In recent years I feel like I’ve developed this weird love/hate relationship with the JRPG genre. I take huge delight in exploring the gorgeous, expansive worlds they provide, I revel in the charming melodrama, and I love the strategy found in their (usually) complex battle-systems. However, like many others, I’ve long since hit that point where it seems that too many high profile Japanese developers are sticking too readily to tried and tested conventions and not taking enough risks in furthering their art.
It appears to be a growing concern, which has seen Japanese development and its practices come under fire from several quarters in recent years. Indie developer Phil Fish famously upset pretty much everyone last year when he generalised that modern-day Japanese games ‘sucked’ and were ‘f***ing terrible’, but it’s not just Western industry figures that have been making these noises. Similar sentiments have been expressed by Japanese developers themselves; Keiji Inafune, as a quick example, has never been afraid to let rip at his home country’s games development. Meanwhile, major Japanese publishers such as Square Enix have found themselves going against what they know, acquiring Western talent and publishing studios in a bid to supplement their currently less-than-prolific JRPG-centred output.
Personally, I find that in most cases it’s not that a lot of JRPGs are inherently or mechanically bad at all, just too conventional, following the same patterns laid down by the game that became many folk’s first real exposure to the genre: Final Fantasy VII. I mean, how often do we see the unlikely hero leading a rag-tag team to overthrow the evil corporation or shady government? I’m generalising a little, granted, but it’s a loose theme that could easily be applied to any number of JRPGs I’ve played in recent years. It’s ironic then, that many of Square’s design and story decisions for FFVII were consciously made to break away from its own era’s tired stereotypes, and yet have gone on to become new, never-ending stereotypes in their own right.
The game that set the tone for modern RPGs.
Sadly, it’s a situation that’s led me to become uncharacteristically critical and dismissive when approaching any new JRPG. I’m sure I’ve likely missed out on many a solid game in that time (please let me know in the comments, I’m happy to receive your suggestions), and that must explain how I originally came to dismiss the Persona series. What a huge mistake that turned out to be. Persona 4 in particular is the JRPG I’ve always complained we needed; only I was too blinded by my own ignorance to acknowledge its existence when it originally hit in 2008.
You see, in Persona 4: Golden I’ve found a game that throws away the rulebook, seemingly built on an almost anarchistic disregard for its own genre’s convention. Sure, it retains the usual menu-driven, turn-based combat with a huge focus on battle strategy, but Atlus has toyed around with almost every element of the structure and the mechanics that surround it.
In setting and structure in particular, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever played before. Ditching the beautiful but typical fantasy world, the game sees you as a high-school student transferred to a small town before discovering he can travel into a twisted world through a TV set. It follows a grittier tone to most games of its ilk (though is still full of charm, only with a dark sense of humour, rather than a naïve one), as you find yourself at the centre of a supernatural murder investigation where the TV World has become the killer’s weapon. More interestingly, though, rather than exploring new, sweeping environments and discovering towns and dungeons, it has you living out almost every individual day of your character’s school year in the small rural town.
His lethal weapon's his mind.
This means when you’re not adventuring inside the TV, you’re going to school, going to class, choosing your daily activities and social interactions rather than constant otherworldly crime solving. This calendar system helps Persona 4 establish an entirely different tempo to the usual grind/cutscene/grind/cutscene/boss rhythm of other titles, and as a result, it’s led Atlus to eradicate something else that has come to bother me over the years.
Traditionally in JRPGs, gameplay and storytelling are two entirely different entities, kept at arm’s length for reasons I’ve never fully understood. Rarely have I ever had to make a world-changing decision, or even character defining one for that matter; the story is set in stone and you’re just along for the ride with grinding to make up the gaps in-between. This approach is fine as long as a given story carries any kind of resonance with you (as Ni No Kuni did for me), but with a lot of plots following the same basic premise, it’s a rare case when I don’t find myself bored.
Persona 4, however, brings both elements together in a remarkable fashion thanks to the Social Link system, which perfectly marries gameplay with character development. No matter what you’re doing outside the Shadow World, be it taking part in the school’s social or sports clubs or hanging out with your buddies, you’re progressing their individual narrative journey and working towards gameplay bonuses to the player’s benefit. By ranking higher in your Social Links during and after school, not only will the main character be able to create stronger Personas, but the party unlocks new powers and traits for when you’re ready to jump back into a rescue mission in the Shadow World.
This also helps to provide the player with a lot of unexpected choice. You dictate everything that happens. You decide how your character spends most of his time, who he hangs out with and why. You decide which part-time jobs he takes on, and ultimately the skills you want to develop the most. You decide when he needs to jump back into the Shadow World to grind or rescue the latest victim. You’re given this choice every step of the way. You’re given the time, and told to manage it how you want.
Taking this a step further, the main character is semi-blank canvas on which to project your own personality. You’re given a range of possible retorts in conversation trees, and this has an effect on how other characters act with you going forward. These aren’t just superficial choices either; some characters can fall out with you, hindering your Social Links with them, and later on you are presented with choices that drastically change how and when the game will end for you. Choices made by you that will define the game. This is practically unheard of with this genre.
Of course, classic-styled JRPGs will always have their place. The likes of Lost Odyssey and Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch come along every so often and prove without a doubt that the classic guidelines can still be enjoyable and relevant, but convention and tradition shouldn’t hold the genre back as much as it seemingly has. Games that really shake up the formula, such as the excellent Valkyria Chronicles and now as I’ve discovered, the Persona series, are really too far and few between.
If like me, you too have found yourself fatigued with stale JRPG conventions and you haven’t already had the pleasure, then I implore you pick up Persona 4: Golden on Vita. You’ll find a five-year old game, but one that somehow manages to feel like the freshest entry in an entire genre when compared to its modern day peers.
Andy Corrigan is a freelance games journalist based in Australia. You can follow him on IGN here, and why not hang out with the IGN Australia team on Twitter and Facebook too?
Source : ign[dot]com
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