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Western or Eastern Games? Which Appeal MORE to You, and Why?

Do you enjoy Western or Eastern Games MORE?

  • Western

    Votes: 388 37.1%

  • Eastern

    Votes: 658 62.9%
  • Total voters
    1,046
GamerDude

GamerDude

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
6,313
I think this is a really interesting topic. I haven't hesitated to talk on this forum about how much 2019 has sucked for me personally. This is one of the worst years of the entire generation. But I primarily enjoy Western games. Games like Sekiro and DMC5 don't appeal to me at all. Neither do Nintendo exclusives.

Many people will say that they like both Western and Eastern games, which is fair. But which do you find yourself playing more of and enjoying MORE between the two? And what is it that you find most appealing about your choice/least appealing about the other?

2020 looks completely insane to me. Best of the gen and it's not even close. The Last of Us Part II, Cyberpunk 2077, Halo Infinite, Ghost of Tsushima, Dying Light 2, Assassin's Creed Vikings, Watch Dogs Legion, Ori 2, etc. Insane! And that is only what has been announced so far.

2018 was also excellent. Red Dead 2, God of War, and Spider-Man alone made it special. Then you can throw in AC Odyssey, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, etc. Excellent year.

2017 was super overrated IMO. But I don't play Nintendo games, and don't care for games like Persona 5, Nier, Nioh, etc. Horizon Zero Dawn was the incredible standout.

Which years did you enjoy most? Was that influenced by your preference for either Western or Eastern games? What can developers from the different regions learn from each other?
 
Odeko

Odeko

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Mar 22, 2018
15,180
West Blue
What don't you like about Japanese games? I play a lot of both but unless we're talking indies I gravitate towards Eastern 90% of the time.

My favorite games: 60% Japan, 35% Western indies, 5% Hitman 2 and Fallout: New Vegas
 
banter

banter

Member
Jan 12, 2018
4,127
They each have their pros and cons but if I had to choose I'd say I lean more to eastern developed games because they tend to be a little more crazy when it comes to gameplay and story ideas and they also tend to focus more on fun.
 
Remo Williams

Remo Williams

Self-requested ban
Banned
Jan 13, 2018
4,769
Another lacking poll, there's no "no preference" option.

I like both, no real preference. I would hate it if I had to limit myself to just Eastern or just Western games.
 

Deleted member 37233

Banned
Jan 2, 2018
10,699
I don't choose my games based on the location of the developers, but most games I love happen to be Japanese. I'm a big fan of the output of Nintendo and Square Enix.
I do like my western strategy games though: Age of Empires, Civilization, Anno,...
 
Nights

Nights

Member
Oct 27, 2017
866
Larger Budget games -> Eastern
Indies -> Obviously Western

I personally do not like a lot of western made games they just do not click with me often at all. Doom is one of my favorite franchises of all time though. So western does have that at least. There's just something about the style of western games that just don't click with me. The more film like presentation in a lot of them really does not appeal to me at all considering I really don't care for movies.

There's just a pretty big design difference in western/eastern games and I definitely prefer eastern personally. Don't think they're "better" or "Worse" if that makes sense. Just what I prefer.
 
Anno

Anno

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,950
Columbus, Ohio
I really don't care. I end up playing mostly Western games only because the genres I like the most are almost exclusively made there. I'd love to see more Eastern takes on grander strategy games and finicky party-based cRPGs, though.
 
OP
OP
GamerDude

GamerDude

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
6,313
Remo Williams said:
Another lacking poll, there's no "no preference" option.

I like both, no real preference. I would hate it if I had to limit myself to just Eastern or just Western games.
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It's not a lacking poll at all. The entire point is that I want you to choose. "Both" is a useless option. Everyone has a preference (even if only slight). That is what I am interested in.
 
vestan

vestan

#REFANTAZIO SWEEP
Member
Dec 28, 2017
24,611
VanCityGamer said:
It's dumb that I have a strong preference, and that certain games don't appeal to me? Your attitude is extremely juvenile.
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Hugely different and varied games come out of both regions. It's fine to have a preference but to sum up the output of both regions into broad umbrellas like this is fucking dumb which these kinds of discussions only serve to do.
 

Deleted member 679

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,741
I'm way more into japanese games, in general. But what I tend to specifically dislike are AAA western games. I enjoy plenty of lower budget and indie games from the west, but almost every AAA western title I play I regret wasting my time.
 
rpm

rpm

Into the Woods
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
12,348
Parts Unknown
If I had to play only one or the other for the rest of my life, it'd probably be Japanese developed games, but I play a lot of both. Depends on the year. In general, 2017 was a good year for Japanese games and a bad one for Western ones. 2018 was the reverse. 2019 is shaping up to be filled with more Japanese heavy hitters. Early 2020 looks much better for Western games than it does Japanese games so far.
 
Shelbyville Milhouse

Shelbyville Milhouse

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,378
It's a weird choice because there are just so much more western games since "Eastern" pretty much means "Japan" and nothing else.
But I generally enjoy games with branching narratives more, so Western I guess
 
OP
OP
GamerDude

GamerDude

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
6,313
Lichtsang said:
I don't choose my games based on the location of the developers, but most games I love happen to be Japanese. I'm a big fan of the output of Nintendo and Square Enix.
I do like my western strategy games though: Age of Empires, Civilization, Anno,...
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Your post contradicts itself. You don't choose based on location, but you tend to like Japanese games best. Therefore, your answer to the thread's question is that Japenese games tend to appeal more.
 
