I've always had a love/hate relationship with JRPGs. I loved the fantasy and technological worlds and interesting characters and stories, but I hated the random battles and turn based combat.
The genre has been stuck in the same mode it was in back in the 8bit days. Back then the genre was limited by technology so the games couldn't have it all. Those limits became cliches that the genre has not broken free from. Wester RPG makers brought modern gameplay to RPGs, that's why Mass Effect is so popular and why it's so damn good.
The only thing that will save JRPG from slowly fading into oblivious is for JRPG devs to leave behind the cliches that they have relied on for far too long and bring modern gameplay into their worlds and stories.
