JRPG's, We need to have a talk. SHUT THE FUCK UP!

While mostly JRPG's, this is something that shows it's head from time to time in other games. It's just that these days it seems to crop up here more than anywhere else, and that is a games inability to shut up.

Going back in time to find where this started, and an example of exactly what I'm talking about, let's talk The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Not a JRPG, this is true, but it's where I recall this trend beginning. Very specifically I speak of Navi. It has been a running joke for years that she is absolutely annoying with her constant chattering as you progress through dungeons. Yet, despite this being a running joke amongst gamers, for some reason, game devs decided this was something that needed to keep happening.

Fast forward to last year, we have had two games come out that are both far worse than OoT in this regard. The first being Digimon World: Next Order. Not only are you constantly reminded of anything and everything you come across from entrances to materials, but you also have two different Digimon constantly informing you that they are hungry, that they are sleepy, and that they need to use the bathroom. Making matters worse is that in this case, it's a notification to simply stop what you're doing and do busy work that, quite frankly, is in no way fun. And in the case of Digimon World, it is ever-present. There doesn't seem to be any real point in the game, outside of brief stretches in town, that this will ever end.

And most recently we have Akiba's Beat. I didn't think it could get worse the Digimon World, but then I was introduced to Pinkun. It wasn't the frequency which got to me, though his constant instance on informing you of every single door, shop, save point, and the enemy is in and of itself far more annoying then Navi ever was, but his voice is absolutely grating. Not only will he never shut up, but he is by far the worse sounding of the examples I have listed here.

The best part of that game was when I could switch out my support for someone who didn't sound so terrible, something that was more important to me than the effects the different supports actually have. But while it made it more bearable, it didn't actually stop the constant inane chatter from being annoying.

And at times whats being said can even be infuriating, or possibly just hilariously stupid. But by the time I got to this following example, I was already fed up with the chatter. To quote what I said to Jennie while playing this game,

“I go into a room, all that is there is a chest and no other possible paths. My support says 'But we just came through this way...'

WELL FINE I GUESS WE JUST STAND IN THIS SMALL ROOM FOR ETERNITY WILL THAT MAKE YOU FUCKING HAPPY!?”

This is not a new thing either. As much as I love and recommend the Persona games, your supports in Persona 3, 4, and 5 can all get a bit on the annoying side. It's not nearly as frequent or bad as the previous examples given, but it doesn't stop it from getting on my nerves after enough time has passed.

I'm not referring to random conversations between characters, mind you. I love those in games like Persona 5 and the Dragon Age games, it's fun to see your characters interacting as you progress through areas with no other plot going on.

And what exactly is the point of all this? To let the players know there is something nearby? Certainly in the case both Digimon and Akiba it'll let you know if you are going to miss a chest that may be out of eyesight. That just begs the question of why not just put it directly in your vision then? You eliminate the need to constantly annoy us with the same line over and over, and ensure we don't miss something. Or if you intended to make it missable to someone not paying attention, then the supporting voice completely ruins the intent. No good comes from this choice of voicing its presence every single instance.

And that's the most infuriating thing about this trend, is it serves no purpose. It doesn't even do something as lame as pad out the game's runtime. The only thing it serves to do is annoy the players. And really I could list a lot of RPG's that do this, but so far this year has produced the two worst examples of this I can recall in my life. So please, JRPG's, I love you, but will you, sometimes, just shut the fuck up?