Frosty Death Knight

Frosty Death Knight

Member
Oct 31, 2017
229
Both but I lean towards western. Some Eastern designs are really off putting with sexualization of younger age groups. Gameplay wise I think both are really really good and distinctly different 90% of the time. Story wise I find western easier to start and enjoy in general but the pay offs of some of the longer eastern games are incredibly satisfying (they do a great job establishing a world and it's lore in one off games).

I do think it's strange that some people only play one or the other like there's some true masterpieces on both sides that everyone should play.


Edit: will say I'm fairly similar to what Edgar posted above with 80% Western 20% Eastern
 
Odeko

Odeko

One Winged Slayer
The Fallen
Mar 22, 2018
15,180
West Blue
Oheao said:
It's that Japanese games and Western games have no unique style, they heavily influence each other and have a wide variation within each region.
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I wouldn't say that's totally true, there are still some fundamental differences left. The biggest one how big-budget Japanese game projects often still have powerful auteur-esque game directors while that's increasingly rare in the West with only a few exceptions. Everyone knows who made MGS, but who directed the last Call of Duty?
 
unholyFarmer

unholyFarmer

Member
Jan 22, 2019
1,374
I certainly have lost most of my interest in the western AAA industry, so the western games I play these days are almost all indies. Other than that, I think at least 95% of what I play are Japanese games.
 
Oreoleo

Oreoleo

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
1,946
Ohio
I enjoy both for different reasons and go about my day not considering one superior to the other.

Gun to my head though I would probably tend towards (non-jrpg) Japanese games simply because there tends to be more of a focus on gameplay mechanics where Western games are more frequently focused on providing a cinematic experience.

That's a huge generalization though and falls apart pretty fast when you start looking past AAA titles and towards indie/rogue like games which are basically pure gameplay without any of the fluff.

..So yeah I don't think I can really choose one over the other.
 

Deleted member 31092

User requested account closure
Banned
Nov 5, 2017
10,783
I find most western games to be attempts at compensate mediocre game mechanics with fancy graphics, so I prefer japanese games.
 
Mauricio_Magus

Mauricio_Magus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,999
99% of the games I play are Japanese, they just appeal to me more than anything the west does aside of like... Indies and DOOM.

The music, focus on gameplay, art, and storytelling of Japanese games just wins me over every single time.
 
Nimby

Nimby

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,217
I base my preferences on genre, studio history, and the actual gameplay itself

Not geographical location
 

Deleted member 27872

user requested account closure
Banned
Oct 30, 2017
459
Where would western developed games of eastern franchises fit here btw? Like Metroid Prime or Donkey Kong Country?
 

Dark1x

Digital Foundry
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
3,530
Don't really care where games come from but I greatly dislike the mostly Western trends focused on open world games and multiplayer. Thankfully, there's plenty of choices outside of this.
 
Streets of Rage

Streets of Rage

Alt account
Banned
Jun 26, 2019
51
It depends. I love Nintendo stuff, but outside of that, there is nothing eastern appealing to me. I hate manga-themed shit and long-ass-dialog JRPG crap. I love stuff like Uncharted, GoW and GTA.
 
banter

banter

Member
Jan 12, 2018
4,127
VanCityGamer said:
It's absolutely useless. Most people enjoy both on at least some level so would choose that easy option. I want to know which one people PREFER. If you can't choose, then don't vote. Makes no difference to me.
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Agree, it's useless, not to mention you'll have some people who (like myself) despite feeling like they have no preference will put themselves to a "if I had to choose" and some people who will just go for the "both" option despite actually having a slight preference to one or the other which will skew the results. It's best for accuracy of results to have everyone put themselves to a "if I had to choose" or not vote.
 
Hella

Hella

Member
Oct 27, 2017
23,396
I want to say both, but honestly, it doesn't matter. Games are so cross-pollinated at this point that, thanks to global development teams/publishers, even defining "East vs. West" is as murky as it's ever been.
 
Pellaidh

Pellaidh

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,164
Region doesn't really matter to me. As long as a game is good, I'll play it, and both regions offer different enough things that it doesn't really make sense to strictly pick one over the other.

This year is very much western favored though. Outer Wilds is absolutely incredibly and one of my favorite games of all time, and it alone would have made this year great. But then you also have Sunless Skies which is incredibly good, Total War Three Kingdoms is the best the series has been in a decade, Slay the Spire is great, Dirt Rally 2 surpassed the first game as the best racing game I've ever played, and I'm having a ton of fun with Underlords.

Meanwhile Japan pretty much just had Sekiro. Which is great and one of my favorite Souls games, but it just can't compare with everything mentioned above.
 
OP
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GamerDude

GamerDude

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
6,313
banter said:
Agree, it's useless, not to mention you'll have some people who (like myself) despite feeling like they have no preference will put themselves to a "if I had to choose" and some people who will just go for the "both" option despite actually having a slight preference to one or the other which will skew the results. It's best for accuracy of results to have everyone put themselves to a "if I had to choose" or not vote.
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100% correct. Thank-you for eloquently backing up the thread's intent.
 
Heri

Heri

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,427
If I like the game, I like the game, where it comes from is irrelevant to me.
 
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