Has the Japanese RPG lost it's edge?

The game that stole me away from Nintendo.

Growing up, the Japanese role-playing game was my bread and butter.  Sure I enjoyed the occasional action and game or platformer but it was the Final Fantasies and Dragon Warriors where I invested most of my time.  As console generations past I even made decisions on which consoles to purchase based on where Final Fantasy games would be published.  Hence my transition from Nintendo consoles to Sony's Playstation consoles but that's another article.

 The JRPG continued it's dominance up until the current console generation.  On Xbox 360, until recently, I haven't owned a single JRPG.  It's not that I haven't been playing RPG's.  Fable, Fallout, Oblivion, Mass Effect, and Dragon Age have kept me plenty busy over the years.  Finally, a few months ago, I picked up my first JRPG for Xbox 360 — Lost Odyssey.

Lost Odyssey

Lost Odyssey is a classic JRPG from the creator of Final Fantasy, Hironobu Sakaguchi.  When you first start playing this game you will be immediately reminded of all the things you loved about the many Playstation 2 JRPGs.  Unfortunately after a few hours into the game, I remember all the things I disliked about the genre.  The random battles and the un-interactiveness of the environment really takes away the freedom I've come to expect in an RPG.  The story in these games, while always feeling epic, lacks any player choice and comes out feeling rigid compared to Mass Effect.

I will say Lost Odyssey was no where close to the level of the Final Fantasy's before it, but it was still extremely representative of the genre in general.  It's skill system was interesting at first but tedious by the end.  Like many JRPG's the spells and weapons, while looking very nice, were really boring and unimaginative.  It's story was lacking and wasn't always cohesive, unlike most Final Fantasy games.  Likewise, the voice acting and writing was sub par for the most part, an area where JRPG's usually shine if you like the melodramaticness of them.

I always looked at the JRPG as a great storytelling game.  Often times they are more linear and less interactive.  They sacrafice player choice to present a scripted story.  Bioware and Bethesda have shown us over the past several years that these practices are no longer necessary.  The universe can be flexible and still produce an epic storyline with multiple paths leading to closing points.  Gamers have a higher standard we hold our RPGs too now thanks to these companies and their innovative ideas and immersive worlds.  If the Japanese RPGs ever move away from the cut scene mentality I think part of me would miss the gorgeous visuals these always present, but if instead I get player choice and vast worlds with the freedom to explore, I'll take these over scripted content anytime.