Decline I don't actually like RPGs

[Sigourn]

Yeah but do these characters have any personality or function beyond being teenage boys in generic fantasy hero roles?

Your image is biased because you conveniently pick the few western RPG protagonists with personalities of their own over the protagonists of, say, Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Wasteland, Arcanum, Morrowind, New Vegas, Ultima, Wizardy, and I could go on and on and on...
Which is precisely what makes the protagonists from those games so boring. Sure, I can pick my dialogue choices (in most of them). Not like they are anywhere near as memorable as the dialogue lines from JC Denton, not even close.

Just accept your image is biased and move on; I'm not interested in discussing the merits of "JRPGs" just like I'm not interested in discussing the merits of "WRPGs".

 

[JarlFrank]

Yeah but do these characters have any personality or function beyond being teenage boys in generic fantasy hero roles?

Your image is biased because you conveniently pick the few western RPG protagonists with personalities of their own over the protagonists of, say, Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Wasteland, Arcanum, Morrowind, New Vegas, Ultima, Wizardy, and I could go on and on and on...
Which is precisely what makes the protagonists from those games so boring. Sure, I can pick my dialogue choices (in most of them). Not like they are anywhere near as memorable as the dialogue lines from JC Denton, not even close.

Just accept your image is biased and move on; I'm not interested in discussing the merits of "JRPGs" just like I'm not interested in discussing the merits of "WRPGs".

Ok but you're the one who started

The protagonist of the BG games is the son/daughter of a god, haunted by violent dreams. And he/she can be of any race and class you want.
The protagonist of Fallout is a vault dweller sent out into an unfamiliar post-apocalyptic wasteland in order to save his vault from dehydration. Can be male, female, dumb, smart, a fighter, a diplomat, a thief...
The protagonist of Arcanum is the only survivor of a zeppelin crash, and some crazy cultist tells you that you're the reincarnation of a religious figure. Again, you can be any race and skill specialization you want.
The protagonist of Morrowind is a released prisoner working as an imperial agent, and later on it is revealed he/she is the Nerevarine, the reincarnation of Lord Nerevar... but is he/she really? You can't even be sure about that. Of course, race, sex and class are up to the player again.

These premises are a lot more interesting than anything I've seen in JRPGs. I don't see how any of these are "boring", especially since YOU get to define your character. You pick your race, your sex, your class, and what you say in dialogues.
In a JRPG you don't get to pick anything yet the character premises are LESS interesting than in WRPGs. What's the point of having a fixed protagonist with zero player input when the end result is less interesting than what WRPGs manage to do with full player input?

 

[Morenatsu.]

Yeah but do these characters have any personality or function beyond being teenage boys in generic fantasy hero roles?

The protagonist of Chrono Trigger has "..." as the most common line in his dialogues LMFAO

that sounds just like me!!

 

[Oberon]

Holy based

 

[Morenatsu.]

Yeah but do these characters have any personality or function beyond being teenage boys in generic fantasy hero roles?

Your image is biased because you conveniently pick the few western RPG protagonists with personalities of their own over the protagonists of, say, Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Wasteland, Arcanum, Morrowind, New Vegas, Ultima, Wizardy, and I could go on and on and on...
Which is precisely what makes the protagonists from those games so boring. Sure, I can pick my dialogue choices (in most of them). Not like they are anywhere near as memorable as the dialogue lines from JC Denton, not even close.

Just accept your image is biased and move on; I'm not interested in discussing the merits of "JRPGs" just like I'm not interested in discussing the merits of "WRPGs".

Ok but you're the one who started

The protagonist of the BG games is the son/daughter of a god, haunted by violent dreams. And he/she can be of any race and class you want.
The protagonist of Fallout is a vault dweller sent out into an unfamiliar post-apocalyptic wasteland in order to save his vault from dehydration. Can be male, female, dumb, smart, a fighter, a diplomat, a thief...
The protagonist of Arcanum is the only survivor of a zeppelin crash, and some crazy cultist tells you that you're the reincarnation of a religious figure. Again, you can be any race and skill specialization you want.
The protagonist of Morrowind is a released prisoner working as an imperial agent, and later on it is revealed he/she is the Nerevarine, the reincarnation of Lord Nerevar... but is he/she really? You can't even be sure about that. Of course, race, sex and class are up to the player again.

These premises are a lot more interesting than anything I've seen in JRPGs. I don't see how any of these are "boring", especially since YOU get to define your character. You pick your race, your sex, your class, and what you say in dialogues.
In a JRPG you don't get to pick anything yet the character premises are LESS interesting than in WRPGs. What's the point of having a fixed protagonist with zero player input when the end result is less interesting than what WRPGs manage to do with full player input?

