The Dying Days of JRPGs

The funny thing about video games is that there are a variety of genres that come and go in terms of popularity, appeal, fame, and quantity. Every generation we see different genres rise and different ones fall. Back in the 90s in the SNES days, it was the platform games that absolutely ruled with Mario, Sonic, and Donkey Kong at the helm. Nowadays, unless it’s Mario, your platform game is probably non-existent. Back in the 90s, shooters were demoted to being half-arsed PC games. And then Goldeneye bolted the door open. Now in the last generation, we saw a mammoth rise of first-person shooters that obliterated the sales charts—with Call of Duty leading the way. As for the genre that’s dying in recent days? JRPGs. Your Final Fantasies, Chrono Triggers, Dragon Quests, Square Enix games are quickly declining in popularity and soon enough I predict that these types of games will become extinct in the coming years.



Will there still be JRPGs? Of course there will….at the most three of them. After all, Pokemon is technically a JRPG and it has no signs of slowing down anytime soon. But the abundance, quantity, and sheer number of JRPGs will be limited to endangered species level. Remember the 90s? Sword of Mana. Dragon Quest. Chrono Trigger. Final Fantasy V. Final Fantasy VI. Final Fantasy VII. Illusion of Gaia. Tales of Phantasia. Earthbound. Super Mario RPG. Star Ocean. Breath of Fire. Breath of Fire II. Pokemon Blue. Final Fantasy Legend. That’s just the good JRPGs, I haven’t gotten around to mentioning the bad ones. Look at now, where are they? While the 90s franchises for the most part carried over to the latter generations (Mario, Sonic, Zelda, GTA, etc.), the only ones still running today from the list I just mentioned are....Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Pokemon.


So what’s happening? JRPGs just don’t have the cultural and significant effect that it used to have. But the potentially biggest factor in the decrease of RPGs is that the two biggest companies for making JRPGs back in the SNES/PSX generations had merged forces (Square Soft, Enix) back in 2003. With this blending of two RPG-laden companies, it lead to less competition and less games in the RPG department overall. And it also doesn’t help that they aren’t as daring or as good as they used to be. The recent Final Fantasy games while remaining slightly successful in Japan are bumming out in the rest of the world. Oh, and it doesn’t help that the recent Final Fantasies are miserable when compared to the likes of III, V, VI, VII, and arguably even VIII.

And eventually they will make Kingdom Hearts III.

Eventually.


Back in the 90s (recurring theme, I know) both companies were consistent in trying out new ideas and branching out new franchises while delivering quality sequels every now and again. We get none of those traces today. For some odd reason, they just gave up on franchises like Chrono, Breath of Fire, Mana, and many more. In the meantime, they churn out dozens of midquels, spin-offs, and retreads of Kingdom Hearts games. What hurts the most to me is the lack of sequels to the spectacular Chrono games and the long-delayed sequel to Super Mario RPG. I want my Geno and Mallow back, darn it!


The other companies that also made its share of grand RPGs have also scaled back in quantity numbers....or just cease to exist altogether. For a great example there’s Namco and their underused franchises Tales and Xenosaga. Namco really dropped the ball when they didn’t expand upon the surprise-surprise success of Tales of Symphonia for the Nintendo Gamecube. They could have had a major resurgence by building upon the high sales of the action-RPG by providing some sequels and some games that never left Japan. Instead they water down the Gamecube hit for the PS2, leading to dismal sales, and then hand the next sequel to.......the PS2. Now, the Tales series is a mere memory, when it could have been a heavy-hitter here in the States.


And then of course, the forever-heartbreaking shenanigans of Nintendo. Nintendo is an example few gamers would actually use even though its RPG history is almost a rich as Sony’s. They participated in Super Mario RPG, which was one of the best RPGs of all time back in 1996. And then there’s the Earthbound franchise, whose crazy views of American culture and style crafted a cult audience that to this day have remained consistently disappointed in the lack of progress. Last but not least is the Pokemon franchise. While it’s still a cash cow and a powerhouse franchise, it’s still nowhere near what it can be. And yes, you’ve heard this from me before. Many times.


To add a little salt to the wound, Nintendo isn’t pushing its second-party companies that much either. Game Freak of course being the main example (who have yet to top Pokemon Silver, a 2000 GB title), but then there’s also Camelot. And Genius Sorority. And Creatures. Camelot has created some RPG gems over the years (The RPG Mario Sports games on the GBC/GBA are underrated works of excellence) but spent SEVEN years in between Golden Sun games. This comes during a generation that gives us a Call of Duty game every single year. Seven years gave us 4 Halo games. Seven years gave us four Mario adventures in the main timeline. Hell, we even got three Metroid games. Lastly, Creatures is responsible for the Earthbound franchise, which we all know has gone nowhere in over a decade. There just isn’t much of a push for more RPGs on Nintendo’s end. And don’t even get me started on Operation Rainfall.


So the question is are we going to miss the JRPGs when they totally disappear from American soil? Or has this blend of games become dated like run-n-gun shooters, shoot em’ ups, and Crash Bandicoot? What looks like is happening is that JRPGs are being pushed aside in favor of the Eastern Hemisphere RPGs, or the real-time RPGs. While JRPGs tend to evolve much too slowly (if at all), we have seen great progress in other RPG franchises outside the Japanese field and influence. Games like Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and especially Mass Effect have pushed the envelope in the role-playing department, while games like Bioshock, System Shock, and even Grand Theft Auto are evolving a bit by adding RPG elements. What has Pokemon done lately? Nothing. Final Fantasy? Ruined itself. Dragon Quest? Stayed mightily traditional---like a candle going up against light bulbs. JRPGs need to take a page from Super Mario and learn that as the gaming industry evolves, improves, and becomes more advanced, they must cater to these changes and try to keep up. Don't lose the roots, but improve the branches. That was a tree analogy, yes it was.


Bottom Line: I predict that JRPGs outside the worlds of Pokemon and Dragon Quest are going to cease to exist soon.......very soon. In this next generation, we are going to see much less Japanese role-playing games and more Western RPGs taking form and controlling the RPG crowd. Almost all the franchises I mentioned earlier just won’t see a future as they are losing exposure and appeal to gamers worldwide. And we still won’t get that Earthbound sequel. And Square Enix will still suck and be a shadow of what they used to be. And worst of all, I just don’t see a second or third-party developer rising to the challenge and give us a barrage of original stories compact with excellent Japanese-influenced gameplay---like in the 90s.

JRPGs, it’s been nice knowing you, but Westerners are surpassing you in nearly every category in terms of the genre you guys once ruled with an iron fist.

I predict your days are soon over.

Enjoy them while you can.