I've flipped back and forth over the years as my preferences changed. I loved the old stuff on consoles and table top games. Then, pc's started to peak with some really cool takes. Then I was getting stuck in console games again with the 16bit era and again, through the late 80's and 90's it went back to pc gaming. But then console games took off for me. You name it I've most likely played it, but during the PS2/Xbox era my tastes really swapped over to western aesthetics. Partially due to other media such as The Lord of the Rings etc. Also trying Morrowind, Kotor and Jade Empire. I thought I hated that uber Moe style of anime compared to the stellar styles of the 80's and 90's. I wanted gritty stuff to match my friends table top stuff too.
But I guess my tastes have come full circle, as I've been on a total Eastern kick lately for a few years now, especially after the gamergate shit, and censoring happening. Its not just me playing these games now though, I'd fallen off of the anime and Jrpg wagon over a decade ago, though still bought titles to support the devs and publishers I like. But my girl is really into lighter themes and art and I feel the same way. However unlike the past 30+ years gaming my tastes haven't swung back to western. Sure I play a few western games every now and then, but I'm so sick of the bland art styles and Tolkien knockoffs. I long for the days of bright colors and fantasy worlds that aren't total shitholes that I would actually want to live in.
But one thing I've noticed about people. And its kind of a shame. So many even here in our nerdome are quite close-minded. It shouldn't be so hard to see that countless developers regardless of country of origin have been pushing the boundries of gaming and roleplaying since the inception of videogames. Its amazing how far we've come. Plus it just shows a great deal of ignorance claiming that Jrpg's are only spiky hair and teen angst. Or that western games are the only true roleplaying games etc. People love to split hairs for something whenever it confirms their biases. There are some great games regardless of the tag, rpg's are great and thankfully here to stay. While I look forward to both western and eastern rpgs, its the asian stuff that catches my love and I's attention, in part due to the art and style( bright worlds, colors, and attractive characters). For us western media has been on a colossal decline in originality and storytelling, hell the only western stuff we consume would be the underground metal scene. Film and shows are all oldschool. I swear people would do themselves a favor to research some classic console rpgs man, some of them are absolutely stellar and far far ahead of their time in regards to story, storytelling, mechanics, characters etc. Plus the music holy shit. Jrpgs win for me hands down for OST's I still jam on the daily. And that's not even mentioning other genres, damn man Strategy rpgs are muh
shit. Also, Japanese rpgs are the only ones that have gotten us to cry.
Sadly I just don't see much hope for western devs with the current culture war trends. Most western stuff is relegated to glories of the past. Same with Japanese stuff. But for us, we'll take
any older Japanese rpg over replaying some western game. Perhaps its the reliance on art over polygons but even for western stuff I'd rather stick to the pixel art games of old, but then again they just haven't aged that well. And for me the eastern stuff just tells a story better. Sorry to hate on western rpgs if they're your cup of tea. I hope they get better but damn. My backlog is exceptionally one-sided in favor of Japanese games by the thousands not counting replays. Delving into learning Japanese only opens the import door further. Hell even the pr0n games I dabble in are primarily Japanese and waaaaaaay better. Even most of the west's new fetishes originated from Japanese art circles. I'm sure people will try to shit on my tastes(and Japan for being creepy or pervy) but its both amusing and telling that people are really comparing the world to one single country, that is the extent of their influence. DAMN.
And for the record I'm not claiming that Japan wasn't inspired by the west, obviously that's far from the case. I'm just saying that the only winner is the gamer.