Zeschuck: JRPGs lack evolution, progression

“Innovation” is one of those buzzwords we hear every now and then in the games industry. Which games or consoles innovated the most? Which ones didn’t? According to BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuck, JRPGs as a whole have been guilty of being stagnant for the past few years.

“Innovation” is one of those buzzwords we hear every now and then in the games industry. Which games or consoles innovated the most? Which ones didn’t? According to BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuck, JRPGs as a whole have been guilty of being stagnant for the past few years.

“The fall of the JRPG in large part is due to a lack of evolution, a lack of progression,” Zeschuk told Destructoid in a recent interview. “They kept delivering the same thing over and over. They make the dressing better, they look prettier, but it’s still the same experience.

While he acknowledges that there are definitely exceptions — Demon’s Souls is mentioned as one — Zeschuck believes that the role-playing in JRPGs have fallen behind that offered by their Western counterparts.

“We have big debates on whether GTA is an RPG, for example,” he said. “It’s got all the elements, it just doesn’t have the numbers. And what gamers here want is that higher depth, that higher integration of features…Mass Effect 2 is in some ways a continuation of that evolution.”

Well, JRPG fans, what say you?

Via [Destructoid]