Keiji Inafune talks about Japanese Games: how it relates to XIV

[Vaer]

I think you have that backwards.... Western audiences question EVERYTHING. Why do you think we get called whiners? A bunch of those games you listed were hyped and failed flat because they did not meet EXPECTATIONS. Our expectations are through the damn roof. So much so that we demand a new ending to Mass Effect.. Seriously, I would invite you to visit the Bioware forums for just a few minute and read what's on there.

Japanese devs for the most part are stagnating, staying with what is safe, SE has tried to change but it's like they are not sure how or how much is too much or what... FFXIV I think is a good step in the right direction at this moment.

A bunch of those games were hyped and failed because they are exactly the same thing, with different premises. AoC/WAR/AION/RIFT/SWTOR, same stuff different label. To be fair, AoC and WAR launched in a bad state but they are still quest on rails games. Every new Call of Duty game is the exact same thing. I see this sheep mentality everywhere. They all flock to the same "new" thing, then complain about whatever they don't like. Once Diablo III is released, everyone will go play that and then some people will complain it's not like II.

I've heard of that silly Mass Effect ending petition, my stance on that is it should be up to the game developers to decide what the ending is. If they cave and change the ending I will lose all respect for BioWare.

The biggest example of messing with the formula is how FFXIV launched. Yeah, that didn't go over too well even if they wanted to "innovate." When was the last time a successful western MMO came out that didn't have the same on rails quest system?
ArenaNet is probably one of the very few western MMO dev that are coming out and saying anything about "innovation."

People played FFXI for a long time as it was a niche game that was different from all the western copypasta quest on rails junk that was primarily being released by the west.

Saying anything is stagnating is subjective. I could say I can't tell a difference between each of Bethesda's new buggy ass games and their old ones, or any of the "new" shooters in a gameplay mechanic sense.

Expectations are a human problem. If you set the bar so high you will probably be disappointed no matter what the game devs come out with.

[Cendres]

A bunch of those games were hyped and failed because they are exactly the same thing, with different premises. AoC/WAR/AION/RIFT/SWTOR, same stuff different label. To be fair, AoC and WAR launched in a bad state but they are still quest on rails games. Every new Call of Duty game is the exact same thing. I see this sheep mentality everywhere. They all flock to the same "new" thing, then complain about whatever they don't like. Once Diablo III is released, everyone will go play that and then some people will complain it's not like II.

I've heard of that silly Mass Effect ending petition, my stance on that is it should be up to the game developers to decide what the ending is. If they cave and change the ending I will lose all respect for BioWare.

The biggest example of messing with the formula is how FFXIV launched. Yeah, that didn't go over too well even if they wanted to "innovate." When was the last time a successful western MMO came out that didn't have the same on rails quest system?
ArenaNet is probably one of the very few western MMO dev that are coming out and saying anything about "innovation."

People played FFXI for a long time as it was a niche game that was different from all the western copypasta quest on rails junk that was primarily being released by the west.

Saying anything is stagnating is subjective. I could say I can't tell a difference between each of Bethesda's new buggy ass games and their old ones, or any of the "new" shooters in a gameplay mechanic sense.

Expectations are a human problem. If you set the bar so high you will probably be disappointed no matter what the game devs come out with.

Are you expecting MMOs to be a completely different animal every single new one? Of course not, the genre is what it is, those games are far from being the exact same thing, they all have at least ONE or two features or more that set them apart, that appeal to a certain audience, something very important especially for an MMO. For a game like Mass Effect not so much, and I wonder if you have played Mass effect to any length? Because it does something that very few games come close to or as well. The ending is worthy of the criticism believe me and Bioware has listened. Something Japanese devs could really benefit from and Yoshi-P clearly also takes to heart.

To me Japanese games right now tend to be a bit homogenized, very similar and antiquated. I'm having fun in ICO again and finding that game as old as it is still fresh... That tells me something is amiss. And no stagnation is an observation of an occurrence not a subjective opinion. Or maybe it is.. Because the way YOU view western games is the way I view Japanese games.... O.o

I agree with you on expectations but at the same time, if you shoot for the moon and miss you'll still end up among the stars, right? We move forward by striving to better ourselves.

edit: Right I had bolded Arenanet because as awesome as I think GW2 is going to be I am cautioning people that it really won't be the new Messiah of MMOs, it's an advanced version of GW2 and a lot of fun no doubt, and beautiful but I'm concerned that people think they are reinventing MMO gaming... They're not.

