The JRPG Formula

So, I played Xeno Gears a couple days ago and couldn't help but think, that the JRPG games I play nowadays aren't as effective in immersing me into the story. The first time I played a JRPG game, I was 15 and the game was Tales of Symphonia (the first one). I had never experienced a game with such a deep story line (Actually, Paper Mario was the first JRPG that I have ever played but the storyline is much more unique than the generic JRPG games).

*It's probably worth noting that I'm not trying to give all the credit to ToS for the usual JRPG story line.

When I played Xeno Gears, it felt as if I was playing some game I had previously beaten (After all, many of the elements of JRPGs are the same and after playing a couple of them, you already know what to expect from future JRPGs you might play.) Maybe ToS set the bar really high for other JRPGs.

As of today, I'm 19 years old (today is my Birthday). I think the age of the gamer plays a huge role in the level of immersion one experiences. The JRPG formula just doesn't seem to work anymore.

Do you feel that the games you've been playing recently, aren't as "good" as the first games (of the same genre) you've played?

My personal top 5 games of all time(that I've played of course):

5. Advance Wars 2 (played a looooooong time ago)

4. TES IV: Oblivion (played when I got my PS3, in 9th grade)

3. Star Ocean 3: 'til The End of Time (played a couple months after ToS)

2. Tales of Symphonia (Played in 8th grade)

1. Paper Mario(a loooooooong time ago)

Regards,
Red Fuel Tank

(sorry if there are any grammatical mistakes or if you couldn't understand what I was trying to say)