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Monday, January 27, 2014

Western RPG's and JRPG's?

  I was just playing Game Dev Tycoon the other day, and I noticed something very peculiar about the genre for making games. When I decided to make a Dungeon/RPG game, "Labyrinth Doom", I thought I was making a JRPG, otherwise known as Japanese Role Playing Game. I got and average of 8.25 in the reviews, and I pondered on why it wasn't higher. I then researched a developmental report for the game, and I came across the fact that the A.I. was not very important, or neutral. Normally in a JRPG, you would need decent A.I. for it to be decent. So the only other sort of RPG it could be is a Western RPG. Now, you may be asking yourself, what is the difference between the two? Well, I'm here to tell ya'.
  JRPG's originated first in Japan, hence the name. They are also known as turn-base RPG's, as you take turns battling opponents. You would have your character(s) in a battle, and the enemy would be there also. However, the attacking didn't start immediately. You would have a range of options to choose from, like escape, attack, skills, or items. You would choose the command you want, and proceed until you have chosen a command for each of your characters. Then the battle would begin. Depending on speed is when the players and enemies attack. So the enemy may attack first, but you can still attack after it, assuming you don't die. Once everyone has attacked, you start to choose your move again. This would repeat until there is a winner. There are other elements of JRPG's, but this is the core part of it.
  Western RPG's are similar, but still different. I will post the similarities in the next paragraph. The big, massive thing about Western RPG's is the open world and endless quests. This means you can choose your character, go do a tutorial or something, then you are free to do whatever you want. Really. The best example of this is the Elder Scrolls Series, or more specifically, Skyrim. Here you start off editing and making your own character. You go through a cut-scene and then go through a small tutorial that takes about an hour. When your done with that you can do anything. Of course, there is a main goal you go after, but there is tons of side quests to do and terrains to explore. the options are nearly limitless. There are some other key differences too, like real-time action battles. No turn based strategy; full on brute force.
  Now, there are a lot of similarities, and I will go over them briefly. One is that there is tons of gear and magic and items to collect. Both games offer stores and shops to purchase new gear and equipment. In Western RPG's, it tends to rely on exploration, but there are stores too. There are also most commonly character creation and classes for you to experiment with. Major classes include magicians, assassins, and warriors. There more character creating in Western RPG's, but you aren't completely limited in some JRPG's.
  Now what is the point of this blog post? Not much but to inform you of what the difference between the two are. I would love to go into more depth on this, but this post is way overdue, and it is 11 at night, so I am going to go ahead and end it with this. I personally think that JRPG's and Western RPG's are both great, and one shouldn't resist buying one, as you won't regret it. But don't get any new Final Fantasy games, get the old ones, like FF VIII and down. :)

  Hey guys! :D So this one is very late, but I have good reasons. I was gone pretty much all Saturday, and when I got back, my modem broke, and it was broke all Sunday too. But it got fixed today, so I was able to just get this in. I would elaborate more, like how Pokemon is a very popular for of JRPG"s, but I didn't have it in me. I might go back and edit this later to make it better. Also, I won't be able to post this weekend because my and my family are going camping. I might be able to get a timed post in, but I am not certain. Just be on the lookout. If not, I should get one up Monday. I hope this posting late doesn't become a habit!

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