There has been some controversy around the term Japanese Role Playing Games or JRPG. The term has been criticized as being a discriminatory label to Japanese developers.
The term JRPG became popular in the 90s as a way for the press and gamers to differentiate between the Role Playing Games released by Western developers on the PC and consoles. Most of the early JRPGs, like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, were heavily influenced by visual novel adventure games.
However, Japanese-made RPGs have declined since then and there have been instances that the term being used in a discriminatory manner by critics and developers. Some Japanese creators have spoken out against the use of the term.
Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki “Yoshi-P” Yoshida recently said that he wasn’t a fan of the term JRPG. In an interview with YouTuber Skill Up, Yoshi-P said the term felt discriminator and had negative connotations.
“For us as Japanese developers, the first time we heard it, it was like a discriminatory term, as though we were being made fun of for creating these games, and so for some developers, the term can be something that will maybe trigger bad feelings because of what it was in the past,” Yoshida said.
However, another Japanese game director thinks that Japanese developers should be proud of the term. In an interview with VGC, Hideki Kamiya, PlatinumGames vice president and creator of Bayonetta and Devil May Cry, weighed in on Yoshida’s views.
“So when it comes to the term ‘JRPG’, this is something that ties into this – these are RPG games that, in a sense, only Japanese creators can make with their unique sensitivity when it comes to creating these experiences,” Kamiya shared.
He adds, “I think it’s certainly something that should be celebrated moving forward, and someone should actually aim to make a ‘king of JRPGs’ game to express that. As Japanese game creators, we’re very proud of the actual term JRPG.”
The game director was also asked if he would be offended if people labeled Bayonetta as “J-Action.” Kamiya said he would be proud of the term as it is more specific.
“On the contrary, I’d be very proud if you used that term,” he replied. “It’s more focused than the broad genre of action, and it highlights the unique elements that only Japanese developers can make. So yeah, if you wanted to do that, go for it, we’d be proud more than anything else.”
While Kamiya doesn’t have an issue with the term JRPG, he isn’t as happy with another term that is commonly used. When asked about his love of retro games, Kamiya said he particularly dislikes the term.
“First of all, I don’t like the word ‘retro game’,” Kamiya replied. “I’m obviously not a native English speaker so it might be something I’m interpreting from a Japanese perspective, but hearing the word ‘retro’ from a Japanese viewpoint, suggests more of a “fad” brought back from a past era and reskinned for the current era.”
“So I prefer the terms ‘old games’ or ‘classic games’, because they show more respect to those games of the past.”
“I love games from all generations, and just because the game is ‘retro’ doesn’t mean it’s retro, because it’s the same game that existed years or decades ago – it still exists and it’s still playable and it’s still an experience that’s very unique in its own right – so there’s really no need to refer to it as ‘retro’ because it still does have special memories and experiences that stay with you after all these years. That’s why I like to use the term ‘classic games’.”
Hideki Kamiya and the rest of PlatinumGames are currently working on Bayonetta 4.
