Query: Are JRPGs getting worse or am I just getting old?

[DrunkOnEstus]

I'm of the age and gaming history that OP discusses, and I feel it's a one-two combo of age and the slow growth of the genre this generation. When I first played FF7, Cloud was so cool because he was 21, he was so much older and there wasn't a jaded retrospect/hindsight of that kind of character because we hadn't lived to that age yet.

The best games in the genre this gen either realized that the audience they raised are older than the "teenage fighting the system" stereotype that used to appeal to us, appear on portable systems and therefore spend more on growth of gameplay/mechanics/story than graphics, or have integrated WRPG mechanics or style a la Dark Souls or Dragon's Dogma.

It's important with any video game, just like with music or movies, that the best representative of a genre might not be at the surface being hyped or advertised down your throat. Sometimes substance, particularly of an esoteric nature, gets attention by publishers/developers but may require some work on your part to be found. If you haven't played them, I recommend any MegaTen except Devil Survivor, Ys, Valkria Chronicles, and many others mentioned in this thread, as its for a good reason. I should work more on sharing a great game when I find it, as some rely on word of mouth as their only advertising.

 

[Kahunaburger]

I recommend any MegaTen except Devil Survivor

For me it has to do with the old school turned based menu combat system and the linear gameplay,this was great long ago but now with fast paced real time action and open world games it just feels so outdated.

I think this kind of stuff can be great if done right. If the menu choices are Hurt Enemy (vanilla), Hurt Enemy (chocolate), Hurt Enemy (strawberry) and Heal, it can be crazy boring. But that was boring when I was 10 playing Skies of Arcadia, too. I think it's less that (bad) turn-based combat was ever considered good, and more that people were willing to forgive a game a terrible grindy system if teh graffix were shiny enough, and the definition of good graphics changes over time. Is Shiren the Wanderer still fun to play? Yep. Will an (unmodded) Skyrim still be considered fun to play in 10 years? Doubtful.

OT: I definitely think questionable design decisions are made with many JRPGs, but I don't claim to know enough of the genre to evaluate the "state of the JRPG" based on this.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

I recommend any MegaTen except Devil Survivor

Whoa, sorry man, but I played it on the DS some time ago and it had this grid-based strategy kind of thing that turned me off (pull out a second stamp as I didn't like FF Tactics). I can't in good faith recommend something I myself didn't enjoy. Maybe I'll dig it out and see if it's worth pushing myself into and getting grabbed by a different aspect of the game itself.

 

[Jessta]

Some nice JRPGS I played recently
Final fantasy 7 crisis core
Kingdoms hearts birth by sleep
The World Ends With You
Deus ex Human revolution (I say JRPG because this game was just kind of everything, and was good at being everything the story was solid, the game play was engaging and fun, the meta was interesting and provocative, the world was expansive and beautiful, I'm just not sure whether it was a shooter, an adventure, or a story?)
But ya, we are other wise lacking good Jrpgs if my list is almost entirely composed of handhelds and things that aren't exactly JRPGS.... New kingdom hearts title should be coming out in a year or so that's something to look forward to... I guess... I mean it's kinda just getting dragged out at this point...
This might be because I haven't really had time to get any sort of nice good four hours straight of system time like I used to do with things like FF8 or Legend of the dragoon though, it's more 10 minutes here, 20 minutes there that kinda thing, when I do sit down for a system outing I always feel like I'm trying to rush to get things done, skipping cut scenes, mashing X to get past the dialogue, ignoring secret routes because I simply don't have time for those anymore.
Sooooo those are some good handheld ones out there.
Disgaea is pretty solid series to check out if you like a comedy with a bit of feels and are more of a strategy sorta dude.

 

[Kahunaburger]

I recommend any MegaTen except Devil Survivor

Whoa, sorry man, but I played it on the DS some time ago and it had this grid-based strategy kind of thing that turned me off (pull out a second stamp as I didn't like FF Tactics). I can't in good faith recommend something I myself didn't enjoy. Maybe I'll dig it out and see if it's worth pushing myself into and getting grabbed by a different aspect of the game itself.

Well, I don't think I'd recommend it to ppl who don't like the whole SRPG grid-based tactics thing either haha. Definitely a lot of that in Devil Survivor.

 

[Arina Love]

Days of a past is long gone, J-RPGs not getting worse they just not J-RPGs you used to know. J-RPGs are changing. Some becoming more budget tittles for fans, stuff NISa does as well as agarest series. Some J-RPG dividing in to general appeal with simplified mechanics and hand-holding. For example FFXIII, Tales of Graces, Ni no Kuni for average Japanese gamer and stuff like Agarest 2, Neptunia is for fans of niche moe-J-RPGs.
As for me i much rather play J-RPGs of today than boring W-RPGs. i can honestly say i really enjoyed J-RPGs this gen, so much so that i don't even want to remember J_RPGs of a past.

Here is my personal list of J-RPGs that i really enjoyed in recent years.
Final Fantasy XIII
Tales of Graces F
3 Atelier Games (Rorona,Totori,Meruru)
Ar Tonelico Qoga
Neptunia Mk2
Disgaea 4
Eternal Sonata
Lost odyssey
Star Ocean Last Hope
Agarest series.