r/JRPG • u/Marinebiologist_0 • Apr 27 '25

News Clair Obscur has achieved the highest concurrent player rate ever for a JRPG on Steam.

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Incredible numbers, this doesn't even include the Xbox Gamepass player count. The last time I remember a JRPG getting this level of attention was Persona 5 and NieR Automata in 2017. It'll be interesting to see how massive Persona 6 will be, if it launches day 1 on all major platforms.

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u/Marinebiologist_0 Apr 27 '25

It's a JRPG.

Elden Ring was made in Japan, but it's not a JRPG. Clair Obscure wasn't made in Japan, but it's a JRPG. You don't have to be from a certain part of the world to make a certain kind of game.

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u/Ramiren Apr 27 '25

You're right, the J refers to where the subgenre originated, not where the game was made.

In the same way Swiss cheese can be made outside of Switzerland a JRPG can be made outside of Japan.

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u/TrickyAudin Apr 28 '25

Actually, only cheese from Switzerland can be Swiss, if it's made anywhere else it's Holey cheese

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u/moffattron9000 Apr 28 '25

Food and drinks get into a weird zone thanks to global geopolitics. Japanese Whisky is made the same way Scotch is made and in a similar climate but is not called Scotch because the British Government has signed a whole bunch of treaties to require Scotch to come from Scotland.

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u/CO_Fimbulvetr Apr 28 '25

No no, it's a Sparkling RPG.

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u/CapCapital Apr 27 '25

Don't worry, OP i agree with you, some fans may not and thats where my joke stems from

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u/000extra Apr 27 '25

This 100%. Even the devs have called this a JRPG. Like someone else said, it’s a poorly named genre but everyone just knows what you mean when a game is like that. Very different from western style RPGs. It’s not about where it was made, it’s the style of game. Sea of Stars is also very much a JRPG despite not being made in Japan

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u/Dude_McGuy0 Apr 27 '25

There are three factions as I see it:

  1. To be a JRPG, the game only needs to be made by a mostly Japanese development team. (So Persona counts, Elden Ring counts, Expedition 33 doesn't count).
  2. The game needs to be both made by a Japanese development team AND have a Japanese or Japanese inspired art style to be considered a JRPG. (Persona counts, Elden ring doesn't count, Expedition 33 doesn't count,).
  3. If the game is designed using the same gameplay conventions as popular JRPGs of the SNES/PS1 era (Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Suikoden, etc.) then it's considered a JRPG regardless of the art style or developer. (Persona counts, Elden ring doesn't count, Expedition 33 counts).

Where you fall likely depends on which type of "JRPG" you got into first.

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u/ch0wned Apr 27 '25

One thing to keep in mind is that the whole ‘JRPG’ genre started out (and still hangs on to many of the fundamentals of) as Wizardry clones. Japan absolutely fuckkng loved Wizardry (look how many JPE exclusive wizardry games there are, I think it’s approaching 30). The west got bored of cool turn based combat and levelling during the SNES era, but Japan really leaned into it.

I have to say, it’s absolutely fantastic playing a game that perfectly hits the chronotrigger/ff 6&7 beats perfectly but feels so very French. I haven’t played a game that felt this French since the old LBA games, I love it - something I probably shouldn’t admit as a British person!

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u/faloin67 Apr 27 '25

You're right, which makes the genre name really stupid and nonsensical.

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u/Villad_rock Apr 27 '25

Just like italian food outside of italy?

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u/hchan1 Apr 28 '25

I hope you fire off the same complaint when buying french fries

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u/characterulio Apr 28 '25

If we didn't know where the devs are from, everyone would say it is from Japan. They completely nailed all the troops of a JRPG game along with some great active elements.

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u/Lady_White_Heart Apr 27 '25

Elden Ring is a JRPG.

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u/weglarz Apr 27 '25

It’s not

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u/Lady_White_Heart Apr 27 '25

Yes it is.

It's a RPG.

It's made in Japan.

= JRPG.

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u/weglarz Apr 27 '25

Not even close to what a JRPG is. You’ve been misinformed

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u/Lady_White_Heart Apr 27 '25

Your opinion.

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u/Square-Jackfruit420 Apr 27 '25

Its not an opinion, you're just wrong. The name refers to where the style originated. Dragons Dogma and all the Souls games are western style rpgs that were made in Japan.

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u/Sigourn Apr 28 '25

What western games are like those?

Do you know where action RPGs originated? Japan.

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u/Square-Jackfruit420 Apr 28 '25

"JRPG" is a genre not a descriptor. They themselves originated from western games like ultima and wizardry.

If you cant see the fundamental problem with calling any rpg from Japan a jrpg. It's like you don't know what the word genre even means.

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u/Sigourn Apr 28 '25

I'm saying that if we are going to use the term JRPG, Dark Souls is one. There are nearly no western RPGs like it.