WRPG protagonists aren't interesting unless you're playing Planescape: Torment, which is a WRPG JRPG Adventure hybrid thing. Otherwise, player dialogue choices are more like gameplay and don't actually make a character interesting in the way that's usually understood. The interesting part is the story itself, player choice is just a means of influencing it. It doesn't do anything to make the blank protagonist any better than a Japanese teenager.

Also, the Baldur's Gate thing is literally just an anime cliche. Actually, all of them are. Sorry that you can only jerk off to novelty or whatever the hell it is you like with your feet.

 

[Sigourn]

These premises are a lot more interesting than anything I've seen in JRPGs.

I thought Final Fantasy VII had a far more interesting premise and setting than nearly any western RPG I've played (barring Deus Ex), but you do you.
Cloud may have been a weak protagonist, but even then he had more personality than most western RPG protagonists, which shows just how poor WPRG protagonists are.

 

[abnaxus]

I haven't played new rpg game since 1993.

 

[JarlFrank]

Otherwise, player dialogue choices are more like gameplay and don't actually make a character interesting in the way that's usually understood. The interesting part is the story itself, player choice is just a means of influencing it. It doesn't do anything to make the blank protagonist any better than a Japanese teenager.

Yes, dialogue choices are like gameplay.

Because RPG means Role Playing Game. It's supposed to be played. You are an active participant in the activity, not merely a passive observer.
RPG protagonists should have an interesting concept behind them, but other than that they're a blank slate because they're meant to be malleable by the player's choices and actions.
Interesting from a gameplay perspective >>>>>>>>>>>>> interesting from a story perspective.
The story background of your character should only determine what your position in society and the story is, and everything else is up to you to decide.
If you fail to make your own character interesting, it's not a fault of the game, it's a fault of your lack of imagination.

I guess years of playing JRPGs rots your brain and makes you unable to create an interesting character of your own without relying on canned cutscenes.

 

[Poseidon00]

I would rather RP in Mortal Kombat Armageddon than in Baldurs Gate 3. I can't stand traditional RPGs anymore and especially any modern ones. Isometrics and fighters are my go-to these days.

 

[Thac0]

Cloud is always going to be the boy with the bigass sword and you can't multiclass him into a wizard.

FF VII has an open class system and Cloud can be whatever you like. You can put all magic materia on him and make him a wizard. A big point of criticism about FF VII is that characters matter too little, since the materia system is so open ended that everyone can do everything you spec him for, Tifa as a wizard, Cloud as a wizard and Aerith as a wizard will all perform roughly equally.
That last point of yours is especially retarded, even compared to your usual attempts at uninformed genre comparison.

 

[Reinhardt]

i've been here for 3 years and i still don't get the "rpg games" meme

People are just too lazy to type "computer role-playing crpg games".

 

[hello friend]

These premises are a lot more interesting than anything I've seen in JRPGs.

I thought Final Fantasy VII had a far more interesting premise and setting than nearly any western RPG I've played (barring Deus Ex), but you do you.
Cloud may have been a weak protagonist, but even then he had more personality than most western RPG protagonists, which shows just how poor WPRG protagonists are.

 

[Reinhardt]

AND allow the player to shape that protagonist to their will

No, they are not. "I want to be a dragon" is used to mock Bioware but it's actually perfect picture of end result of "c&c".

 

[Poseidon00]

FFV and Tactics were peak design for that series. A customizable party based class system was really cool.

 

[JarlFrank]

AND allow the player to shape that protagonist to their will

No, they are not. "I want to be a dragon" is used to mock Bioware but it's actually perfect picture of end result of "c&c".

lol Bioware
Play Age of Decadence, Arcanum, Titan Outpost, Theseus Journey to Athens, and the upcoming Space Wreck to see what C&C is.

 

[Reinhardt]

Nah. It's still just a little bit better. You can't make proper c&c with provided choices. It's handholding with crafted outcomes so player won't feel robbed. Not even CYOA level, where there is fail states if you go retard.

 

[Morenatsu.]

Otherwise, player dialogue choices are more like gameplay and don't actually make a character interesting in the way that's usually understood. The interesting part is the story itself, player choice is just a means of influencing it. It doesn't do anything to make the blank protagonist any better than a Japanese teenager.

Yes, dialogue choices are like gameplay.

