One aspect of growing up is learning that things don’t always fit neatly into boxes. While genres can be a useful way to group pieces of fiction, they tend to start to falter when you are presented with edge cases. Of course, how big of a problem that is up to you.Which brings us to the JRPG.
What defines a JRPG? Can they originate from countries outside of Japan? Do they need to have a certain style of combat? I’m plunging straight down the rabbit hole with this one. Join me in embracing the chaos as we explore some of the more controversial games that can be classified as JRPGs.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
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Once a year, the Paintress wakes and paints upon her monolith. Paints her cursed number. And everyone of that age turns to smoke and fades away. Year by year, that number ticks down and more of us are erased. Tomorrow she’ll wake and paint “33.” And tomorrow we depart on our final mission - Destroy the Paintress, so she can never paint death again.We are Expedition 33.Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a ground-breaking turn-based RPG with unique real-time mechanics, making battles more immersive and addictive than ever. Explore a fantasy world inspired by Belle Époque France in which you battle devastating enemies.
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Let’s start with a softball. Expedition 33 is as traditional a JRPG as you are going to see on this list. We’re talking a classic progression system, turn-based battles, party members, and an emphasis on telling a story with a set of established characters.
The people who push back against Expedition 33 being a JRPG focus on one aspect: it wasn’t developed in Japan. Personally, I struggle to see how the country of origin factors in at all when grouping media. How many Japanese developers are needed before you earn the J in JRPG? What about Japanese immigrants? Do they count? I don’t buy it. Expedition 33 is a JRPG.
Yakuza Kiwami
Back and better than ever, the Yakuza series has been updated for modern gamers to experience the action, fun, and coolness of Kiryu and cohorts.1995, Kamurocho… Kazuma Kiryu, the Dragon of Dojima, takes the fall for the murder of a crime boss to protect his sworn brother, Akira Nishikiyama, and his childhood friend, Yumi.2005… Akira Nishikiyama has become a changed man. Yumi is nowhere to be found. Ten billion yen has gone missing from the Tojo Clan’s coffers, putting the organization on the brink of civil war. And Kazuma Kiryu is released from prison to a world he no longer recognizes.With enhanced gameplay, an expanded cinematic story, the return of the battle styles from Yakuza 0, more nightlife spots, and re-recorded audio by the series cast, Yakuza Kiwami is the ultimate and most “extreme” version of the original vision of the series, now optimized for PC with 4K resolutions, uncapped frame rates, customizable controls and ultra-widescreen support.
I’m going with Yakuza for the series name instead of Like A Dragon, as we are primarily talking about the action entries, and Yakuza is the name they all released under in the West.
I can’t even get to the fun part of this list because I’m still having to clear out the entries that are very obviously JRPGs. I don’t get how some Yakuza fans argue against this one. All the Yakuza titles have a leveling system, a fixed narrative, and random battles.Some people insist it is a beat ‘em up, which Iquasi-agree with. The Yakuza games follow in the footsteps of River City Ransom, which was a Beat ‘em Up-JRPG hybrid. Though Yakuza inarguably leans into the JRPG elements more heavily.
However, if you really want to insist that the Yakuza games are modern Beat ‘em Ups, let me ask you this. Is the stage progression linear like in most Beat ‘em Ups? Co-op is typically considered a prerequisite of the genre. Do the Yakuza games have co-op? No? Yet, they do have leveling, equipment, side-quests, and, once again, random battles. You areluckythat I acknowledge the Beat ‘em Up argument at all.
I see why this discussion pops up every once in a while. Parasite Eve 2 absolutely leaned more heavily in the direction of Survival Horror than the first game. The camera angles mimic what you’d see in a classic Resident Evil game, and the combat definitely moved more towards action by ditching the AT bar.
Parasite Eve 2 still gives you experience points after battle, but unlike the first game, you don’t level up traditionally. Instead, you use that EXP to unlock abilities. However, despite all these changes, the JRPG elements are still there. The magic system, elemental weaknesses, and all of that stuff could have been ripped straight from a Final Fantasy game. Additionally, though the AT bar is gone, the way weapon loading and firing has been implemented delivers a similar pacing. Additionally, when using abilities, you freeze time, which feels very similar to Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s battle engine.
Both Parasite Eve games are JRPG-Survival Horror hybrids. The difference is that Parasite Eve 1 leans more toward the JRPG side, while Parasite Eve 2 leans more toward the Survival Horror side. Some people are so fixated on the ways Parasite Eve 2 moved away from the original game’s JRPG mechanics that they can’t see how much of that JRPG DNA remains. At its core, this isstilla JRPG.
NieR: Automata
Nier: Automata is a continuation of the Nier series, developed by PlatinumGames and published by Square Enix. It takes place during a war between androids and machines, and sees you navigate an open world as the android 2B,
Nier: Automata is another fun one. It has a leveling system, side-quests, and that classic narrative focus. However, it also has that familiar Platinum style of combat, with the dodge roll slowdown and everything! Funny enough, I have seen far more people argue that Automata isn’t a JRPG than I’ve seen people argue that the original Nier isn’t a JRPG.
