I can agree that games like Disgaea 3 and ToV are better than their reviews lead one to believe, but I also don't think you can apply this to every single JRPG that comes out. If a JRPG scores within the 7's range it means it is average. If you're a JRPG fan then you'll still enjoy it, but it's not a great JRPG. It seems like everytime a new JRPG comes out that doesn't get all 9's I have to listen to how it's so much better than reviews lead one to believe, but if that was true, and every game is better than average JRPG then what the hell is an average for?
Disgaea 3 reviewed the way it did because it's graphics are ass and it has some technical issues on some HD TV's. I love the game to death but that's the truth. These things keep it from reviewing as the great RPG it is, but it doesn't make the reviews unfair. Some were more harsh than others, but that's because it's probably a bigger deal to some than others, and the gameplay scored like it did because it's a Strategy RPG, some people like them and some don't.
On the other hand, I would argue that Valkyria finds a game mechanic for a strategy RPG that more people can get into than your average SRPG, and this is why it reviewed better as far as gameplay goes.
Basically, most JRPG's are average, if they weren't there would be no point to the term "average". It's why games like ToS2 are enjoyable to some but still score in the 7's, while games like Valkyria are incredible to a number of people and score higher.
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