Diverse Cultures

[FranklinX 78]

Me and a dear friend were talking about RPG games. We discussed the lack of culture in many RPG games. I love Final Fantasy VI, but the game suffers from a lack of cultural diversity. Every country seem to have the same culture. The only exception is the Moogle community. Why am I bringing up this topic? I think many RPG games suffer from a generic culture in their worlds.

 

The RPG Maker RTP does not help much in making a game with diverse cultures in each region. There are a few different color flags, but that is not enough content to make a world with multiple cultures. The RTP has a limited amount of resources, but enough to develop a generic game. The RTP lacks a variety of soldiers, generals, kings, princess, etc. This causes games to be very generic titles.

 

Furthermore, there is more than just graphics to make a game with multiple cultures. Developers can easily create different cultures in their story. Each region can be given unique traditions. For example, one country only sales soda, water or tea as they do not believe in drinking alcohol. Another country believes the player must pass a trail to be deemed worthy of speaking to the royal family. In another country, when turning 18 women pick their husbands, and this could cause a conflict with a party member if he is chosen and his love interest in also a party member. These are just random ideas but am I sure you get the point.

 

Do you think your games are generic or do they have a bit of culture in every region or town? Have you considered creating unique cultures for your game's world?

[PhoenixSoul 1,404]

1 hour ago, FranklinX said:

Have you considered creating unique cultures for your game's world?

 

Hueueueueueue...

That is absolutely a must for any game I create, even if the game itself is one of those 'I'm trapped inside some void or inside a dream or inside my own damn head', because even games like Yume Nikki have a culture showcase, albeit a showcase that goes from slightly odd to super-bizarre in an instant, lolz

Of course, such is never an easily accomplished feat. Never. Japan is one of those nations that doesn't really have a lot of external cultural awareness, even with the internet being as powerful and fast as it is now, so a lot of the reason why JRPGs are this way can be attributed to that, but it most certainly is not the only reason, far from it.

But, discussing that is beyond scope, and has been discussed before; I see no reason to retread over the same turd covered roadway...lolz (I just watched an episode of AVGN and there's always talk of excrement in those in one form or another)

Anyway, cultures, backstory, making sure things work as intended and don't look stupid, all these are part of making a good game, RPG or not.

[Kayzee 4,032]

Final Fantasy VI doesn't have much cultural diversity? What? Are... Are we talking about the same game here? The one that starts with the girl in the magitek armor? Because that doesn't sound very much like the game I remember. I remember places like Doma with their old fashioned samurai culture, Thamasa being decedents of the Magic Knights from the War of the Magi, the whole Esper world... And that's only counting places with vastly different types of traditions. Culture goes beyond that. I mean, you can you seriously tell me that Jidoor and Zozo aren't culturally distinct? Or Narshe and Vector? Or Figaro and Mobilz? Also the game is literally about an evil empire that goes around taking places over and kinda replacing other cultures with it's own so...

 

Don't get me wrong, lack of cultural diversity can be a problem, but you picked what might be one of the worst possible examples of what you are talking about. Granted the game doesn't actually go into much detail of any of these places, but it's a heck of a lot better about cultural diversity then a lot of JRPGs. Maybe better then a lot of the other games in the same series even, though I think they all do have some subtle cultural differences here and there. Heck, if you ask me, Final Fantasy VI is a better example of cultural diversity in games done well.

Edited September 26, 2019 by Kayzee

[PhoenixSoul 1,404]

I didn't want to mention that, but @Kayzee didn't hold back. Yeah. Final Fantasy is a mixed bag when it comes to diverse cultures.

If you look at I and II, you'll see that culture diversity absolutely takes a backseat, but there's a good reason for this since the Doomsday Clock in both games is set to 11:59 right from the start, and actually goes to 12:00 in II, as well as in IV, V, VI and VII, though in VI and VII, the Clock starts much further back, at 11:55 and 11:56 respectively, though the quickness of the Clock going to 12:00 is pretty rapid, with the Warring Triad being awakened in VI, and the Weapons unleashed in VII.

