I don't know if I like Japanese games anymore... For some reason the graphics, playstyle and storylines just don't do it for me anymore.
You know, I've felt similarly myself. I really liked Final Fantasy VII, and it was one of the first console RPG's that I found I enjoyed.
Since then, however, it seems that Japanese console RPG's have become far more about the cutscenes than about the gameplay. I recently played a console game called "Star Ocean" which was recommended to me, and I was amazed to discover that the entire game was essentially a string of long cutscenes broken up by fights. I wasn't even given any choices... the character I was supposedly playing would make major story decisions on his own and otherwise progress through this plot, and the only time I took control was to guide the party through the world, fighting monsters and trying to find the next cutscene.
I mentioned this issue to the friend who recommended the game to me, and he seemed puzzled by my response. The story was excellent, he said, didn't I appreciate it? As far as he was concerned, Japanese RPG's had stories that were way beyond anything western-style RPG's came up with. I said sure, maybe (if one likes the sort of angsty teen drama that is prevalent in Japanese RPG's, I guess, but that's just taste) but that's what you get when you have a completely predefined protaganist. And it didn't even seem to be much of a game to me... I was reading a book, more or less, and my lack of involvement with the decisions made me entirely disinterested.
It was an adventure game with stats and levels, and I wanted an RPG. One that had decisions.
He doesn't need that. He just wants a good story, and if he gets to make a major decision or two it's a bonus. I, meanwhile, need a game where I determine my own fate. I know I'm not playing ME, and in a computer game freedom is a bit of an illusion anyhow, but I want that illusion. When it's done well, it keeps me interested because I'm the one driving the action. Add that to a mature storyline that recognizes that not everyone who plays these games is fifteen years old and still giggles at the sight of a boobie and I'm happy as a clam.