So, Should We Stop Saying JRPG? (The Jimquisition)

I missed the time when JRPGs were considered bad, but I remember when anime were eyed suspiciously. Until the Last Airbender came out and people started arguing whether it was an anime or not, and whether the art style was more important than the origin... Maybe call them Party RPGs? Having a party is imo what sets them apart both from skyrim and from dark souls. Or just keep the term JRPG and apply it to western games as well. Let the J aknowledge the origin of the genre, reminding people that the japanese invented it.

That was a very, VERY interesting topic you brought up, Steph. I think this makes for a wonderful debate as to the terminology used and what it means to who and for what ends, etc. I've been wracking my brain about it since watching the episode, thinking about what games I'd have quantified as a JRPG and what I would have otherwise and it's a very interesting thought experiment. Ive always loved JRPGs even through their so-called "dark ages" even still so I never really thought twice about any negative connotations associated with the moniker. Well done Steph, sounds like you've really got a lot of folks thinking, myself included. I love it!

I remember the term from way before that - deep in the 90s - and always hated that some people pigeonholed it. I've always avoided using it anyhow, but this is a great reason to drop it. (Like dropping 'japanimation' and just go with anime for adult-inclusive animation.)

Very thought-provoking episode!

I also missed out on the concept of Japanese RPGs being bad… Don’t know where I was at this time… But I loved Final Fantasy and happily gobbled it up whenever the next one came out. And then, of course, the Resident Evil series has been a staple in my game collection. And my family has had every Nintendo console up to the Wii. I don’t think I’d ever played a Japanese game that I didn’t love back then. And I’m happy to say my friends loved them as much as me. I have to say, this was news to me and it’s pretty surprising. Also sad. And it does hit as racist, ngl. Especially that clip… yeesh…

Hmm. Interesting. This is my genera of games and I've been playing them for decades. I view western RPG as being turn based combat based in D&D, GURPs, or something similar. APRGs are not turn based. Diablo 2, dark souls, mass effect, and many more are more action oriented than placing pieces. For me, JRPGs are turn based but the numbers come from no where and placement typically doesn't matter. To this day, I cannot tell you why wakka throws a ball and does the damage he does. Other very common traits are a weakness system, often as a key mechanic, and anime art style. I missed the whole JRPG being bad discussion. I do know that there are tons of terrible JRPGs out there because that is a very popular genre and western RPGs are not. We haven't had a good D&D game in a long time. Pillars of eternity is probably the best and it's excellent. After that, there isn't much. Now think about the sheer number of JRPGs there are. I sorted through dozens or hundreds on the ps5 store. Some will be excellent. Some won't.

Just my two cents for the name debate, the term CRPG (to me, at least) evokes the image of games like the old D&D computer RPGs, Planescape: Torment and modern takes like Pillars of Eternity. Definitely not saying these are "better" or more "real" or anything, just that these are VERY different games from say, older-style pokèmon (I've not had a Nintendo machine since the original DS, so I can't speak on the latter ones).

I'm glad you addressed a surprising but important conversation that arose seemingly off-hand. Some great takes, and it will be interesting to see where this issue of labeling based on cultures goes.

I miss Lost Odyssey. I loved that game, but haven't been able to play it in ages because I don't have access to the proper hardware. I really wish it had gotten a PC release.

This video was awesome, this was such an interesting subject. Phil Fish was a bit of a prick wasn't he?

My husband used the term Adventure RPG and I liked that one. Also, loved the new logos and lettering! The acid pink color was amazing.

Trying to name genres of videogames has always been quite the challenge. Mostly people end up just referring to a games' genre by the game it reminds them of (Doom clone, souls-like, metroidvania). To that end, let's just call what were known as JPRGs Dragon Quest-likes. Kidding of course. =P

I don't even know if Souls games are even Action RPGs anymore after how heavily they've defined their own niche. We need to grow our vocabulary to have better terms to talk about these things. Sticking to JRPG at this point is limiting our ability to describe and discuss RPGs.

This was such an interesting video. I agree that this is a good discussion to have. Thank you for doing an episode about this. 🙂

Was... was that a load of corn flakes held together by homunculus cum? CUMunculus, if you will?

Arise humunculi

RE: "Pokémon is not a JRPG because it's mainstream"... I never thought of JRPGs as something niche/abnormal. In fact, I never even considered them limited to Japan. People outside of Japan have created JRPGs, as weird as that might sound to some people. To me, it was a style of game, a game that is usually turn-based, but can sometimes be an action RPG, with character progression whose primary focus is to tell a story with established characters. It's distinct from the Western RPG type where it's more you creating a blank-slate character and acting them out in the game world. There were never any prejudices there. It's no different to me than saying something like "[insert ethnicity here] food". If you cook Japanese Food in America, is it not still Japanese food? Is it an insult to call it Japanese food? EDIT: And yes. Dark Souls is a Western RPG made in Japan. To me, this is not a weird thing to say, because, as I established, it's just the type of game it is.

Return of the Homunculus?! I am so in!