Ah the seventh generation. The era in which, partly because of the actual state of gaming and partly because of unrelated circumstances, I fell out of love with games. It wasn't until the dust had cleared on the gen that I got back into this past-time and was able to appreciate and re-evaluate the generation by doing a bit of an autopsy on it once this long, strange gen had finally come to a close. The 7th gen seems troubled and problematic from the outset for a variety of reasons, but being a JRPG-centric blog, I'm going to specifically discuss the state of the JRPG during this gen.
To very briefly summarize in a likely unacceptably reductive sense the prior generations in order to contextualize the seventh gen, the prior gen, (gen 6: dreamcast, ps2, gamecube, og xbox in that order) was what I would refer to as the bronze age of JRPGs if we are going to go by a condensed version of the generations of American comic books as a model. JRPGS had fully made the jump to full 3D graphics, began integrating voice-acting and had even feauted some titles that made the first major moves away from traditional turn-based or active-time-battle-esque combat systems, whether that meant leaning closer to the action-RPG genre or using MMO-esque semi-automated combat devoid of random encounters.
That was a slightly awkward, growing-pains-ridden period that had, despite the odds, having some pretty strong titles. Still riding the hype and massive popularity/sales of games like FFVII, this specific genre was still a big deal at that point and hadn't quite begun its quick fade into obscurity which happened later in the first decade of the 21st century. The best JRPGs of this gen built on the success of their prior gen and examples include the solid to great FFX and universally hailed Persona 3 and 4, as well as Dragon Quest 8, just to name a few of the most well known of several strong candidates. These games were about as strong as the best of the previous gen, while enjoying the advantage of much stronger graphical presentation, and potentially deeper systems. The PS1/Saturn generation had some really strong titles in this genre and for some this is easily the peak of the genre, but even if you’re partial to this one the most (which includes the run of FF7-9), you have to admit the graphical limitations led to these games being visually trapped between the more detailed graphics of the next gen and the clean-cut if limited pixel art of the SNES/genesis games (which are the golden age to PS1's silver). Indeed, the Cthonic era of JRPGS (NES/Master Drive and earlier) culminated in an explosion of inventiveness and refinement in games like Final Fantasy 4-6, Phantasy Star 4 and Chronos Trigger, all games that would become the actual gold standard of the genre.
And so without derailing much further, we thus have three straight generations of impressive and semi-consistent JRPGs and development of the genre. This would peter out significantly though, even before the 7th generation began, and the muted reaction to Final Fantasy XII, towards the end of the PS2's life-cycle may have marked a bit of a sea-change. As big, mainstream games like Halo and Call of Duty gained more and more momentum, I think more specialized and more-- for lack of a better term-- Japanese genres and institutions took a bit of a hit around this time. Developers wanted to cater the American and Global market and so big shooters and neu-platform open-worlds like Assassin's Creed had a lot more cache at the beginning of the 7th Gen. I also think that part of the problem was the question of what to do about turn-based combat. As technical possibilities opened up in gaming, the back-and-fourth of true turn-based combat that was previously expected from the genre began to feel more and more archaic. This was partly due to titles like Ocarina of Time or the several strong Action-JRPGs around the time making real-time combat seem like a viable option for deeper role-playing experiences. Alas, there was still a feeling, and for some there still is, that turn-based combat will always be the central tenet of the genre, and that real-time games just don't count.
In fact, JRPG's themselves reflected the feeling that turn-based systems were passe by openly experimenting with it in the 6th gen. Games like FFXII and the Tales game, as well as Level 5's string of Action-RPGs all feature the depth of systems that RPGs of olden always offerered, while also featuring real-time combat or something close to it (Indeed FFXII featured the pseudo real-time of MMO-style combat, which would be the way forward for other franchises going forward. And so in a way the genre could be seen as undoing what it once was in order to adapt.
