Utawarerumono 2 + 3 really are
that
good and together are probably the best story I've ever seen in a game. That said while I'd agree they belong in the RPG conversation, the ratio of visual novel to gameplay is absurdly lopsided. You could go actual IRL days playing the games (2 especially) and not experience any gameplay at all. (Hilariously, my #2 story in all of gaming is 13 Sentinels, which is also like that!)
I've basically switched to using "ARPG" to describe stuff like Kingdom Hearts and Nier - it's technically not wrong to call them JRPGs and they do very broadly belong in that bucket but I think it's better to use a more accurate term that immediately gives a better idea of what kind of games they actually are. Really though we're at a point where a big enough share of Japanese-made RPGs have action gameplay that "JRPG" really just means "RPG made in Japan" which is almost completely meaningless as a descriptor so it might be better to just differentiate between "ARPG" and "turn-based RPG," though that still leaves out the seemingly increasing hybrid breed like FF7R, modern Trails and now Metaphor.
Let the voice of love take you higher,
With this gathering power, go beyond even time!