[Vaer]

Are you expecting MMOs to be a completely different animal every single new one? Of course not, the genre is what it is, those games are far from being the exact same thing, they all have at least ONE or two features or more that set them apart, that appeal to a certain audience, something very important especially for an MMO.

Yes, but the core gameplay mechanic i.e solo questing model/raids/gear based are all very much part of all of those games. It's not much to ask in 3-4 years to have an AAA game that is different. Closest thing to deviation we've had in AAA MMOs is FFXIV which is saddening. Investors say no I guess.

For a game like Mass Effect not so much, and I wonder if you have played Mass effect to any length? Because it does something that very few games come close to or as well. The ending is worthy of the criticism believe me and Bioware has listened. Something Japanese devs could really benefit from and Yoshi-P clearly also takes to heart.


I have played and beaten the first and second one, haven't played the third one yet because of the QQ about the ending that came up 24 hours later. They're okay, felt kind of on-railsy, but I don't like it enough to play the last one right away.

It's just my opinion that endings should be whatever the devs want it to be, no matter how much I like a game. Speaking of endings, FFXII-2's ending kind of blew, but I got over it pretty quickly. NIER's was even worse, but I got over that, too.

To me Japanese games right now tend to be a bit homogenized, very similar and antiquated. I'm having fun in ICO again and finding that game as old as it is still fresh... That tells me something is amiss. And no stagnation is an observation of an occurrence not a subjective opinion. Or maybe it is.. Because the way YOU view western games is the way I view Japanese games.... O.o

I agree with you on expectations but at the same time, if you shoot for the moon and miss you'll still end up among the stars, right? We move forward by striving to better ourselves.

edit: Right I had bolded Arenanet because as awesome as I think GW2 is going to be I am cautioning people that it really won't be the new Messiah of MMOs, it's an advanced version of GW2 and a lot of fun no doubt, and beautiful but I'm concerned that people think they are reinventing MMO gaming... They're not.

I am with you on GW2, the hype train makes me sick. There are going to be a lot of disappointed people when GW2 is released. This is coming from someone who played GW1 at launch and still pop on from time to time. Almost makes me want to wait until the honeymoon period of first/second month is over before I even get near it. Actually, with the genre as it is now, should wait that one - two month period by default.

[Cendres]

I am with you on GW2, the hype train makes me sick. There are going to be a lot of disappointed people when GW2 is released. This is coming from someone who played GW1 at launch and still pop on from time to time. Almost makes me want to wait until the honeymoon period of first/second month is over before I even get near it. Actually, with the genre as it is now, should wait that one - two month period by default.

This is exactly what I'm doing, just watching to see what happens. And I'm so in love with XIV right now anyway, I'm very content. I'm sure I will play GW2 eventually but I don't want to hop the craze train this time.

[kazaran]

I am with you on GW2, the hype train makes me sick. There are going to be a lot of disappointed people when GW2 is released. This is coming from someone who played GW1 at launch and still pop on from time to time. Almost makes me want to wait until the honeymoon period of first/second month is over before I even get near it. Actually, with the genre as it is now, should wait that one - two month period by default.

There has been alot of issues in the beta. THose that play know what I mean. THe imbalances were a nightmare. World versus world implementation was poorly done feels like a First person shooter camp and nuke respawners failure.

THe graphics are not what was expected. Sure soem areas look nice, but distance draw in epic battles is pathetic. Nice looking dragon, static flat background in distance. It actaully feels like a a battle segment from Lost Odyssey.

Some of the enemies animations are poorly done. They flip flop directions with little smooth animation. IT needs to be revamped before launch.

Feels like Aion, plays like wow. There are actaully aspects of AION that are more inspiring then GW 2.

Typical spam spell, spam attack, very unrealistic fighting. It's great for a 12 year old that loves loud noises and flashign lights all over the screen (if they don't have a seazure). I find it annoying, unrealistic, and liek a button mashign arcade game. Games liek that make me appreciate FFXI more often.