Podcast: What counts as a JRPG?

Listen now for exposition

Podcast by RPS Hivemind

Published on Feb. 22, 2018

You’d think we could agree on four simple letters. But nothing is ever straightforward on RPS podcast, the Electronic Wireless Show. This week the gang are talking JRPGs, or Japanese role-playing games to use some real words for human people. Does a game have to be made in Japan to be defined as an JRPG? Or does it just need some bright colours and lots of turn-based battles? Maybe it only needs a boss behind a boss (and then another boss behind that one)? Come with us into the petty world of the genre bouncer, as we examine the shoes of dozens of games and decide whether or not they’re allowed into the JRPG nightclub.

We seek to understand the true meaning of the genre. Katharine reckons if it isn’t made in Japan, it can probably take a hike. Adam thinks the cult classic Anachronox counts, despite being made in the US by the late developer supergroup Ion Storm. And Brendan is happy to apply the label to Undertale, or simply anything with lots of townspeople who say things like “The Crusty Falcon has been with us for centuries. They say it came from the mountains.” But there's also plenty of Final Fantasy XV chat, as is to be expected when the game is only a couple of weeks from its PC release.