Well, I agree that this RPG is not a JRPG. But, honestly, I don't care about that. As long as a title has a good story, excellent combat (or gameplay) mechanics and good character development I'll be more than happy. As for the term as such and its characteristics, there are a few examples. Let's start with the story (narrative) and characters. In JRPGs the story is rich and extensive (also deep) and the characters (usually) are charismatic and very memorable. As an example of memorable characters he cited the villain of FFVI, the masterful Kefka Palazzo. One of my favourite villains in the genre. For me, FFIII or FFVI marked a very important stage for me in 1994. That's why it's my favourite JRPG of all time, just like Chrono Trigger, Star Ocean and the also legendary Tales of Phantasia. Another feature (it's hackneyed mechanic) of turn-based combat (used in recent times, even in some western RPGs). Regarding the characters in JRPGs, they are generally young and some have an androgynous or enigmatic appearance. In JRPGs the progression of the characters is constant as you progress through the game (improving the skills or attributes of each character, be it warrior, blue mage, red mage, black mage, etc.). You also gain experience points which leads to leveling up. Leveling up can also be used to gain or learn new skills or when acquiring a specific item in the character's inventory (such as when acquiring the ULTIMA spell and other magics or spells in FFVI). While the story and narrative is rich in a JRPG, the structure of the game is usually linear with some plot twists (it is not usually open world, although there are exceptions to the rule). As for the graphical style and music, we are dealing with a Japanese manga style with orchestral music (very relevant, emotional and iconic). Although, Secret of Evermore doesn't quite live up to the manga aesthetics or sound as well as other games from the same company, I don't judge it as harshly as a SquareSoft game developed in the west, so I wouldn't put it outside of the genre. Another characteristic of JRPGs (at least old school JRPGs) is their length in terms of world exploration, secrets, enemies, bosses and character backstory. Nowadays, with how diluted the world of videogames is, you can't be one hundred percent a purist of the genre. Both RPGs and JRPGs have evolved and combined their characteristics in such a way that the line that separates them is becoming smaller and smaller compared to the games of the 90's, for example. A more specific example can be the random encounters within an area or within the general map (every so often) as in FFII and FFIII to the possibility of being able to see enemies to fight (even the possibility of being able to avoid them within that area or map) as in Secret of Mana. In any case, thanks to Dragon Quest we had Final Fantasy, ChronoTrigger, Tales Of Phantasia, ChronoCross, Star Ocean, Mother 2 (EarthBound) among other interesting and impressive RPG titles. A hug!