Yeah, catastrophic crises tend to push back cultural diversity as a main plot point in JRPGs; that doesn't mean it absolutely has to in the game you make.

[Kayzee 4,032]

Also: Remember that lots of console games before CDs became the norm didn't have the pages and pages of lore about everything and most of the hints of this kind of stuff were more subtle, being only implied by dialog and often having more to do with map layouts and tileset/character art. I think there are more subtle little cultural nods then you might think, they just aren't exposited on much unless they are really really relevant to the plot. I mean, maybe that's the real problem the original post is trying to address, but I think that's a kinda different thing.

Edited September 26, 2019 by Kayzee

[PhoenixSoul 1,404]

That is also true. Limited space definitely made it difficult to cram everything in, which is why when we got re-releases on larger media, we got more backstory and extra stuffs as a 'loyalty bonus' as some would call it (not that I agree with the sentiment even if it is sorta true lol), and there are many games where the lore isn't explained well at all, that never got another game or a re-release, that definitely deserved it, but that's another thing altogether.

Also, in VI, there's definitely some underground type culture, with 'Humpty' and 'Dumpty', belonging to a 'licentious howler', lololololol
(my commentary on that is more mature than @Rikifive would 'allow' me to say here...)

[Verdiløs Games 106]

I actually think about this a lot. A really good example of diversity in a game is actually an old PS2 game. I cannot remember the name, but you have to travel through parts of four worlds and they all have their own very unique cultures. You can tell even if you don't really get to spend much time with the world out of chaos. The first world is an ancient warrior race of minotaur people. The second is a more peaceful race of underwater fishy people. The third is a world with a heavily classist system that favours the aristocrats over the commoners. The fourth is a volcanic race that holds magic and deception very dear. It was inspiring to me as a younger person and has trickled into my own development of games and stories.

 

In a game I am working on, Stranded in Space, you visit a lot of alien worlds, space stations, ships, penal colonies and more. I am putting a lot of effort into ensuring each one is unique in some way with its own culture. I base some off of existing cultures but I make up many as well. The Tooneans of Nolan, for instance, are a playful race who prize fun of all kinds over anything else. Another race I have not yet named however are a more serious race, who prize wealth and social standing over constant leisure. I think it makes games more widely interesting to have varied cultures instead of a cut-and-paste sort of look to everything.

 

I know a lot of people say that many games take place in the same region or area, but there are two very good examples I can think of. One is fictional and one is real life. The fictional one is just any Pokemon game. The Pokemon games put you in a place that is just one region but there are varied cultures in each one. In Platinum for instance, there is a mining community and a garden community and a bustling city and a shoreside swimming community. This is all in the same region! In London, England there are varied cultures as well. If you go into any part of London and then go to any other part, you will find a very different culture in the area.

 

In this day and age where there is information widely available and graphics both free and paid to fit almost anything you can imagine, not having a varied set of cultures in your game is just laziness. But that is just my opinion and observation.

[FranklinX 78]

11 hours ago, Kayzee said:

Final Fantasy VI doesn't have much cultural diversity? What? Are... Are we talking about the same game here? The one that starts with the girl in the magitek armor? Because that doesn't sound very much like the game I remember. I remember places like Doma with their old fashioned samurai culture, Thamasa being decedents of the Magic Knights from the War of the Magi, the whole Esper world... And that's only counting places with vastly different types of traditions. Culture goes beyond that. I mean, you can you seriously tell me that Jidoor and Zozo aren't culturally distinct? Or Narshe and Vector? Or Figaro and Mobilz? Also the game is literally about an evil empire that goes around taking places over and kinda replacing other cultures with it's own so...

 

Don't get me wrong, lack of cultural diversity can be a problem, but you picked what might be one of the worst possible examples of what you are talking about. Granted the game doesn't actually go into much detail of any of these places, but it's a heck of a lot better about cultural diversity then a lot of JRPGs. Maybe better then a lot of the other games in the same series even, though I think they all do have some subtle cultural differences here and there. Heck, if you ask me, Final Fantasy VI is a better example of cultural diversity in games done well.

