I’m not sure how far back your gaming experience goes, since you cite Morrowind and Fable as examples of early Western RPGs. Western RPGs have had a much larger history and influence than JRPGs. It’s easy to have missed the entire history of Western RPGs if your gaming experience has been console-centric (and vice-versa).

For me personally, the clichés are what I love about JRPGs. I see it as “The Japanese are just reusing what has worked in the past” so I guess I don’t understand how people find it frustrating. Even then, there are enough differences in JRPG plotlines that I’ve found to be able to set them apart from each other. I think many people just say “Anime-style art, fantasy setting… yep, another generic JRPG” and that’s what upsets me.

As for the “hopping on an airship sentiment,” I can’t really see how that’s contradictory to liking the structure of JRPG stories. In most JRPGs, by the time you get the airship, you’ve already explored most of the world and most of the plot is done. It doesn’t really get nonlinear at that point with the exception of a few sidequests that don’t affect the overall plot.

Also, one other thing that I hope you can clear up because I see it in a lot of the JRPG defenses: why isn’t the “I like how you can hop on an airship and explore” sentiment contradictory towards “I like the structure and how everything unfolds”?

Anyway, I think the difference between the two storytelling structures is a part of what makes some fans prefer one genre over the other. I enjoy a lot of the things you described about JRPGs, but most of the plots began to feel stale after a while. There are a handful that I loved (Xenogears/saga, Final Fantasy Tactics, some Fire Emblem games), but a lot of them feel very cookie-cutter in terms of story. Therefore, if I’m not going to play an RPG for the story, I’ll play it for the gameplay – and games like Fable and Fallout offer a more interactive, immersive experience.

Personally, I still like to dabble in both genres, but I’ve always felt that JRPGs shine when their linear structure and heavy dialogue contribute to telling a spectacular story. Since I feel like I’ve already had my fill of JRPG stories, WRPGs are more appealing to me, but that’s partially just because I’m newer to them. At the end of the day, I loved the 70 hours I spent on Fallout 3, and I know I’ll get FFXIII when it comes out here.

I believe that the difference can also be pinpointed as a cultural thing in some aspects. Just think of American culture and history for a moment. Our past is filled with explorers, frontiersmen, Manifest Destiny. Freedom, open space, and adventure are piratically hard-coded into most Americans before they enter elementary school. Wouldn’t it be natural that the majority prefer the openness of WRPGs? Those games give players wide open spaces and almost total freedom over how they play the game—the very ideals many Americans hold dear.

I think your point is great—everyone should give JRPGs a shot before completely dismissing them in favor of open WRPGs. Both have wonderful works of art under their belts, but I can totally see the reason why westerners and Americans in particular would prefer a WRPG over a linear JRPG. This isn’t to say that they shouldn’t give such games a shot (nor should they bash them), but I certainly think it’s something to consider in the “battle” of WRPGs and JRPGs.