But where did that leave it by the time the 7th gen was underway? Well, it practically left it in absentia. This was about a decade after the massive and fortuitous success and sales figures of FFVII (which, considering, it was always strange to me that it sold so well in US. Was that evocative cover with the buster sword, and Cloud looking toward Midgar amidst a clean-white backdrop the sole marketing for that game?). Alas the landscape had thoroughly chanced, and this was before Skyrim would drop. There were over 3 years of 7th gen games before that mini game-changer was unleashed on the world, helping to shift any attention on the RPG that existed at that point in a westward direction. But certain sign-of-the-times moments were abound before this even, like the release of FFXIII to initially positive critic reception which quickly faded to very very scathing reception more generally, almost instantly after initial buzz wore off. What used to be the paragon of the genre had reduced said genre to a largely automated, overly-slick walking-and-fighting simulator, sending the reception of the genre down one long, linear hallway of death and despair. Now this specific gamer actually appreciated a lot of what that game did despite the hate, but I can't deny that the game sucked out a lot of the life of the genre in the way exploration, free-will and customization was either limited or entirely absent. The games a giant anime movie with tons and tons of successive fights. If you like the combat system, which imo was a valiant if slightly superficial riff on the active-turn-based systems of old, this might have been okay, but if you didn't-- and many don't-- then the game was nothing but endless cut-scenes and confusing lore. But hey it was gorgeous, and that's what this generation was all about right? Right...
The very Western focus on graphical prowess and polish was something Square Enix seemed to believe was an essential part of Final Fantasy, and so put more focus on that than, oh I don't know, having anything in the way of a single town or basically any exploration in that game. And this focus on graphics was kind of the story of the gen, save for Nintendo who defiantly snubbed their nose to processing power and went the way of innovation instead (innovation that largely did not include all that many JRPGs...). Speaking of Final Fantasy though, the once titan of the genre took another hit around the time this gen was about to begin when Sakaguchi, the OG creator, left Square to form Mistwalker Studios. This would be a hit for Square as far as many fans were concerned, and even a nail-in-the-coffin for some, but it also meant good things for the genre as a whole. Sakaguchi ostensibly left Square Enix in part due to the increased pressure that management was putting on the creatives there during the fall-out from Spirits Within’s financial failure-- their dalliance in Feautre Film- headed by Sakaguchi himself and the project which caused the company to briefly experience financial free-fall as they hemorrhaged money right up until FFX and Kingdom Hearts turned things around for them in a major way. But the damage was done, and projects at the company would be handled differently going forward. It is a bit ironic then, that Sakaguchi would go on to struggle with management at Nintendo while working on Last Story after returning to the company he previously had left along with Square when they refused to adopt CD-technology a decade prior. Last Story-- the game he made for the Wii-- would still come out as a brilliant answer to the dearth of the genre at the time, featuring inventive real-time combat that put a focus on positioning-based strategy.
Indeed some of the more promising games of this genre during the gen were developed by Mistwalker. Not all are perfect, but their third big effort in Last Story is quite good, and is still a unique and novel example of what combat could be in JRPG's going forward. Their first two games, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, both had tried-and-true turn-based style combat, and felt a bit uninspired, if not unwelcome in a very dry stretch of time for the genre, the former's Toriyama-led art-style giving it the feeling of Dragon Quest 8 and Chrono Trigger. It didn't quite live up to those games, but Lost Odyssey is an interesting entry considering it gives us a glimpse into what FFXIII could have been in some alternate universe where Square stayed Square-Soft forever maybe.
