Comments on: Japanese studios like Nihon Falcom can’t compete with China and Korea in development scale and capital, but they can in individuality and creative spirit, CEO says

By: Cathay

Cathay — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 23:20:48 +0000

Setting onesself apart requires more self-reflection… It must not be attributed to competition against other people by attempting to claim individuality in this way.

Being competitive requires to study the other person(s) and attempt to build on someone elses ideas that are a bit better. This is not individuality

The desire for individuality comes from within, with accepting: the past, of ones current position, loving thy neighbor, and mistakes with grace.

It depends on the philosophy of the Japanese market and how they view the world. I do know that this field is competitive, and I think it is rivalry, not necessarily in a condescending way… But Every nation has the same drive.

If they stick to what they know, like, inspiration for their own culture more, and do like what Quintet/Enix did with real-world mysticism: I believe they can find their individuality, through the eyes of cultured Japan.

By: Cody

Cody — Sun, 18 Jan 2026 00:52:28 +0000

I think that Japanese games are still better. Chinese games are literally just stolen work usually. Look at how they were ripping off Horizon Zero Dawn. Not an once of creativity and made to milk money from whales.

Korean games are also far behind Japanese games in terms of quality. They have nothing to worry about as they still bring something different while the others are just copying.

By: Jaybear

Jaybear — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 17:06:51 +0000

Agreed NISA is way better than GungHo. Not to mention the quality of the PC ports put out by Durante are TOP NOTCH. Dude implemented a co op feature in Ys X PC port on launch!!! That’s unavailable on ANY other console!

By: John Doe

John Doe — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 13:59:36 +0000

Don’t understand why. The animation quality has gone off a cliff since studios started using all-digipaint and quasi-AI. The whole industry is quickly becoming garbage.

By: Rankin Bass

Rankin Bass — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 10:50:11 +0000

Dude!

By: dk

dk — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 10:01:05 +0000

@Nobody Important
every country has its own issue and so is china. Their content can be very restrictive if it touches any sensitive issues that go against their government view. If the game addresses social issue and it is not something the government would like to highlight (bring into public attention), it will be censored.

For china, it is all fun and games until the government knows at the door when it sees something they don’t like.

So don’t bet on any single country. Just be a diverse player. Oh, And if you see a game that you dont like, (lgbt, violence, SA), ignore it and move along.

By: JustADad

JustADad — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 06:54:11 +0000

Saying you can do better in individuality is pretty rich, seeing so much of Japanese Manga is repeat of past success.
China is making some seriously fantastic series that appeal to a wider audience with stories that pull us in.
Still waiting on a Japanese show that is anywhere my old favorites like Attack on Titan or Death Note.

By: Xatu11

Xatu11 — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 00:43:10 +0000

More original than china yes, that just keep throwing the same stuff that already exist with different skins

By: Anon

Anon — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 14:53:28 +0000

In reply to Lorenzo. Play the japanese versions then if you hate english so much.

By: Anon

Anon — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 14:52:52 +0000

In reply to Dogma. Tales of Graces was never remade. Ports/remasters are not remakes.

By: Kei

Kei — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 10:51:00 +0000

It’s a culture/social problem. While they have an aging population problem, so does South Korea, and they have it worse.

What’s different today is they no longer hold a monopoly over the aesthetics of the kinds of media they produce.

Japan lives in a bubble and is being held back by their elders who are both extremely conservative in how they do things, as well as with their willingness to invest sufficient capital.

By: YWNBAW

YWNBAW — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 09:22:54 +0000

Ironic given how ShiftUp was just saying that Korea can’t compete with Japan’s manpower and needs AI

By: fattah

fattah — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 05:06:27 +0000

I feel XSeed was the best translator for Nihon falcom games in the early psp handheld era. they did such a good job with the early Trails games up to cold steel 2. and then NISA took over, alot of issues arose. mostly translation wise. look at the pc version of Lacrimosa of Dana. it was a mess. downside for XSeed was that their team was too small and they took a long time to translate.

By: Sargon

Sargon — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 04:07:07 +0000

In reply to Lorenzo. I'd much rather have NISA than GungHo, who break consistency of established terms and names, fail to set regional prices, fail to create a digital art book and soundtrack, fail to publish DLCs on time, and fail to publish on GOG & Epic.

By: crvszxd

crvszxd — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 03:32:46 +0000

Trails the 1st it’s not just a remake dude

By: demorgr

demorgr — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 00:55:48 +0000

Korea has a rapidly declining population, even worse than Japan, and I have always associated their studios with very grindy MMOs. Chinese studios are extremely prolific now, but their government is severely holding them back from free creative expression. Japanese games are pretty much the blueprint for everything we’re seeing out of Asia now.

By: Nobody Important

Nobody Important — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 00:26:12 +0000

Japan has always been a good gauge of what’s to come. They’ve been aiming for a world record speed run at statehood. This last run has seen the whole gamut in a single generation, displayed for all who would care to study. They of all nations are being hit hardest with an aging population, and what with their intolerance for other cultures… It’s no wonder they can’t compete, from winning awards at the Olympics to designing award winning interactive media, they just don’t have as large as a population to recruit from. Personally, in team China, as the Japanese are complicit in their government and it’s crack down on organized fun.

By: Lorenzo

Lorenzo — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 00:08:38 +0000

I agree with them but they need to stop trusting NISA their translators are absolutely awful at capturing the Japanese spirit and individuality. It would be better to have AI do the work instead because NISA butchers the text a lot when it comes to Trails.

By: Dogma

Dogma — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 21:51:02 +0000

Creative games like Persona 3 Reload, Trails 1st Remake, Tales of Graces remake and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Oh wait?