by ArtiSiN

Created on: May 02, 2009

Back in my gaming heyday when Sony's new console, Playstation, dominated the market and Mario made the jump to 3-D, video games were top priority in my life. In this gaming utopia I discovered the epic Final Fantasy VII, and with it a whole new world of gaming. I'll admit that prior to this I dismissed all RPGS from my NES andGenesis days as "nerd" games and didn't look twice at their strange box art in Toys R Us. "What kind of a game takes TURNS hitting someone?" I would utter. Consequently I missed out on some of the best games these systems had to offer, thank god for emulators! As time passed and the standard epic JRPG became essential for the success of a console, I in turn, took note. FF VII opened my flood gate to not only the other FF games to come (and ones before it) but to Chrono Trigger, Grandia II and Skies of Arcadia among others.

Not long after the Dreamcast died I slowly faded out of the gaming scene for awhile. I only started gaming hardcore again since I discovered the 360 and the awesomeness of broadband online play. One thing I havenoticed since my glorious gaming renaissance however is the bashing of the once beloved JRPG! How can this be? Last I remembered a console was criticized for its lack of the genre - what happened?

Stealthily stalking through message boards, and blogs cleverly disguised as a MMORPG fan (no offense WarCraft-ers, Im down with the elves) I found that many believe the genre has gotten stale. Stale? Hmm, I read on finding similarities and patterns in the slandering of a once great genre. "All you do is run around and talk to preprogrammed peoplel", "town after town, it's the same", "random fights are so 90s". Despite the obvious intelligent arguments against the JRPG these peopleoffered I still felt bewildered. Following suite even Final Fantasy went on line, completely transforming it into something other than the Final Fantasy that I had once loved. Then when it came back down from the phone lines for its 12thinstallment it somehow did notseem the same. The battle system was changed, the fixed camera was no longer, and the cinematic scenes were few and far between. Still a very good game nonetheless, but just lacking in feel. Playing Lost Odyssey helped me to recover that feeling back and realize what FF XIIlacked - real JRPG style.

Criticize me if you want, but the things that this new generation dislikes about the JRPG are in fact what make it a JRPG. I love the fixed camera that gives you optimal viewing pleasure the way the designer intended it to be seen; I love the random fights that I sometimes get frustrated by; I love exploring town after town and talking to every useless, and at times funny or insightful, character there is; I love the melodramatic stories; and most of allI love turn-based combat!So let the JRPG live, after all it isa genre and there are certain ingredients that make it up. If you don't like the taste of the cookie batter then keep your smelly finger out of it. Me on the other hand absolutely loves grandmas classic recipe!

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