I'm assuming you're referring to JRPGs since those seem to consistently fetch the most money and seem to be the most coveted genre. I think most of it is how much of a novelty JRPGs were in the west up until well Gen 7 pretty much. There was so much we didn't get for such a long time, that when we did start getting it everyone wanted them despite low production numbers. On top of that there's always been this mystique about a lot of JRPGs that people thinks hides some incredible gaming experience. I also think the genre was greatly aided by the popularity of the FF series during the 16 and 32-bit eras.
Personally, most of these sought after JRPGs I've played have come across as pretty overrated in the end. Most have some very generic story about this kingdom feuding with that kingdom, and all the characters seem to be cliche, anime tropes of some kind. I will fully admit that I'm not as big of a JRPG guy as I was 20-years ago, but I can't help but think the genre is now bolstered by nostalgia, collectorism, or fanboyism, at least when it comes to retro JRPGs.
aren't especially older survival horror games cliche as fuck?
same goes for a ton of action games heck even creative ones as far as old stuff goes. even new games that are released today are based of said old games including cheesy stuff.
this includes excellent titles pretty much all of them as far as old stuff goes. but a ton of people like it.
also as far as fanboism goes I'm pretty sure rpg's such as suikoden panzer dragoon saga are kinda small fry stuff compared to say zelda pokemon final fantasy kingdom hearts the real popular series call of dury etc this isnt rpg's only.
No one is going to reinvent the wheel at this point. I will also reiterate, I'm not the biggest fan of JRPGs anymore. All those JRPG tropes are part of the reason I just can't get into the genre anymore; they were once new to me, but after playing so many JRPGs and watching enough anime it all becomes a bit old, at least for me it did. With that said, there is still a JRPG or two I play every few years that I get into, and I've never bothered to break down why I like those and dislike 90% of the other ones I play.
There's a way higher portion of action, adventure, SHMUPs, and racing games, to name a few, that I end up liking, and your point is well taken. I guess with certain genres there's more wiggle room to make it stand out, or at least whatever room there is is used in a more creative way. And sure, there are games like COD, Pokemon, or Madden that are minimally different between entries, but that formula just works for some people. Same goes for your standard, generic JRPG.
Regarding fanboyism, yes, of course every genre and probably every franchise has them, but through luck or maybe because there are way more of them, I seem to encounter many JRPG fans. I'm guessing a lot of it has to do with being close to game collecting, but I've met so many people that bloviate about various JRPGs, or the genre as a whole way more than I encounter FPS or Pokemon fanboys. Some are tolerable, others exhibit an overt snobbishness about JRPGs like it's some sort of right of passage to being hardcore. Regardless, fanboys suck no matter what they're into, but I seem to run into a lot of JRPG fanboys above anything else I can think of.