 

I thought about this and your examples, you guys are right. Final Fantasy VI wasn't a good example. I just feel the game isn't culturally diverse due to most characters speak very similarly, and some towns have similar designs and colors. Jidoor, Kohlingen, South Figaro, and Thamasa have very similar designs. Granted some of these towns are ruled by the same kingdom. Even if the game didn't say Leon was from the Empire, then a player can assume he seems like a guy from Figaro. Most NPCs in the game don't stand out to me.

[Kayzee 4,032]

18 hours ago, FranklinX said:

 

I thought about this and your examples, you guys are right. Final Fantasy VI wasn't a good example. I just feel the game isn't culturally diverse due to most characters speak very similarly, and some towns have similar designs and colors. Jidoor, Kohlingen, South Figaro, and Thamasa have very similar designs. Granted some of these towns are ruled by the same kingdom. Even if the game didn't say Leon was from the Empire, then a player can assume he seems like a guy from Figaro. Most NPCs in the game don't stand out to me.

 

A lot of that might be due to the translation. It's hard to tell sometimes. As much as Ted Woolsey is a legend, even he will admit there were some major sacrifices that had to be made when translating a lot of Square's SNES games. Most of it has to do with how Japanese pronouns work, which is a whole topic of into it's self. About the only character I think that really shows hints of this in the English version is Cyan, who prefers to use thou/thee rather then you.

 

Fun fact: The words 'thou' and 'thee' are not just random archaic versions of 'you', they actually are originally singular while you was originally plural. So 'you' would be how you would address a crowd. Over time this evolved into kind of a politeness thing in a way. I mean what's a way of insulting someone? Start addressing them as if they aren't even worthy of being dealt with as an individual by calling them 'you'. That will burn um good! ...And then later people decided the whole thing was dumb and just decided to call everyone you and drop the whole thou/thee thing, which I think is kind of a shame. Also: Thou is for the subject of a sentence, and thee is for the object of the sentence. There is also 'ye' which is the plural form of thee or the object form of you. There are in fact 'correct' ways to use these words so if you do try to use them right, if for no other reason then to make language nerds like me happy. Though I can't blame you for being confused about the difference between subject and object sometimes.

 

... Okay I think I got sidetracked a bit, but the point is translation is hard yo! Another thing: You know how usually when you see a movie in English that the actors that play characters from places with recognizable accents will try and use or imitate that accent? Yeah, apparently that isn't really a thing in Japan. This probobly extends to text too.

 

Of course, another reason NPCs don't stand out might just be plain old fashioned bad writing. Again, it's hard to tell sometimes.

Edited September 27, 2019 by Kayzee

[PhoenixSoul 1,404]

@Kayzee I won't forget that Kaiyan (Cyan is a mistranslation) called Ceres (Demeter's other name) an 'Imperial Bitch' in the GBA re-release, lolz

I honestly wanna see a Final Fantasy game that doesn't hold back on vulgarity. Maybe XVI or VII Remake will...
Meh, VII Remake is more likely to be censored. SJW BS and all that.

Anyway... Cultural Diversity is dying overall, and maybe that's why we don't see much, if any proper representation of anything anymore.
(Damn, this is some Orwellian BS going on here...)

[Kayzee 4,032]

I heard there was also a part in the Japanese version where Relm was hardcore flirting with Edgar or something. XD As for the VII remake, it better still have the whole crossdressing scene or I will be very disappointed.

 

I am sure we could go on about obscure details of Final Fantasy games all day, but maybe we should get back on topic. XD

Edited September 28, 2019 by Kayzee

[PhoenixSoul 1,404]

3 minutes ago, Kayzee said:

...it better still have the whole crossdressing scene or I will be very disappointed.

 

I want that portion of the game itself to be expanded upon because it most certainly deserves a more in-depth analysis.