I Guess I Just Don’t Get Japanese RPGs

Anymore I'm pretty sure I just don't get Japanese Role Playing Games (JRPGs). And it's not that I don't understand and sometimes enjoy them; I did sell my original Xbox in 2004 to buy a Playstation 2 and then spent two years playing nothing but JRPGs.

I played Final Fantasy X and XII on the PS2, as well as all of the available PS1 Final Fantasy games, Grandia II and III, the entire Xenosaga series, Dragon Quest VIII, Suikoden V, and many others. And while I enjoyed some (Xenosaga I, Grandia III) more than others (any Final Fantasy game), I have positive memories of that time.

There were two reasons I bought the PS2 in the first place, though, which explains why I even ventured into JRPG territory at all:

1) Greg Kasavin's review of Xenosaga on Gamespot's web site. After reading that review I wanted Xenosaga really badly and it was about a year before I was able to experience it for myself.

2) The severe lack of Western RPGs on the Xbox and PC. Yes, Knights of the Old Republic was great, but Morrowind was all but unplayable on the Xbox and my PC couldn't handle the load.

So anxious to try something new, and definitely hungry to play Xenosaga, I ventured into the wonderful world of Japanese RPGs. For the most part it was great, because Xenosaga was a deep, fun, wonderfully told RPG that felt new and fresh and made me hungry for more. Final Fantasy X, on the other hand, had a story and combat that were generally quite good but its graphics were garish and it's random encounters too plentiful.

But fast forward to today when the only console I own is the Xbox 360 (and yes, I have owned ALL of the latest consoles and hand helds but the 360 is the only one I still own) and it's a completely different story. Now my platform of choice has as many great Western RPGs as I want and the JRPGs on the system are not only less plentiful, but they just aren't as appealing.

There have of course been a few stand outs. I loved Lost Odyssey, a game that I spent scores of hours playing and enjoyed, but I think part of its appeal is that it was very traditional, not unlike earlier Final Fantasy games. It was approachable, understandable, and familiar.

Which brings me to Final Fantasy XIII, a game that is too alien for me to enjoy. As mentioned before I'm not a big fan of the series; I liked X and XII and thought VII was pretty good, but I'm not into the  overwrought pop culture style graphics, the silly stories, and the completely absurd number of battles one must fight in such a game.

But more importantly, I just don't like the combat system once it gets fully fleshed out. The first five hours of Final Fantasy XIII, the period most reviewers and podcasters say is the worst, was in my opinion the best. Battles were quick and fun, light and crunchy as it were, but once all of the options you can have in a battle are introduced, they begin to drag on for far too long.

And I realize that's the point: The battle system is supposed to have depth, and Square is doing its best to teach you how to use it. But you know what? I just didn't get it! I just couldn't understand it at all! And while I'm the guy who can beat Mass Effect six times, two of those on the hardest difficulty using a character from a previous career, and I can play Dragon Age: Origins or Fallout 3 for 200 hours each, I just didn't get this game.

So it's not a matter of hating Japanese RPGs or Final Fantasy in particular, I think I'm just old and PC-centric enough that I can't really figure the stranger ones out. I didn't even own a Nintendo or Playstation console before 2004, and I grew up on the Commodore Vic-20, C-64, Amiga, and finally the PC. My first foray into JRPGs was with games that were simple enough for me to grasp and close enough to the turned based games I had played on all those platforms, which enabled me to enjoy them.

So what does this hold for the future? Will I ever love a Japanese role playing game again? If the games that Square, Sega, Namco and others have been turning out recently are any indication, maybe not. It would have to be a rather conventional JRPG for me to love it, one that didn't bore or crush me, something that was interesting and understandable enough for someone who prefers Western games to get.