How would you compare Japan to the West when it comes to games?

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SolidGame_basic

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#1 SolidGame_basic
Member since 2003 • 44946 Posts

I think when it comes to combat oriented genres like hack n' slash or fighters, Japan is still ahead. But then again, you don't really see them get challenged in those types of games. The West seems to favor FPS type games, and or, story driven games. It would be interesting to see if both sides attempted their genres to see what kind of innovation we can get. JRPG's could use some improvement, while it would be cool to see Japan do an FPS. What do you think, SW? How would you compare Japan to the West when it comes to games?

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NathanDrakeSwag

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#2 NathanDrakeSwag
Member since 2013 • 17392 Posts

Japan has been better this gen. Aside from Sony, Rockstar, and CDPR I don't have a bit of confidence in Western devs delivering anymore.

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Sevenizz

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#3 Sevenizz
Member since 2010 • 6462 Posts

I don’t think japan is up to par in terms of triple A titles. Nintendo seems to do ok, but everyone else focuses on turn based or anime gaming. Too niche for the masses.

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mandzilla

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#4  Edited By mandzilla  Moderator
Member since 2017 • 4686 Posts

I prefer Japanese games to western ones. They've just been better this gen imo.

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mrbojangles25

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#5 mrbojangles25
Member since 2005 • 58159 Posts

Japan seems to do the same stuff over and over again, for better or worse. And they know it, but they seem to be really good at a few types of game and capitalize on it. They do all right, though, I guess.

Western developers, even if releasing games within the same franchise, show some sort of innovation. Western development is also a lot more open, fosters risk-taking, and h as a healthy independent game movement.

TBH it's not a very fair comparison because Japan is relatively small, while "western" applies to a very large, broad area.

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sakaiXx

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#6 sakaiXx
Member since 2013 • 15872 Posts

Best in some genres like Horror or fighting games but is left behind in massive open world games or games that requires storytelling.

I argue they are way behind in platforming too. Other than Mario, most critical acclaim platforming games comes from outside Japan.

I love JRPG but its the most predictable game on this planet earth.

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deactivated-60bf765068a74

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#7 deactivated-60bf765068a74
Member since 2007 • 9558 Posts

Japan > EA/Activision Blizzard

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deactivated-6068afec1b77d

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#8  Edited By deactivated-6068afec1b77d
Member since 2017 • 2539 Posts

@mrbojangles25: yea, just sub Japanese games with east Asian games like chinese, Korean etc.

Japan has a lot of cultural icons and imports a lot of it's culture to usa. That's how we have weebos and we have a large amount of weebos.

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PhilSpencer

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#9 PhilSpencer
Member since 2019 • 16 Posts

Anime garbage focused on little girls in Pervy situations vs the pinnacle of creativity and optimization

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deactivated-60113e7859d7d

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#10  Edited By deactivated-60113e7859d7d
Member since 2017 • 3808 Posts

Japan is crushing western console games. The only western game that impresses me as of late is Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, which is as good as it is because it's produced by a Japanese company, Nintendo. It really sucks that Sony Computer Entertainment is now based out of California. I cringe at the thought of Shadow of the Colossus released for the first time in 2019. It might be another scripted, emotional walk and talk.

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Basinboy

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#11 Basinboy
Member since 2003 • 14495 Posts

Overpraised.

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PhilSpencer

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#12 PhilSpencer
Member since 2019 • 16 Posts

@ezekiel43: Nah, no way. I am squirting milk out my nose laughing so hard...

How can you seriously doubt the west’s quality of games.

RDR2, GTAV, Halo, Gears of War, DMC( the much superior underrated reboot), Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Witcher

Japan has anime girls in bathing suits for sale in Tales of games and the hundredth Mario game

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deactivated-60113e7859d7d

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#13  Edited By deactivated-60113e7859d7d
Member since 2017 • 3808 Posts

@philspencer said:

@ezekiel43: Nah, no way. I am squirting milk out my nose laughing so hard...

How can you seriously doubt the west’s quality of games.

RDR2, GTAV, Halo, Gears of War, DMC( the much superior underrated reboot), Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Witcher

Japan has anime girls in bathing suits for sale in Tales of games and the hundredth Mario game

RDR2 sucked. Sold it after four hours. Grand Theft Auto V is mediocre. Rockstar hasn't made a game with good controls or fun multiplayer since Max Payne 3.

DmC is mediocre.

Only played some of the original Dragon Age. Was never a fan of Mass Effect.

Witcher 3 is mediocre. I rated it a 3/5 after finishing, but looking back and remembering the poor controls and tedious dialogue, I feel my score was too generous. I preferred Nier: Automata as far as new story-driven open world RPGs go.

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BoxRekt

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#14  Edited By BoxRekt
Member since 2019 • 2425 Posts

@Sevenizz said:

I don’t think japan is up to par in terms of triple A titles. Nintendo seems to do ok, but everyone else focuses on turn based or anime gaming. Too niche for the masses.

How's crackdown 3 been so far?

