Saw a similar opinion in another thread, and had a brain fart, and replied as if it was a discussion in this thread. So... I'll just paste that response here..
I realize certain styles of anime aesthetic are acquired tastes, but most of them are par for the course. Is this meant to illustrate the idea that people are growing out of the whole aspect of JRPGs? This would lead one to believe if games like FFVI and Xenogears were released today, people would roll their eyes and sigh at the art direction and not give it another thought? Even the earliest Dragon Warrior games looked like anime. And damn near every JRPG after that. I don't see how that alone is a deciding factor. At least it's not super-deformed (chibi) anime style anymore like it was in those days