I have only recently begun to play any type of role-playing game, let alone the Japanese variety.  As I said in a previous post, I’m playing through Blue Dragon right now. I don’t know if I’ll actually finish it — I tend to drift off from most RPGs after a while. The fact that it’s three discs makes it even less likely that I’ll get to the end. I am enjoying the process, but unless it keeps giving me new gameplay mechanics or other means to stay engaged this will join the list of RPGs I’ve never finished.

I have, for instance, never finished a Legend of Zelda game. They were all fun for a while (the ones that I’ve played), but the storybook plots leave me dissatisfied. I have similar problems with the few other JRPGs I’ve picked up. Surprisingly, the last Pokemon release was the title that made me question my dismissal of the genre, even though the story was completely forgettable. I know that it’s not what might traditionally be called an RPG, but it’s impossible to ignore the characteristics it shares with other games in this subsection. The relaxing nature of the combat and the compulsion to collect new Pokemon drove me to play for upwards of 50 hours last summer. I felt like a real dweeb discussing the locations of rare Pokemon with my eight-year old cousin, but it was still fun.

Earlier this year I picked up the remake of Final Fantasy III for the Nintendo DS and had an unexpected blast with it. I’ve not yet finished that title – and I might very well never — but I enjoyed what I got out of it. And it prepared me for far better games, such as the aforementioned Blue Dragon, also from Hironobu Sakaguchi. I only include the link because I was unfortunately ignorant of the man’s work until a few months ago.

As much fun as these games are, it seems that Mr. Sakaguchi has devised a formula and plans to stick to it. I have not yet played Lost Odyssey, but from what I’ve read it is essentially more of the same. I do not understand the fascination with fiction that is clearly written for children. With as few JRPGs as I have played, I am already sick of the “saving the world from mysterious and impending doom” plot line.

I am sure there are plenty of exceptions to these types of plots in Japanese role-playing games, and if anyone wants to give me a hot tip about which one I should play next I would be glad to listen. I am perplexed as to why developers such as Mr. Sakaguchi refuse to evolve the story lines and settings of their titles. I understand the appeal of the genre — the collecting and exploring are great, the combat systems are fun to learn, and in Blue Dragon the music so far has been excellent (even the heavy metal boss battle soundtracks).  It does seem logical that spending so much time in a single story lends itself to epic saving-the-world narratives, but there are simply more relationships to explore within the range of human experience.  For a genre that is extraordinarily dependent on plot, I would like to see a broader selection thematically.