Why would we do that.

Sure, Japanese games may not have improved much if we ignore the best Japanese gaming company, which co-incidently is also the best improved this generation.

TBH, it's pretty much just Capcom and S-E that have turned to shit. The rest of Japan, led by Ninty, Sony, and in their own small way, level 5, are producing some of the best games Japan and the world have ever seen.

OT, Rol is right.

A mediocre game that almost qualifies as an RPG and had incredible brand loyalty and hype outsold a slightly above mediocre game that almost qualifies as an rpg and had a small amount of brand loyalty and hype. That is not unexpected. FFXIII was always going to sell better. The only weird thing is the metacritic scores for the two games (although that too can be anticipated by consideration of the glaring flaws of reviewers)

No.  

I once sat on a train for somewhere between 6-8 hours playing Triple Triad...before ever getting into my first fight.  I love Triple Triad so much! 

Agreed.  Triple Triad was one of my fav minigames in the FF franchise, along with Tetra Master, Blitzball, and Chocobo-breeding.

I did that because it would be harder to win my argument...Just kidding.  
It is maybe not obvious for you but if I include Nintendo then we will get another console wars, it is more obvious if I would say that Sony games didn't improve and we would end up with Sony hater/fanboys fighting it out.
Nintendo with all his franchises are harder to judge, Super Mario galaxy is easy that is an improvement, but what about Zelda aren't people still going nuts for OoT at the moment?  And what about Metroid? 
And I am also talking about consoles,anyway not only Capcom and S-E..  What about Namco?  They maybe didn't got all the hate but overall their games like Tekken/ace combat/time Crisis etc weren't bad but are hardly great games.  They have a new Tekken/Ace combat on the way let's see what that gives.
Sega?  Did Sega improve?  Tri-Ace?  Koei? 

Both games were from companies who are only shadow of their former selves. Overall I hold FFXIII in higher regard as the game had a more unique world and an excellent combat system.

Final Fantasy XIII was mediocre, but thats been my opinion on every Final Fantasy since IX (which was fantastic), Final Fantasy X is the most disappointed I've ever been in a game to date, never had I seen such regression in a series, it was a devolution from Final Fantasy IX in almost every aspect. Then Final Fantasy XII, that game just depresses me as I can't believe the Tactics team made a game I loathe despite the game having parts which were revolutionary to the JRPG genre; I suspect the problem was that after the colossal disappointment of FFX and hearing information on FFXII I had hyped myself up too much, ultimately I give them the benefit of doubt as Matusno left development mid way. Then Final Fantasy XIV, the worst of all, lets not even talk about it. But then I go into the "Will you buy FFXIII-2" thread and almost everyone says yes, even people who didn't like FFXIII and I realize that with such stupid fans that eat up anything you throw at them why aim to improve?

Next Bioware, ME2 sent alarm bells ringing in my mind and then Dragon Age 2's atrocity (and now the well documented terrible reception among fans) has confirmed my fears of where this company is going. ME2 was a hollow shell of an RPG, a terrible one, with absolutely no story, strategy, nothing. A few good characters, clunky shooting mechanics is what Bioware has come to now, but lo and behold it ends up getting a higher metacritic score than Dragon Age Origins; a game that did almost everything right.

Either way no Final Fantasy or Bioware game will ever see a day 1 purchase from me regardless of the critical acclaim their next titles get unless I play 2 games in a row from that series/developer that I love. /end rant

To answer the question in the topic, it comes down to brand name, quite honestly both games don't deserve the sales they got; in ME2's case it doesn't deserve the critical acclaim either.

If you like JRPG's, you won't shove that piece of shit in your PS3/360 after finishing it out of the need to complete them all/getting frustrated by it.

It's barely even a RPG.

No, just no.

First of all being better than the average JRPG this generation - I assume your talking consoles - is no feat with trash like White Knight Chronicles, Resonance Of Fate etc littering the place. Then Lost Odessey and Tales Of Vesperia still makes it look like average. If your talking JRPG's as a whole FFXIII is not better at all than the average JRPG this gen, the handhelds have better ones.

Next like the above poster said Final Fantasy XIII is barely an RPG, it has no elements that would make a RPG fan like it, its really an interactive movie with a battle system. If you don't like the story/characters or the battle system you will hate the game, thats why it has such divided opinions.

Final Fantasy XIII stands as the single worst game I've ever beaten, and the only reason I didn't quit after about 1/2 of the game was because I'd loved every FF before it, and I was going to continue to give it chances until I was done.  the only reason I haven't burned it is because I never, EVER get rid of games for any reason, plus I'm a collector. 

yeah, it's an RPG, but not a roleplaying game, it's a Rail Played Game.  you can't customize your character or do sidequests, you can't explore, you can't do shit.  It's not an RPG, it's just a rail-based game with a story and a turn based combat system. 

Trust me I know your pain, I felt the same after beating FFX 10 years ago when I realised I didn't like it after loving every FF till it, except for you the feeling is worse as you find XIII to be one of the worst games you played, not just a game you dislike; in the end we feel nothing but rage and anger for such games. But this is why I was very disappointed in you as a gamer when you said you would get XIII-2 just out of old Final Fantasy love in that other thread, at least wait to read some reviews to see if its making the changes you think would make it a good game. Even though I was hyped a lot for FFXII (love the tactics team), due to being disappointed by X on principle I didn't buy FFXII on day 1, to punish the developers, after Mass Effect 2 I did not get Dragon Age 2 at launch on principle (and after playing Dragon Age 2 I daren't speak of my end opinion of that title).