These days, it doesn’t even make much difference. A lot of new JRPGs are structured like western RPGs. Ditching turn-based, menu command style combat for something more active or just loading your menu up with tons of options that give the potential for every battle to be different instead of simply spamming the accept button to speed through.

They still however tend to make the characters you play as static except for the power growth. No control over what stats get upgraded, no control over the job/class, shit sometimes you can’t even rename them. The old classics like Final Fantasy feel more like reading a book than a playing a game; which was fine when I actually thought the stories were good but as I grow older they have started to become cringey.

I don’t care where it came from, I just want more variety in what I can do with my characters and in combat. Western RPGs tend to give that much more than a JRPG. Though I am currently playing Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Starting to get bored with the combat, but there’s so much more to do than fight and the story is like a really good anime that combines all the genres of anime I like. It’s also super long. It took me 5 hours just to get to the main location the game takes place in.