I think you’re right. It can be hard to put things in a box. I think a JRPG, for example, might be best defined as more like, “You know it when you see it.” And people have different experiences with them and thus varying views on what a JRPG is/should be.
My own idea of a JRPG is “Final Fantasy VI” because that was the first one I ever played, so it set the standard for me. But it’d be very different if I had started with, say, a From Soft game I think.
That said, I’m kind of ignorant since I’ve never played a From Soft game. But it sounds like they fit close enough to JRPG criteria.
One easy example/thought I’ve had is that JRPGs do not at all need to be made in Japan. I played through Ara Fell, a modern retro-JRPG by indie devs Stegosoft based in Washington D.C., not Japan.
Your point is well taken and reminds me of the ever-difficult question of…Is Zelda An RPG (of any kind)? My opinion on this one is mostly no…and rather than caveat/explain further here, I want to say it’s not something I would want to be dogmatic about. It’d be too difficulty, anyways, to define hard lines between action, adventure, action-adventure, etc.
Some people make a point to say Super Mario Bros. is, on some level, a JRPG since it comes from Japan and has players assume the role of a plumber who progresses from small to large to fire wielding etc. and must save the world from an evil dragon. I’d argue otherwise, but it’s not a hill worth dying on.
All that said, I do also think it’s helpful at times, as fits, to place things in clear bounded areas, making distinctions, etc, because it is sometimes helpful to, as much as possible, define things in general. So game genres/categories do have some place. I think they’re a tool and a guide. So when someone says a certain game is a platformer or a FPS or a JRPG, I basically know what I’m getting into.
