Who is victor in this epic confrontation between two behemoths? I take the western RPG's personally. More expansive gameworlds to explore, generally better visuals, more in-depth levelling and customisation options, more intricate lore...

Though FFVII is still my favourite game ever.

Oh god...

I'm probably voting for Western RPG's too, some really tight stuff there. Still, I believe that there are great Japanese RPGs too!

Western RPGs.

Uh, no.

Have you taken a good look at WOW's character designs lately?

WoW's character designing went downhill after Wrath of the Ligh Kind... Damn repetive characters and armors with small amount of imagination in them.

Have you taken a look at Final Fantasy's?

I'm not a huge fan of FF's character designs post VI but they're not BAD by any means, just generic anime-ish.

But this.



Ugh.

I just hate most western video game character design in general.

These are far from bad. Wow's (older) raids and raid bosses were some of the coolest I've ever seen.

It goes without saying that 99% of my posts in this forum have been hyperbole ever since Curiosity has been here, because I've been in a constant struggle to outdo him in extreme statements, a struggle I will never win. And a pointless one at that, why should I pretend to be as stupid as that guy is? It's fucking impossible anyway.

But about Warcraft's character art. I guess I shouldn't say it's bad, I just don't like it much. I definitely favor Japanese design, even if they do borrow a lot from Japanese archtypes I find them more interesting than western archtypes.

I'm not too crazy about Tetsuya Nomura but Square's SNES RPGs all look fantastic visually, they've aged a lot better than FF VII that's for sure.

Anyway to anwser the (retarded) question of this thread. I enjoy JRPGs because while they feature less freedom I like that they have actual stories that unfold as you play, compared to an MMORPG where the story is just a backdrop for the game and is something most people don't even bother looking into and don't even consider an important part of the game.

Also I find that a lot of older JRPGs have pretty inspired settings, especially the best SNES RPGs. Warcraft and the like is nothing more than recycled Tolkien.

Things that I love about Warcraft are definitely their unique storylines. The game has probably been influenced by LOTR but it has got some awesome, original stuff. The best backstories are about Ahn'Qiraj and Naxxramas, the two evil raid instances. Whereas Ahn'Qiraj focuses on Egypt-like bugs and their old god wanting to destroy the world, Naxxramas has really creepy atmosphere with all the monsters sewn from the flesh of innocent people. Those raids were the best things that happened to World of Warcraft. When Ahn'Qiraj was released, there was this huge quest-chain called 'Scepter of the Shifting Sands', one of the best questlines I know. WoW hasn't had strong moments like that for long time...

Voice-acting of the boss, Thaddius (that huge undead giant posted as a picture, from Naxxramas, fucking creepy stuff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn4GYI8S3dU

Warhammer, bro. I'd call neither particularly original.

I agree that the main story and the characters itself aren't that original but the more-unknown stories like Ahn'Qiraj and the attack of Scourge are imo quite original.

Why the HELL would you use WoW as your fucking example?

Because Boo boo brought it as an example up there...

For the current generation WRPGs are kicking ass. Tales of Vesperia is the only good JRPG I've played, FFXIII and Lost Odyssey were so boring and nothing else really seems worth buying though their a couple interesting title, but no high caliber ones.