American game studios, are borderline incapable of making good video games. This is not an exaggeration, it's completely serious. Part of the soul of japanese games, is the sea of information a player has to understand. It's a highly refined and enjoyable process of delightful math outcomes. From basic damage formulas, to something more complex like frame data, or the largest complexities of assigning classes or pairing characters up. Each aspect of japanese game design focuses on the players engaging with analyzing information, comparing, and making informed decisions. Conducting tests, seeing how things work, building combos or equipment sets, and seeing if your large plans play out as expected.
American games however, are the opposite. They try to simplify games to an extreme, and in doing so completely gut this soul of japanese games. It is not some insignificant difference, but much like the state of anime between the west and the east, is an all encompassing, industry eclipsing, alternate reality state of being. This topic wants to focus on a few specific aspects. Defining the core difference, talking to the scale the differences effects things, and explaining how the core different actually affects games / studios / players.
The core difference between American and Japanese games
This is going to start somewhat technical, but bear with me as i'd like to start with information. The core difference is japan uses large data table, while America uses small ones, if not just using data assets. Now what the fuck did i just say? For starters, a Table, sometimes called a Data Table, Sheet, or Spreadsheet, is a giant grid of information. English programs like Google Sheets, and Microsoft Excel are examples of this. You have almost certainly seen these before, but lets add a helpful visual.
This is part of a Data table for Etrian Odyssey 2 for the nintendo DS, its the enemy table. It has the enemy names, their HP, some basic stats, resistances, item drops, and EXP for defeating them. All basic game stuff. Similuarly, there is a Weapons Table, An armor one, one for Accessorys, Items, Skills, Classes, etc. Other games, like Persona, Dragon Quest, Pokemon, and so on all do this.
A Table, or Data Table if you will, always looks somewhat like this. The overall table has a name, like "Enemys" or "Spells". Then, each column represents something. Here, this game has fire ice and volt elements, but in say games like tales of vesperia or tales of berseira, or persona 4, there would also be a wind, light, and dark column as well for those damage types. The leftmost column is the name of everything in this table. For a weapon table, it would be the names of the weapons. If this is the spell table, spell names, etc. Different games would use different columns, for example many fire emblem games have a weapon durability number. Oddly missing from this game, enemys don't have any MP, and they don't drop any Gold. Instead you just sell monster drops, but each part of something, would have a column for it.
In some cases, there is a default to mean "No". For example, in the tales games, an action series, some abilities called artes can be used in the air. For those games, if it can't be used in the air, its a -1. If it can be, its a 0. If it can be but it needs a certain number be used in the air or not, its a number bigger then 0. For example, use the ability 50 times, and then you can use it in midair. This is getting a little to game specific for this topic, but the overall idea, is in japanese games, information is put into these table things. Each row is for one specific thing, like a specific weapon, while each column is for a specific aspect of that thing, like EXP, Gold, Fire Resistance, Ammo, Element Type(If the spell is fire or water), Stats(Str, Def, Speed), and so on.
Generally, in japanese games, there is a table for everything, and these tables are very large. It's not uncommon for there to be 100 or more columns. The above pictured example was chosen on purpose because it doesn't have very many columns, but artes for example in tales of vesperia use 395 columns! Theres also 606 rows! it isn't just the row count thats massive, it's the column count as well! If we want to know how many individual pieces of information is in this table, that would be 606 x 395, so 239,370! Thats 239K pieces of information, for just the artes table alone. Its massive!
I broke into this lecture, and math for a reason. You wouldn't know it, but when looking into western games, their tables are far, far smaller. Many western studios try to teach people to minimize, simplify, and cut down on information. It's more then just using less, their actively being taught this. I've worked with ubisoft, and interviewed many developers in the west. I've also read interviews from others, and theres an across the board consensus from American studios. Less is more, simplify, streamline, reduce. They wholeheartedly believe this, and unfortunately in this pursuit, they lost something very important to japanese games. Something critical to what makes them so enjoyable, how fun it is to actually dig into information and figure things out.
Now, before i dive to far away from this specific part of the topic, i'll bring it back to the data tables, or rather, lack there of. JP developers love using them, for reasons i'll get into in 2 parts from now. However, an important highlight you wouldn't know unless told, is to what comical extremes western devs are against them. It isn't merely a order from higher up, its an english industry wide mission for their removal. One so extreme, they invented a new standard to be used instead. Something called a Data Asset. Unlike a Data Table or a Data Sheet, a Data Asset is not in such a neat readable grid. it is basically, taking just a single row from a data table, and making it its own seperate table.
