Between isekai JRPG and non-jrpg isekai, which is better?

[hell_yeahMylike]

I just have a small question because I've read both types of isekai novels and I've come across so many of them, so I'm wondering which of these two genres is better.

 

[Alski]

WTF is an isekai game.

 

[hell_yeahMylike]

WTF is an isekai game.

About JPRG GAME Sorry for the unclear explanation.

 

[Eldoria]

Non-game isekai. I want more isekai that explore the human side of being faced with the reality of living in a foreign land. Can you adapt and survive? You have nothing, no skills or cheats, and don't even understand the local language. It's a more realistic scenario. Unfortunately, few isekai dare to explore this realistic yet bitter side. Most of the isekai I've read (before I got bored) fall into wish fulfillment.

 

[JayMark]

Non-game isekai. I want more isekai that explore the human side of being faced with the reality of living in a foreign land. Can you adapt and survive? You have nothing, no skills or cheats, and don't even understand the local language. It's a more realistic scenario. Unfortunately, few isekai dare to explore this realistic yet bitter side. Most of the isekai I've read (before I got bored) fall into wish fulfillment.

Unfortunately, wish fulfillment sells.

 

[laccoff_mawning]

Isekai needs a reason to be isekai over generic fantasy. Reincarnated into a game/novel that the MC knows of allows you to develop the story in a way you can't with non-isekai fantasy, providing an immediate reason why your story needs to be isekai in the first place. Let's say you didn't want to make an isekai into a known world story. Then you'd need to answer why is it an isekai story in the first place over a generic fantasy. What plot have you cooked up that needs the MC to be reincarnated for it to work over being a local in that world?

Now, the open nature of RPGs give slightly more leverage to work with than if the MC reincarnates into the world of a novel, so it gives the MC more freedom to know and alter things. For example, if the MC reincarnates into an RPG, he might know all the hidden passages, secrets, and locations in that world. But if he reincarnates to a novel, then realistically he's only bound to whatever information the MC knows by the end of the story. And even then, it's not like novels are going to go into excruciating detail about where things are located.

So RPGs push this advantage to its extreme. That being said, I don't know why specifically JRPG would be superior to a normal RPG or MMORPG in this regard.

 

[PancakesWitch]

Isekai needs a reason to be isekai over generic fantasy. Reincarnated into a game/novel that the MC knows of allows you to develop the story in a way you can't with non-isekai fantasy, providing an immediate reason why your story needs to be isekai in the first place. Let's say you didn't want to make an isekai into a known world story. Then you'd need to answer why is it an isekai story in the first place over a generic fantasy. What plot have you cooked up that needs the MC to be reincarnated for it to work over being a local in that world?

Now, the open nature of RPGs give slightly more leverage to work with than if the MC reincarnates into the world of a novel, so it gives the MC more freedom to know and alter things. For example, if the MC reincarnates into an RPG, he might know all the hidden passages, secrets, and locations in that world. But if he reincarnates to a novel, then realistically he's only bound to whatever information the MC knows by the end of the story. And even then, it's not like novels are going to go into excruciating detail about where things are located.

So RPGs push this advantage to its extreme. That being said, I don't know why specifically JRPG would be superior to a normal RPG or MMORPG in this regard.

JRPGs are japanese role playing games that usually feature anime art styles, designs, and tropes, that's the major difference

 

[FRWriter]

Every genre has great stories. You can't compare entire genres with each other, IMO. It's also a matter of personal taste.

 

[MFontana]

I just have a small question because I've read both types of isekai novels and I've come across so many of them, so I'm wondering which of these two genres is better.

View attachment 43420

Ultimately that aspect comes down to the execution for the LitRPG mechanics and how they are integrated (as far as whether I prefer JRPG, or Western RPG approaches).
Personally, though, I tend toward the mechanics that are integrated more in the background and apply to everyone in the world evenly. Not cheats for the system. No hacks. No power-fantasy. Most of the time that stuff is boring and hollow.

The mechanics should apply to everyone in the world for any LitRPG. Isekai or not.

As for the Isekai genre itself, I tend to prefer as few game elements as possible really, but look for the characters to have more depth than just another repeat 'normie becomes god thanks to broken cheat ability' mechanic. I genuinely do not like characters or stories like that.

Mind you, I don't mind the protagonist having unique skills or abilities within the system. That's fine. Just make sure ALL the characters have their own unique abilities, and can all contribute meaningfully to whatever is going on, and they all have depth above and beyond that. It's just sad how few Good Isekai stories there are (comparatively), especially when the vast majority just turn into Harem Wish-Fulfilment and Power-Fantasy garbage, which is why I tend to focus on the characters, and look for character depth when I'm reading.

Sure, it sells, and some of the anime shows make for a decent watch to kill a couple of hours of downtime, but that does not necessarily make the story quality literature.

Personally, I'd say some of my favorite Isekai stories thus far have been: .hack, Log Horizon, and Isekai Shoukudo (Restaurant to Another World). The two former deliver well on the LitRPG and Isekai elements, while the latter is just a casual piece of light fiction with an easier 'slice of life' pacing.
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I tried my best to answer based on everything in the thread so far; but if I misunderstood the question, please let me know, and I'll address it.

 

[Cipiteca396]

Non-game isekai. I want more isekai that explore the human side of being faced with the reality of living in a foreign land. Can you adapt and survive? You have nothing, no skills or cheats, and don't even understand the local language. It's a more realistic scenario. Unfortunately, few isekai dare to explore this realistic yet bitter side. Most of the isekai I've read (before I got bored) fall into wish fulfillment.

You can do that in real life, just take a plane to another nation... Sounds incredibly boring to me.

both types of isekai novels

So, LitRPG isekai and non-system isekai? Or JRPG vs Western RPG? I'm assuming the title is just incorrect, but there's still too much room for error. Also assuming sci-fi is out of the question, lol.

Oh well...

I really like LitRPG's ability to speed up a story in a 'realistic' way. No spending two hundred years studying the intricacies of magic, you just get a skill and pop in some mana and presto- you a wizard. It just cuts out a lot of wasted time.

At the same time, I do like digging into those intricacies. That's really a huge part of the fun of magic for me. How does it work? Why does it work? How does it interact with itself or other things? Systems tend to obscure that stuff, so not having one usually makes the magic more fun.

So processing all of that... LitRPG is better if you want to tell a story; generic fantasy is better for world building or whimsy. Since a big part of isekai is exploration- the pioneer fantasy- and whimsy, the non-system isekai should technically be 'purer', I guess. Though everybody talks about worldbuilding like it's a huge sin for writers, so LitRPG wins from that perspective.

I'd still be happy with either as long as its entertaining, I guess.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

There is no "best" - there are good and bad examples of both.