Gaming Rant: I'm Not In This For Your Revolution

As stated in my Mass Effect 2 rant (and sparked by a conversation with my good friend David), there are many things about role-playing games that annoy me. I’m sick of the petty victories of “dinging” a level, of gaining a skill point, of getting a weapon with a purple name. I’m sick of statistical optimization. I’m sick of saving the world. And most of all, I’m sick of not caring about the characters, especially the non-character they give you as your central protagonist. Normally I would attribute this last part to never-ending disappointment with humanity, but when all I have to work with are the same archetypes over and over again, I’m inclined to think I’m not the only part of the problem.

Reader Question: The Roots Of JRPG Standards

This one was inspired by one of Brandmeister’s comments on my Suikoden III deconstruction. His question:

“I’ve always wondered how the JRPG ‘standard’ evolved. Was there one critical success, and then every other game was patterned after that? Did they start with D&D and its encounter tables?”

Video Game Review: Suikoden III

My friend Joe and I beat the game Suikoden III, part of a somewhat lesser known series of Japanese turn-based role-playing games (JRPG). I might say Suikoden and its ilk are in the same vein as Final Fantasy but I can already hear the legions of Suikoden fans knocking on my door, Internet torches and pitchforks at the ready, for daring to compare this beloved series to anything short of solid gold sex. So before I go enraging all five of you, let me put this out there:

I love Suikoden III, and I think it’s the best in the series, probably one of the best of its genre.

Now that the legions of Suikoden fans have proof I don’t know what I’m talking about, let’s break down how Suikoden III fits, and how it averts, the best and worst of JRPGs as a genre.