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u/migstrove Apr 27 '25

Key word "style". In the same way, this and undertale can be looked at as Japanese "style" RPG's but not JRPGs

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u/Lady_White_Heart Apr 27 '25

It's an opinion.

Dragon's Dogma/Souls games are JRPGs.

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u/Square-Jackfruit420 Apr 27 '25

They are not jrpgs. Do you also think you have to live in the south to make southern rock?

You have to be trolling because there's no way someone who likes the genre enough to be in this sub is so uninformed on the subject.

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u/Lady_White_Heart Apr 27 '25

The south of what? - Never heard of southern rock, so probably?

They are JRPGs, it's your opinion on whether you think they aren't.

To me, they are JRPGs.

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u/Chronoi Apr 27 '25

And Undertale is a WRPG because Toby Fox is not Japanese. Crazy.

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u/Lady_White_Heart Apr 27 '25

Correct, it's not a Jrpg.

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u/Chronoi Apr 27 '25

Can't believe I've met someone's crazy enough to call fromsoft games as JRPG. Try claim this position to r/eldenring and r/fromsoftware lmao I wanna see something

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u/SoggyBiscuitVet Apr 27 '25

Again the J refers to where the genre originated from, it's not about where the game is from. You are taking it literally, rather than how the term was coined.

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u/Firvulag Apr 27 '25

That's like saying Sifu is a fighting game because the characters fight.

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u/Lady_White_Heart Apr 27 '25

Sifu is a beat em up.

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u/Firvulag Apr 27 '25

Thank god you didn't say rogue like

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u/Expensive_Candy_7177 Apr 27 '25

No. That's now how genre names work. Genre names aren't always the LITERAL definition of a word.

By that logic any game where you play as a character is an RPG.

You get certain conventions that some games share, and the genre name is created after the fact. You do not have the genre name, and then create the game conventions after the name.

People who say stuff like this have a fundamental misunderstanding with how people use language.

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u/Lady_White_Heart Apr 27 '25

Elden ring is a RPG. It's made in Japan. It's a Jrpg. You don't need to be turn based to be a Jrpg.

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u/Expensive_Candy_7177 Apr 27 '25

No. The genre name JRPG did not come around just because they were RPGs made in Japan. If that was the case there would be a hundred other J-genres for games made in Japan.

People in Japan made RPGs. They shared certain conventions in gameplay, style and presentation. These were specific and different to games made elsewhere. So the name JRPG began being used. It was because they had specific qualities associated with them, not that they were just made in Japan.

Now you have people decades later saying it means "RPG made in Japan" because they think a genre name means the LITERAL definition of the words used. It makes zero sense.

Cyberpunk 2077 is a fighting game using your logic. You literally fight things.

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u/Lady_White_Heart Apr 27 '25

Cyberpunk is an action adventure game. The term Jrpg came along due to racist features from the west.

Jrpg doesn't mean turn based games.

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u/Expensive_Candy_7177 Apr 27 '25

I said nothing about turn-based. Your definition of JRPG is the literal definition of the word. This is not how genre names work.

Cyberpunk 2077 = you fight things. So it's a fighting game. Using your logic of the literal definition of genre names.

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u/Lady_White_Heart Apr 27 '25

You don't fight things though? Cyberpunk 2077 isn't a genre.

I said about RPG and made in Japan.

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u/MetalFingers760 Apr 27 '25

You are either intentionally starting shit or have no idea what you are talking about. Or both. Both is a possibility.

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u/Lady_White_Heart Apr 27 '25

What am I wrong about exactly?

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u/MetalFingers760 Apr 27 '25

If a hamburger is cooked in Japan, is that Japanese cuisine? I'll let you sit on this for a bit and if you don't understand why you are wrong, my life won't change a bit. Enjoy.

I can eat sushi in the USA and it's still Japanese food. Where something is made doesn't change what it is.

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u/Lady_White_Heart Apr 28 '25

It is Japanese cuisine, correct? I don't see the problem.

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u/MetalFingers760 Apr 28 '25

I know a good bridge you can live under if you've run out of room. I know troll real estate is hard to come by these days.

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u/Lady_White_Heart Apr 28 '25

What do you mean? Please stop insulting me, thanks.

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u/JameboHayabusa Apr 27 '25

What defines a genre. You can Google it if you want.

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u/IllustriousSalt1007 Apr 27 '25

So then going by your logic, you consider FF2 and FF3 to be WRPGs, since they were largely developed in California? And you consider FF9 to also be a WRPG, since it was developed in Hawaii?

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u/No_Sympathy_3970 Apr 27 '25

If I make Swiss cheese in America is it now American cheese?