Now you might instinctively think, if you have ever made a table or sheet before for even 5 minutes, why the fuck would anyone do this, isn't it completely retarded? Well, there are some benefits to it, but for game design yes, yes it is. If every single thing has its own data asset, you can't cross reference information, you can't compare anything, you can't even easily access them for editing. EVERYTHING becomes nightmarish to work with! Well, if there was a ton of them anyway. Except American devs are so into downscaling, that there isn't that many. It isn't just that the data tables they do have are made ultra tiny, but some so tiny, they don't even need a table, and elect instead to use data assets. You don't need a "Table" of information, if theres only 3 rows for it. From japans ALWAYS 100+ row tables, to americas 10 or less row tables, that is to the extreme of these differences.
Okay, so in summary, The big core difference between American and Japanese games, is the size, in both columns and rows, of their data tables, if they even exist at all and their not just data assets. So what? What does it even mean? How does it affect anything? Well, lets move onto the next topic then.
The scale these differences effect things
Before i can get into how Tables have such a large impact on the game, i want to talk about visuals, as both Tables and Visuals buildup to the big finale this is heading towards. Perhaps you've heard of the stellar blade "controversy", maybe not, but heres a recap. The heroine is good looking, a western game where the hero is actually stylish and cool using realistic lighting systems, and it brought forth a wave of very vocal people saying whats already obvious to any real gamer. Western games are often very ugly, and eastern ones, are very pretty.
The poster child for this however, has to be aloy in the horizon series. Just type in "western games ugly controversy" into google images, and shes all over the place. A big emphasis on this is in public talks is often on character models, but i urge you to look deeper. Characters, typically boxart heroes like aloy are prime targets because their the brand and icon of the game or series but theres a lot more going on then that. Look beyond the hero, its not them alone thats ugly, it's the entire fucking game. The ugly boxart character is a fun soundbyte for online discourse, but limiting the topic there covers up the bigger problem.
Looking across the board, we can see something that is easily echoed by one of the japanese comments that blew up. "Western games lean to realistic". Or for my own comment, American games value realistic lighting systems far to much, and it's completely destroying their games. Every game needs to have the most realistic lighting, the most translucent skin, the most reflective water, the most volumetric fog. All things that push graphics cards to the absolute limit...and are completely worthless from a gameplay standpoint. The 10fps lag dips are not immersive, they graphics aren't even fun. When every game looks the same, it's not exciting, theres no sense of adventure. You already know how things will visual appear, just like they do in every other american game, the most realistic visuals possible, on the ugliest, most basic models they can find.
Gameplay? Story? Worldbuilding? Fun gameplay systems? Fuck all of them, for For american games, its not "good" unless you can see the individual dropets of water secreeting from the pores of the freckles on your character. Nothing is as important as the smallest realism details. The one thing you might not stop to think of however, is if anything actually suspicious is happening. I mean, the games are *just* bad games right? In the previous part, i discussed how more then merely a coincidence of small data tables, they invented data assets and went deeply against japanese production methods. Some people may think for west indie games, they just take premade assets of an asset store so all the trees are generic, the boxes are basic, the rocks are rocky and boring because they just took whatever from someone else. But the big studios, obviously they make their own stuff...right? Sure theres random asset generators and stuff, but they make their own lighting or something.....right? They don't also just steal everything.....................right?
This is unreal engine, the current largest game engine in the west. When starting a new project, your asked what you would like to make. A video game, or..something else. Yes, the largest VIDEO GAME engine, the one used by the largest american studios, does a ton of stuff completely unreleated to video games. It asks if your making a movie, preparing a event, planning building construction or engineering complex systems, working with automobiles, designing products, setting up manufacturing, (Not pictured: Working with aircrafts or flight simulation). Together, they all have something obvious in common. Realistic lighting. Ultra Realistic Assets. Realistic physics. Realistic Fog. Realistic water. Realistic *everything*.
It's not that top american studios make fantastic graphics, that they GET graphics, that their lazy about everything else. Their lazy about everything period! Their not making uniquely realistic graphics, uniquely realistic assets, or anything else! OTHER companies are! Their just sharing these systems! The realistic driving games are not making "realistic driving games". They are putting together realistic driving games. Their taking pre-existing car models, pre-existing build models, pre-existing dirt and rocks and trees, pre-existing graphics engines, pre-existing lighting and water systems, pre-existing EVERYTHING, and just putting it together into a single project file, hiring to few people who might not even know enough and are their best just trying to copy from games they think did well without a proper understanding of why, and putting together, not creating, not designing, but lego-ing together a video game.
