I’ve played over 300+ Western RPGs and over 300+ JRPGs on my youtube channel so I think I’m qualified to answer this question.
I’ll detail these differences, in general:
Western RPGs
- More individualism; you are asked to create your own character in most Western RPGs and set their stats
- A good amount of Western RPGs are derived from the grand daddy of RPGs – Dungeons & Dragons and hence you will see things like Strength, Intelligence, Constitution, Dexterity, Vitality etc these attributes appear a lot in Western RPGs because they come from D&D influence
- Western RPGs are more open world and have a focus on exploration
- Multiple dialog choices are common in Western RPGs
- Western RPGs tend to be set in a medieval fantasy setting
Typical Western RPGs: Ultima, Wizardry, Might & Magic, Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect, Fallout, Baldur’s Gate, Diablo
JRPGs
- You are given a set character and a set storyline
- You are not given many dialogue options, usually no options when it comes with NPCs
- Character development and story crafting is usually better, due to having a set character instead of a blank template and a non open ended storyline
- In the early days, almost all JRPGs (except a few like Mana or Ys series) were turn based combat with random encounters. Modern JRPGs usually remove the random encounters and have more real time characteristics
- Most JRPGs aesthetically look more like you are playing an anime with cutesy type characters (that are not so common in Western RPGs)
- JRPGs tend to be set in a different universes while some are grounded in medieval fantasy others are in more fantastical settings
Typical JRPGs: Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Mana, Tales, Trails, Ys, Xenoblade, Suikoden, Grandia