in final fantasy 12 dungeons took FOREVER AND THEY WERE HARD EVEN WITH GRINDING! ESPECIALLY THE MAGIC ENEMIES

.... that is why I am playing Final Fantasy VII (bought from PSN) on my PSP because of the ability of a "quick save" when it turned off and so I can continue later on without waisting battery power or time looking for a saving point in game.

This is strange that the same thing can't be done on the PS3 when the PSP and also nintendo Wii(DL games) have this feature of quick save when you turn off the PSP/wii game.

All great points. For the point about Expensive Items with limited Money Drops, I feel there is a two way street. While playing Fallout 3 I was so frustrated at how easy it was for me to get money sometimes. Even while playing on hard I was mad at how simple the game was when it comes to finding bottle caps. Also, the author mentions Limited Experience Points. In Fallout 3 and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, I had the exact opposite problem. It was way too easy to level up in both of those Western RPGs, and what really sucks is that in Fallout 3 the level cap for the regular game is 20, which isn't enough because there are so many unique and interesting perks and the game would become very tedious if I was forced to start a new game just to use them. For KOTOR I was equally upset because I wanted to max out my Force powers and my regular class skills, but it's impossible to do in only 20 levels. However, I always ended up reaching level 20 at the last level of the game so I was satisfied with how Bioware managed to balance that out.

I'd have to say Limited Duration Events are the biggest offender here. If anyone here has played Vesperia and knows what the "Mother's Momento" item and "Dark Enforcer" title are, then you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

All very good points... but it's all just part of it. It's these same things that keep me coming back to the world of rpgs.

I really dislike the bit about using luck in games. Maybe it's a Japanese thing, but I despise sitting there hoping I get lucky enough to finish my game. It should never be attached to a main quest.

Good points....i'm playing Star Ocean 4 now and played almost every other JRPG on the X360.My conclusion for this generation of JRPG's ......GROW UP!!!!!!!!!!!!I'm tired of all the same sh@t over and over just to make a game last for 50 hrs.Japanese developers make a game with 20 hrs of gameplay and make it last longer with limited save points,bad story telling,cliché characters and all the other crap mentioned in the artikel.
I'm only going to play FFXIII in the future ans skip the other ones.JRPG developers need to innovate...they just lost it.

those annoying things were only around 2 generations ago when jrpgs were still on playstation. now that most of jrpgs have made its way to microsoft's console, they are all fixed. enjoy.

1. Turn based trash
2. kids are always the heroes
3. save the farking world

Those are my annoying things
"nothing...ever...change s"

haven't we seen this article a million time in some form. if american journalist arent bashing JRPGs in some way they are fanboy baiting over the oh so serious "console war". maybe the journalist should be the ones to find something more innovative to write about.

back to the topic:
JRPGs wont change, that is very clear. thats what keeps their audience (like me) coming back and i been playing them since the NES days. so what is they lose a few fans. there is no point in changing the formula that works in an attempt to bring in people who most likely wont buy the game anyway or to keep a few people. JRPGs are doing just fine, thats why they are still sold on this side of the world.

This Generation of JRPG's have realy been bad so far. The only two games that I've been able to realy enjoy is Valkyria Chronicles and Eternal Sonata; even though Eternal Sonata is way to childish, it still was an realy nice game.

Turn-based battlesystem isnt a problem for me atleast, it makes the fighting more strategic and a better way to balance out the game.

But what I realy want is for sh!t as the dreams in Lost O. to just go away.

Also another point: It's not just only the voice acting that is bad, its also the voice compared to the character. They dont know how to combine voice and character. It's like a small kid that looks like he's just been born and he has this deep voice; wtf? or You got this realy filosofic character and he has the voice of a god d@mn action hero a´la Bruce Willis; also wtf?

Thats what I allways love about Final Fantasy; In any other JRPG you are faced with the world going under right away. In FF you first get to know the characters and the inv. arround him, getting to know how it feels like being him/her. Then a small problem awakes, and then it just goes up like a ladder. They do is so good, it realy feels like an unique story each time even though the main thing is just the same as the other; to save the world.

Though I miss the 'Squaresoft' days, with the classic developer lineup. PLZ COME BACK!!! :'(

What about random encounters? Those are one of the main reasons I don't play Final Fantasy or other traditional RPGs anymore. It's freaking annoying to not be able to see enemies and get around them, especially when you're trying to get somewhere.

You can actually pause the Cut scenes in Star Ocean 4 just not by pushing a button. If you are using the Wireless controller just pop out the battery for a second and the cut scene will stop. If you are using wired controller just unplug it and the scene will stop. Really anyone who played that game should know this as a good amount of the cut scenes were long enough that the controller went into standby causing the scene to stop in it's place.

i have actually always been put off by JRPG's so hence i have never really played any of them.

i have watched friends play them, i found them to be very, very irritating. From the dialog to the look of the characters to the combat etc.

The only JRPG i am willing to give a try( as in i am going to spend my money and actually buy it ) is FF13.

The one thing that i hate about a lot of WRPG's i have played lately is this thing with enemies that upgrade as you do ? i just don't get it whats the point if the same enemies get stronger as you get stronger.

I think it would be better if they just introduce new enemies that are stronger as you level up, but keep the lower level enemies so when you come across them as a level 20 you can smash the fu£$ out of them and feel satisfied for all the pain they caused you when you were a level 2. I really didn't like oblivion for that.

Here's my biggest gripe and like about RPG's

Poor developement of the enemies.

At first you had the most underpowered character and you had to turn it down to easy... over time I picked up Assault Riffle (15 fully repaired), Tesla Armour (3 fully repaired), Plasma Riffle, Grenade (69) and enough ammo to kill every enemy in the game since I started.

And now I can be surrounded by 10 behemoth and survive without using a stimpack.

Actually is there any JRPG that isn't just those 3 things? If there is I'd like to play it.

Like Portal, that wasn't just yr every day run of the mill FPS. It was a unique refreshing experience.

I love my jrpgs (currently replayin ff7 off psn) but i wouldnt mind something different storyline wise, but just as griping as been a kid saving the world!

Many of the post above kept saying about "boring stories", "baby rpg with 14 years old hero"and the kind.
I agree that many of this and last gen(s) JRPGs have childish story line etc but I bet that MANY ppl that posted in here are probably a fan of Metal Gear Solid games.

MGS is not an RPG but it was made by japoneses and if you take a closer look about the action and story on this saga you will notice that it is a crazy told story etc like most JRPGs.

I can't belive in ppl that loved a MGS4(I got it and I liked it more or less) and consider this game super serious when it is in the end a super crazy and ultra exagerated as many stories in Jrpgs.

For ppl that don't understand english well but still plays jrgps(translated to english offcourse) and games such MGS4 and think it is the best kind games in the world, I understand.

I don't know, I am tired of Jrpgs now.... I am tired of these games that tries to be nice to 10 year old players and up to 99 years old players.

You CAN'T MAKE an RPG game sooo childish(10 years old children to understand and love the game) AND SERIOUS enough for an adult at same time.

I just hope that Final FantasyXVII is rated for players above 17 years old because it will probably be FOR ME because of that a better Jrpg closer to what has been done so far in western rpgs.