Souls is JRPG and so is Elden Ring. Won GOTY. Turn-based does not make it a JRPG lol. The Western RPG was the first turn-based game. Wizardy inspired Japan. Every Japanese-made RPG in the early to mid-80s was action-based. Ys is a JRPG and still going as an action RPG. Is that suddenly not a JRPG? Still a lot of ARPGs made in Japan. Dragon Age Origins is turn-based as your attack is based on dice role. A combat system does not determine WRPG or JRPG.

Play thr game. Pleeeease. You'll know this is a JRPG.

Up to this point I always thought of JRPGs having connotations such as being anime-inspired or grinding lol. Persona, Final Fantasy, Xenoblade, Trails, Dragon Quest, etc. There's a way the games are presented that feels like I'm watching an anime, as well as there being a notorious grind and other additional tropes that are tied to those kinds of games. It wasn't the combat system but the structure in how the games are presented that made me think what a JRPG was. But it obviously makes sense for games from the likes of FromSoft to be considered JRPGs lol

I'm not a big CRPG player, like Divinity and Baldurs Gate and that's it, BG3 is fantastic, really fun and addictive gameplay, I might have around 500 hours on it. The battle system is very deep, and the amount of options and customization allows for many different interactions and outcomes. Plus, the characters are iconic and memorable. I think it's the best game released this generation 

I can take inspired. Like Dragon's Dogma has western influences, but it's still a JRPG and still has Japan flavor to the game. Sea of Stars may have the influence of 16-bit RPGs, but it's still Western-made and those western flavors still show. TBH, the terms WRPG and JRPG are garbage terms. They have become sullied with bad definitions. Bad assumptions. They need to be retired.

I know its not an amazing port, but Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is my favorite game so far this year.

Yes, I can see why broader audience finds BG3 so appealing - yet, not only does it fail as BG sequel (which it's really not) and D&D 5e game (making it worse than it actually is), but it's also lacking in quite a few things as standalone CRPG. Yet, media loved it, and there's a lot to like about it, and if you are unaware of things that are missing from it or that are poorly done, yes, I can see how one can find it to be superb.

And that's exactly why I said, even if end up loving Clair Obscur, I wouldn't really know if it's really that good or not objectively, since I don't play JRPGs, hence no frame of reference.

P.S. Side note, so some can draw conclusions for themselves - back in mid 90s, in board gaming hobby, there was a huge success of what was called German styled games, spearheaded by Settlers of Catan (which is, duh, German game). Then other designers from Europe started to create games based on similar principles, so they became known as Euro-games, or Euros. They are still called that, but it's been for very, very long time that they've been designed all around the world, and refer only to style of game, not their country of origin.

Split Fiction is the other frontrunner for GOTY for me so far.

Much like It Takes Two, the story/characters are kinda bad, but the brilliant and creative gameplay more than makes up for it, combining immense mechanical variety with inspired ideas and polished execution.

Added!

Yeah, I love the mechanical diversity of It Takes Two, but found the story a tad intrusive and the characters weirdly unsympathetic. That said, I'm still eager to try Split Fiction. I heard the Switch 2 port is a bit suspect; is that right?

Expedition 33 is my GOTY so far.