The 5 worst things about JRPGs

I’m in the middle of giant JRPG binge, and that has led to some realizations: I love this genre but there are some things I never want to see again.

1. Random encounters

Random encounters are a relic from a simpler time and they have no place in modern games. I understand why they existed; space was limited, graphics were primitive, and development budgets were smaller. All this made random encounters a simple, and elegant solution. But that day is past, and it’s no longer okay.

Random encounters are the most frustrating part of any game. In some cases, they make an excellent game into a chore. My favorite example of this is Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne (Lucifer’s Call to fellow Europeans), which is both my favorite and least favorite JRPG ever. I love Nocturne’s style, its plot, and its characters, but my God the battles! Every other step is another group of monsters; fun explorations become an absolute nightmare because you never get to enjoy the world.

Give me a JRPG with visible enemies any day; Persona I love you!

2. Menu worlds

Atlus—I’m looking at you. You know what I’m talking about: instead of walking around, you simply travel around different menus. The worst example of this is Conception II, a game I disliked for many other reasons. One of the things that JRPGs excel at is world-building and there’s nothing that kills a world more than clicking through different menus to “move”.

There is no way to get immersed in this world.

I find this really weird because JRPGs have been creating massive in-depth worlds since the ‘80s, and in the ‘90s they made them 3D. It always confuses me when modern JRPGs have worlds a fraction the size or complexity of Final Fantasy VII’s. That game was made a long time ago, but many developers seem to have forgotten the lessons it taught.

3. Do not change an enemy’s color and give it a new name!

OK, so I don’t mind a few excellent enemy models being repeated a couple of times, but it’s a pet peeve of mine when it happens too often. This is true again in the turd that is Conception II, which constantly regurgitates the same enemies with tiny differences, in the same area!