Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Devs Divided Over Use Of The Controversial “JPRG” Term

The term “JRPG” has long divided the gaming industry since its inception. It is often used in diverse ways in the ecosystem but remains the target of controversy. Now, even the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth devs have joined in on the confusion with varying opinions. The producer Naoki Yoshida partook in an interview earlier this year by Skill Up on YouTube and said that JRPG is a prejudiced term to him, and some of the devs feel uneasy with using it.

For us as developers the first time we heard it, it was like a discriminatory term. As though we were being made fun of for creating these games, and so for some developers, the term JRPG can be something that will maybe trigger bad feelings because of what it was in the past,” said Naoki Yoshida.

The JRPG term allegedly holds negative connotations for some devs, but not every dev agrees. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth creative director Tetsuya Nomura and producer Yoshinori Kitase appeared in an interview with The Guardian to discuss the release of the awaited entry. The dialog about the JPRG term was sparked once again, and both devs provided differing views on the matter. Nomura finds the term a bit off, while Kitase disagrees. 

Other Interesting Reads:

• Phil Spencer Refutes Future Possibility Of Titles Exclusive To Game Pass.
• Phil Spencer Wants To Revisit The MechAssault IP, Says It Was “Ahead Of Its Time.”
• PlayStation Will Continue To Focus On “Graphically Beautiful, Narrative-Rich Games,” Says Sony.

I’m not too keen on it. Certainly, when we started doing interviews for the games that I started making, no one used that term – they just called them RPGs. And then at some point – I can’t remember exactly when – people started referring to them as JRPGs. And I’m not really sure what the intent behind that is. It just always felt a bit off to me, and a bit weird. I never really understood it – or why it’s needed,” stated Tetsuya Nomura.

While both Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s Nomura and Yoshi-P find the term derogatory towards the devs in Japan, Kitase holds a separate view and does not see any negative connotations associated with it. He thinks that the term is just used for splitting RPGs since most games are brewed in the West.

Personally, I don’t see it as that derogative. I think obviously with modern gaming, titles developed in the west are the majority now. So if [JRPG] is only used in terms of differentiating – maybe showing off a slightly different approach to games or a unique flavour in terms of Japanese-made games – I’m absolutely fine with that,” elaborated Yoshinori Kitase.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth will not require players to play the first game. And its development has progressed smoothly. Additionally, the RPG is slated to release on February 29, 2024, for PlayStation 5 exclusively.