I've been playing a good bit of JRPGs recently (I'm actually about to start FFVII for the first time), and I started thinking, what's wrong with JRPGs today?  Why hasn't the genre managed to mature quite like other genres?  I feel like games like FFX are better than the games hitting now.

Before reading further, keep in mind that I'm talking primarily about the current-gen home consoles and PC here.  Not handhelds. 

I've been looking at most of the JRPGs recently (and soon to be) released, and it seems like most today are made by two-bit developers that screw things up, usually because they are stuck in the past when it comes to script, presentation, and gameplay (and what gamepaly changes are made are often questionable), but also because they just don't polish their products enough. Meanwhile, other genres are continually being pushed forward, with gameplay constantly being improved and refined, performance being locked down tight, and the games having a nice graphical shine to top it all off. 

First, look at shooters.  There are highly polished games taking the genre by storm left and right (and as a result, we have way to many shooters out now, imo).  You have games like Halo 3, Gears 2, Call of Duty 4, and Killzone 2 refining the genre to a T, each focusing on their own unique areas (cover system, Forge, etc.).  All of these were released in the last year and a half.  Then you have games like Super Mario Galaxy and LittleBigPlanet making platforming more fun than ever, each adding their own hook, whether it be crazy gravity puzzles, or a physics-based level editor.   You have companies like BioWare pushing the boundaries for WRPGs, making new experiences like Mass Effect, as well as reinvigorating old styles of play through games like Dragon Age: Origins.  You have Mario Kart Wii, making arcade racing more fun then ever, and Forza and GT duking it out to push racing sims as far as they can go.  You have the Zelda series and the Ico games bringing new things to action/adventure.  Hell, you have Uncharted improving a genre that most people hadn't thought much about since the ps1 days.  Then you have RTS being made bigger and better than ever, through games like Supreme Commander and Empire: Total War, as well as more console friendly, via Halo Wars. All of these games run great (with maybe the exception of Mass Effect), look great, play great, and in general, are just freakin' great.

Then you look at the JRPGs released over the past couple of years or releasing soon, and it just seems like there's something wrong.  You have games like Star Ocean and White Knight, with their doll-like character models and animations (and similarly childish voie acting for SO, which I'm sure will be present in WKC, going by Level 5's history), or the frame dips in Lost Odyssey and the Last Remnant, plus all the other glitches in the unique (and what seemed to be rather promising =/) the Last Remnant.  Don't get me started on Infinite Undiscovery.

Going back to White Knight for a bit, I love how they released the game in Japan to mediocre reviews (it currently has a 3-star average on Amazon.jp), and then decided to delay it for a year for the west just to get basic things like voice chat put in the game, things that should've been in the works from the beginning.  It took over three years to develop, so how the hell did they manage to release it in such an unfinished state?

But my point is this - most JRPGs today just aren't that great.  I feel like the only really good JRPG released in the past couple of years (excluding Persona) is Tales of Vesperia, which from the looks of it (I sadly haven't played it yet) is just another Tales game (as good as those are).

While decent strides are being made with SRPGs because of Valkyria Chronicles and Fire Emblem, and hell, even ARPGs are getting a nice push with Demon's Souls (though this has massive framerate dips and wonky physics, so it doesn't fit my definition of "highly polished"), I just feel like regular old JRPGs are behind the curve.  I feel like only Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest are making decent strides in gameplay, graphics, and general polish, but those games take 4+ years of development and insane budgets to do so.  And while the demo of FFXIII may look and play great (the battle system is somewhat like that in White Knight Chronicles, but from the looks of it, far better than the one in White Knight Chronicles, and I love it), for all we know the story could end up being totally retarded (sorry, but I felt burned near the end of FFX).

I just feel like there haven't been any JRPGs to make us say "wow" in quite some time.  None that have really moved the genre forward, and It seems like the two FFXIIIs are the only ones with the potential to do that in the near future.  Level 5, Tri-Ace, etc. just aren't stepping up to the plate, and while the FF team at SE are doing some pretty exciting things, it took them a hell of a long time to get where they're at with FFXIII.

What I think needs to happen is the Big Three should start building their own internal JRPG teams, to focus on pumping out FF-caliber titles.  Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft generally lead the pack with any genres they attempt to tackle (Super Mario, Gran Turismo, Halo, etc.), or at least put up a damn good fight (Forza, Killzone), and I think they would be best fit to improve upon a seemingly stale genre.  Nintendo seems to be making the first steps to do so, through their acquisition of Monolith Soft.  Let's see how that works out for them.

Because the genre is becoming a cinematic experience it is only natural the gameplay suffers. People want to see the rocks in the ground so the budget gets put there rather than attempting to find a new viable control scheme, and a new story line that doesn't suck. The rise of cut scenes as a method to tell the story has led to the decline in using gameplay to convey it.

I think your problem is that you excluded Persona. Not every JRPG back then was great, only a few were. There was always crap. If FF7 shined back in 1997, Persona 4 shined in 2008. One only needs to look at that game to see how the genre is constantly evolving. Yeah, maybe some devs are lazy, maybe they got a bit behind, maybe the next gen surprised them. But, as long as there are companies like Atlus, JRPGs will be fine

hear hear.

Persona 3 and 4 are both wonderful, and they're both the Turn-Based JRPG you are looking for.  No there hasn't been an amazing Turn Based JRPG yet, but then again most JRPG's were always average, that's why it's called average. 

persona 3 and 4 were amazing even though they dont offer anything new to the turn based scheme. The last turned base game that really addicted me was FFX. and about them moving forward, i believe that they are just not as quickly as other genres. weve seen some great innovations like in Valkyria Chronicles and in Demon Souls. Eternal Sonata also shows a bit of innovations too combining both ARPG elements and turn based together for a pleasent, fun experience. I think they have the potential to move forward, and from what companies like Atlus is dishing out, i think they can do that

I excluded the Persona titles because I'm looking at the current gen.

If Persona 5 is announced, then we'll talk lol.

I would agree if any of the JRPGs released today looked all that great.  The only ones that really look good are Tales and Eternal Sonata, and that's because of artstyle.  They aren't technically impressive by any means.

I toootally agree with you. The lack of JRPG's on next gen consoles is annoying.

Well ok, how bout this then, what were the amazing and technically impressive JRPG's of the last gen?

Persona 4, Persona 3, Kingdom hearts II,  Final fantasy X, very good JRPG's!