This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
s5555: Eastern/Western RPG is not a Genre. Why would a game's nation of origin affect the kind of gameplay aspect it has? Case-in-point: Etrian Odyssey has more in common with Wizardry (and likely so) than with Dragon Quest, with no central or main protagonist. Likewise, take the Australian-developed Shadowrun for the Super Nintendo, which borrows many of the so-called "Eastern" aspects like a central figure and linear progression.
There's a lot more credibility in the classification of Computer/Console RP Gs (in which the interfaces are streamlined to suit the platform).
