Well, you did leave us for quite some time... It was a cold, lonely time...

QFFT (Quoted for fucking truth)

And, to me, the moving away from direct control sounds like making an RPG be more like an RPG.  Back in the day, you controlled your allies, because the AI was as dumb as dirt.  Now, AI work is supposed to advance, so allies should be able to function independently of you.  You play a character in the game, with allies, rather than play a party of characters.  This should, when done right, make it feel more like actual role playing, instead of a computer simulation of a role playing game.

Take, for example, a game like Left 4 Dead, but where you could improve your stats.  That would end up being more like a real roleplaying experience than what you would have with older stuff that goes under "RPGs".  The central definition of role playing is playing a role.  It is NOT commanding a party.  People don't role play parties, they role play characters.

Yea..I got tired pressing X for 5 hours then threw FF XIII to GameStop..

Then I remembered there are some real Jprg:s on Xbox 360..Tales of Vesperia top on list..But then?Blue Dragon?Lol.

They are pretty much dead and I'm tired of waiting.So they are dead to me.

And Lost Odyssey suddenly disappeared as a 360 RPG?

You've just described the modern Final Fantasy series, and...?

The Secret of Mana series is no longer in the RPG genre then.  For that matter, neither are most ARPGs, including Elder Scroll titles.  That definition is not going to work.

Planescape: Torment >>> Xenogears

Baldur's Gate >>>>>> Final Fantasy

Fallout >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Tales of ___.

Week-old turd >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Persona.

[spoiler]:P[/spoiler]

The better you are at reading and writing a language, the harder it becomes to accept the bastardization of that language.  What AkibaFan is doing is little better than beating English into a twisted form of comprehensibility, then repeatedly running over the corpse with a ten-ton steamroller of Stupid.

Not to derail, but what about Demon's  Soul?  I've had my eye on that one, so I'm hoping it doesn't fall under this syndrome you've identified.

That clause is assumed.  That applies to this topic, and to 99% of the posts you'll read on any site.  And yes, it applies most strongly to posts which contain the phrase "and that's not my opinion, that's a fact!", especially if "fact" is capitalized.

If it makes dtwei feel any better, it's my second.

You mean battles that are separate from the main game don't take place?

They don't have to involve a separate screen, just that they are independent.

That's what most people assume an RPG to be. What's your definition?

At least in the Mana series, battles can and occasionally do intermingle with all the other functions (talking to people, buying/selling crap, etc.  It can lead to some funny glitches).  I can't always identify where combat ends and non-combat begins.  That applies also to the Elder Scroll games, especially Morrowind, where you can lure monsters straight into towns and watch the ensuing panic, and where you can always attack NPCs in the same manner that you do monsters, without triggering any separate system.

I understand the difficulty though: I can't come up with any perfect definition myself, especially since there's more and more genre cross-pollinization going on.

I'm no RPG junkie... but I find the Mario & Luigi series (and the Paper Mario series, although there hasn't been a proper entry this generation) to be very (very) fun. The battle system is always finding new ways to keep you involved in the battle, and I for one love it. Bowser's Inside Story was just too much fun.

And of course... there's the Pogeymans...

twesterm and JRPGs are like this:

Trolling
With
Extra
Sinister
Techniques
Elaborating
Red
Mannerisms