Anyone else want a genre-shift back to RPGs?

[Gamerforlife]

It seems more often that "RPG elements" are being incorporated into games of practically every other genre while the idea of the classic RPG is being discarded/ignored by most publishers/developers (NIS America, AKSYS, XSEED, and ATLUS aside, along with a few others).

I find this apparent shift very interesting, though also quite sad.

Not many FPSes are trying to be Wolfenstein 3D either.

That some developers continue to find a niche audience for deliberately anachronistic product is really more a testament to there being a dedicated fanbase, not lack of one. I tend to see a lot of the JRPGs now as being self-indulgent, much like a lot of modern anime. They're making games that pander to the existing fans, if not specific niches in that market.

So, so true. I see Nippon Ichi as a company catering to those types of fans which is why I generally don't pay attention to their products anymore. I think I've "outgrown" Nippon Ichi

Again, I bring up Valkyria Chronicles as a great example of a game that could reach those types of fans while still trying new things to move the genre forward a bit. Playing that game was such a wonderfully unique experience, and that game was classy too. Any game that includes a Japanese language option over a silly dub gets a thumbs up from me. That's a game that had all its bases covered, unlike a lot of half-assed releases these days

[Stark]

It seems more often that "RPG elements" are being incorporated into games of practically every other genre while the idea of the classic RPG is being discarded/ignored by most publishers/developers (NIS America, AKSYS, XSEED, and ATLUS aside, along with a few others).

I find this apparent shift very interesting, though also quite sad.

Not many FPSes are trying to be Wolfenstein 3D either.

That some developers continue to find a niche audience for deliberately anachronistic product is really more a testament to there being a dedicated fanbase, not lack of one. I tend to see a lot of the JRPGs now as being self-indulgent, much like a lot of modern anime. They're making games that pander to the existing fans, if not specific niches in that market.

So, so true. I see Nippon Ichi as a company catering to those types of fans which is why I generally don't pay attention to their products anymore. I think I've "outgrown" Nippon Ichi

Again, I bring up Valkyria Chronicles as a great example of a game that could reach those types of fans while still trying new things to move the genre forward a bit. Playing that game was such a wonderfully unique experience, and that game was classy too. Any game that includes a Japanese language option over a silly dub gets a thumbs up from me. That's a game that had all its bases covered, unlike a lot of half-assed releases these days

I don't get people that prefer the original dialogue to a dub. Is it because in the original language you can't tell if the acting was bad?

[AppleQueso]

Valkyria had a rather nice dub I thought

[Stark]

Valkyria had a rather nice dub I thought

I'm guessing he's just meaning that the option was there? Maybe not, as he called it a "silly dub".

All I know is that I think you miss out on a lot of fun stuff if you don't get a dub. Like Persona 4 Golden, I don't think would have nearly as many hilarious parts if it hadn't been for the way it was voice acted. Quite good IMO.

[Gamerforlife]

Valkyria had a rather nice dub I thought

I'm guessing he's just meaning that the option was there? Maybe not, as he called it a "silly dub".

All I know is that I think you miss out on a lot of fun stuff if you don't get a dub. Like Persona 4 Golden, I don't think would have nearly as many hilarious parts if it hadn't been for the way it was voice acted. Quite good IMO.

Well not every game has a bad dub. I just find it safer to go with original language whenever the option is available. Either it's gonna be better than the dub, or I won't know it's bad as you said, because it's in Japanese. Either possiblity is good in my book. Not all dubs suck, but a lot do which is why I think Japanese should always be an option. It just shows me that a company put in that extra effort to include it when most don't bother and I appreciate that. It tells me that the people putting the game out actually give a damn about the consumer.

Plus, I'm a purist. If I have the option, I'm always gonna go with the original language whether it's game, movies, or anime. I'll listen to the dub if I have to, but I'd always prefer not too. I really like the voices for Valkyria Chronicles in Japanese and that's how I think of those characters now, so I've no desire to ever try the dub

I'll admit though, sometimes a game is way better in English. Lollipop Chainsaw got a whole new script from James Gunn that was awesome. That game just felt Western to begin with, so it fits

[AppleQueso]

Valkyria had a rather nice dub I thought

I'm guessing he's just meaning that the option was there? Maybe not, as he called it a "silly dub".

All I know is that I think you miss out on a lot of fun stuff if you don't get a dub. Like Persona 4 Golden, I don't think would have nearly as many hilarious parts if it hadn't been for the way it was voice acted. Quite good IMO.

Options are always nice I suppose.

There's a lot of different schools of thought when it comes to localizing something. Some think you should focus on preserving the content as is, translating stuff directly, leaving cultural references and such alone, etc. Others feel it's more important to give western audiences an equivilant experience to their Japanese counterparts, so they'll do things like replacing cultural references with western ones or spicing up a game script. Personally, I'm a fan of the latter, but there's merit to both approaches.

[isiolia]

Usually I consider sub/dub more that the product was designed around a particular language. While games may be able to work around it (or not, depends), stuff like anime tends to not go back in and edit the time/words spoken to match what a great translation of the script would actually be. Instead we get a version that the VA can match up with the mouth movements.

I do tend to prefer dub for stuff like comedy though, at least when it's dependent on timing.

[Betamax001]

Options are nice, especially when the English dub is crap. I find Americans have a hard time to do those cutesy voices as well as the Japanese. I don't care for either, but the Japanese cutesy ones are a bit more tolerable.

Sometimes though the lack of English voices is jarring. I recently got One Piece Pirate Warriors on the PS3 (a fun game for fans of Dynasty Warriors and One Piece) and first we didn't get a disc release in the United States (I don't want to fill up my 120 GB PS3 HD with a 11 GB game if I don't have to!) and they don't even dub the game with the English VAs? The game is like 50 bucks! (I picked it up on sale recently for 25, but still!) If the game is gonna cost so much, they could at least dub the game. Speaking of this game, I'm surprised the Gundam Dynasty Warrior games got full english dubs and disc releases, but One Piece Pirate Warriors didn't? I'm fairly certain One Piece is more popular in America than Gundam is...but I digress...

[MrEco]

Not many FPSes are trying to be Wolfenstein 3D either.

And we're due for a revival of the key-maze FPS too.

Having just recently played through the original Doom, I can't agree more.

[Robonaut]

Again, I bring up Valkyria Chronicles as a great example of a game that could reach those types of fans while still trying new things to move the genre forward a bit. Playing that game was such a wonderfully unique experience, and that game was classy too. Any game that includes a Japanese language option over a silly dub gets a thumbs up from me. That's a game that had all its bases covered, unlike a lot of half-assed releases these days

Actually, I thought Valkyia Chronicles was a perfect example of what not to do.

The combat system was terrible. When I'm playing a SRPG, I want to be able to take my time and think through each move. When I've got every enemy in sight shooting at me non-stop while I plan my moves, it kind of ruins the experience.

(I will say that I appreciated the option to have Japanese voices, though.)