.. are inferior to that of japanese games?

I do understand. Final Fantasy, Zelda, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Shadows of the Colossus, MGS etc etc are fine games but from what I've seen, gamers seem to believe that western games do not have nor are capable of having intricate storylines and interesting characters. Why is that?

Is it because of ignorance, or is it because western mainstream is being overrun by shooters and their B-grade action movie scripts? You tell me?

Personally, I think Legacy of Kain has the greatest story, characters, dialogue, voiceacting etc in any given video game and I think it isn't getting enough attention. It's probably the only game in the world I would consider to be underrated. It's also a western game, but I think most of you know that.

YouTube - (22)LoK: Defiance - Raziel faces Kain - I can safely say, that for me, this game is the absolute pinnacle of storytelling in this medium. But hey, that's just my opinion.

What do the rest of you think and could you bring any examples?

I love Soul Reaver, one of my favorite games of all time.

I dont think WESTERN storylines are better or worse than Japanese made storylines, but there are so few to choose from IMO, that is the problem.

I think it's the fact that games like call of duty get so much attention you don't hear about good games as much. Really I don't know many good western games, I don't play many of them though. When I think western games I think of shooters and sports games, because that's what all of the people in my area are into.

Because Western storylines ARE inferior to Japanese ones. Dur.

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SRT is like the rebellious 12 year old. Confused about his sexuality, gets mad at his parents and leaves the house for a couple of hours claiming he's never coming back.

it all depends on your perspective. Personally i think mortal kombat's story is a pretty good one. i also like God of War and Gears of War...there's alot western games have to offer. it just depends on the particular gamer's tastes.

Half Life, Bioshock, Red Dead Redemption, and Elder's Scrolls all had great storylines

Because most of them suck.

They really are bad.

Why? What do you base this on? If you don't provide any reasons as to why you think so, then you might as well not say anything at all.

For example, I think that japanese games are literally permeated with spiky-haired characters with a sword the size of a truck, feminine male-villains and the same melodramatic story that tries too hard to be an epic.

The main character is often a silent introvert, spiky hair obviously, and has a cool aura about him. Probably fights with a bored look on his face. Either that or the mc is a happy-go-lucky dude.

Heck, even MGS suffers from excess drama and anti-war/pseudo philosophic banter that has plagued the series ever since the first installment. I mean, seriously, how many times do I have to hear the characters talk about the ugliness of war and how they were raised on the battlefield etc etc? And I literally hate the storytelling method in MGS. It's basically one cutscene after another, which makes it seem like Hideo didn't know whether he wanted a CGI movie or a videogame. Face it, Hideo Kojima has absolutely no idea how to transition competent storytelling inside the actual gameplay without resorting to ridiculously long cutscenes.

FF has also become stale, because the characters barely develope and the storytelling is absolute crap (FF XIII stares you in the face).

Great topic, MisterMaster. This is probably something that could be debated for hours.

I doubt either is better or worse, they're just different. Very different. Obviously, whichever one a person prefers depends on their preferences, their culture, their gaming history, and the list goes on.

I grew up playing western RPGs, and it's my favourite genre of games (emphasis on RPG; I don't mean western games in general), with BioWare being my favourite gaming development company, bar none. The Mass Effect and Dragon Age games are my favourite games ever made (with KOTOR and Neverwinter Nights not far behind). They're the only games I've completed multiple times and still continue to do so. The stories and the characters are always extremely well written in a BioWare RPG. Rarely do they rely on the old "good vs evil" shtick. There's often a sense of moral ambiguity, whether it's to do with characters or organisations within the games, or from the way you play your own character. Their games are like reading a good book or watching a good movie; a totally immersive and completely memorable experience for me.

I like Japanese RPGs, too, but I often find them hard to relate to. The stories and the characters don't "connect" with me or have as much impact on me in the same way my favourite western RPGs do. They tend to meander a lot more, making me feel a bit lost within the game worlds. I've always chalked this up to cultural differences. I'm simply not the target market for the Japanese RPG. It's not that I think they're inferior, it's just that the way stories are told (and the types of stories that are told) are from a different culture to my own. I don't think it's fair to even compare them because of their vast differences.

I'm not sure why so many people think western RPGs are inferior to Japanese RPGs. Perhaps the people saying this haven't really experienced any of the great western RPGs out there, or are too dismissive of them. Or maybe it's because Japanese RPGs are what they're used to, and everything else seems too different to be able to relate to. I don't doubt that the prevalence of the western-made first person shooter has done something to hurt the western RPG, too. Truth be told, in the western world there's just not many people that are into RPGs, at least nowhere near the numbers in Japan. Over here it's almost a niche genre, whereas in Japan RPGs are part of the staple gaming diet.

Regardless, I'll be playing western-made RPGs 'til I'm old and grey and my hands can no longer hold a controller. Love them to pieces.