I think Jrpgs have always had more interesting stories and characters compared to wrpgs. What i think needs to be done to appeal to a wider audience, is make more mature jrpgs. I'm thinking something more like Drakengard 1 and 2. Drakengard has several seriously disturbing moments and characters featuring Flesh devouring giant babies, a crazy child smothering woman, a pedophile and his young companion (your party members in the first game lol), and an overall tone of depression and despair. It still had an anime style to it, but it wasn't chibi like the Tales of series ( I like both but i like the more mature looking characters better). The next thing that needs to be done is the game has to be marketed the s*** out of. Get awareness out there with an awesome trailer and get people interested. At the very least they will at least acknowledge the games existence. Showing something like this on TV or at a convention or something would go a long way.
