Settings and themes in vidya

King of Posters
#26

I may have been imprecise, I’ve used anime as a catch-all term for the settings of majority of JRPGs, similiar to how DnD fantasy can be used for quite a few western made RPGs.

There are no roleplaying video games, japanese made or otherwise, with say, Studio Ghibli, feudal japan, yakuzas, japanese cyberpunk or Internal affairs inspired aesthetics but with “western” mechanics, i.e. mechanics with emphasis on shaping the direction of the plot and freedom of means in progressing through the game, as far as I know.

#27

Yeah, the RPG enviros issue is a subset of the general settings and themes issue.

#28

I feel like I have a general sense of what you’re getting at with this inquiry, but if you’re going to exclude a large body of games with diverse settings that are mechanically JRPGs (which I think is what’s going on here) because their setting is by default “anime,” I may need some more guidance as to what we’re searching for here.

#29

I am okay if Rockstar doesn’t make Red Dead Redemption: but it’s Sengoku Japan.

#30

something i just thought of: how come there’s no devil may cry-alikes/stylish action games inspired by heroic bloodshed movies?

also it’s my third post in this thread and i’m only now remembering to mention the incredible dearth of sukeban-themed videogames? i must be slipping! (i can think of… four, not including romhacks or games that have one sukeban character in a large playable cast)(two of those four games are based on tv shows, and another one is a mahjong game)

#31

guess how many people at my studio watched the new Twin Peaks

I was talking to a friend who’s looking to move out of the bay area because it’s getting boring and I started complaining about how most of the people at my studio live in the suburbs and do so because they like it. And I started thinking that’s a really good metaphor for the mindset of Professional Game Developers.

I was excited enough about this encapsulation that I brought it up at lunch with people at work

why did I do that

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#32

Stranglehold and The Opera are the only close things I can think of

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#33

Depends on how much you count this but there are are a remarkable amount of Wuxia and Chinese Historical RPGs, though only a small handful have ever been translated into English.

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#34

You probably want to play Way of the Samurai

There’s also the Taikou Risshiden series (though I don’t believe any of these have been translated) and the early Microprose game Sword of the Samurai

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#35

I would be fine with the next one being Red Dead Downunder

#36

Oh, and like, Max Payne obviously. I dunno why I didn’t write that first.

#37

What are the rpgs with “western” mechanics as you describe them? The only ones that exist are sci fi, fantasy, or anime? I ask because I don’t know my RPGs very well and you sound confident about all of them.

#38

Oh, you’re thinking of Fallout? Lol. I never thought Fallout gave you a lot of flexibility honestly. I know people hold it up as a paragon of choice because you can attack every NPC but you can do that in Super Mario BRothers too. I recall some guy getting excited about reverse pickpocketing people with explosives to blow them up, big deal. You remember Mouser from SMB2J? Exactly.

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#39

This is a nuclear level take

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#40

nah its a paragon of choice because you can kill 0 people in it while still being a complete creep

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#41

The most realistic game design

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#42

more videogames should take inspiration from like, doctor strange

one thing i appreciate about @thecatamites is they channel this sort of extra dimensional weirdness in their games

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#43

The aforementioned Alpha Protocol, Fallout, Arcanum.

Deus Ex, Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines among others.

Not the only setings (or “settings”), but the most common ones.

Alpha Protocol is mentioned cause it’s almost the only one which isn’t set in one of those three while also having “western” narrative mechanics.

Oh I guess there is also Jade Empire.

also, fuck this finicky quote system

#44

They need to watch Star Wars more closely if that’s the case

3 Likes
#45

didn’t read the whole thread but

things are more varied than most people would imagine

but also the rami ismail point about most tools/technologies (and distribution related to such) being geared toward americans and english speakers makes it such that a lot of the cool stuff coming out of places you wouldn’t have heard of with settings influenced by their backgrounds just gets buried

1 Like