Portal is all about the charming characters.

Halo, Gears of War, and Killzone may all be cliche but how many RPG's are cliche too?  While those games might not be bearly as long, they have just as much story and character development (well, maybe not Killzone...).

I don't think gameplay is the problem at all. I think the genre becoming more niche has to do with the stagnation of the story archetypes that have dominated. It's getting to the point where the characterizations, character dialogue, motives of the antagonist(s) and the general themes, are all being repeated, and at a grander (and more intrusive) scale due to the growing scope of these projects.

How many JRPG's over the last 5 years have portrayed teens fighting againt a powerful group or entity that wishes to eradicate humankind in an attempt to cleanse them of their sins and start the world anew? What about the characters? I bet one of them is a hot-headed boy that that has trouble coming to terms with the grey area of morality. Here are some more: the mysterious adult woman, the musclehead who likes to eat, the secret princess who wants people to like her for who she is, etc. I'm not trying to say that any JRPG that contains these should be considered bad...a game like Ys 7 contains a lot of these cliches, but they are in the background, not the foreground, while games like FFXIII or SO4 are thrusting them down our throats at every oppertunity.

I think what we're seeing is that these "mainstream" JRPG's are dying. Sands of Destruction, White Knight Chronicles, Final Fantasy XIII, Star Ocean 4, etc, all arguably had that rinse-repeat feeling, while JRPG's that either attempt to deviate from the these cliches, like Persona 4 or Demons Souls, or take a simpler, classic approach with the narrative and characters, like Dragon Quest and Ys, are those that are being embraced.

Edit: Double post

May I direct you all to *drumroll* The Grand List. The list contains 192 JRPG cliches. So to any who say the story of something like Halo or Killzone or whatever are cliche, I say mostly everything in most JRPGs is cliche. Still, I enjoy JRPGs since they're like super easy challenges. Heck, I pretty much played all the way through FF13 while played SC2 online.

I wouldn't call JRPGs complex at all, but in the words of my friend's friend who was watching him play Eternal Sonata, "Wow, this game looks gay, why are you playing it? I can see how you could like the music, but the game itself seems really boring."

In general, yes, non-RPGs have caught up in terms of storytelling but please note the difference between quality storytelling and a quality story. Quality stories are still hit-and-miss all around, and I believe most RPGs have pretty mediocre stories.

Also in general, yes, action games gameplay have evolved past A to jump and B to shoot, but many JRPGs still feature a dropdown menu to select commands. Look, I'm all for turn-based when it's done well, but you CANNOT tell me that the game minus the graphics couldn't exist 15 years ago and be serious. The gameplay has not evolved (for the most part). Now some devs are trying some stuff so that's cool, but I do believe turn-based is a dying subgenre. I'm not even going to try to say that JRPG = turn-based, but in many cases it does, hence the stereotype.

I don't think JRPGs or turn-based games are bad in any way, I'm actually a pretty big fan, but even I will say that it's not surprising in the least that few people really enjoy turn-based. It's slower, can feel clunky and unrealistic, and once you get the hang of it, it's usually VERY easy. There is little actual skill involved, only knowledge. Turn-based isn't about execution, it's about knowing what to do at the right time. The thing is, real-time games these days are about both execution and knowing what to do at the right time. If you're playing Halo, and you think it's a good idea to run out and engage a group of 5 elites with no cover, that's a bad idea. Just like mashing the attack or auto-battle in a turn-based game (oh wait....FF13?....).

You make a strong argument.  I'm gonna disagree for the sake of argument-but I don't really have an argument.

I agree with what you're saying in your opening post. I think you hit the nail on the head and you're right on the money. I agree 150% with the things that you were saying.

The man who plays one JRPG a year has spoken!

JRPGS ARE DYING. NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.

personally I think JRPG's peaked at Chrono Trigger and have only gone downhill since.  I do however still play them, because they are fun.  However, nothing has surpassed Chrono Trigger as far as JRPG's go.  

WRPG's on the other hand are awesome!

Thank you for the link to that list.  It has instantly become the most awesome thing I have ever seen.