What classifies a JRPG?

I'd say Pokemon games are JRPG.

My Reasons:
- They were originally developed by a Japanese company within Japan and by Japanese developers. huh duh.

- They may have reached a worldwide audience now, however that does not change the fact that it's a Japanese company at heart with deep roots in Japan. 

- The whole concept of fighting "pocket monsters" was inspired by the Japanese hobby of bug catching. Where Japanese people would often go out and hunt for insects to fight them against other hobbyist's bugs.

-  The first Pokemon games red, green and blue were originally released in Japan in 1996. It wasn't until 1998 when those same games were sold to the Western world in English. If the pokemon games are not Japanese why didn't they release the games worldwide at the same time from the very beginning instead of releasing their games firstly in Japan and then worldwide a significant time later? The company seems to blatantly prioritize their Japanese audience by releasing their games in Japan first a majority of the time. There hasn't been a single Mystery Dungeon game that wasn't released in Japan first before the rest of the world.

- All of the pokemon episodes and series which are inspired from the games are Anime. They host a Japanese art style and are released primarily in Japanese first before dubbed is released for other countries. Yes Anime doesn't signify what is "Japanese", but a majority of other "Animes" are mimicking Japanese art styles to some degree. Lines are blurred in that regard, but the art style of anime is very much to do with Japanese culture. The reason the characters in the pokemon anime have such large eyes is to do with the fact that the typical Japanese person finds it easier to read and express their emotions from their eyes, whilst people in the western world find it easier to express and read emotions through smiles etc. This is actually why anime has so many large eyed characters with detailed and expressive eyes in comparison to the cartoons of the western world that used to have a lot larger mouths and smaller eyes. There is always exceptions to this, however a majority of early western cartoons had characters with large mouths and small eyes, just the same as Japanese anime had larger eyes and smaller mouths.

I've listed all the reasons why I think Pokemon is Japanese. Now let me tell you why I think it's a role playing game. In my eyes a role playing game is a game where you are able to take control of a fictional character and do quests in an imaginary world. In the pokemon games your goal is to finish the pokedex for a professor, explore the world, become the very best, "catch them all" etc. Also there is an enemy you have to defeat in every game. The quest like goals given to your character in the games is what makes it a JRPG in my eyes, however I'm sure you'll disagree. Just my thoughts though!

It's a series of role playing games created in Japan. Not sure what makes it any different from any other role playing game in Japan. Ima just make one comparison. Look at Pokemon and Dragon Quest. Both contain a story with a goal, a character you control and walk around with, and a separate battle screen to fight your opponents in. Gameplay on a base in terms of leveling and turn based and such gives it the same elements. What makes a JRPG a JRPG is the Japanese role play formula they utilize and pokemon shares it with every other japanese role play game.

vidio james