Would JRPGs appeal more to Western audiences if they had older protagonists?

[CmdrShep2154]

Would protagonists like these



appeal more to Western audiences than teenagers?


Not to knock on P5! I loved those characters! Ryuji Sakamoto was a riot! But I have to ask would a JRPG sell better in the West in the protagonists were militaristic and had real time combat like Kingdom Hearts and was M rated?

But then that would probably be Mass Effect or Dragon Age in anime garb wouldn’t it?

Should a Japanese company make something like that?

[Danuel]

They are still to young mate (valkyria chronicles). I want play middle age hero who do and saw some shit not some airhead kido. btw human hero from dragon age is in his twenties.

[Tech614]

1) Persona 5 is M rated.

2) The VC characters you posted a picture of are basically very very young adults at best forced into war time. They look and act like teenagers.

3) JP studios should continue to do what they feel like doing. They're doing a better job at it then the vast majority of western studios.

[ChampionChains]

I haven't been into JRPGs in a long time (mostly due to playing PC exclusively and not seeing many I've been interested in). But thinking back to some of my favorites like FFVI, FFVII, Xenogears, etc, they often have characters ranging from young teens to adults in their 40s-50s.

Though I do thinks it's a really common theme in RPGs and adventure games in general to have a young hero and I don't think that hurts the success of any of those games. Look at Link and Zelda, the trio from Secret of Mana, the Breath of Fire series, Chrono Trigger, Lunar: silver star story, Suikoden II, Valkyrie Profile, Dragon Quest VIII, Kingdom Hearts, the list goes on....Very successful games featuring very young protagonists. I personally don't think age of the heroes has anything to do with people not being interested in any given genre.

[Boshusan]

JP studios (or at least executives meddling) sometimes think the same. For example Nier protagonist was changed from the older brother to the father outside of Japan, while in FF12 it was the other way around, in early development the story focused on Basch and later its shifted on younger Van as main protagonist.

Speaking of Valkyria Chronicles, in VC2 the characters were younger, they were cadets at a military academy that was suspiciously similar to the usual japanese high school. That's because the sequel was developped to a new platorm with a younger userbase (VC1 was on PS3 while VC2 on the PSP).

[Thelyron]

It isn't the protagonists age that turns me off, it's the art style.

[Destinas]

I'd love to see a revival of the JRPG genre in the west, but I'm not entirely sure it'll be as big as it used to be.

There are plenty of factors that go into why some people may dislike JRPGs. Could be the art style, the combat systems, the story, etc. I doubt, however, that age has much to do with it in the west. I got into them when I was a teenager, thus I could identify with the characters (somewhat) better then, but it doesn't turn me away from them now that I'm older. It's just the expected trope of the genre - spiky-haired teen guy goes on adventures with a childhood female friend. Doesn't matter if it's sci-fi, fantasy, or even a Western JRPG (like Wild ARMS).

A lot of the JRPG franchises/games that I liked did not continue, or changed fundamentally over the years. Suikoden was one of my favorite franchises, and the main setting was ended abruptly after Suikoden 5 - there were two more Suikoden games released after that (Tierkreis for the Nintendo DS, and a Japan-only Suikoden game), but they weren't set in the same universe as the previous installments. Final Fantasy, as well, has completely changed over the years - it's nothing like it was before FFX/FF12. Star Ocean has had random installments over the years, and they always seem to make us feel like they're completely done with the franchise, then they pump out another. And, people have been waiting, like, a decade for Kingdom Hearts 3.

Things like all of that kill off JRPGs in the west, and don't really bring back new customers. There are few new JRPGs that are well-known to most gamers now - I can really only think of the Hyperdimension Neptunia, Persona, and Tales games. And even then, I would imagine most people that buy those games are pretty loyal fans.

[Velshin]

Things like all of that kill off JRPGs in the west, and don't really bring back new customers. There are few new JRPGs that are well-known to most gamers now - I can really only think of the Hyperdimension Neptunia, Persona, and Tales games. And even then, I would imagine most people that buy those games are pretty loyal fans.

Don't forget the Legend of Heroes series specially Trails of Sky series and Trails of Cold Steel series.

[Tackhisis]

JRPGs love their sickening anime artstyle, and their art is usually degenerative in general. So no, until they adopt the Christian/Western art style, they will have no traction with the general audience in the west.

[Velshin]

JRPGs love their sickening anime artstyle, and their art is usually degenerative in general. So no, until they adopt the Christian/Western art style, they will have no traction with the general audience in the west.

Well it's part of their culture will be super hard to get rid of the culture. I rather they keep what they do best, better than trying to adopt as you say and screw things so badly examples?

Look at the current Final Fantasy series and look how it degraded over time why? because they were doing exactly what you just suggested.

