We've come a long way, baby
Amber
,
The JRPG, formerly known more broadly as the console RPG, is a genre suffering from stagnation—or so I've been told. It's a statement often bandied about, but how true is it, really? I recently started what promises to be a bit of an RPG binge with Xenoblade Chronicles, and now find myself deep into a replay of Breath of Fire III. When it comes to game mechanics, these two RPGs could not play more differently.
When thinking back to what else I've played recently, at one extreme you have the very conservative Tales series, and on the other you have the likes of Final Fantasy XIII, which tossed out numerous genre conventions in favor of a streamlined experience. Striking out on their own directions, you have the aforementioned Xenoblade and The Last Story, another RPG I'm hotly anticipating, which releases in August. There are a lot of differences in the details, but the big three that most impact my own experiences, and likely the experiences of many players, are how these games each handle monster encounters, character growth, and death.
When thinking back to what else I've played recently, at one extreme you have the very conservative Tales series, and on the other you have the likes of Final Fantasy XIII, which tossed out numerous genre conventions in favor of a streamlined experience. Striking out on their own directions, you have the aforementioned Xenoblade and The Last Story, another RPG I'm hotly anticipating, which releases in August. There are a lot of differences in the details, but the big three that most impact my own experiences, and likely the experiences of many players, are how these games each handle monster encounters, character growth, and death.
