let's be honest here western games never had better gameplay than jp games at any era of gaming
Depends on what you consider "gameplay". I consider most of the western isometric RPG classics from the late 90s and early 2000s to be fantastic games from almost any point of view. I just recently (2014) finished Icewind Dale (remastered) on Steam and it was excellent. WRPGs have deteriorated once they started catering towards bigger audiences and particularly to the console audience. I've got to be that blunt.
Also, I recall mentioning it in another thread but Morrowind's, Witcher's or Baldur's Gate 2's combat did not bother me overly much actually. Morrowind is oftentimes considered one of the worst offenders with respect to combat but I remember being perfectly content with the fact that my longsword skill was low, hence my misschance high. I could do something about it and leveling up felt impactful. All these games featured very classic, RPG-ey approaches to combat which I was fine with. I did and do not consider it bad gameplay or broken mechanics. In fact, I reinstalled Morrowind + some crazy enhancement mods in 2014 and had a blast for 2-3h again.
However, once you develop an action combat for your RPG, my expectations will obviously shift and will clearly be shaped by what I know in the action RPG genre. I can't help but compare Witcher 3's combat to Dragon's Dogma or Soulsborne. Why wouldn't I?
Incidentally, JRPGs had their golden age during the exact same time period (possibly 1-2 years earlier). I have my fondest gaming memories of the late 90s.