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BoxRekt

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#15 BoxRekt
Member since 2019 • 2425 Posts

@mrbojangles25 said:

Japan seems to do the same stuff over and over again, for better or worse. And they know it, but they seem to be really good at a few types of game and capitalize on it. They do all right, though, I guess.

Western developers, even if releasing games within the same franchise, show some sort of innovation. Western development is also a lot more open, fosters risk-taking, and h as a healthy independent game movement.

TBH it's not a very fair comparison because Japan is relatively small, while "western" applies to a very large, broad area.

How's Crackdown 3 been so far?

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Sevenizz

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#16 Sevenizz
Member since 2010 • 6462 Posts

@boxrekt: Great! It’s a fun game - something sony fans know little about as their games are boring qte movies or anime jrpgs.

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BoxRekt

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#17 BoxRekt
Member since 2019 • 2425 Posts

@Sevenizz said:

@boxrekt: Great! It’s a fun game - something sony fans know little about as their games are boring qte movies or anime jrpgs.

lol wow!

And xbox fans expect Phil to deliver higher quality games with loons like this in his ear? smh.

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#18 PhilSpencer
Member since 2019 • 16 Posts

@boxrekt:

Phil does deliver quality games.

Gears 5 and Halo infinite are coming along with much, much more

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Sevenizz

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#19 Sevenizz
Member since 2010 • 6462 Posts

@philspencer: It’s pointless arguing with a jealous sony fanboy. They chronically suffer from dullgameitus and are pissed at others who have fun while they spam qtes in lieu of actual gameplay.

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jaydan

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#20 jaydan
Member since 2015 • 8360 Posts

I like Japanese games a lot more than Western games.

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mrbojangles25

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#21 mrbojangles25
Member since 2005 • 58159 Posts

@boxrekt said:
@mrbojangles25 said:

Japan seems to do the same stuff over and over again, for better or worse. And they know it, but they seem to be really good at a few types of game and capitalize on it. They do all right, though, I guess.

Western developers, even if releasing games within the same franchise, show some sort of innovation. Western development is also a lot more open, fosters risk-taking, and h as a healthy independent game movement.

TBH it's not a very fair comparison because Japan is relatively small, while "western" applies to a very large, broad area.

How's Crackdown 3 been so far?

A lot of fun, actually, though I am happy it was included with game pass; not sure I'd buy it at full price.

I'm also enjoying other "terrible" games like Anthem, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Darksiders 3, and State of Decay 2, but that's mostly because I'm a leftie SJW that only plays games with strong female characters. And of course shitty MS games. I'm a hipster, too, so naturally I like games that aren't cool.

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Caj1986

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#22 Caj1986
Member since 2015 • 399 Posts

Japan has its own style of doing. To each to. Their own but i appreciate games bandai namco, capcom, konami(before they messed up) sega, nintendo, etc. From games like virtua fighter, tekken, street fighter, final fantasy, metal gear solid saga, binary domain, onimusha, tenchu, etc they def have a very unusual style of making games. One thing i def respect abt them, they def do not care abt the sjw opinion of how they design their games wit d exception of doa 6

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ellos

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#24 ellos
Member since 2015 • 2532 Posts

West is ahead in tech.

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#25 PC_Rocks
Member since 2018 • 8461 Posts

West is ahead in tech, controls and presentation while Japan still coaches west on how to do proper gameplay. West has forgotten about the game part in video games. I do hate Japan's overpricing and JRPGs with turned based crap however their action, hack n slash and realtime action RPGs, Fighters are top notch and I wouldn't place a single western game against those.

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Litchie

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#26  Edited By Litchie
Member since 2003 • 34469 Posts

Japan does fun better than the west, and fun happens to be what I play games for.

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#27 nepu7supastar7
Member since 2007 • 6773 Posts

@SolidGame_basic:

Japan cares more about artistic direction but most non-AAA games play like crap. They're very lenient on gameplay but I like how they know when to not take themselves too seriously. Japanese games aren't afraid of being silly. And that's a problem I see in Western games. Most of them are too serious and dull.

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SecretPolice

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#28 SecretPolice
Member since 2007 • 43936 Posts

Japan is living in the distant past, stale, same old same old, been there done that enough kind of gaming in the 80's and 90's. Geeez, change the record already. lol :P

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#29 R4gn4r0k  Online
Member since 2004 • 46000 Posts

As a whole region I prefer the west (US and EU) over Japan.

But when compared to single countries the output of Japan is insane. Perhaps the only country that has more quality devs and games is the US.

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#30  Edited By uninspiredcup
Member since 2013 • 58647 Posts

Japan tends to be traditional, making maximum use of simple gameplay and graphics.

The West tends make movie games and ugly SJW characters with tech that allows to pc users to spam pretty pictures of mediocre games under the impression realism is always better.

Most of the best games are from Japan barring Halflife, and even that has a Japanese version.

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#31 YammiReckorrdSan
Member since 2016 • 616 Posts

I love anime, I love JRPG, and I prefer Japanese games over Western ones. When it comes to Western I tend to like only a few, like Sony's "movie" games (Uncharted, Horizon, Gow, Spiderman etc), Witcher, Tomb Raider and that's pretty much it.

