Maps: The Strengths and Weaknesses of jRPGs4

I haven’t been able to actually finish many tumblr posts lately, though I’ve started plenty or set articles aside to write about. I’ve been working through my Read It Later list, finally, and it’s great reading long internet articles on my Kindle. Anyway, I’m going to try writing shorter posts and see how that goes.

        This is kind of a bittersweet article for me, because I like jRPGs and he puts a lot of the reasons behind that into words. But then at the end, “our games are for kids,” is so terribly disappointing to me. May as well give up on Final Fantasy now, apparently. Hopefully they figure that out before dumping millions of dollars into development.

        It’s not all bad, though - Square-Enix may suck at console RPGs now, but they’re not the only ones making them. The DS is chock full of great ones, and hopefully the 3DS can continue that. The thing about the DS is that it’s dirt cheap to develop for, but I doubt the 3DS is. Actually, very few current gen jRPGs have been very good… At best, they’re just prettier PS2 games and that makes them pretty mediocre. Stuff like Hyperdimension Neptunia, Ar Tonelico Qoga, and Record of Agarest War appeal mainly to their dedicated existing fan base, if at all.

        I’ve got enough of a backlog to play through that I’d never notice if no good games were released ever again, but still. It would be nice to see something fantastic. Something like, say, Cthulhu Saves The World, which is literally the best jRPG I’ve played in recent memory. And it’s three dollars, and comes with a second game. WHY AREN’T YOU BUYING THIS? It’s less than a stupid Starbucks coffee!