Visually, these are not game "Studios". They aren't merely not copying japanese art trends from a dislike or creative difference, they ARE copying, but from stuff SO available, it's even LAZIER then you ever imagined. Their visuals are not merely uninspired, they are completely devoid of actual human creativity. These titles, are very intentionally, reusing EVERYTHING in their creation. They aren't merely avoiding large data tables, their avoiding EVERYTHING involved in actually designing games. They are not making their own graphics! They put in nothing, releasing titles that make tens of millions of dollars, and why would they stop? It's so fucking profitable, they can't. Not merely figuratively, they legally cannot. Once put on the public stock exchange, they have a legal duty to make their investors the most money possible. If they fail, they can be both held liable, and replaced.
It isn't that japanese games don't use lighting systems, they do! Games like persona 5, or fire emblem 3 houses use them to great effect. They intentionally avoid realistic ones, because they are ugly. They are uninspired, they are boring and without creative energy. Theres nothing fun with a realistic piece of grass. A japanese blade of grass, could look magical.
How the core difference actually affects games / studios / players.
Were back here again. Now, with a better understanding of how other industry's are the creative minds behind the graphics in American games, these studios hopefully nolonger appear like they are busy focusing on some other aspect of the game (The visuals, physics, etc). American developers have one job, make a actually good game, and all to often they fail to surpass japanese games of 20 years ago. As of their teachings, developers should simplify things, but is that really true?
Looking at the largest hits in the west, Slay the Spire, Factorio, Dwarf Fortress, Terraria, Binding of Isaac, we see some similarities. Not a single one a JRPG, and aside from not a single one being stupid enough to use realistic anything, the data tables of these games are massive in scale. The amount of information each game has, for you to process, is enormous. And therein, is a secret, with how data tables affects more of the game then immediately obvious.
Games with large data tables, often need loads and loads of menus. Theres tons of information to display, and it affects every part of a game. Menus are usually in tabs, swappable both in tabs / pages for all the columns of information (Pictured page 1 of 5), as well as swapping what "row" were on (Pictured, press L or R to swap characters). Weapons can have a page 2 of info, spells could have upto 3 pages of info in some games. Lists of things can be very long, and most of all, the gameplay UI, has information absolutely fucking everywhere.
From corner to corner, to every units onscreen, theres details everywhere. In engage, you can press start to example individual words on the HUD and have them defined for you, as well as see bonuses and penaltys and their sources. In dark souls you can do the same, and even in action games, you can often go through so many menus of information, you could easily go 30 minutes in menus alone without any gameplay. American developers see such intense menus as bloat, stuff to be cut down and simplified, but true fans of games love them. They hold the very essence of the game. With so many columns of information in a data table, they need to display them all, and that means loads of information everyone.
Its the difference between the big trading card games like yugioh or magic, and the baby ones like hearthstone or marvel snap. Its why every big turn based rpg is japanese. It's quite literally the difference between "rpg" and "jrpg". It's why japan exclusively has EVERY still surviving grid based tactics series, a genre where positioning is critical, and to be decided on by the player, based on their ability to analyze said information. Digging into info, is the very soul of gaming. Altho outlier titles, ones closer to movies then games exist, those are exceptions not the norm. It's why only japan has visual novels, something existing only of information, and why the entire attorney genre that uses visual novel format like ace attorney or danganronpa is exclusive to japan. It's why all the big creature collection games are from japan. Its why mystery dungeon games are exclusively made in japan.
Unexpectedly, it's also why rhythm games are always from japan. Rhythm games want a lot of artistic creativity, to just dive into. Western rhythm being realistic went to the expected extreme and sold physical dummy instruments, and expected died off as a result! When we look american games that really make us go "holy shit, wow, what a incredible fucking game!" it's ALL indie titles! Small teams that altho maybe not with such direct intent, made games with a much bigger focus on large data tables, and non-realistic graphics. Usually roguelikes or deckbuilders, games that sort of by nature of their genre, had to have large data tables.
One thing i often think of, is how garbage the entire first person shooter genre is. Its maximum uncreative, theres always the absolute tiniest amount of information to dig into, and with the least possible skill expression. You cant see behind you, the games by this nature *can't* have any interesting spells. You *can't* made decisions based on your surroundings, infact "you can't" is just the running theme with this genre. Third person however, is quite different. America makes almost no third person shooters, and no a first person game with a third person option isn't the fucking same. The games abilities are designed for one mode, and only one mode, and thats why it matters. Anyway, America had saints row, and that was about it. Japan made resident evil, turned bad once it became first person, and splatoon, seen as a mega-noteworthy title. In the west, out only big third person game people talk about is risk of rain 2 now.
I'm a gamer of japanese spirit. I believe this to mean i want to see games with a very large number of data tables, and for those tables to all be very very large. That, is the core essence of gaming. The most exciting possible games, would have them be massive. Well, ideally also moddable, and have some very difficult modes. (Hello fire emblem!).