Honestly, I think the reason some people are less likely to see Automata as not being a JRPG all comes down to how recognizable that combat engine is. People see Automata in action, and they see Bayonetta. For some reason, the clunkier combat of the original feels more like a JRPG to people. But despite taking elements from other genres (including bullet hell titles), the primary package is still a JRPG. That is thecoreof the experience.
Wizardry Variants Daphne carries on the lineage of the classic RPG series, Wizardry. The portal to the labyrinth of despair, where even destruction is pleasure, has opened once again.
It is a curse of death that consumes the continent. A Warlock who coveted Death, devoured people and animals and enveloped the world in despair. Inheriting the power to seal the Abyss over generations, kings have continued to protect the kingdom from its curse. But now, the king has vanished, and the world is being consumed by death, moment by moment. Resistance itself is meaningless. There is naught but to perish.
Okay, this is another fun one. The Wizardry series is, classically, a Western-developed RPG franchise. They were light on story, and primarily saw youwork your way through dungeonsin the first-person perspective. This type of game used to be popular in the West, but that popularity died down greatly, and with it, the Wizardry series died. Well, it died in the West, at least.
You see, the series was quite influential in Japan. So, long after Wizardry became irrelevant in the West, Japanese developers were making sequels that released exclusively in Japan. There have now been more Japanese-exclusive Wizardry games than Western-made Wizardry games. Moreover, a number of popular JRPG franchises, like Etrian Odyssey, closely imitate Wizardry. Hell, some modern Wizardry games, like Variants Daphne, even have that anime aesthetic often associated with JRPGs.
Incredibly, it would appear that over time, a series of games that classically belonged to the WRPG genre hasbecomea JRPG franchise. Is this retroactive? Are all Wizardry games now JRPGs? I think you could most certainly make the argument. But there is no question in my mind that the most recent releases, such as Variants Daphne, are JRPGs.
3Undertale
More Than A Meme
This is the Expedition 33 argument all over again, but with a twist. Undertale is another JRPG that wasn’t developed in Japan, so that isone thingthe ‘Undertale isn’t a JRPG’ crowd gloms onto. There is another element as well. While you can play it like a JRPG, leveling up, acquiring items, and such, many people feel as though the real Undertale experience doesn’t involve those elements at all. That stuff is all a red herring. The real game is more ofan unconventional bullet hell shooter.
I do like that second argument better than the first, but at the end of the day, Undertale still has all the components of a classic JRPG, and youcancomplete the game playing it as one. All these indie Earthbound-like games add their own quirks to the formula, but at its core, Undertale is a JRPG that allows you to goa littleoff script.
This is just an aside, but the talk command also feels like it comes straight out of the Shin Megami Tensei series.
The Dark Souls games are a spicy topic of conversation in the world of ‘is it a JRPG’-based discourse. With its leveling mechanics, and magic systems, and side quests, there are clearly enough here to call it an Action-RPG. This simplistic argument would be to say that the Dark Souls games are Action-RPGs made in Japan. Therefore, they are JRPGs, but you know I don’tlovethat position.
Instead,I would point to the Shin Megami Tensei series, one of the pillars of the JRPG genre. Unquestionably, SMT games are JRPGs. No one argues they aren’t, but what do you do in most of them? Wander wastelands, explore ruins, and interact with shady NPCs here and there. Basically, the SMT games are Dark Souls, but with a little Pokemon-esque demon catching thrown into the mix. I think there is enough connective tissue there to firmly grant the Dark Souls games JRPG status.
Monster Hunter World
Well-received by fans of the long-running series, Monster Hunter World launched for PS4, Xbox One, and PC in 2018. It swapped the series’ separated zones for fully-connected areas, and streamlined systems to encourage new players. An expansion, Iceborne, was added in 2020.
This list has largely looked at hybrids and edge cases. Well, with the Monster Hunter games, we have one of the edgiest of edge cases. Right away, one of the big strikes against it is the narrative. Monster Hunter is a gameplay first title, with the narrative being pretty supplemental to the experience. However, while that narrative is a component we strongly associate with JRPGs, there are a number of established games in the genre that don’t place an emphasis on their stories. Like the early Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games.
Monster Hunter features side quests, and the weapon crafting gives players a very JRPG-like sense of progression. There are also weapons skills and other aspects that you would expect to see in a JRPG. Finally, Monster Hunter isall aboutgrinding; one of the favorite pastimes of many JRPG enthusiasts.
This is more of an aside, but it is also worth mentioning that Monster Hunter has an anime aesthetic, and a love for massive swords. An aesthetic classically associated with the JRPG genre.
You may find yourself scrunching your nose at this one, and I’m not going to lie, I’m right there with you. Yet, I also see that the Monster Hunter ganes have enough RPG aspects that they comfortably fits into the Action-RPG subgenre. So, what does it need to have in order to cross over into JRPG territory then? Well, that’s the whole point of this list, right? There is no established understanding of what a JRPG is. There are a ton of characteristics, mechanics, and qualities that are associated with the genre. If a game has enough of them, then the argument can be made that it is a JRPG. And for that reason alone, the Monster Hunter Games are JRPGs.
