But what if I LIKE Anime/Video-game tropes in my D&D?

[The Little Raven]

It seems as if it was made by aliens - the characters look human, but everything is subtly wrong and makes no sense.

That's an apt description of all animated features, since Western animation isn't exactly renowned for it's stunning realism either.

Sometimes it's simply impenetrable, other times they try to set the stories in a setting based on Western cultures and their take on it is so bizzare it's evident that our world doesn't make sense to them either.

Got any actual examples?

anatomically-implausible boobies

This is just art imitating real life. I live in California, so I see anatomically-implausible boobies nearly every single day, on real-life people.

 

[Wolfspider]

REH stories (usually not much deeper than ing, fighting, and a touch of American racism in it's depiction of blacks).

This makes me think that you haven't read very much of R.E. Howard....

 

[Wolfspider]

I play D&D because I like the feel it has evoked since I was nine (probably around the time you were born). I can't imagine picking up Exalted or L5R and demanding that those systems did a good job of emulating the feel of King Arthur, Tolkien, or Conan. Any Exalted players would be rightfully aggravated if the flavor shifted so far that way that they weren't able to use the system for the flavor that originally brought them to the game.

Well said.

 

[The Little Raven]

This makes me think that you haven't read very much of R.E. Howard....

So, enlighten me. What deeper meaning does REH show in those stories? What deep-seeded concepts are buried in the simple bloodthirsty action of Phoenix on the Sword? Or the lust-addled chase of The Frost Giant's Daughter? Or the Queen of the Black Coast?

I love Howard's work, but these stories were written to help sell magazines to young men that liked action and sex. It's like Michael Bay versus Ridley Scott. Michael Bay makes entertaining movies that can tug your heartstrings, but they usually don't have the depth that David Lynch brings. I like guilty entertainment like pulp stories and Michael Bay movies just as much as I like more "intellectual" entertainment like high-concept works (Tolkein) and David Lynch movies.

 

[Mallus]

...but these stories were written to help sell magazines to young men that liked action and sex.

So you noticed that too?

 

[mmu1]

This makes me think you haven't actually played this game through, since the plot is far deeper than anything presented in Lodoss War (a pretty standard D&D campaign) or REH stories (usually not much deeper than ing, fighting, and a touch of American racism in it's depiction of blacks). We're talking about a struggle for identity (What defines who you are? Your memories? Your actions? Your past? Your present?) tied together with a struggle to save mankind from itself (ShinRa) as well as from outside forces (Jenova, acting through Sephiroth; Sephiroth representing the "sins of the father").

There's a big difference between what FFVII tries to be, and what it delivers. Whatever ham-fisted philosophy there might be underlying it is completely lost in a story that's disjointed and populated with stilted characters that act childish and speak in nothing but cliches.

Knowing when to leave well enough alone is a skill most JRPG designers would really benefit from, but instead, they seem to think games in which you spend most of your time killing cactus people, angels in bondage, cyborgs on rollerskates and jack-in-the-boxes are the perfect stage to try to make a statement about some of the greatest questions facing humanity.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

I think your icon looks a lot more like a Keebler elf than a standard sidhe-type "eladrin" looks in R&C...

Not really, like all proper elfs Keeblers have no facial hair. I'm greatly anticipating the 4e Elf's Confectioneer paragon path and Fudge Master epic destiny!

 

[Henry]

In short, anyone HAPPY about the move to add some anime and videogame elements into the old horse that is D&D?

No. We hate you. Go away.

Seriously, the inclusion of Asian story and media inspirations into D&D has fit what I've thought about the progression of D&D for a long time now - that if it wants to capture more of an audience, it needs to incorporate more of those inspirations into the game, because the aging population of original 1970's and 1980's D&D players is not the way to keep a large healthy player base.

My biggest problem is a concern that the older visions of D&D are being completely being killed off in favor of the new. Being a child of Dragon magazine, reading editorials by Gary Gygax, actually getting to game at a table with him, to talk to people like Roger Moore and Dave Arneson and Rob Kuntz about their game experiences, my visions were solidly shaped by the very first generation of RPG gamers. To lose this style of play completely to just older editions of the game is kind of saddening to me, in a way. Then again, I can't get Pink Floyd and Guns n' Roses back in the top 40 charts again, either.

If I read your first post properly, Remathilis, I've been playing D&D as long as you've been alive. It's a mind-blowing thought for me. I'm glad if D&D can capture the imaginations of a generation that isn't my own, to tell stories outside of an Online RPG, to foster getting together at the table to laugh and make friends instead of only as raid and guild groups. The part of that table top experience, of face to face playing with one another, THAT's the part I want to see survive for all future gamers, because it's the more important part of it.

 

[The Little Raven]

There's a big difference between what FFVII tries to be, and what it delivers. Whatever ham-fisted philosophy there might be underlying it is completely lost in a story that's disjointed and populated with stilted characters that act childish and speak in nothing but cliches.

I could say the same for Tolkein. He tries to give us an epic, but gets bogged down all the time in minutiae. Most people I know can't read Lord of the Rings because of huge breaks in the plot for him to explain something that, in the end, has no real effect on the story he's trying to tell (other than window dressing). Or how about spending tons of time trying to play up how horrible corrupting and tempting the Ring is, then bring in characters that completely invalidate all that build-up by rejecting it without even the hint of temptation. Or the fact that most of his characters are simply caricatures.

 

[Remathilis]

I admit that my period of otakudom ended most of a decade ago, and I've been out of the loop ever since. I still treasure my Record of Lodoss War tapes, and even watch them now and then, but I've always felt that that one stood out from the big, steaming pile of shows/games like Bastard!, Slayers, Final Fantasy VII, Breath of Fire, Naruto, Berserk, and worse.

While personally, I'll always have a soft spot for Lodoss, I will be quick to defend many of your "steaming pile" shows/games. I loved Bastard! for what it was (a spoof), Slayer, Beserk, Crystania (made by the Lodoss people) and Breath of Fire were all cliche but generally good stories. To add onto Rechan's list: Mononke was another amazing story. Final Fantasy IV, VI, VII, and IX were my favorite FF games (VIII did nothing for me). To me, these were the inspirations for my own games.