Don't Say JRPG!! Is This A Discriminatory Term?!

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David W Vincent
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[nateralus]

Growing up I just called them RPGs, didn't know there was such thing as jrpgs until I started listening to YouTubers talk about them. I thought "oh yeah that term makes sense" and just went with it

[justinc]

Glad to hear your thoughts.
I'm 40 and have been playing "jrpgs" since Phantasy star 2 and FF1 which got me hooked. I've NEVER heard it used as a negative. It's always been a descriptor. For me it's like a genre. As you said there are many games that aren't from japan but are "jrpg" style games. I look at it like a sub genre such as wrpgs (Mass effect/Dragon Age), action rpgs (God of war) trpgs (tactics/tactics ogre).

I like the history you gave about ff13. I also think his quote is being taken too far by some people. I didn't take it as him saying "JRPG is a racial slur!" the context you gave sounds like he's saying that when they first heard the term they thought it had a negative connotation and he sees that it's used with more positivity now but some still think back to how they felt back when.

Personally I'll still be calling them JRPGs, because that's the style of game I love, octopath, dragon quest, classic FF games, those to me are jrpgs. I think it could be, much like Idris Elba not wanting to be known as a "black actor" that they don't want to be pigeon holed into something. FF16 looks beautiful, but it also looks like a game, stylistically, that I wont like. But if they go into it screaming "it's the new JRPG from square!" people like me will be mightily disappointed because it's an action rpg not a traditional jrpg. So the label could feel restrictive.

I feel like I'm not expressing my thoughts very clearly sorry.

[jowston]

In my 35 years of gaming, I have NEVER, EVER, seen anyone use the term JRPG as derogatory. I am not sure if these developers were being told the right thing back then lol.

[holicekaderliiii]

When I was young I was told that all the best electronics were made in Japan and that the term JRPG was to acknowledge that the video game in question was made in Japan a is of superior quality. JRPG is a compliment.

[marie]

This is surprising because I also remember using JRPG as a term on the GameFAQs forums back in like 2002-2004! I think you're right about the timing, the PS3 generation was also when social media, youtube, reddit, etc. started getting popular and a lot of the stuff shared at the time was like Tidus laughing -- which was made fun of but also stripped of context.

I think there's not really a way to say JRPG without saying JRPG - you can drill deeper into it, such as "Turn Based RPG" or "Dungeon Crawler" but I still doesn't tell the full story and you can end up lumping together things like Divinity Original Sin or Balder's Gate into it.

[glutebrute]

If I'm not mistaken, around the 7th gen, "JRPG" games were being heavily scrutinized by western developers. There was a panel by Phil Fish for FEZ, I believe. A Japanese game developer flew out from Japan to ask him questions on his views of Japanese games. Phil essentially tore into the guy and said that Japanese games sucked.
Around that same time as well, I remember plenty of online skits from multiple media outlets, as well as publications, that were actively mocking Japanese games. I do not have sources for those unfortunately.
I think this is what Yoshi-P is referring to.

[writersblock]

Growing up, I always navigated to JRPGs as a marker of quality. The term would signify that a game has the particular mechanics and development choices I find particularly engaging; whether that be turn-based battles, a more focused as opposed to open-world narrative, an emphasis on achieving atmosphere by a particular score and art design etc. I also think the term probably better captures a genre or style of game, and may be better refered to as 'Japanese-inspired, ' as opposed to one with a set geographical origin. For instance, I would call Chained Echoes and Omori JRPGS.

[k-Noodles]

Somebody asked Tetsuya Takahashi if he found the term derogatory and he said no.

Good enough for me.

[davidwarren]

I am so glad you brought this up. I read the article earlier today and it's been stuck in my head. You can't tell someone whos feelings have been hurt that they shouldn't be hurt by what you said, and I certainly have no desire to hurt the feelings of the people who make my favorite games. That said, though, I think it would be better of the terms better described the game play rather than their place of origin. This isn't Champaign, here. To a large degree this is something we do already. Tactics Strategy RPGs are just that, Action RPGs are just that. Clearly turn based is falling out of favor a bit, but it's also seeing a huge renaissance where it matters most, and a lot of these games aren't even coming from Japan. It's sort of weird to call games like Shadows of Adam, or Chained Echoes JRPGs when they have nothing to do with Japan. So I would say Turn Based RPG would work for those. As far the more modern Final Fantasy games the like, there is less and less to distinguish them from western RPGs these days anyway, from art style to play style. So we may as well just call them what we would call any other AAA game, crap.

