6 replies to this topic

[shadowstep00]

I have been thinking lately if a Classic JRPG can nowadays make big sales. Do you think that if anyone created a classic 2D RPG with nice art design, with a story as good as an old Final Fantasy game more mature with fully developed personalities, characters with true motivation and better backround story while having a traditional JRPG gameplay with some modern additions can really be a hit and a game to be remembered?

I am talking about a game that will keep the traditional old RPG concepts, have turn based battle system but will add something a little more modern to make it more new, interesting and enchanted.

I would like to have an answer from people who have been making games and know how the industry works.

Thanks in advance!

[sunandshadow]

Just my personal opinion, but even back when I was playing the first generation of 2D jRPGs I always thought the turn-based battle system was the weak link among all the design choices, and I still think so. Either a tactical combat system or a platformer/arcade combat system is a better choice, IMO. But nice high-resolution 2D art is definitely still popular with game consumers. Single-player games might be becoming more casual-focused while the big players focus on the online multiplayer market, but there are still big number sales of single-player games each year. But when you talk about "anyone" creating a game and "industry" creating a game, you have to realize that's two hugely different ballparks. The membership of this forum is primarily indie creators and small studios with small budgets. That kind of team would have great difficulty producing a game with the sheer size of a Final Fantasy or similar jRPG, or even something like a Pokemon-style RPG. The number of man-hours needed to produce that much content is staggering, regardless of whether the game is 2D or 3D. Even a visual novel, which could be regarded as a simplification of a jRPG, is a pretty big challenge for an inexperienced or budgetless team to produce.

[shadowstep00]

I got your point. I think that a team with 3-4 dedicated members can make a game worth playing. If they would work for the project about 1-2 years they could actually manage making a really big and nice 2D JRPG (I do not inlcude the story,dialoges and the battle system concepts this will be made before they start working so dont count that too). With that said i think an organised program of what to do each time will get the job done.

Yes turn based can be really boring for someone who really doesnt like it but i think with the right changes of the casual system battle it can be transformed into something more creative,quick and challenging to make the user more active to the battle, make it more beautiful to watch and FUN!

I believe that a nice combination of gameplay, graphics and story can take good reviews by gaming sites and as a result get big sales.

I think its all about dedication and hard work

[WildField]

http://insomnia.ac/commentary/on_role-playing_games/

Might be useful to read, if you are going to make rpg.

[Ravyne]

I think their time is largely past in terms of being the AAA games they once were, but that there is a solid market for well-made classic-style JRPGs out there, in smaller form. See Breath 4 Death, Cthulu Saves the World, or Wizorb, all of which are doing well on Steam after being modestly successful on XBox Live Indie Games.

Steam is huge. There are other options like Diaspora. Sony is opening up an app platform on their Vita portable, and it wouldn't be unreasonable to think they'd do the same on their next console. XNA/Indie Games has been an interesting experiment for Microsoft, if not a profitable one for them. I would expect that many platform companies are eager to follow in Apple's footsteps with regard to an app-store-like model, so I expect the number and diversity of platforms will grow where a classic JRPG-style game, or indeed any classic game, could find audience enough that a handful of people might band together and make a living.

Edited by Ravyne, 24 May 2012 - 01:17 PM.

[Giauz]

http://insomnia.ac/c...-playing_games/

Might be useful to read, if you are going to make rpg.

I'd say that was a waste of 20 minutes. The history parts were interesting, but overall it was a rant (NOW FEATURING: f-bombs!).

I respect his opinions, which they were, and I want to also state that opinions are all anyone has who is not in control of their own computer game project.

Thoughts on the article that pertain to this thread:

In my opinion, the article's author misses the point of the JRPG. When Wizardry and Ultima (a few people have said specifically 3) came over to Japan, the style of gameplay was found to be fun (alot of people over there still find classical Wizardry combat to be a favorite, apparently). Secondly, the stories in JRPGs are as they are because that is what resonates with the players (mostly young to late teens but there is some crossover that can be appreciated by adults). Thirdly, battle systems change between games so often because they are being made to suit new games and do not require reuse for many adventures like PnP (the author mentions that learning new rule systems would make creating adventures difficult in a PnP format, but this is untrue for a video game RPG, playing which is no different than playing another genre of game like Madden and then going for a game of Baldur's Gate). Also, there is no reason battle systems can't range from the simple (Dragon Quest, Pokemon, etc.) to the complex (Temple of Elemental Evil). The author does not allow for differing opinion on what is enjoyable.

As for JRPGs not striving to be or developers being too stupid to understand PnP RPGs, I think there could be some cultural barriers, but we live in a connected world that doubtless leaves one ignorant of very little (especially subjects sharing the same acronyms). I think it is worthwhile to address whether emulating PnP RPGs is the goal of JRPGs in the first place. I argue that emulation is not their goal. Yuji Hori of Dragon Quest reportedly was a big fan of Wizardry and DnD PnP at the time of Dragon Quest's development. Rather than try to replicate what rulebooks, a DM, and a host of players can do, he and many other JRPG developers created games based off the gameplay framework for battles and exploration in Wizardry and Ultima that had become so beloved and a "re-experiencing" of the exciting adventures one could have with characters one could make in a PnP format.

The current state of WRPG popularity in the east right now shows that for the time being, Japan hasn't found a modern WRPG gameplay framework that captivates them as much as Wizardry and Ultima (3) did. As for in the west, JRPGs are still liked by many and are still quite accessable to new, young players as they always have been (an entire genre of games "growing up" with their older fanbase would start to erode what allowed them to be so enjoyable to them when they were new, young players) and to people who don't necessarilly enjoy PnP and its conventions.

Sorry that was so long (I think reading the last paragraph sums things up nicely enough).

[Orymus3]

@shadowstep:
I've been leading an effort to make one for the last 7 years, so I gotta say this:
I don't think this is an impossible venture, but I think you're largely underestimating the effort required to do this.
Some unnaturally successful indie have managed to do more with less, but for the most part, you're looking at a 5 people team for a few more years than 2 ;)
(maybe not 7, as we've been slacking a little here and there, partly because I have a rough time squeezing this between having kids and working in the VG industry...