want a good example of interesting secondary systems in JRPGs, I'd recommend checking out the Star Ocean series. They basically treat progression as a puzzle of (optional) interlocking systems that, once you figure out how the pieces fit together, let you break the games in half. It goes super deep, and gets absolutely silly.

I agree that Western RPG tend to fall into some specific patterns but the existence and success of games like Disco Elysium makes me pretty excited for what they can offer when shedding the medieval setting.

I love JRPGs, big fan of Persona series, Final Fantasy series (though I think it started to taper off after 10). One problem I always run into is if I ever put the game down and return to it after some time is I have no idea what I was doing or what's going on. Quest logs can somewhat mitigate this and at least let me know the primary things I can do. But my favourite implementation was in the game "The Invincible", as you progress in the game, all events and choices are recorded in the form of a comic book you can read at any time; so if you return to the game you can read the comic and know exactly what was going on. It's not the first game to do this, I vaguely recall another doing recaps but I can't remember what it is. Recaps should become more normalised :)

I was really late to the jrpg party. I didn’t get into jrpg’s until my mid twenties, the first jrpg I played to completion was Persona 5, and while I absolutely love that game, it was Nihon Falcoms Trails series that really sealed the deal and made me a jrpg fan. To this day, Trails of Cold Steel 4 is the first and only time I have wept at a video game, like ugly crying dude. What a game.

You will love the optional super bosses in Xenoblade Chronicles.

I don’t think turn based systems are the issue, but rather how you’re forced to interact with these systems. Specifically the encounter system and the leveling system. Chrono Cross tries to minimize the need for grinding by making it where your party only levels up after beating a boss. So the only things you really need to grind for are money materials. And it removes annoying encounters by NOT randomizing them. You can see the enemies on completely avoid them if you don’t want to fight them. And even if you get into a fight by accident, you can run away from it no matter what.

its insane how much i agree with you. FF9 was also the game that got me into jrpgs as well and its been my favorite genre ever since. I also am glad you put the section in about western rpgs, whenever i try to explain why i cant get into "traditional fantasy" to people i never know how to articulate why. you segment about it sticking super close to tradition was a perfect way to put my thoughts into words. thank you for this video

Wait, you haven’t finished Xenoblade 1? I think it’s got one of the most satisfying JRPG endings ever.

By some weird coincidence I have heard the phrase "there's nothing new under sun" in three different Youtube videos on three different subjects by three different creators - on three consecutive days! That's ironic.

I played Crystal Project earlier this year, and while it has damn near no story to speak of, i find it absolutely fascinating. It feels like someone made a whole world in minecraft and you explore it metroidvania style as you unlock different mounts, along with a job-style class system that you unlock as you explore. I just wanted to share that.

I’m obsessed with groups of people from different areas of the world banding together for a common goal

I hate it when people treat turn based JRPGs as dated and only made due to hardware limitations. The combat being turn based is a conscious choice because the gameplay is about STRATEGY! You're supposed to think carefully about how you're going to deal with the gauntlet of enemies between the entrance of this dungeon and the next save point, manage resources like Potions, attack items and your party's MP, while allowing yourself some leeway to explore off the intended path to find some hidden treasures. Bosses are all about identifying patterns, weaknesses and strengths to find openings to deal damage and avoid using damage types they're immune to or benefit from. You're supposed to THINK about how you're going to approach the challenges before you tackle them, and if you're underprepared, you'll have to face the loss of progress and go through it all over again, until you refine your strategy well enough to clear the challenge. It's the same mentality of a Dark Souls game, except the emphasis is more on the strategy and less on reaction. One isn't objectively better than the other, and the presence of action gameplay does not invalidate turn based combat! Just wish those detractors understood that instead of just dissing on it out of ignorance.

Smt IV representation as to what makes a great more challenging jrpg is incredibly based. Thank you

Regarding how stale JRPG combat can be, I really liked how Yokai Watch addressed this by making combat play out automatically. Yokai act according to their personality (devoted yokai will heal, rough yokai will attack, etc.) so the strategy isn't in spamming your best moves over and over (they do that for you), but in managing which teammates you want on the field. Boss fights can get frantic as you switch your yokai out of the frontlines, then back in, and then back out while managing everyone's debuffs. I recommend trying these games, they're not the pokemon clones that a lot of people wrote them off as.

"All of the games in X genre are the same" tends to be an arguement that people would use against genres where the games are actually really not near the same. And what is more funny is that usually the people who critize are playing games in a genre that is more homegenous. It is very odd to me, like if everyone is pretending that they believe something that they don't.

Love the Bravely call out. Not kidding, I recently searched for an hour+ long deep dive on the series and its impact, but found nothing. The importance of Bravely Default and how it changed the trajectory of turn-based JRPGs cannot be understated. I even thought of starting my own YouTube channel just to do a video essay on it lol. Looking forward to yours!!

Just discovered this video on my recommended and i have to say your channel is amazing! Can't wait to see the future content. Hope you are well!