Ni No Kuni felt like a glorious 16 bit JRPG in todays systems, but I understand that rising budgets have forced a niche genre to cut corners. Honestly, if the battle system is good and the world and characters likable I do not mind the lack of open worlds (which I do like) or reduction in NPCs.
Unless another Final Fantasy VII happens this is what the genre will likely be given the sales its games command. Even Xenoblade for all its accolades this generation did not sell close to what many publishers demand of games they give insane budgets to (looks at Square Enix and Tomb Raider).
I have learned to deal with it given early part o this generation was almost no JRPGs to be found just happy to play my favorite genre again with so many great 2013 entries.
