Bayonetta's Hideki Kamiya believes Japanese developers should be "proud" of JRPG term
Hideki Kamiya, creator of Bayonetta and Devil May Cry, believes Japanese developers should be «proud» of the term JRPG.
Debate around the term recently resurfaced following comments from Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida in an interview with Skill-Up. Yoshida stated the term «wasn't a compliment to a lot of developers in Japan» and was seen as «discriminatory».
Kamiya, however, is more positive about the term, believing it reflects the «unique sensitivity» of Japanese creators in the games they make.
In an interview with VGC, Kamiya cited the difference between Bayonetta and the original God of War as an example of cultural differences.
«When you look at God of War, you have Kratos,» he said. «He's muscly, he's huge, he's bald, he looks really kick-ass, basically. So we thought, 'okay, we have games like this which are becoming more popular globally, could we create something similar from a Japanese standpoint?'
»We discussed this internally, and the conclusion was that no, we obviously can't, because this is something that's not unique to us as Japanese creators. So in order to make an action game that would stand out we needed to create something that expressed our unique sensitivities as Japanese creators, and Bayonetta was a result of that.
«When you look at Bayonetta as a character, she doesn't look strong like Kratos, she doesn't look like she could take on these massive demons, but she was very unique in the way she was created, in the way we view action game heroes, from a unique Japanese viewpoint.»
Continuing, he said: «So when it comes to the term 'JRPG', this is something that ties into this — these are RPG games that, in a sense, only Japanese creators can make with their unique sensitivity when
Read more on eurogamer.net
