Should there be love stories in JRPGs? Do you feel it is needed for good character development? Do you feel love stories helps the overall stories in a JRPG?

If it's done carefully and appropriately, then yes.

I'm a sucker for love stories... so yes I love having them in JRPGs.

not required at all, depends on the story writer though.

Yeah, but... not when they get really cheesy... >_>

isnt there always?

No. There are many JRPGS that don't have love stories like Tales of Vesperia, Final Fantasy 12, Dark Cloud 1 and Persona 3. There are more but i can't think of any others at the moment.

I'm a sucker for love stories. So yes, totally. Go for it! GO ALL THE WAY! None of this Zero no Tsukaima where the characters go half and half and decide to stop all character development and leaves you hanging there waiting for something to happen.

So yes. Totally, romance and love stories should be a heavy part of any good JRPG. One of my favorite scenes in Tales of Phantasia is towards the end, the little romance scene between Mint and Cless.

Not required, but if it's part of the story, then yes lol

Love stories are not required, but unfortunately several JRPG developers seem unable to get sufficient story or character development out without a love story thrown in there.