[femtrooper]

I don't find it derogatory at all and love the term! JRPGs can be made in the US or in Japan - it's a style to me and should be celebrated! It's a style that originated in Japan and I embrace the term fully!

[shadowmaksim]

I guess I'll apparently be that one person and say, yes, in my nearly 25 years of active gaming, I have seen the term "JRPG" be said in a derogatory sense. Granted, nowadays, it definitely is nowhere near as bad as it used to be for a number of reasons but I still occasionally come across it used in that way.

Honestly, I don't know how so many people didn't see it that way considering just how prevalent of a sentiment it was back around the 2010 timeframe, during the 7th console generation essentially. The term "JRPG" did exist before but that's when it really gained media traction in usage. So hearing how some Japanese developers don't like the term, I'm not even remotely surprised. Heck, the recent interview with Yoshi-P isn't even the first time this has been brought up. If I remember correctly, there was an interview around a decade ago in regards to "Xenoblade Chronicles X" where the subject was brought up and most of the development staff shared similar statements. So this isn't exactly an out of nowhere news.

And let's not forget how "JRPG" was even originally conceived to separate Japanese made RPGs from "real" RPGs. If I remember correctly, it mostly stemmed from the friction at the time between Computer RPGs, which were mostly preferred in Western countries, and Console RPGs, which was heavily Japanese led. As the technological gap shortened, the terms eventually changed at some point. Someone more knowledgeable of that timeframe can probably clarify or correct me on some details.

But yeah, thinking about it in recent years, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not a fan of the term myself. At best, it's essentially worthless due to how inconsistent it is since everyone has their own definition. Not to mention we have other actual genre tags that are both more concrete and accurate (like Action RPG, Dungeon RPG, Strategy/Tactical RPG, Traditional RPG, etc). At worst, well, it's what sparked this conversation.

I don't think the term is going to disappear anytime soon, especially when some people are adamant about using it positively, so it's just one of those "better get used to it" situations as far as I'm concerned.

[PetarBladeStrok]

Sadly where I'm from, Croatia, JRPG was often used as a derogatory term. It would associate you with anime, which is sadly also looked down upon here. It's like that in many Slavic countries.

[gettin_lit]

It was always used as a way to distinguish the difference between east and west RPGs..never used in bad way...

[shanevstheworld]

Not quite related, but on revising terms after years: we called them VCRs for decades. But nowadays even my 72 year old father-in-law calls them "VHS players." That type of linguistic drift fascinates me.

[SuperDerek]

Hey thanks for the shout-out David! :)

[RyanNightTalks]

Totally agree. That was my recollection as well. JRPGs were the 'good RPGs'. Everyone called the SNES-PS1 era the "Golden Age of RPGs" because the JRPGs were so good, maybe even stretches to PS2 a little bit.

[lordmickey]

I asked my son what he thought and he suggested Eastern RPGs. I guess as opposed to Wrpgs. Would that work? I dunno.

[craig]

We've known it as JRPG for such a long time here in the West, and it's my favourite genre of gaming. Before i understood anything about the differences between JRPGs and Western RPGs, i just viewed them as Role Playing Games. I even questioned what on earth a Role Playing Game was as a kid, before i was introduced to the genre.

Whenever is see JRPG mentioned in a game, my interest automatically perks up and want to find out more about the game. I think about the awesome Japanese culture and the incredibly talented people who design and make these timeless games for all of us to enjoy.

[robobeau]

It's just so much quicker to say "JRPGs" than "The GOOD RPGs". 💅

[royfrias]

This woke mob just needs to go away is absolutely tiring hearing these people. I will never stop calling them jrpgs it’s what I grew up with and I will die calling them that