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Ghosts4ever

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#32 Ghosts4ever
Member since 2015 • 24847 Posts

Japanese games suck compare to west or European games.

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#33 Ghosts4ever
Member since 2015 • 24847 Posts

@uninspiredcup said:

Japan tends to be traditional, making maximum use of simple gameplay and graphics.

The West tends make movie games and ugly SJW characters with tech that allows to pc users to spam pretty pictures of mediocre games under the impression realism is always better.

Most of the best games are from Japan barring Halflife, and even that has a Japanese version.

Most of best games came from Eastern Europe. (STALKER/Metro)

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#34  Edited By Jackamomo
Member since 2017 • 2157 Posts

In the 90's they were a generation ahead and innovated with lots of game styles. But now? It seems everything is an anime rpg type thing. There are other art styles, Japan. They have become quite hermatic.

Japan would not create a hardcore driving sim set in South America with mud physics where you can get you car stuck and spend five minutes digging yourself out, and enjoying every minute.

That is innovative tech.

Dakar 18. My game of the year.

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#35 JoPython52
Member since 2013 • 119 Posts

I like some Japanese games but I find them embarrassing in their dialogue, acting, and story telling. Take The new Ace Combat for example, the game plays great but man everything else is z grade amateur hour.

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uninspiredcup

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#36 uninspiredcup
Member since 2013 • 58647 Posts

@jopython52 said:

I like some Japanese games but I find them embarrassing in their dialogue, acting, and story telling. Take The new Ace Combat for example, the game plays great but man everything else is z grade amateur hour.

Isn't the point of it to be a goofy arcade game?

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BenjaminBanklin

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#37 BenjaminBanklin
Member since 2004 • 11004 Posts

Holding their own. There's so much stuff I've loved from Japanese devs this gen. RE2, RE7, Persona 5, Bloodborne, Breath of the Wild, Nier Automata for example. I hope they keep it up. We need great games coming from both sides of the pond.

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onesiphorus

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#38 onesiphorus
Member since 2014 • 5234 Posts

Why are we comparing a country like Japan to a geographical region like the West? Is that unfair or biased?

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Valgaav_219

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#39 Valgaav_219
Member since 2017 • 3129 Posts

I prefer Japanese titles much more than Western titles. If it wasn't for Japanese games I probably wouldn't even be a gamer to the extent that I am now.

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#40 Vaeh
Member since 2016 • 957 Posts

Most of my favorite games are from East Asia and Eastern Europe. I prefer Asia and Europe over single country.

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#41 Randoggy
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@jackamomo said:

In the 90's they were a generation ahead and innovated with lots of game styles. But now? It seems everything is an anime rpg type thing. There are other art styles, Japan. They have become quite hermatic.

Japan would not create a hardcore driving sim set in South America with mud physics where you can get you car stuck and spend five minutes digging yourself out, and enjoying every minute.

That is innovative tech.

Dakar 18. My game of the year.

Oh man, this Dakar game looks awesome, gonna have to check this one out.

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#42 with_teeth26
Member since 2007 • 11511 Posts

too much of their output is contaminated by anime, but there have been some great games like From Software's stuff and Nioh and probably some other games i'm forgetting

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Cloud_imperium

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#43 Cloud_imperium
Member since 2013 • 15146 Posts

I mostly prefer Western developers. However I think Japanese are better at horror games these days.

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#44 cainetao11
Member since 2006 • 38026 Posts

Yeah the action hack n slash is something Japan makes well. RPGs the west does better imo.

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#45 cainetao11
Member since 2006 • 38026 Posts

@uninspiredcup said:
@jopython52 said:

I like some Japanese games but I find them embarrassing in their dialogue, acting, and story telling. Take The new Ace Combat for example, the game plays great but man everything else is z grade amateur hour.

Isn't the point of it to be a goofy arcade game?

Games are supposed to take themselves seriously.

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#46  Edited By Jag85
Member since 2005 • 19382 Posts

It's a lop-sided comparison, pitting a small island nation against several entire continents...

Nevertheless, one thing that stands out is the way in which they approach the gameplay-story balance:

  • Western games often try to find a balance between story and gameplay, without swinging too much in either direction.
  • Japanese games often tend to fall into two camps: heavily gameplay-driven games (with story an afterthought) or entirely story-driven visual novels (with barely any gameplay).

The gameplay-centric Japanese games tend to have the best gameplay, while Japanese visual novels tend to have the best storytelling. But you don't see many Japanese games striking a balance between these two extremes. Whereas more Western games tend to be jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none. Western games don't have the best gameplay (compared to Japanese action games) or the best storytelling (compared to Japanese visual novels), but they attempt to strike a balance between story and gameplay in one package.

On the gameplay-story spectrum, Japanese games tend to fall more on the extreme ends of both, and can either have great gameplay (e.g. J-action games) or great storytelling (i.e. visual novels), but not much in-between these two extremes. Whereas Western games tend to be more around the middle of the spectrum.