Monster Hunter Stories 2 sold unexpectedly well very recently.still it didn't stop its massive success) was criticized a lot by western fans for being "sexualized". Xenoblade DE and Xenoblade 2 (which btw.Other success stories in the west that didn't compromise when it comes to being Japanese to the core: Did ATLUS try to cater to western audiences? No, of course not. I believe P5S was also pretty successful. But it doesn't have to be watered down to sell. And that's one of my issues with this catering to as many audiences as possible. It simply doesn't interest me enough when I look at the other Japanese games in my backlog aside from the graphics it's kind of generic looking without a distinct personality. I bought any prior Tales of game that was released in the west since Symphonia on the NGC, day one of course. I personally am not sure if I'll buy Arise day 1. Or let's say an Elder Scrolls fan to make it a better comparison. And I don't think a Call of Duty, Battlefield or GTA fan will be attracted to Tales of Arise. By watering down the product too much they risk loosing this niche and in turn they have to compete with the market of western games directly. This is because people search for an alternative to western entertainment. Japanese media have found a rather lucrative niche in the west manga and anime are extremely popular and Japanese games celebrate higher sales than they ever did before here in the west. I think changing their product to be LESS Japanese won't make it sell better. well Japanese to the very core? I think the complaints Bamco got due to Velvet's design for instance came from a vocal social media minority that doesn't represent even a fraction of those who bought Berseria. That being said: is that really what western audiences want? Don't we play Japanese games because they are. But I admit, the console market aside from the Switch is dying in Japan, well it was on its death bed for a long time now (and sadly Sony seems to accelerate that decline but that's another story) so from that perspective I understand the decision. Meanwhile Switch games sell extremely well in Japan, so much so that developers can just cater to their domestic audience without watering down their own creative vision in order to cater to another region. So I'm fine with having JRPGs that cater to both global and japanese audiences.Īnd I don't think JP audiences are displeased with Arise as of now. I want that too but Japanese audiences are too busy with their gachas and switch games. I want Japanese games (and any Japanese media) be made with just Japanese audiences and tastes in mind. ![]() ![]() Their recent game Scarlet Nexus flopped in Japan but was in top 10 on the NPD charts. Video game sales on home consoles have been declining with each passing year in Japan.Įven Berseria only sold 220k copies in it's first week.Ī game like Arise would not be able to break even with Japanese sales alone.īut that it also sends a message that JRPG and gaming franchises changing to appeal to western tastes is a bad business decision.īamco have been doing this for a while. ![]() It makes sense for them to do this though. While listening to the complaints from the west (which a developer should never do btw.) I don't want them to have success because it would make other developers potentially follow suit. It's just sad that it's a Tales of game that I wish to fail utterly. This also isn't my Tales of anymore.Īs much as I love the franchise, part of me wishes them to fail with Arise so that it doesn't only makes them avert their eyes from western sensibilities for future titles, but that it also sends a message that JRPG and gaming franchises changing to appeal to western tastes is a bad business decision. For now the resonance from their domestic fandom has been rather negative when it comes to this catering to the west. But we'll see if Bamco's strategy to westernize the franchise is blessed with higher sales. I think the saying "If you try to please everyone, you please no one." is pretty accurate. While listening to the complaints from the west (which a developer should never do btw.) they risk to alienate their old and domestic fans.
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