Not sure how hot this take is, but ever since FFX I have found the FF series leaning heavily into the J part of JRPG
So we get epic characters with world ending powers doing trope-y anime poses and gestures, or get childish priorities and I find it negatively affecting immersion (for me anyhow).
The last "new" final fantasy I've played is 13, and some of 13II (as well as rebirth, which I still loved) so I'm not exactly caught up on current FF universes either.
FF1-9 all felt more neutral in that they were people acting to save the world and helping people along the way, whereas more modern final fantasy games seem to have this sweetie goofy cotton candy innocence elements that really clash with underlying story/universe. Like I'm watching elementary school Anime mashed into an adult FF universe.
I'd love for the FF7 remake series to shift to a much darker, gritty, adult tone (chocobos can still be happy tho, love those guys)
While I don't think you're wrong, necessarily, but my first thought was that you may view FFX as the starting point, because that's when they finally had powerful enough hardware with the PS2 to make those things actually workable and believable. Full voice acting also played a big role.
The tropes were always there (well I can't say "always", I haven't played all of the old ones), they were just very limited in what options they had to work with that convey those motions
Go play FFXI again, it's filled to the brim with goofy tropes. You just can't see their exact facial expression using such small (albeit detailed) sprites.
Edit: I actually meant to say "go play FFVI again," but either works. I do think VI is a better representation of a dev team basically pushing how far you can get a person to relate to and emphasize with a little guy made of sprites or a handful rudimentary polygons. It was a lot harder to create engrossing narrative games when your human characters didn't always resemble what they were supposed to be. It takes you out of it a bit.
Of course people have gotten way better, and indie scene has shown that it can be done well, and people love it when it is.
I realized an error so edited my previous comment, and just ended up putting my feelings there if you want to read them.
But yeah totally, if done correctly. And we're looking backwards from 2024, it's a relatively recent phenomenon that a dev can turn a rectangle into a character you get attached to. But it was not like that before. Shit, games used to literally be entirely about high score. They might have had a silly little mascot, but it was just a vehicle to get points... Few exceptions of course, and the ones who started breaking the mold like Nintendo. But even still, I love Mario games and can't wait for Odyssey 2. But I couldn't give a single shit about the plot, and I never have in any Mario game I've ever played. Some of the best games ever.