Digging up an old post.
I enjoy Western and JRPG's. An RPG isn't at least to me only about battles and linear vs non-linear game-play. It's about a story. Suikoden 2(by far one of my favorites) had a great story to tell. It wasn't mind numbing battles, but an engaging tale that kept you going till the end. Rogue Galaxy for the PS2 was a very good story, and at times the dungeons felt a bit drab but in the end it was a worthy play through.
On the other side of the spectrum, you have Morrowind which is an excellent game, better than Oblivion IMO and provides YOU the option to be whatever you want. So rather than a JRPG have a hero for you, you are the hero. You choose when and what to do when you feel like doing it. The different types of RPG's suite different tastes. Some people like Fallout, I hated it(talking part 3). It was dull, very very dull, like Ben Stein.
How many of you played Lunar as kids and were enchanted by the tale of Dragonmaster Alex? JRPG's are like really good fiction books. A story that is being told as you play through it. Think of the Saxon Tales by Bernard Cornwell, or Harry Potter, Lord Of the Rings. Western RPG's are the choose your own adventure type as others have stated. You don't read the book, you are the book. A little change of pace is a good thing but one is not better than the other. Eventually playing to much of one thing is a bad idea. You will get tired of it eventually. RPGitis, its an illness that plagues many when you experience to much of a "good" thing.