Final Fantasy V allows it. I like its class system.

That was an interesting take on it, especially the third part which explained why western RPGs seem to be in the forefront nowadays. I didn't even know they are, I just always felt JRPGs were mostly console games and most successful in Japan, hence mostly invisible to me.

They said though that WRPGs and JRPGs evolved separately based on paper&pen RPGs, but weren't the early JRPGs highly influenced by early WRPGs, like the Ultima and Wizardry games? I recall reading that about e.g. Final Fantasy. Also as I recall, the first few Final Fantasy games weren't _that_ heavy on story-telling anyway. It seemed to be mainly in the SNES era (and beyond) when at least Final Fantasy series really expanded on story-telling, wasn't it?

OP definitely didn't play many JRPGs :)
You also definitely didn't play many JRPGs :)

Damn, those were the two I was going to suggest XD

It's not unheard of in JRPGs (FF V has one of the best job / class systems I've ever come across) but it's less common than in western RPGs because of the different style of game and story telling. Most western rpgs give you a generic player made main character and let you shape what that character is and is like through classes and dialogue options but JRPGs tend to have a fixed story centered around a specific set of characters so customization isn't as easy to implement.

One the topic, but off topic as well. How different are the genres RPG, JRPG, CRPG? I see these titles, yet I fail to enlighten myself as to how different they are.

Because jRPGs have no class. >rimshot<

Here is how I see it:

RPG: The overall genre. It is hard to define (and there is a lot of controversy over it), but one definition I happen to like (at least for cRPGs) is that it's a game where the success or failure of actions is determined by the character's skills and random chance rather than the player's. (For example, to determine if a character dodges an attack, the game uses a random number to determine whether an attack hits, as opposed to an action game where the player dodges an attack by avoiding collision.)

JPRG: A specific style of RPG that originated in Japan. These games tend to focus their gameplay mechanics on combat, without much in the way of non-combat mechanics. Also, this style of RPG has tended to evolve into a format where many games focus on story, in a manner that often has lots of cutscenes and is (usually) linear without player choice. Note that the name stands for "Role-Playing Game", but the term has evolved to mean something a bit different when it comes to computer games.

WRPG: A different style of RPG that has less focus on story and has more non-combat mechanics. (The W here stands for "Western".) Often, RPGs of this sort try to simulate a world, and it is more common for these games to be non-linear and give you choices. Also, WRPGs let you do things like attacking arbitrary NPCs (non-player characters), pick up items you've dropped (in JRPGs, they usually disappear immediately), picked locked doors (if you are skilled as a thief, of course), and talk an NPC into being your friend.

CRPG: An RPG that is played using a computer or other computing device. I typically use this term when table top RPGs (like Dungeons and Dragons) are part of the topic being discussed: for example, to distinguish between D&D and the CRPGs that are based on D&D. (Yes, sometimes there are differences that aren't the result of technical limitations.)

Does this help?

Probably. At some point both influenced elements of each other for sure. But, at least for my part, its mostly guessing. I'm not really that into j-rpgs.

Check the youtube links from Anothername's message, they give one view on differences between JRPGs and western RPGs. Of course to understand the differences, you should also have played both yourself, but to me those videos gave a pretty good example what their purpose seem to be.

Later the distinction might have become a bit blurred, e.g. western RPGs sometimes having more narrative etc. Are e.g. The Witcher games JRPG-likes? After all, they don't let you choose your own character, and it tells a story, right? So you are more like a puppet-master, just like those videos mentioned?

Many of those terms are used quite freely. E.g. "CRPG" just stresses that it is an electronic, "computer RPG", so that no one starts talking about pen&paper RPGs that they used to play with other people. I presume CRPG includes also "Japanese RPGs" on consoles, but some might understand it to mean mainly western RPGs on home computers. Dunno.

I could not care any less for jRPGs, but I still found this video rather interesting. Explains well the early history of cRPGs, both western and japanese, and how one influenced the other.

Choice is not the Japanese way. They want you railroaded like the Bullet Train system. :V

Yeah, and a lot of modern JRPGs have elements of western style RPGs. Currently playing Xenoblade Chronicles X which has a customisable main character who kind of floats through the plot (as opposed to being a main part of it as in many JRPGs), dialogue choices (though as far as I can tell these are mostly for show and don't seem to have an effect on the story or outcome of events) and the combat and skills are kind of reminiscent of an MMORPG (which I would associate more with western style RPGs)

Thank you, that broadens my view on game genres quite a lot. I guess in time I will learn to separate them even better.
Good advice, I'll be sure to check them out!

1. There's a really annoying fetch quest in Lin's first affinity mission that you can skip by saying "let's just go home", so there certainly is an impact from choices from time to time.

2. Entirely disagree that the player character being a hanger-on following the real hero isn't a JRPG trope. In White Knight Chronicles you created your character and followed the titular Knight and hero around. Haven't finished X yet, but so far based on the story missions I'd say Elma is the real protagonist. Then there are the games where you don't create your character, but you still play second fiddle to the hero, like Final Fantasy X with Tidus and Yuna, and XII with Vaan and Ashe/Balthier.

In WRPGs, created character or not, you are always the protagonist and the center of the story. In JRPGs you might very well not be.

Because in most jRPG's the main character is supposed to be some type of destined heroic figure or filling a specific role within the story that requires the character to play a certain way. The best example of this would be Cecil from FF4. You start off as a Dark Knight who through the story is "reborn" as a Paladin to right the wrongs you've helped create.

A jRPG is usually more like an interactive story where you follow the story elements towards the end of the narrative rather then having control the decide the narrative yourself.