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You know when I think about it (and this is all conjecture on my part) I think the reason there always seems to be a feud between fans of general Nintendo games and fans of niche titles such as RPGs that aren't Pokémon and Mario RPGs is just the history of Nintendo's console biz.
The NES RPGs in the U.S. that existed weren't all that popular besides Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior/Quest. Zelda I/II if you wanna count that as well. The SNES on the other hand is another story. FFIV/VI, Chrono Trigger, Mario RPG, EarthBound, Lufia, Breath of Fire, etc.
Not everyone played these games mind you, but the SNES is a reverred console and these games get brought up frequently to this day, and that doesn't even include the Japan only SFC titles. Most of them are Square titles but that doesn't change the fact they were quality.
But as we all know, the N64 came and used cartridges which severely limited what 3rd party devs could do, and Square being the most infamous example with how unhappy they were with how Nintendo treated them at the time. Many developers jump shipped and never really looked back.
The N64 did have RPGs but it had so very few compared to the PlayStation. These lists has games that can be debated on whether they're RPGs or not but the point is it's still a pitiful list. Quest 64 is infamous for being a cash grab on an RPG starved audience on the N64.
Paper Mario was a late N64 game and is considered a classic, and Ogre Battle 64 is one of those games that fulfills a certain niche the N64 lacked. The N64 is not a bad system by any means, but it's hard to deny the use of cartridges limited Nintendo's potential.
Fast forward to the Gamecube and Wii, while there were more well-renowned RPGs on these systems, the number still paled in comparison to what the competition had. There were still highlights like TTYD and Xenoblade, along with the FE Telius duology
Now I know many people will bring up Nintendo's handhelds which were the exact opposite of their consoles when it comes to RPG output, and that's a fair point since there are so many damn good RPGs on the GB/C/A and 3/DS. Thing is though, most of those sales were due to Pokémon.
Pokémon is as much an RPG as Golden Sun and Fire Emblem were. However, due to how much the series established itself as a brand and the nostalgia it carries for many people, along with the multiplayer aspect, people bought these handhelds because how strong the brand was.
And even now with the Switch SwSh is selling a lot. Being a series both children and adults can enjoy, they just enjoy the more simple gameplay loop a lot more, and I doubt a lot of these people are looking for games to play that have even the slightest similarities to Pokémon.
Compare that brand recognition and marketing to say, Fire Emblem. Fire Emblem never got localized until 2003 with the 7th game in the series. While there was a commercial for it along with some push by Nintendo, the series only sold modestly over here.
While many might've learned of FE thanks to Melee, the Gamecube sold like trash compared to the GBA, so the potential overlap was limited to a handful of people. I know FE being an SRPG is different from being turn-based, but it's the only other big RPG IP Nintendo has atm.
As for the Mario RPGs... it's fucking Mario. I don't really know what more to say. Mario RPG and the M&L series are the closest to a more traditional format while Paper Mario (for a time) didn't have stats but badges and HP/FP gains that still made it unique in its own way.
They never sold as much as Pokémon but at the end of the day they were Mario titles everyone could enjoy. Every other franchise you would see on Nintendo platforms would pretty much be uncharted territory. Whether it's Shin Megami Tensei, Dragon Quest, Bravely Default...
These titles, while having dedicated fans in the Nintendosphere, are ultimately foreign to a lot of people either because they don't like traditional RPGs, they never heard of these IPs, or never had the patience to truly understand how games like these work.
And even when Nintendo has their own RPGs there's always a bit of hesitation just because of the genre it is and not the quality of the game itself. And you know, I've been there. I HATED RPGs for the longest time since I didn't truly "get" them at all, but I've since changed.
I do feel a lot of those opinions are reinforced by the bigger Nintendo YTers. Not all of them mind you as some love the genre, but you can generally tell the people who prefer the mainstream Nintendo games vs. everything else. I can't force people to expand their taste buds...
...but I do wish there was somebody in this sea of NintendoTubers that could convince people respectfully to give these games a proper chance. I really don't want anymore feuds between "mainstream" Nintendo vs. niche games.
The point of this thread was to highlight why RPGs and other niche genres are important for a diverse game library. I know RPGs aren't as essential as sports and FPS titles to sell units, but the whole "I buy Nintendo consoles for Nintendo games" mantra isn't going to get you...
...nor Nintendo themselves very far in terms of game content. Let everyone enjoy what they like and just be more open minded of other games.
For the record I understand this isn't exclusive to Nintendo as there are plenty of PlayStation fans who don't care about RPGs either. I'm just mostly speaking as someone who is a NIntendo fan and an RPG fan and my own observations and experiences.
