Custom Robo Arena / Eurogamer
“I’ve got a big idea, readers. Why don’t we all get together and declare that we’ve had enough of the same old clichés that lazy Japanese RPG developers like to foist upon us, eh? Just draft up a nice letter, get someone to translate it, and send it off to “All videogame developers, Japan.” I’m sure it’ll get to someone. And viola! No more amnesiac heroes with a vague but important secret. No more precocious young lads from tiny villages who turn out to be the chosen one. And no more heroes that stand mute, while their companions talk and the plot progresses around them.”It’s interesting to note that even with the traditionally argumentative Eurogamer readership, there’s not a single comment in defense of Japanese RPG clichés. Offhand, there is an argument that the kind of clichés I’ve mentioned suffer not from overuse but from simply never being used in interesting ways, but, you know, I don’t buy it. They need to be put to bed for a pretty long time.
When I think Japanese RPG cliches, I’m more thinking of the stuff from Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest than a Pokemon type thing you’re describing.
Comment by Alice — May 29, 2007 @ 9:41 pm