So it’s just jank, then?
Sorry, couldn’t resist.
While I commiserate with people not wanting to be “typecast” like the other dev complaining about the term JRPG, I’ve never parsed the terms as boxing in devs to their location. “JRPG” and “eurojank” are posthoc titles describing where the collection of features coalesced. Just like Expedition 33 is a JRPG, despite japanese RPGs pioneering the feature set and aesthetic back in the 90s.
“Eurojank” is more aesthetic and ‘vibe’ than genre features though.
Nobody calls it “eurojank”. They call it “slavjank”. Slavic counties. Like for example, Ukraine, which, hey, is exactly where Stalker developer Volodymyr Yezhov comes from.
The game is literally about the Chernobyl exclusion zone in Ukraine. Don’t bitch about “geofencing” a genre of games when Stalker geofences its own fictional universe.
It’s like an anime creator bitching about people associating it with Japan when the stories are all strangely focused on Japan for some reason.
I’ve literally never seen anyone call it “slavjank”
I suppose it’s one moderately popular youtuber that used the term. So now it’s supposed to be part of everyone’s vocabulary.
Calling something “eurojank” is implying it was made in France, Belgium, Spain, Denmark, Italy, Greece, or any number of Western European countries.
Maybe it’s a US/EU difference, where EU people wanted to be more specific. I was responding to the incorrect claim that nobody uses the the term “eurojank”.
I personally think “eurojank” is almost like a sign of quality. Sure you can have a bad game that has janky elements, but any truly innovative/interesting games will have some measure of jank because you’re not dealing with a template.
Then there is issue of genre. Complex strategy games like Kingdoms Reborn, Transport Fever 2 or Evolution of Ages: Settlements have to have a measure of complexity to be fun and with complexity, you will have jank.
Settlements in particular can superficially look like some trash game, but if you get into it you’ll find a very in-depth game that takes inspiration from multiple genres, allows for very different playstyles and requires you to experiment and take risks to beat often overwhelming odds.
I think of Eurojank as a genre of an era that is long gone. Odd simulation games and janky indie hits come from all over the world these days while European games are critically acclaimed and steamroll award shows.
Eurojank is a nostalgic label. An afterthought. Like how the term Gothic architecture was slapped onto cathedrals later on. When I think of Eurojank I think of the late 90s to early 2010s.
And yes for every Eurojank game like Gothic you can probably find a US equivalent like Morrowind that is just as unpolished and raw. So this nostalgic cliché likely isn‘t even all that accurate. The dev has a point here. At least I think so.
That’s close to how I see it too. I think Eurojank makes sense for 80s/early 90s when a lot of those weirdly clunky, rather experimental and/or make-your-fun games tended to come from UK/France/Germany.
But after that it’s not hard to find examples of stuff like that everywhere.
I think the term stuck in the same east “eurogames” i as a genre n board games did even though it’s definition no longer has anything to do with is origin. Same with “eurobeat” in music, whose averaged origin is probably Japan nowadays, but the term is still there, firmly in place.
Not all european games are eurojank and there are noneuropean games that feel like eurojank but that doesn’t invalidate the term eurojank. Its useful to have terms to describe a quality or vibe of games outside of gameplay or genre.