Because RPG means Role Playing Game. It's supposed to be played. You are an active participant in the activity, not merely a passive observer.
RPG protagonists should have an interesting concept behind them, but other than that they're a blank slate because they're meant to be malleable by the player's choices and actions.
Interesting from a gameplay perspective >>>>>>>>>>>>> interesting from a story perspective.
The story background of your character should only determine what your position in society and the story is, and everything else is up to you to decide.
If you fail to make your own character interesting, it's not a fault of the game, it's a fault of your lack of imagination.

I guess years of playing JRPGs rots your brain and makes you unable to create an interesting character of your own without relying on canned cutscenes.

*posts picture saying wrpg characters are inherently superior story-wise*
‘um ackshully its about the gameplay not the story hurr durr’

JRPG bad because character blank. WRPG good because context of story. What? Those are completely different criteria. JRPG protagonists have as much story and premise as any WRPG's, you just don't like them because they're young and Japanese and act very Japanese in situations that appeal to the Japanese otaku weeaboos. Other than that, the only real complaint is the lack of muh choice and consequence, which is something entirely independent of actual character. So you should be shitposting a comparison of gameplay and setting, or something, not characters. And really, your own made-up head-canons of what you want your pretty post-apocalyptic vampire princess to be aren't an inherent feature of the game, so you can't judge it based on that. Who gives a shit about making their blank-slate characters ‘interesting’, anyway? What the hell does that even mean? I just choose the kind of character I want to play and choose the dialogue I want to say. I'm not writing fan-fiction as I'm playing. I'm playing an adventure game with extra options. And that's fine, that's great, I like that. But if I want character, I'll play a JRPG instead, as contrary to your incoherent argument, their protagonists are actually better in that regard. A pre-written character with a story made for it is always better than taking a multiple-choice quiz to generate a generic story that doesn't really care who you are. The only way to fix that is to role-play with actual people who can write a story as you're playing. Story is the only reason to care about ‘character’, so...

 

[JarlFrank]

JRPG protagonists have as much story and premise as any WRPG's, you just don't like them because they're young and Japanese and act very Japanese in situations that appeal to the Japanese otaku weeaboos.

I actually do like Japanese culture and characters!

But if I want character, I'll play a JRPG instead, as contrary to your incoherent argument, their protagonists are actually better in that regard. A pre-written character with a story made for it is always better than taking a multiple-choice quiz to generate a generic story that doesn't really care who you are.

If I want to watch a movie, I will watch a movie.
When I play a game, I want to actually play a game and not watch "my" character do stuff on autopilot in overly long cutscenes.

 

[Reinhardt]

When I play a game, I want to actually play a game and not watch "my" character do stuff on autopilot in overly long cutscenes.

Japanese are famous for having lots of hidden shit impacting your game. Not "we will show you slightly different text during final credits"

 

[Morenatsu.]

If I want to watch a movie, I will watch a movie.
When I play a game, I want to actually play a game and not watch "my" character do stuff on autopilot in overly long cutscenes.

But watching a movie is a very different experience from playing a game with 50 hours of cutscenes.

Why not both.

 

[anvi]

Movies are trashy too, they're mostly made for dumbass teenagers or stay home moms. So dudebro-ish, so much rehashing. I haven't seen a good action movie since about the 90s and all the oscar winning tearjerkers are overblown. Gaming is a similar standard to movies I'd say. For every classic Godfather or Alien, there's a mountain of junk.

The standard of TV is good nowadays though. Great stories, characters, dialogue, variety. Narcos, Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Weeds, The Wire, Oz, Ozark, etc. I think TV standard is far above movies and games now.

p.s. The game "Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis" was way better the third movie. Also 99% of indie games have no actual writer involved, it's all written by the programmer, and it shows. Sometimes they do a great job but mostly I am mashing escape through dialogue and cutscenes in games. I wish games would either have a great writer, or just keep it simple. I think this should be how most games should handle their story, a short compelling intro that sets up everything, then you go and play with no more interruption.

 

[Sigourn]

If I want to watch a movie, I will watch a movie.
When I play a game, I want to actually play a game and not watch "my" character do stuff on autopilot in overly long cutscenes.

"If I wanted to choose my own dialogue lines, I would play a Visual Novel."

This is how stupid you sound.

 

[Blaine]

Uh-huh. Yeah. Sure.

Oh, please. I'm about as far as you can get from a defender of weeb shit, but this is a laughable case of reductio ad absurdum.

 

[fork]

Well, it still favours WRPGs though.

 

[TemplarGR]

The only quality RPGs are Bethesda RPGs. The. END.