Japanese RPGs are arguably less popular in the West now than they were ten years ago (not counting Final Fantasy's ongoing success). Despite Japan lapping them up, it seems Westerners are tired of the same ol' same ol' that the majority of JRPGs have to offer. So what can developers do to bring the JRPG back into the Western mainstream? dualshockers.com have a few ideas...

There was a time when Western audiences ate up Japanese RPGs like candy - during the prime years for that genre in the mid- to late-90s. Perhaps back then things were simpler and we didn’t expect as much. Maybe JRPGs seemed like novelty items - something rare, precious and different. They captured our imaginations with their deep, involving stories and amazed us with their graphical presentation. But, times have changed.

While many JRPGs still push the graphical limits of modern consoles, we all know that visual appeal alone isn’t enough to float a game that no one wants to play. Also, there are many and varied reasons why it seems like Japanese RPGs have fallen out of favor with Western audiences in this new century. Perhaps gamers feel that they aren’t trying to innovate enough, perhaps this new generation of gamers wants your garden variety shooter where there is action every second of the way or maybe JRPGs just aren’t growing with the times.

Miss Razz via dualshockers.com »