ACman said:
I thing jrpg as a descriptor has transcended being linked to country of origin.
The reason I didn't even bother describing anything in distinction there is because for decades now, the term "RPG" (beyond the very-direct "Rocket-Propelled-Grenade") lacks a clear, concise definition apart from (arguably) "it has stats".
You could ask 1000 different gamers what an "RPG" is, and they wouldn't be able to give you a clear response without directly referencing another RPG. "X is defined as being like Y".
Without those frames of reference (which ISN'T what a definition is; a definition is the specific meaning of something; not the "vague, sort-of-like-that" meaning of something) I bet you would get hundreds of different responses at least. Similar, but not the same by any means.
Fewer gaming terms are so ambigous and "fuzzy" in their nature.
The only parts of jrpgs that fall into some sort of consistency (and I say take this with a mountain of salt), are the tropes that are popular in Japanese culture. Children, magic, school stress, cutesy-ness, epic karate/sword battle duels, etc.
Mass Effect doesn't follow any of those tropes directly. Maybe a few jrpg tropes, but the game is decidedly NOT culturally Japanese. At all.
ASIDE: Re-Captcha had a phrase that was COMPLETELY UPSIDE DOWN.
This shit is just getting ridiculous now.