If two-thirds of JRPGs didn't recycle the same peppy squad of teenagers, one token older guardian who's too old for this shit, one token fanservice character who'll spend half the game being yandere towards the literal cardboard cutout protagonist, one token hyper-cute walking stuffed animal companion whose voice was designed in a lab to make you want to rip your eardrums out via rusty spoon, and token evil-but-will-renounce-their-ways-through-the-power-of-friendship traitor then I might actually give a shit about the story. I'm all for narrative-driven games, just so long as the narrative isn't a recycled anime trope that should have been dead and buried 30 years ago.
Looking at you Fire Emblem. If you're going to try and sell me on a political drama about overthrowing the old system for a more egalitarian one, concentrate on that and not teenagers going "waaaahhh, I'm an introvert and I had to go out into the sun today! Why are there so many people around?! Why can't I just hide in my room?!?" for 30 hours straight.
Yeah, talking about overthrowing the system while refusing to go outside is what Hexbear is for. How dare that be in a game, that’s, like, copyright or some shit.
Ngl im an easy lay for that shit but i do get this complaint even if i think there are a fair number of jrpgs that either dont do this, or the story transcendends it.
Fire Emblem is technically a different genre mechanically but it does follow the storytelling and artistic tropes so Ill give you that lol. I actually love the support skits in FE though so.
I have been noodling around with replaying Triangle Strategy recently and I have to say that it dodges the "generic jrpg cast" thing pretty well.
There is a touch of that, but it's pretty mild. The story is pretty game of thronesy, so if that's not your cup of tea it might still not feel great, but there are some characters who are decent people unlike game of thrones, just the whole scheming nobles thing, not the really unsavory parts.
Also I think the youngest MCs are in their early 20s, and rather than typical youth fetishizing "world's best swordsman and negotiator at 15 years old" thing, those characters are generally struggling with having too much responsibility thrust on them too young.
If two-thirds of JRPGs didn't recycle the same peppy squad of teenagers, one token older guardian who's too old for this shit, one token fanservice character who'll spend half the game being yandere towards the literal cardboard cutout protagonist, one token hyper-cute walking stuffed animal companion whose voice was designed in a lab to make you want to rip your eardrums out via rusty spoon, and token evil-but-will-renounce-their-ways-through-the-power-of-friendship traitor then I might actually give a shit about the story. I'm all for narrative-driven games, just so long as the narrative isn't a recycled anime trope that should have been dead and buried 30 years ago.
Looking at you Fire Emblem. If you're going to try and sell me on a political drama about overthrowing the old system for a more egalitarian one, concentrate on that and not teenagers going "waaaahhh, I'm an introvert and I had to go out into the sun today! Why are there so many people around?! Why can't I just hide in my room?!?" for 30 hours straight.
Yeah, talking about overthrowing the system while refusing to go outside is what Hexbear is for. How dare that be in a game, that’s, like, copyright or some shit.
Ngl im an easy lay for that shit but i do get this complaint even if i think there are a fair number of jrpgs that either dont do this, or the story transcendends it.
Fire Emblem is technically a different genre mechanically but it does follow the storytelling and artistic tropes so Ill give you that lol. I actually love the support skits in FE though so.
I have been noodling around with replaying Triangle Strategy recently and I have to say that it dodges the "generic jrpg cast" thing pretty well.
There is a touch of that, but it's pretty mild. The story is pretty game of thronesy, so if that's not your cup of tea it might still not feel great, but there are some characters who are decent people unlike game of thrones, just the whole scheming nobles thing, not the really unsavory parts.
Also I think the youngest MCs are in their early 20s, and rather than typical youth fetishizing "world's best swordsman and negotiator at 15 years old" thing, those characters are generally struggling with having too much responsibility thrust on them too young.
Dont talk about my daughters Sansa and Arya like that
(Jk theyre as flawed as anyone in that work. Tho they are kids. But id say Davos is a genuinly decent person?)
On the bright side, you can kill off characters in fire emblem so toss Bernadetta into the firing squad next time.