Role-playing games are often divided into two categories: RPGs created by Western developers and JRPGs inspired by famous Japanese franchises, Final Fantasy be one of the most notable. However, the lines between JRPGs and “WRPGs” are much more blurred than they appear at first glance; many gameplay mechanics are seen as the core of classic JRPGs such as Final Fantasy and dragon quest originated in an obscure western computer RPG franchise called sorcery. In addition, many of the unique innovations Japanese developers have added to the dungeon crawling gameplay of sorcery went on to exert a major influence on modern Western RPGs on both console and PC.
In the traditional discourse on Western RPGs versus Eastern RPGs, Western RPGs like: The Elder Scrolls or Baldur’s Gate series would have the following qualities: an unwritten protagonist or a team of heroes that players can customize, an open-world environment with many side quests, and real-time or real-time-with-pause combat systems. RPGs like Final Fantasy or dragon questby contrast, are often seen as more linear, focused storytelling around pre-written characters, limited character customization, and a turn-based combat system.
Today, the gap between western RPG and JRPG designs is getting smaller and smaller. There’s no shortage of Japanese-made RPGs like Elden Ring that embrace character customization, open world exploration, and real-time combat, while western video games such as The Banner Saga have turn-based gameplay and visual styles heavily inspired by tactical JRPGs such as the fire emblem franchisee. Rather than fixating on how ‘Western’ or ‘Eastern’ RPGs are to the point of pedanticism, it’s far more interesting to explore the exchange of ideas and blueprints between RPG designers around the world – a cross-fertilization of innovation which started with a certain dungeon crawl game on the Apple II home computer.
Wizardry’s gameplay overcame 1098 . hardware limitations
In his series on the history of RPG video games, USGamer contributor Jeremy Parish shares many interesting quotes from designer Robert Woodhead about how the first game in the sorcery series, Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlordstarted to take shape. According to Woodhead, the first sorcery game was heavily inspired by Richard Garriott’s first Ultimate play together with D&D-clone dungeon games like dnd which were created and played on the computer network of PLATO University (a system with prototypes of modern conveniences such as touch screens, email inboxes and chat rooms). According to USGamerIn the article on the history of fantasy RPGs, the Apple II home computers that Woodhead and Andrew Greenberg developed had less processing power than PLATO, limited floppy memories, and no multiplayer connectivity.
To get around these technical limitations, Woodhead and Greenberg reduced the fantasy role-playing concept to its essentials: a single fantasy village where players could purchase essentials and progress, a labyrinthine, multi-level dungeon filled with randomly encountered monsters and treasure, and a menu-based interface that players use to control the actions of an adventurous party. This basic model of dungeon-crawling adventure lingers to this day in more old-school Western RPGs like diablo and darkest dungeon and also forms the basis for some of the most influential RPGs made in Japan.
Sorcery-inspired Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy and more
The focus and economy of sorceryIts first-person graphics and dungeon crawling gameplay made it an RPG that could be easily upgraded, reworked, and ported to various computer platforms and consoles. After being ported to the Japanese NEC PC-8801 home computer and Nintendo Entertainment System with enhanced graphics, sorcery 1 became popular among certain Japanese gamers and inspired stylistically similar homegrown dungeon-crawling games such as The black onyx and dragon slayer. The turning point came when game designer Yuji Horii, intrigued by the turn-based dungeon mining of sorcery and the exploration of the overworld map of Ultimatewas inspired to create a game with simplified controls, gameplay with a smoother learning curve, and colorful visuals derived from the concept art of Akira Toriyama (creator of the Dragon Ball manga series). The result was the first dragon questan RPG that changed both the console game industry and the RPG scene in Japan.
By modern standards, both the original sorcery and the original dragon quest can come across as clumsy and primitive, and lack many of the quality-of-life features that modern RPG players take for granted. Still, the success of these titles in the Japanese gaming market proved that RPGs with elaborate stories and accessible gameplay could be successfully published on video game consoles and computer platforms with limited memory and minimal control schemes. From dragon questthe many sequels and thematically similar games such as The Legend of Zelda, many new Japanese video game franchises emerged with similar turn-based combat modes and a colorful fantasy aesthetic. The first Final Fantasy game spawned one of Japan’s most famous JRPG franchises and popularized commonly used JRPG tropes such as airships for fast travel and magic crystals as plot device. Console games like Shin Megami Tensei and pokemon has popularized a monster-catching variant of RPG where a player recruits and upgrades a stable of monsters with elemental affinities. Around the same time, the first of the fire emblem Strategy games fused RPG gameplay with turn-based tactical scenarios, putting players in control of a medieval army of personalized characters who leveled up over the course of a military campaign.
As the processing power and graphical fidelity of consoles and computers increased, more and more RPGs have moved away from the turn-based combat and menu interfaces of the former. sorcery and Dragon Quest. Even the Final Fantasy franchise, long associated with turn-based combat, switched to (mostly) real-time combat in Final Fantasy XV and Final Fantasy VII Remake. At the same time, however, the gameplay and game design were developed by sorcery lingers in modern RPGs like Octopath Traveler, Etrian Odyssey, Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Soulsand the most recent dragon quest and fire emblem episodes, cherished by nostalgic gamers and new gamers who appreciate the ability to pause, reflect, and make tactical decisions.
Source: USGamer
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