He added: “So when it comes to the term ‘JRPG’, this is something that ties into this – these are RPG games that, in a sense, only Japanese creators can make with their unique sensitivity when it comes to creating these experiences. “I think it’s certainly something that should be celebrated moving forward, and someone should actually aim to make a ‘king of JRPGs’ game to express that. As Japanese game creators, we’re very proud of the actual term JRPG.”
We asked Kamiya if he’d be offended if people started using the term ‘J-Action’ to describe games like Bayonetta. “On the contrary, I’d be very proud if you used that term,” he replied. “It’s more focused than the broad genre of action, and it highlights the unique elements that only Japanese developers can make. So yeah, if you wanted to do that, go for it, we’d be proud more than anything else.”
Adding J- prefix to Japanese pop culture is not a new thing, we already have endearing terms like
- Jpop (Japanese pop music)
- Jrock (Japanese rock)
- JAV (Japanese Audio Visual collective)
- Jdorama (Japanese TV drama)
- Jmetal (Japanese metal music)
I would definitely welcome Kamiya calling his games J-Action.
There are plenty of turn based western RPGs that aren’t JRPGs, like the brand new Baldur’s Gate 3. If a game is a JRPG, I’m expecting an ensemble cast who each have their own special abilities and weapon type, and they each level up in more or less exactly one way, which I can’t control. Instead, I customize them through equipment, if at all. Dialogue may have choices, but it’s usually between choice A and choice B.
In a western RPG, I may have a party of characters or only control one, and when I level up, I get points to spend in whichever attributes I think I’ll get the most value out of for the build I’m going for. These skills may result in skill checks that open up different avenues for solving problems in the game than if I had invested in other skills, and these skill checks may come up in dialogue.
Of course, J or not, the reality of the world is not so binary, and many games have some but not all of these traits or make them more difficult to define, but the J does tell me something.
I know what you mean but what you’ve done is just define two sets of games with varying differences in mechanics. So only WRPGs can assign attributes and JRPGs must have ensemble casts? There are many components of games that can transcend genres. A racing game like Mario Party can have an ensemble cast with unique abilities, A game like Sims can have attribute spending to create a player build. Locking these to genres doesn’t help understand as you suggest but that doesn’t mean we should stop trying.
It’s much easier to used these parts as extra descriptors and even better when you also add perspectives
- BG3: An turn based strategy [with complex choice]
- Valkyria Chronicles: A turn based strategy [with player recruitment]
- Disgaea: An turn based strategy [with unlockable job systems]
- Wargroove: A turn based strategy [with resource management systems]
I’d even prefer “Earthbound-inspired RPG” as thats more clear on what I’m going to be playing
I shortened the definition for the sake of not writing a book, but the point is that no one game will satisfy all of the criteria of a genre, but they evoke a common set of responses and scratch a similar itch. The genre would be more anchored to early Final Fantasy titles than Earthbound.
I wasn’t suggesting all games should be labeled “earthbound-inspired”, the term JRPG is so broad that just suggesting it’s inspiration is more informative.