Look at something like Tales series where they stick with their culture and what they do best? and you have something like Tales of Berseria which is super great game and the superior JRPG much better if you compare it to FFXV don't you think?

[Wildmoon]

The strange thing is I really like anime like Dragon Ball, FMA, One Piece and more but JRPGs don't appeal to me like at all. Pokemon is an exception to this.

I also have unreasonable hatred for non-cartoony + anime style like the modern Final Fantasy games, Devil May Cry, etc. JRPGs with complete anime cartoony style are a lot better to look at but I haven't tried them yet.

[Cairhiin]

No, I find the art style terrible, and the storytelling as well. It's really a matter of taste. Age of protagonist has nothing to do with it for me.

[derpkitteh]

they would appeal more to me if they didn't have shitty anime humor.

like 90% of anime i cannot handle. they're just stupid. dbz was good, because it was americanized. pokemon, same shit. digimon, same. yugioh, definitely.

americanize jrpgs and remove the shitty humor(or edgelord shit, anime/jrpgs are full of edgelords) and people here will like it.

[StrawberryZebra]

One of the core story telling tennets of JRPG's is that the protagonist slowly grows from a complete novice to an expert over the course of the game. That kind of plot device just doesn't work when you already start off as a jaded and cynical veteran fighter with 20 years of experience, such a character has little to no growing left to do. They've already reached the peak of their powers and almost certainly won't be getting any stronger from there on out.

Naturally, that kind of story suits younger protagonists better, since they've got more room to actually grow, both in game power and as characters. It's not just true for JRPG's either.

Compare Luke Skywalker to Obi Wan Kenobi for example. Luke is a flawed character with a lot of growing to do, both as a Jedi and as a person. We get to follow his story from the beginning until the point he's grown enough as a Jedi to defeat Darth Vader in combat, and grown enough as a character both to accept that Darth Vader is his Father and to be strong enough to resist the lure of the Dark side of the Force.

Obi Wan Kenobi has already long passed the peak of his power as a Jedi by the time a New Hope begins. He's long since accepted the fact that Anakin Skywalker has become Darth Vader and accepted that he's unable to do anything about that himself. He's a character that's already reached the end of his growth and is exerting what influence he has to achieve his end goals.

Star Wars is a better story told from Luke's perspective than Obi Wan's. It gives us a protagonist we can relate to, and come to understand his struggles and trials througout the story. Obi Wan has no struggles or trials left to complete, and it's hard for the audience to sympathise with a character like that. From their perspective, he's just powerful because he's powerful.

It isn't the protagonists age that turns me off, it's the art style.

A very legitimate concern, and one I do share with you. Japanese animators in general have forgotten the power of simple character design. It's why we get Squenix putting out BahamutMan, a figure that's how Tetsuya Nomura would have Batman appear in a Kingdom Hearts game. Most JRPG protagonists are over-designed to the point they cause eye bleeding, when it serves no purpose.

It's been proven time and time again that simple designs are more memorable. Look at characters like Mario, Link and Pacman. All have a very simple design. Super Heroes like Captain America, The Flash, Thor and yes even Batman all have a simple, memorable design too. Hell, even Anime characters like Goku and Pikachu are memorable because of their simplicity.

JRPG's need to stop overloading their character designs just because they've got the technical skills to pull it off and instead get simple character designs that help emphasise who the characters are within the game world.

[Aoyi]

Maybe this thread isn’t aimed at me, but I already do like a lot of JRPGs. I prefer games with story and long hours of gameplay over games that I beat in 6 hours. If I’m going to spend $60 on a game, I don’t want to finish it in a night or two. I don’t particularly care if its a western or eastern game. I just like well crafted RPGs.

[Arrashi]

JRPGs love their sickening anime artstyle, and their art is usually degenerative in general. So no, until they adopt the Christian/Western art style, they will have no traction with the general audience in the west.

*snort* well played sir.

[Mekkle]

Its not the visuals that bother me, its the gameplay.

[XDurionX]

No, I find the art style terrible, and the storytelling as well. It's really a matter of taste. Age of protagonist has nothing to do with it for me.

/signed.

I like the game mechanics, but i can't stand the style, the ridiculous haircuts/weapons, everything being completely overblown, obnoxious, loud and flashy.

[Wildmoon]

The another extreme to me is american super heroes. They look too stupid and very out of context to be taken seriously by me. People say Captain American or Batman look cool but just don't see it at all. They are as cringy as modern final fantasy characters to me.

[ro9ue]

I used to like them when I was younger but they don't appeal to me anymore. Leveling and gearing systems are super involved and most stories seem to be ridiculously convoluted. Also the art style is not my taste.

A sword double the size of my character? Big weird looking eyes? Over expressive animations? Just doesn't feel right to me.