And so, weirdly, Sony takes a huge hit from Mistwalker's sheer existence, since all three of these games were released on 360 and Wii--consoles that basically had no JRPGs otherwise-- and to top it off, another one-time Sony loyalist Tetsuya Takahashi, who also having left Square earlier in the decade, went on to work on Xenoblade for the Wii, after previously doing the terrific Xenosaga trilogy on PS2. Alas, Sakaguchi and Takahashi may have singe-handedly kept the genre alive with their games, keeping the promise and magic of the golden age of JRPGs alive, if just barely (indeed, both of these men cut their teeth on classics like Final Fantasy 4 and Chrono Trigger). Meanwhile, Sony holds things down with only a couple big JRPGs, among which is Ni No Kuni, an excellent offering from Level-5 and Ghibli which is super solid and yet skews a bit young (as any Ghibli-related project reasonably should), alongside Nier, from the whacky Yoko Taro who had previously released uneven if cult-status-y JRPGs on previous Sony consoles in the form of the Drakengard games. And while Nier, Ni No Kuni, the Mistwalker games and Xenoblade are all solid to great JRPGs, they’re pretty much the extent of the genre this gen-- five measly games, all of which are spread across the three systems unevenly. Indeed, no single console this gen could stand on its own this gen when it came to this genre, with Sony being the old stand-by failing to deliver on that unless you just happened to really love the entire FFXIII trilogy.
Things we could formerly rely on like Persona, SMT or Dragon Quest were either just straight up no-shows this gen, or were relegated to handhelds. There was Last Remnant on PS3 as well, and I haven't played it, but reception is mixed to negative. All of the other aforementioned games though offer solid experiences, with some sticking to their guns by way of old-school turn-based combat and a few others pushing ahead with new iterations of Active/Semi-Real Time systems (Last Story, Ni No Kuni, Xenoblade), and yet, they are simply too few and far between in number compared to the previous gen. This problem really dogged the entire gen, and was merely symptomatic of the darker turn gaming took around the time, and I'm glad to see things feel like they're headed in a better direction as of late. JRPGs are always the deepest games I play out of the various genres that I fuck with, so my estimation of a console's library is directly related to how many solid JRPGs there are. And while I love the Wii and PS3 overall for what the do offer, they come close to not having enough to offer based solely off their relatively skimpy JRPG offerings. Wii comes out on top for me based only on Xenoblade and Last Story, and sort of Muramasa and Zelda insofar as Vanilla Ware and Zelda games count, but even the freakin 360 might have a stronger offering than PS3, which is a serious problem.
Luckily, I really do think things are on the up-and-up lately though, with smaller, retro-style JRPGs coming into vogue among other things, giving smaller developers wiggle room in terms of acceptable budget, and big franchises like Persona are finally thawing out of deep-freeze after being a no-count dring the previous gen (save for Catherine), while Final Fantasy and Square in general are enjoying a bit of a comeback (Nier Automata, Nioh and I Am Setsuna all in one year). Alas, Persona 5 showed up finally and just in time to universal acclaim, and the fact that it's a successful and truly turn-based JRPG with a decent budget and progressive, forward-thinking mechanics is very impressive in itself. I think Dark Souls was a bit of a beacon of light last gen, in the way that it showed how a Japanese dev could make a deep RPG in a style that was markedly different from more traditional action-JRPG style, while also drawing on western games like Skyrim in its approach. It seemed to bridge the gap between western and eastern-style RPGs and gave people a reason to hype Japanese RPG developers once again at a time when there were less reasons than ever before. I'm not a big Souls guy, but I really appreciate that it brought attention back to a dying genre at a crucial time. So despite this awkward generation's slightly lacking and inconclusive answer to the question: "what should JRPG's this gen be like?", things may finally be settling back into what just might be described as progress for a genre that some may have thought was down for the count. Perhaps it was a necessary awkward period that has allowed developers working in the genre some time to re-calibrate and reassess the landscape,
Now if only devs could figure out how to resuscitate the 3D platformer--Indeed, If JRPGs experienced a drought during last gen, then the 3D platformer went into a near permanent coma and was basically pronounced dead save for the big, mainline console Mario games that come out every 5-10 years. But that's a story for another day, for now, I still need to beat Persona 5 before Xenoblade 2 drops...
