This a fact. I feel like Eastern game developers prioritize gameplay over graphics. Some aspects of Nier Automata, Yakuza 0, Persona 5 look awful (some NPCs deadass look PS2-esque) but they're beloved and praised games because the gameplay is so good

By technical you mean visual? Cause the gameplay mechanics of AC6 look insane and would probably melt most PCs and consoles if they were given a "good graphics" overhaul

None of the best and most popular games right now are carried by graphics. F***ing Minecraft could be played on a flip phone. RDR2 looks amazing but it handles like clunky ass, it's saved by the amazing writing and acting. TLOU2 is a little better but it's relatively simple gameplay wise. Same with God of War. Fromsoft could never pull off their gameplay with those engines at this point.

We not about to act like the simplistic gameplay of souls games is going to make it difficult on hardware if graphics improved.

The best game graphically on consoles is horizon and what it has occurring on screen is practically the same in numbers, size, etc.

Horizon?

Souls simplistic?

Forbidden West has terrific graphics you'd have to be blind to argue otherwise. On PC Cyberpunk or RDR2 are still holding the crown graphically.

Souls combat has always been simple, press square to attack, dodge or roll, block or parry, the same animations. It's not a complex combat system in the slightest, it's about timing and learning patterns.

The game isn't DMC or FF16 with whole combo systems in place. It's why it's so easy for other devs to make soulslike clones.

You named two PS3 games and a game that came out in 2017, not examples of recent JRPGs with good graphics and gameplay. Those three are all outdated as by 2023 standard.

FF7R and FF16 are both nice graphically. Metaphor Re looks to have a beautiful art style going for it. Lost Judgement was fine graphically, I'm sure Yakuza 8 will be on par as well.

Atlier Ryza 3 also looks great on PC, Tales of Arise while I didn't like the gameplay has a pretty art style going.

Yeah how those Souls clones turn out

I love Souls games and think Forbidden West isn't very fun, but you're saying nothing untrue here at all

Pretty well probably a top 3 genre devs find success with copycat influence in

I'm not talking about 2023, they were outdated even for their time. 2017 is a year after Uncharted 4, a year before GOW, Spiderman and RDR2. Yeah they were PS3 games but even Bloodborne had some muddy textures for 2015 and that's an exclusive

My point is that generally Eastern game developers just don't value putting effort into graphics as much as Western developers do

By technical stuff I mean things like performance, handling things like raytracing etc. I don’t think FromSoft has the talent to improve the graphics without making the game perform like complete s***.

I don’t really think gameplay comes under what I’m talking about, those games you mentioned like RDR2 just have really boring gameplay, its not a technical constraint, the developers in those games just thought making their games handle like ass was a good idea for some reason

Wouldn't say it's a lack of effort, more to do with budget. Not many JRPG devs have the purse that's needed to go the extra mile on graphics. We could probably count on one hand the number that could likely afford that expense. You named what were massive AAA titles and all had way more funding than any of those Japanese titles I'm sure.

I mean we learned Sony spent 212 million on Forbidden West development cycle lol. That's an absurd amount of money and larger than probably 95% of most games we see.

Even with budget you can look at a game like FF16 that had assistance from like every team in Square Enix - compare it to Horizon and argue that Horizon looks significantly better and also performs better too. Not sure how much Square would have spent on FF16, but if Forspoken which isn’t even Squares main title for the year cost 100 million then the cost for FF16 must have also been absurdly high. I don’t think its a lack of effort or budget I honestly think its just a difference in technical knowledge and tools they have at their disposal

From this article with Sakaguchi and Igarashi (which I recommend reading in general)

ign.com/articles/final-fantasy-castlevania-creators-discuss-rise-decline-revival-of-japanese-video-games

With titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Metal Gear Solid V, Elden Ring and Final Fantasy XIV, it is safe to say that Japanese developers are at the forefront of the game industry once again today. That being said, the climate is fundamentally different from the 1980s and ’90s. Free engines like Unreal and Unity offer more documentation in English than in Japanese, putting Japanese developers at a disadvantage; and while Nintendo remains a very Japanese company, SIE (Sony’s video game division) moved its headquarters from Tokyo, Japan to San Mateo, California in 2016.

The cost of making a AAA game these days is ridiculous across the board as is. With that in mind you've gotta really think about expenses is allocated into what. There's plenty of talented minds across the globe in the gaming industry, so I wouldn't say technical know how is the fault.

Take Kojima who's studio is based in Tokyo. He made Death Stranding on the Decima engine which is created by Guerilla Games, and he had some assistance from them as well I believe. He's also likely getting help from Xbox with the project he's making for them. The new Dragon Quest is also being made in UE5 for example. The ability to ask for help or hire people with experience in the tool you're using is always available.

End of the day JRPGs are still a niche genre overall, the casual gamer doesn't really play JRPGs. These companies are making games to make a profit, putting extra money into achieving a higher graphical fidelity doesn't make sense for many. Final Fantasy is the only series not named Pokemon that has consistently sold greatly for the most part. Which allows Square such a budget in the first place.

Kinda but 99% of FromSoft fans have never touched anything they made before Demon's Souls lol. Hell, most haven't even played that. Them niggas aint played Armored Core lol

Super curious how this is gonna end up being received, especially following up something like Elden Ring.

If FromSoft was real they would have made a sequel to this:

Forspoken isnt unreal 5 but I get what you are going for

Calling souls simplistic in this context is funny. Players used to be frustrated about mechanics not being explained or intuitive enough but I mean yeah it is simple in comparison to many games. But not the AAA market

Oh i thot it was. Many of its realistic enviormental textures are really bland, generic & simple I thought it was from UE5. Has that similar stench.

There are plenty of DMC clones lol especially back in the day

There isnt any that much anymore because its not the most popular anymore

And yeah i agree Souls isnt "insane hard" its just challenging, but most people dont agree with that take & say the games are complicated

The game being complicated and hard is the general perception lol

Actually im willing to bet most people have at least touched one or two FS games before Souls. They just dont know it.

FS has hella series & even licensed titles theyve done before Demons, some of them their company isnt even credited outside of the splash screen.

They even have a few exclusives for Sony and Microsoft on the PS3/PS2/360/OGXBOX.

Them niggas have dozens and dozens of games, but yeah Armored Core and before that Tenchu were their branded most "known" games.

Yeah theres a subsection of hardcore action gamers that believe if you dont have combos then your game is simple lol which isnt true look at Monster Hunter for example which never had many combos until recently and its still not that "deep" but its one of the most complex and challenging games out there in the action space

Pay them no mind its just another form of elitism

Most people and the general perception is that these ganes are hard & complex

Budget, hype, talent, tech specs, behind the scenes technology & next gen only

And it all crashed and burned

Faxx

As long as ur not on the Series S for most titles