I don't get the jRPG character praise. Like... they're still blatant anime characters. They're still pretty banal and usually stupid. And they still use anime-talk, which no sentient being uses.
I'm not a particularly big fan of anime, but I seriously don't see the problem. "Being Anime" is not inherently bad. Sometimes they can be banal and stupid when you analyse them in comparison to real life. If you analyse western characters in video games, you will find them pretty stupid most of the time too. Neonivek has already done an excellent job on tearing some of these characters apart.
They are characters, most characters are designed to be relatable, not realistic. There is a difference.
"Anime" does not mean "Japanese". JRPG's are not inherently anime.
"Yeah! I just muredered a hundred people! Go me!... But what's really on my mind is telling Satsuke my true feelings... ... ..."
Today, some people were murdered and their families are mourning. Are you shedding a tear? No?
The reason we don't care about the hundreds of people is they are faceless and we know nothing about them, just like those very real people who died today.
But, we do know quite a lot about Satsuke (I assume you just made the character up), and as such we actually care about that character and their feelings.
This is an even more ridiculous complaint when you realise that basically all western RPG's gameplay consist largely of mass-murder (right down to working out which skill point will help you murder more effectively). They make these characters faceless by making them "bandits" or "cultists" or something like that, so you don't care about killing them. Yet, you will still go back to McQuestGiver to get your silver necklace (with +1 to dodge!) and not even think twice. You killed 30 bandits because they stole a silver necklace. Somehow I don't think your thinking "I'm such a horrible dick! Those poor children I just orphaned...".
It's even more significant in western RPG's when you remember that they focus more on actions and settings.
(I was almost tempted to respond with something like "The reason this doesn't happen in western RPG's is that the characters have virtually no feelings to tell", but I can think of at least a few counter-examples)
And like, do you really want a linear RPG just so that the developers can shove the characters they wrote in your face? There's adventure games for that, and those don't get their consistency ruined by having the characters murder people by the dozens and then act all cheerful.
What's wrong with linear things? Why is linear inherently bad? How is bad gameplay supposed to make the characters bad (since your issue was with JRPG
character praise)?
(Keep in mind that above is basically using a Generic Stawman Western RPG, there are no doubt counter examples, but it was designed to highlight overall ideas common in the genre)
Seriously, I'm starting to think there is some sort of cultural taboo against expressing strong emotions, or something. When someone has an emotional break down, they don't just mumble about how bad their day was, they
break down completely.