Whats the appeal of open world western rpgs?

[Yancakes]

Back on topic here...

I personally really don't like Bethesda games, though I respect what they aim for. That being said, while I totally despised Oblivion, Skyrim has been much better. I still only played it for about two weeks before getting thoroughly bored, though.

I highly suggest Fallout 1 and 2 for open ended games that have enough drive and story that you CAN just go where the game tells you to and have it feel like a linear game. Except, of course, the knowledge that at any point you can just say "fuck the world" and go dick around and do other stuff makes it feel non-linear anyways.

I heavily disagree with the sentiment that WRPGs have declined further than JRPGs, though. I still enjoy things like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Skyrim (to a point)...but the only JRPGs in the last generation that I could STAND were Lost Odyssey and Xenoblade, and I don't even like Xenoblade that much in retrospect (it really just feels like Rogue Galaxy with more stuff), where as JRPGs pretty much defined the PS1-era for me.

EDIT: also, the title kind of answers its own question..."What's the appeal of open world western rpgs?"

Well, one, they're open world. Two, they're western, which means a large chunk of people will be able to relate to the concepts, characters and writing in them much better than those in a foreign made game. I'm not saying that this is true of EVERYONE, especially not on these forums, but I don't think it's an unfair generalization to make.

[The Last Horseman]

Good post Yancakes.

I personally would say the appeal largely comes from the western idealism, and not being turn based. As a retro gamer, it seems okay to me. But games where I have to grind are extremely boring to me. I have a personal love of games in real time. I know some are bored by turn based combat.

That was poor writing, but its late and I'm not changing it.

I also think story plays into it. I can relate to dragons and medieval ideas in western RPG's, while Japanese ideas relating to their beliefs and mythology are somewhat confusing to me. I love all these old beliefs/myths. I keep my overall religion, but I like to see how other beliefs are.

Blegh, its late. Tear it apart if you want I'm gonna go to bed.

[Hobie-wan]

Just remember that western RPGs all started out as turn based. Pencil and paper D&D and the like, miniature based tabletop gaming, Wizardry, and Bard's Tale were all turn based and influenced Dragon Warrior.

[pakopako]

Just remember that western RPGs all started out as turn based.

Wait. They're not turn-based any more? Isn't that technically an "action-adventure" game then?

[o.pwuaioc]

Just remember that western RPGs all started out as turn based.

Wait. They're not turn-based any more? Isn't that technically an "action-adventure" game then?

Action RPG is a respectable genre.

(Oh yeah, let's go there!)

[J T]

I need a different mindsight to appreciate an open world RPG than I do a linear JRPG. With a more linear story I'm just playing a role in something that is pre-destined to happen and my goal is to build the stats and move that story forward. This is appealing to me as long as I can buy into the world and the characters and find the battle system enjoyable.

It took me a few attempts before I started to appreciate WRPGs and that's because I kept thinking they would be like JRPGs. Once I started to realize that some of the best storylines were not exactly scripted, but were rather interesting situations where I could make decisions and actually role play, then I found them more entertaining. I've also had to learn to give up on the idea of seeing everything the game has to offer and just be comfortable with the notion that my playthrough will be one story, and I may not have seen everything or done every quest, but it's the story I decided to play.

[MrPopo]

For me games like Skyrim hit that specific trigger I have that also causes me to make sure I explore an entire dungeon in a JRPG to get the best gear. I like to exhaust my questing nodes. So, for example, after I get out of the tutorial area of Skyrim I have the main quest item to go to town X. While I'm going maybe I see a house, so I head there and see if there's anything cool. If not I keep going to town X. When I finally reach there I talk to everyone to see who has quests for me. Those quests might lead to other quests, but I try to be pretty methodical about doing them in what seems to be a proper order (stuff close by first, further away later). I'm the type who likes planning and structure, but I can scratch that itch by the way I play open world RPGs.

[darthmunky]

The appeal is freedom. Being able to do whatever you want, when you want without HAVING to advance in the storyline if you don't want to. And exploration; to experience a new world. Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, KOTOR, Jade Empire, and Mass Effect are all probably in my top 10 games of all time. I can't get enough of it. But for some reason I didn't like Fallout 3 that much. I think it was the setting that turned me off. I still liked it though.

[DerZocker]

Anyone here who played Steambot Chronicles? I think it has the best of both. You really feel involved by all the decisions you can make, and still the hero isn't a mute. I also love the games atmosphere. It sucks that the part 2 was cancelled by Irem. It was originally one of the reasons i got my PS3.

[SirPsycho]

I used to like WRPGs just as much as JRPGs in the 90s, but both genres have declined severely. I think WRPGs have went downhill a bit further though.

This, although I didn't get into WRPGs until the early 21st century. My PC was crap and couldn't run anything new, so I went back and played games like Fallout, Baldur's Gate, Gothic II, Morrowind, Diablo, and Torment.

I used to love so many JRPGs as well, now it seems like the only companies pushing out truly excellent games are Atlus for JRPGs and Obsidian for WRPGs (if only they weren't so buggy at release). Part of what I love is discovering everything about a world, such as culture, history, treasures, religion, politics, and literature. For things like that JRPGs are INCREDIBLY weak, Suikoden being one of the few exceptions.

But open world WRPGs are completely built around the world and everything I listed, and as such modern ones seem to suffer from weak writing, terrible stories, and the uncanny valley. In the late 90's the two were pretty much equal in quality and risks the developers took, now its all cookie cutter and wishy washy. Devs spend so much time making things look pretty and pretty much ignore everything else.

I also enjoy good characters, and the only ones seemingly able to consistently deliver characterization and writing that are not blatant cliches (being either anime or medieval Europe) are games from Atlus, Obsidian, and the Suikoden series from Konami. That said a game can still have a really fun and unique system of battle and be incredibly cliched and still enjoyable, like Grandia I and II.

If you can't really understand why people enjoy total openness perhaps it might be time to sit down and give a tabletop game a try, many seem to forget that tabletops are the granddaddy of all the RPGs that you play on any system. All they give you is a set of rules, some monsters, and some lore to build campaigns around. And things like crafting are completely open. You can have a character that is an alchemist by trade and in a future campaign play a carpenter, or tacker, or chandler, the possibilities are endless and the game does not limit you at all.