Imru’ al-Qays
Member
Well said. It is a bit rich to have someone whose idea of top-tier JRPG storytelling is Xenoblade 3 tell me that I've probably only played FF. I remember when JRPGs actually had stories worth a damn, and one of those JRPGs was Xenogears, a game I was absolutely blown away by as a kid even though I barely understood a quarter of what it was saying. Now the same creative lead behind that game is making absolutely execrable trash like Xenoblade 2-3. The greatest video game scenario writer of all time, Yasumi Matsuno, was forced out of the games industry after he wrote masterpieces like Tactics Ogre, FF Tactics, and Vagrant Story. The same studio that created the brilliant minimalist narrative of SMT Nocturne currently churns out nothing but power of friendship slop (I literally can't remember anything about the story of Metaphor Refantazio). There has been such a clear regression in the quality of JRPG narratives over the past two decades that a game like Expedition 33, which wouldn't have been particularly impressive on the PS1 in terms of its story, actually does stand head and shoulders above anything coming out of Japan, with very, very few exceptions.You're just shooting yourself on the foot with these comments. We're criticizing these Square Enix games because many of us paid money, spent time and have been disappointed time and time and time again with mediocre experiences. To say Expedition 33 is melodramatic and predictable while praising Octopath is the craziest take I've ever seen here and it's clear you have a bone to pick with this game.
You originally said that people who are looking at Expedition 33 probably never went past mainline FF games...not true. I guarantee I've played more JRPGs than you and most people here. Expedition 33 deserves the praise because it is something that is missing that we see so much in the genre. It's missing the mediocrity, anime tropes, EXCESSIVE hand holding, retarded characters who mostly act like they're 13 years old, extremely "cringe" writing and dialogue of modern day JRPGs.
You can also throw in other things it's missing too, but there's no point since something tells me you're going to say it has all of that anyway. So yeah, pointless...
But to each their own. I really hope we start seeing more companies (especially Square) who seem less and less passionate about their projects take more inspiration from these actual gamers who go into development with the mentality and goal to make something they'd love to play as well.