I think Japan is more appealing because of the crazy stuff they come with. Other than Fallout, I'm never been a fan of the writing on the Western side. Especially modern RPG's.
Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, Earthbound, and Pokemon are the ones that I put on the pedestal.
Dragon Quest for how it manages to keep things traditional. They give you new experiences without moving away from the status quo which makes things interesting.
Kingdom Hearts for how it frames things. Probably the only Disney thing out right now that captures the spirit of Disney (I've had this weird relationship with Disney where I hate everything about the company, but Kingdom Hearts is always the exception with how it brilliantly utilizes its properties). THAT SAID. Dialogue is bad and things are needlessly complicated. I am fascinated that Nomura commits.
Final Fantasy is Final Fantasy. I don't need to explain.
From what I've played from Mother 3 and Earthbound... man. Heart tuggers. Loved that the developer made the game for his daughter. He didn't want to make anymore because she got older but hot DAMN if that's the case then what a way to end Mother 3. Loved what they did to Pokey. That is the most brilliant way of reusing a side character. "Hey remember that annoying fat kid that you barely remember, Ness? Yeah, he's Hitler now...".
Pokemon is Pokemon... although I love the concept of Mega Man Battle Network more. That franchise is so cool. Straight up the creators asking themselves "What if we made Steel Ball Run Mega Man while adding elements of Tron?". I remember there was a period where my parents thought Pokemon were demons but they were fine with stuff like Battle Network because technology.