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Talk to me about the technical differences between Japanese games and AAA titles we see from Western publishers

nial

Gold Member
I'm so sick of Japanese game "fans" never mentioning Gran Turismo.
Polyphony Digital absolutely mogs almost every other Japanese studio, and Western ones as well.
 

Astral Dog

Member
I value gameplay and art more than raw graphics, but Japanese developers got much better compared to early seventh generation, were of course their games looked great but took too long to come out, or had plenty of flaws result of a rushed production/limited budget

Capcom and Square Enix for example, compare then to today

Nintendo doesn't always impress with their visuals but their polish and attention to detail is impressive.

There are western developers who make games as polished as Japanese developers but imo they prioritize narrative and scope over the finer details
 
Most Japanese devs other than Capcom, Square and Kojima are not willing spend crazy amount of budget for graphics like western devs do. Their priorities are different than western devs and it also helps them sales their games reasonably well without needing to do COD numbers in order to be successful.
They need to keep this up. Sure we can have a few studios over there with strong graphics, but I'd rather have a fun, deep, engaging rpg than something that is just flash bang and shallow.

As much as I love Dragons Dogma 2, FF16, FF7r, Rise of Ronin, RE8, RE2 remake, Stellar Blade, Nier Automata, Silent hill 2 remake (I know not japanese dev, but still),

I love:
Y's X, Trials of Mana, Triangle Strategy, Unicorn Overlord, Valkyria chronicles, Romancing Saga 2, EDF 5/6, Dragon Quest 11, DQ Builders series, DQ Monster series, Octopath Traveler, Fire Emblem, Atelier, Tales of , Gravity Rush, and Disgaea series. (listing what I like, there are tons smaller games that I don't care for too) ,

We get more of these 2nd style games. In the time we get 1 game from a western studio, Japanese devs have given multiple games.
Y's after last gen (y's7), got Y's 8, Y's 9, Y's origin, Y's 10. Disgaea got Disgaea 5-> 7, EDF 4.1-> 5-> 6. More games in less time due to not having insane graphic requirements. It also means lots of games on the switch or steam deck.
 
Most japanese dev studios outside of the bigger ones like capcom are at most 50-100 person strong compared to the 500+ people in western game credits, lower budgets, lower manpower ect.

Studios like Compile Heart, Falcom, Furyu and many others have to get really creative with the budget and tools they are given.
Because of that, they are also able to release games at $60 instead of $70, which means I will buy more day 1 releases. $70 is a tough pill to swallow.
 
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Kikorin

Member
Japanese devs just better understand what makes a game fun to play. Watch the Sakurai Youtube channel to see how much tricks that should be mandatory to anyone that want to make a game he talks about, to understand why western copies of japanese games just doesn't feels right to play. Graphics is not the most important thing when you can make a game that is fun to play and will break even with some hundreds of thousands of copies sold, instead of millions just to make the studio stay afloat.

Imagine how much ROI have already been the new Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom at 2.5 millions in one month, compared to that shitty Dragon Age: Veilguard that probably will kill Bioware.
 

nial

Gold Member
Passion versus cash grab

For the players versus for the stakeholders

Art versus product/service
Quality, respect, integrity Japanese games are usually made to be rewarding and fun western games are looking to extract money from the consumer and seen more as a way of spreading a message these days.
Spoken by people not actually familiar with the wide Japanese industry. Akin to a kid discovering anime for the first time who believes that Japan can do no wrong.
Japan = demons souls (ps3)

West : horizon zero dawn remaster
The Demon's Souls remake is Japanese as well.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Spoken by people not actually familiar with the wide Japanese industry. Akin to a kid discovering anime for the first time who believes that Japan can do no wrong.
So far this gen Japanese devs delivering more on games than western devs do…at least for me.

This entire year only bought one western game and that was Silent Hill 2 Remake.
 

nial

Gold Member
So far this gen Japanese devs delivering more on games than western devs do…at least for me.
I mean, I agree with that, but it has nothing to do with my post. How anyone can say with a straight face that only Western games look to extract money from the consumer in the year of motherfucking Dragon's Dogma 2 (a single-player game, btw) is beyond me.
 
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Skelterz

Member
Spoken by people not actually familiar with the wide Japanese industry. Akin to a kid discovering anime for the first time who believes that Japan can do no wrong.

The Demon's Souls remake is Japanese as well.
No not really I’m just basing it on what I see and understand from a consumer and gamer perspective I get more fun and time per buck out of Japanese games there usually more original less homogenous and they tend to not try to nickel and dime me every time I boot the game up and usually there finished products.

Like the whole part you said about a kid discovering anime is just horseshit mate look at the state of western gaming it’s never actually been this bad Western gaming is in the bin at the moment and it’s all politics and revenue if you can’t see that then god help you.
 
I mean, I agree with that, but it has nothing to do with my post. How anyone can say with a straight face that only Western games look to extract money from the consumer in the year of motherfucking Dragon's Dogma 2 (a single-player game, btw) is beyond me.
In what way is dd2 trying to extract money from people beyond thr purchase price? I don't even think we got dlc yet. Sure there is an optional camping and warp thing you can buy, but they are also in game you earn them or buy from with in game cash.


This isn't cod or diablo4 with a cash shop built in with cosmetics and gear you can only buy for real world cash
 

nial

Gold Member
In what way is dd2 trying to extract money from people beyond thr purchase price? I don't even think we got dlc yet. Sure there is an optional camping and warp thing you can buy, but they are also in game you earn them or buy from with in game cash.
Sorry, but I can't see it that way when we all know MTXs have an effect on game design. You're obviously not forced to get it, but it's absolutely designed to extract even more money from consumers; to increase revenue beyond the $70 purchase price,
This isn't cod or diablo4 with a cash shop built in with cosmetics and gear you can only buy for real world cash
From what I've seen, Exoprimal -while not having a built-in store- it's still as bad with this shit. Heck, Capcom fucking sucks when it comes to MTX, I don't know how this is even up for debate.
No not really I’m just basing it on what I see and understand from a consumer and gamer perspective I get more fun and time per buck out of Japanese games there
Fine, I feel the same way.
usually more original
Hmm, I wonder what scope we're talking about here.
less homogenous
Hmm, I wonder what scope we're talking about here. Probably true in a way, but I don't it's think as different as you may believe.
and they tend to not try to nickel and dime me every time I boot the game up
Plenty of games don't, if all you play is COD it's literally your problem.
and usually there finished products
As it's the case with a lot of games across the globe.
Like the whole part you said about a kid discovering anime is just horseshit mate look at the state of western gaming it’s never actually been this bad Western gaming is in the bin at the moment and it’s all politics and revenue if you can’t see that then god help you.
I don't care about politics here, but gaming as a whole is focused on revenue and I don't get how you can't see that. Japan isn't the place in which gacha games first became huge without reason.
 

GHound

Member
I'm so sick of Japanese game "fans" never mentioning Gran Turismo.
Polyphony Digital absolutely mogs almost every other Japanese studio, and Western ones as well.
I don't really play racing games much (and even then only really kart racers) so I also don't really give a shit man.
 
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nial

Gold Member
I don't really play racing games much (and even then only really kart racers) so I also don't really give a shit man.
It's ok, but I think it's very important in a conversation like this (as in the OP). It shows that the Japanese can still be technically ahead of most studios out there in some key genres like this.
 
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