But what there is of it is hand-crafted to perfection.

There are also fundamental differences in plot mechanics between Western and Eastern RPGs.

In a Japanese game the plot lines don't wait indefinitely for the player to pick them up — you get brief windows of opportunity and then they move on.

It makes things a lot more realistic because you don't have any of those silly circumstances where you've already done tremendous things in one plot line only to be treated like a newb in another.