Interestingly, some Japanese developers don’t like the term “JRPG.” They see it as othering — a label that ghettoized their games from “mainline” WRPGs.
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Interestingly, some Japanese developers don’t like the term “JRPG.” They see it as othering — a label that ghettoized their games from “mainline” WRPGs.
That’s fascinating, because in the West there’s a vocal JRPG fanbase that flips the snobbery the other way. For them, WRPGs aren’t real RPGs. The way they talk, “RPG” is like champagne: unless it comes from Japan, it’s just sparkling wine with stats.
Historically? Dead wrong. But weeaboos will be weeaboos.
Now, there are clear mechanical, stylistic, and design differences between WRPGs and JRPGs. So much so that Western studios often build games specifically to mimic JRPG formulas.
But the JRPG label has problems. What do you call a Japanese-made RPG that uses Western mechanics, Western aesthetics, and Western design language? They exist. ShadowFlare is a great example.
At what point does a JRPG stop being tied to Japan at all—and why do we still call it one?
The ‘JRPG’ label has always been othering
JPRG, or “Japanese role-playing game,” has become a label with both discriminatory and fetishistic applications. The term encompasses a wide variety of games, and has a storied history.
Polygon (www.polygon.com)
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Interestingly, some Japanese developers don’t like the term “JRPG.” They see it as othering — a label that ghettoized their games from “mainline” WRPGs.
That’s fascinating, because in the West there’s a vocal JRPG fanbase that flips the snobbery the other way. For them, WRPGs aren’t real RPGs. The way they talk, “RPG” is like champagne: unless it comes from Japan, it’s just sparkling wine with stats.
Historically? Dead wrong. But weeaboos will be weeaboos.
Now, there are clear mechanical, stylistic, and design differences between WRPGs and JRPGs. So much so that Western studios often build games specifically to mimic JRPG formulas.
But the JRPG label has problems. What do you call a Japanese-made RPG that uses Western mechanics, Western aesthetics, and Western design language? They exist. ShadowFlare is a great example.
At what point does a JRPG stop being tied to Japan at all—and why do we still call it one?
The ‘JRPG’ label has always been othering
JPRG, or “Japanese role-playing game,” has become a label with both discriminatory and fetishistic applications. The term encompasses a wide variety of games, and has a storied history.
Polygon (www.polygon.com)
I find it deeply amusing that some of the niche RPGs, such as Etrian Odyssey, and quite a few bigger names, such as Shin Megami Tensei, drew a boatload of inspiration from the Wizardry series, released in the US starting in 1981. Even Final freaking Fantasy drew massive inspiration from Wizardry, though of course there were plenty of other sources.
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I find it deeply amusing that some of the niche RPGs, such as Etrian Odyssey, and quite a few bigger names, such as Shin Megami Tensei, drew a boatload of inspiration from the Wizardry series, released in the US starting in 1981. Even Final freaking Fantasy drew massive inspiration from Wizardry, though of course there were plenty of other sources.
Jennifer Kayla | Theogrin 🦊 Everything influences everything. What’s strange is how often the most hardcore fans have no idea where their genre even came from.
Take metal. How many metalheads still believe it descended from classical music? Sure, some of it’s technical—but the actual lineage goes straight back to the blues. That’s the root. Not Beethoven. Not Bach. Blues.
And now we’re seeing the same historical amnesia with RPG fans. To them, RPGs are so Japanese, they might as well be sumo.
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Jennifer Kayla | Theogrin 🦊 Everything influences everything. What’s strange is how often the most hardcore fans have no idea where their genre even came from.
Take metal. How many metalheads still believe it descended from classical music? Sure, some of it’s technical—but the actual lineage goes straight back to the blues. That’s the root. Not Beethoven. Not Bach. Blues.
And now we’re seeing the same historical amnesia with RPG fans. To them, RPGs are so Japanese, they might as well be sumo.
Quite a few folks do try to cover up the shoulders of giants with dropcloth and pretend they're not there.
Mostly I just smile and note that anyone claiming to be an artistic purist in any way is full of it. (And I'm no longer that annoying kid who thought that certain forms of artistic expression were intrinsically invalid.)
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Quite a few folks do try to cover up the shoulders of giants with dropcloth and pretend they're not there.
Mostly I just smile and note that anyone claiming to be an artistic purist in any way is full of it. (And I'm no longer that annoying kid who thought that certain forms of artistic expression were intrinsically invalid.)
@theogrin We all go through it. As a teenager, I became obsessed with the Western “canon” of literature. I spent so much time and money reading the “classics”.
The result was I read a bunch of books I hated because a true man of taste is educated in that god damn high brow compendium of literature.
It only occurred to me—much later—that the canon is mostly arbitrary.
