Shock
banner
yurushock.bsky.social
Shock
@yurushock.bsky.social
ヲタ
You can still just be a "RPG" and still be part of the same game genre of these japanese titles. There's a reason why Undertale is so beloved by so many japanese creators and fans, becoming now an influence to new devs. The story ressonates with them beyond borders, you don't need the J to do that.
December 12, 2025 at 12:44 PM
And as western hegemony of culture is a thing, it also ends up creating criticism of the genre not conforming to western expectations. Here's an example of it: "talking/acting like real people". It's a regular criticism being made of "JRPGs" in the wake of E33's reception.
December 12, 2025 at 12:44 PM
A few years ago Blue Archive, a korean gacha, exploded in popularity in Japan with a narrative extremely influenced by japanese otaku media. The main writer had some interesting things to say about it, how culture can shape the same narrative through different cultural lens.
December 12, 2025 at 12:44 PM
This chase of the "FF Golden Era" from the SNES to the PS2 became a running point about the "downfall of the JRPG", something that never happened in the country that the J is meant to represent.

The term itself existed to otherize, not to understand a different culture, said by some japanese devs.
December 12, 2025 at 12:44 PM
But as the PS3 pushed for higher fidelity gaming, japanese RPG developers mostly moved to handheld systems such as the DS and PSP. The mainstream media saw this era as a "JRPG Crisis" as they didn't follow the developers to these systems and instead called them a "dead genre".
December 12, 2025 at 12:44 PM
As they became more popular console-wise, Final Fantasy shaped the idea of what a JRPG was. It was much more popular than Dragon Quest in the west and Pokémon, the other series that sold more, was seen as a handheld thing. So perception of JRPGs was closely linked to what FF did through SNES to PS2.
December 12, 2025 at 12:44 PM
In the west though, mainstream media treated JRPGs as games where a guy with a sword fight monsters in turn based combat. This idea of JRPG as aesthetic can be seen clear in how, to this day, Pokémon is often treated as a different thing, even though it's a turn based RPG based on Dragon Quest.
December 12, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Yet it's not like everything was just Dragon Quest, different styles and subdivisions started to show up over time. Megami Tensei went for sci-fi occult trend, Mother was a parody series, etc. Certainly wasn't a static genre that you could define by visual aesthetics alone.
December 12, 2025 at 12:44 PM
So yeah, japanese RPGs were born influenced by western fantasy, yet as they became popular on consoles in Japan, the same popularity wasn't seen in the west and they kept influencing each other in its own subculture. Dragon Quest became basically a staple to every other RPG.
December 12, 2025 at 12:44 PM
So basically, JRPG is a term created in the west to differentiate the traditional RPG of the time, more associated with PC, to the japanese console focused ones. Funnily enough, these console games were already influenced by western games such as Wizardry, but branched into a different route.
December 12, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Saying a western game isn't a JRPG isn't elitism or gatekeeping, it's about the roots of a "genre" that doesn't exist and that's a term that caused more issues than anything.

To begin with, JRPG wasn't really a term used in Japan. When people talk about Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy, they're RPGs.
December 12, 2025 at 12:44 PM
melhor personagem do universo
December 8, 2025 at 9:35 PM
nue's exorcist continua sendo a luz dos domingos
December 7, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Fui ler o novo Kanokari e sai odiando app stores
December 2, 2025 at 5:15 PM
December 1, 2025 at 12:50 PM
December 1, 2025 at 12:25 PM
December 1, 2025 at 12:11 PM
鵺の陰陽師の拿月!最近すごく人気のあるキャラなんだ!
December 1, 2025 at 3:56 AM
Shiroha de Nue's Exorcist, você continua sendo a melhor heroína da Weekly Shonen Jump
November 30, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Um dos aspectos que mais devo gostar de Majora's Mask é como ele é sobre a perda de direção, de sentido, daquela fase da vida que termina a infância. Tanto o Skull Kid quanto o Link são "crianças perdidas".

Esse paralelo é óbvio pela espécie do Skull Kid ser de Kokiris que se perderam.
November 30, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Se for pra fazer review da Shonen Jump de 2025, o meu é por aí (até em ordem):
November 25, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Never watched a single video about this show and YouTube still recommends me these slop takes
November 25, 2025 at 12:15 AM
O governador de Minas Gerais
November 22, 2025 at 11:20 PM
November 20, 2025 at 1:08 PM
November 16, 2025 at 5:20 AM