Japanese Game Development Ahead of the World – Opinion
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Once visiting the top of Metacritic, I noticed an interesting fact. Out of the ten highest-rated games in history by Western critics, six are Japanese games. The top is composed of games from all genres, platforms, and times. The first and third places were taken by games from the land of samurais. In second place, the honor of Western game development is upheld by the titan from Valve Corporation - The Orange Box.

The full top 10 games according to Metacritic looks like this:

1st place: Resident Evil 4 (2005)

2nd place: The Orange Box

3rd place: Elden Ring

4th place: The House In Fata Morgana - Dreams of the Revenants Edition

5th place: Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

6th place: Grand Theft Auto Double Pack

7th place: Portal: Companion Collection

8th place: The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition

9th place: Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

10th place: Hades II

Not included in the top, but scoring 90+ are plenty of games from Nintendo: various iterations of Mario and Zelda.

What about Western gamers?

Dollar voting showed that Japanese games are popular not only among Western critics but also among Western players. The absolute record holder is the Mario series, sold in a monstrous 932 million copies. Following Mario is the Pokémon series, with a monstrous 480 million copies. The Sonic series with its modest 250 million copies. Nintendo's Wii Series sold 221 million times. And the Final Fantasy series sold 180 million. All the aforementioned series are in the top 10 best-selling series in gaming history. The top also includes such Western brands as Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, and FIFA.

In conclusion

Japanese developers have long captivated the minds and hearts of Western gamers. The reasons for the popularity of Japanese games in the West are diverse. Firstly, the exotic factor: such games are unusual and fresh for the perception of an American or a German, as they introduce the Western person to interesting Japanese culture and unique Japanese game design. Secondly, the innovativeness of game mechanics, for example, Resident Evil 4 introduced a third-person view of the main character, and the creations of master Kojima are a topic for a separate series of articles. Moreover, some genres originated in Japan: 'stealth-action', JRPG, and others. Thirdly, some enjoy the emotional and deep Japanese narratives of Metal Gear Solid 3, Silent Hill 2, and some games in the Final Fantasy series. Fourthly, continuity and timeless gameplay: the Japanese have been releasing their relatively similar games about Mario and Sonic for decades, and this satisfies consumers, judging by the sales figures. Japanese gamers, on the contrary, prefer domestic games over foreign gaming products. This follows from periodic surveys conducted by Famitsu - Japan's leading gaming magazine.