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u/miggymo Apr 27 '25

This drives me batty, because Elden Ring is a JRPG. If Ys is a JRPG, then the Souls games are too. And I’m fine with Expedition 33 being discussed here.

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u/inEQUAL Apr 27 '25

No, Souls games are quite explicitly following western RPG conventions with player-made characters and just… the style of gameplay. In what world is YS not a JRPG? Some of y’all in this thread are on some shit.

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u/Sigourn Apr 28 '25

In the same world where people think an action game cannot be a JRPG. And yes, there are people who claim that.

Soulsborne games don't follow western conventions. They are their own thing, born in Japan.

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u/glorpo Apr 29 '25

Souls games follow the conventions of such renowned western franchises as metroid, castlevania, team Ico and monster hunter

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u/inEQUAL Apr 29 '25

You’re describing only Dark Souls 1 with two of those references (Demon Souls, DS2-3, and Elden Ring do not have Metroidvania style level design), never heard of Team Ico so I can’t comment, and… Monster Hunter, really? The game that’s just if you take a Western styled RPG and make it a grindy boss hunt? Meanwhile you’re ignoring the western roots of the combat, the character creation, the lack of a party in an action RPG, etc etc. I need to find it again, but western RPGs were quite literally part of the inspiration behind the predecessors to Demon Souls (King’s Field) and its way more obvious if you use your eyes and your brain instead of the least substantial gotcha I’ve ever seen attempted.

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '25

[deleted]

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u/inEQUAL Apr 29 '25

Dark Souls iterated on western RPGs, without making them extremely distinguishable mechanically. Final Fantasy and others in the JRPG genre iterated so heavily that it is extremely distinguishable in design. It’s okay to have room temp IQ, but keep it to yourself would you?

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '25

[deleted]

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u/inEQUAL Apr 29 '25

Says the one whose surface level understanding of the RPG genre apparently begins and ends with “it’s made in Japan, hurrdurr”

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u/AscendedViking7 Apr 27 '25

Then you have clearly never really understood what the J in JRPG stands for.

Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Elden Ring.

They are all made by FromSoftware.

A Japanese company. Based in the middle of Tokyo, in fact.

Role-playing games > You pick stats, choose builds, level up, and engage in narrative and gameplay-driven progression.

Therefore: Japanese Role-playing Game.

Dark Souls didn’t crawl out of a Ubisoft office in Montreal.

Bloodborne wasn’t coded between sips of Monster Energy in Texas.

Elden Ring wasn’t brainstormed by Todd Howard next to a Starfield poster.

All three of those games were fuelled by blood, sweat, and code written on the shores of Japan while devs sip vending machine coffee at 4AM.

They are RPGs that were coded in Japan.

Designed in Japan.

Forged in the endless neon hellscape of overtime that only the Japanese corporate machine could create.

Whether it’s Final Fantasy or Elden Ring, or anywhere between the two, if it meets that one simple condition, it’s a Japanese Role-playing Game.

You don’t have to like it, but it's just a fact.

Arguing over it doesn't make it any less true.

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u/No-Internal-4796 Apr 27 '25

and there we have the obnoxious conservative "purist", for whom nothing ever changes and words like gay still means happy, as it did in days of yore...

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u/AscendedViking7 Apr 27 '25

You would've had a point if I actually believed that.

Gay = sexually or romantically attracted to individuals of one's own sex (usually used to describe men).

JRPG = Japanese developed RPG.

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u/Expensive_Candy_7177 Apr 27 '25

Genre names are actually very arbitrary. If you want to understand genre names by their literal definition, then most games are RPGs because you are literally playing a role.

But that's not how genre names work. Genres are a set of conventions that then get named to group things that follow those conventions together. They are not a name which you then understand by their literal definition to then group things. That's looking at it backwards.

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u/jiindama Apr 27 '25

Words have meanings that change and morph over time. There is very clearly a genre of games with common conventions and gameplay styles that is shared between older FF titles, Dragon Quest, Persona, and Expedition 33.

People have collectively settled on JRPG as the name to describe that genre and yes the word clashes with the acronym but we all have to live with that until people can pick a better name.

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u/AscendedViking7 Apr 28 '25

My recommendation for a better name?

Shonen RPGs.

Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Yakuza (7/8), Persona, Shin Megami Tensei, Golden Sun, etc all fit that label.

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u/CO_Fimbulvetr Apr 28 '25

SRPG already has multiple genre names competing for it.

Also no one's going to change the name of what they already call these, that's silly.

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u/game_jawns_inc Apr 28 '25

weebs are so weird 

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u/AscendedViking7 Apr 28 '25

Bold of you to say that as a redditor who follows r/JRPG like the rest of us. We're all weebs here.

You're putting yourself in a Pot calling the Kettle black type of situation.

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u/game_jawns_inc Apr 28 '25

no, not everyone who plays JRPGs fetishes Japanese culture