Re:Generation Nintendo
by dragontamer on Monday May 23, 2016 @03:47PM
(#11756362)
Not just "wizardry", but straight up Dungeons and Dragons. Record of Lodoss War WAS a dungeons and dragons campaign. The campaign notes were then compiled into a novel, then an anime.
The D&D spirit influenced both "Final Fantasy" and "Dragon Quest", two of the biggest selling games of 80s in Japan... which eventually grew into big games in the US as well. Tower of Druaga series also was D&D based IIRC. Legend of Zelda is very D&D-esque as well, Hyrulians are basically Tolken elves (magically inclined, pointy ears, "beautiful") while Kokiri are elves classic (magically inclined, short forest dwellers who help Santa build toys). Redead are your classic Zombies, and Wizards and magic items are the norm.
Its much like how the origin of "big eye anime characters" are actually traced to Mickey Mouse as the root of "big eye cartoon characters". There's a lot of influence from US to Japan, and vice versa (Lol Power Rangers)
The "strange" part is how language barriers seem to emphasize different parts. Like slimes in Dragon Quest are a major thing, but oozes / slime monsters have lost cultural significance in western D&D spin-offs like Diablo or Skyrim.
But go back to Bestiary 1.0 of D&D, and you'll see the significance in both Western and Japanese RPGs. Its just the different parts that the two cultures remembered about the book I guess.
The D&D spirit influenced both "Final Fantasy" and "Dragon Quest", two of the biggest selling games of 80s in Japan... which eventually grew into big games in the US as well. Tower of Druaga series also was D&D based IIRC. Legend of Zelda is very D&D-esque as well, Hyrulians are basically Tolken elves (magically inclined, pointy ears, "beautiful") while Kokiri are elves classic (magically inclined, short forest dwellers who help Santa build toys). Redead are your classic Zombies, and Wizards and magic items are the norm.
Its much like how the origin of "big eye anime characters" are actually traced to Mickey Mouse as the root of "big eye cartoon characters". There's a lot of influence from US to Japan, and vice versa (Lol Power Rangers)
The "strange" part is how language barriers seem to emphasize different parts. Like slimes in Dragon Quest are a major thing, but oozes / slime monsters have lost cultural significance in western D&D spin-offs like Diablo or Skyrim.
But go back to Bestiary 1.0 of D&D, and you'll see the significance in both Western and Japanese RPGs. Its just the different parts that the two cultures remembered about the book I guess.