Is there a need for JRPG and WRPG?

[allblue]

Alphachris said:
There are so many things that JRPGs do differently than WRPG that it is difficult to lump them together as RPGs.

Epic Stories that are actually taken seriously (while games like Oblivion only put in a main quest so that there is one...)
Characters with their own personalities, motivations, beliefs... The characters in JRPGs often act as a way to let the player see the conflicts of the game through different points of view.
JRPGs often offer an epic classical soundtrack.
JRPGs put more effort/variation in the architecture, music, historical background of the cities
JRPGs focus on emotions of the characters/ WRPGs often focus on violence and brutality.
JRPGs often have complex stories that you can't fully understand the first time you see it... WRPGs hand you hundreds of sidequests instead.

I grew up with JRPGs/Action JRPGs like Terranigma, Final Fantasy, Suikoden, Breath of Fire, Kingdom Hearts. I have always seen them as the special genre, where playing the games and thinking about the stories have left me a little bit wiser and with a deeper understanding on life (FFX - consequences of blind faith, etc...).

Most WRPGs/Action WRPGs that I have played simply gave me an environment where I can max out my character or do hundreds of sidequests without deeper meaning. WPRGs also feel like most assets are reused over and over again. There is no story that makes each game special... I can't substitute FF7 with FF9, but I can totally substitute games like Borderlands1/Borderlands2.

I agree with the soundtrack part but read my post above. I have yet to see one modern jrpg that has writing and voice acting as sophisticated as mass effect or dragon age. Unless jrpg break out of that anime/manga inspired mold with cheesy dialogues, generic plot and characters, they aren't going to make a come back in the west. They are merely surviving on their past glories now.