Warloch_Ahead: Can you elaborate on this? Western indie games? A lot of those were directly inspired by Japanese games, so it's not too big of a surprise that it would be recursive, a la Undertale, but it really depends on what you specifically refer to.
I know Japan got a few titles like Baldur's Gate localized, and there's at least one
Japanese YouTuber whose shtick is basically a bunch of old CRPGs that were somehow translated, but it'd be interesting to know what if any extent these titles have any headspace over there, much in the same way JRPGs gained popularity westward.
Elaborate on what? It was completely unusual to dub western games into japanese in 1994. In comparison, Baldurs Gate seem fairly new and things also changed.
You have to understand that this was the 3DO version, which still sold a lot because of Star Control 2. They dubbed it because of market research and because a lot of creative nerds love space themed games. Not only that but a lot of these folks also own the english version prior to buying the japanese one. Overall, over 100.000 copies of Star Control 2 were sold in japan (the japanese version, that is) for the 3DO.
And yes, the western indie market assimilates and improves upon old formula, that is what I mean (for instance, Stardew Valley is considered an overall improvement compared to games such as Harvest Moon).
advancedhero: There are a lot of generalizations going on in this thread, and I don't think I need to point out that the inherent question is a bit strange.
Of course, certain design choices in Japan might be influenced by the culture and the general community there; the same goes for the "WEST". Still, this is such a broad grouping, that I find it a bit hard to even say anything.
When you narrow it down to comparing how certain genres are treated in Japan/the "WEST", then comparisons are a bit more applicable, but a lot of comments here are making much more general statements than that.
That is exactly how one reads the thread. Bringing nuance into this doesn't answer the question at all (after all this thread is about Japan compared to what accounts to the entire Region 1 and 2 market, and even parts beyond).
What is very interesting is that a lot of other asian countries also like to assimilate from the western market. For instance, a lot of South Korean MMOs take from classic western MMOs and games, china loves Skyrim (everyone loves that game, also thanks for the physics implementations!) and Mount and Blade (which has a huge market there). Not only that but chinese gamers really love flavor and play basically everything we do, so anything goes. I wouldn't be suprised if at some point someone designs a very well made Mount and Blade-like game but in a chinese setting. Thailand and Vietnam love to experiment. Indonesia loves horror and gacha (though they mostly consume but they're creative with horror) and the list goes on.