About games who's protagonists you have no dialog control over...

[Savagezion]

My question is... Does this seem kinda backwards by today's standards? Is a game full of dialog options something everyone is expecting these days? Are games that are 30 hours long, with linear conversations and cutscenes that cannot be interacted with, considered boring or even just outright lazy, out-dated design?

I realize I haven't weighed in on this question yet. Haha. JRPGs are actually being craved right now. As well, they are selling pretty well on the DS. You could probably make this game in RPG Maker VX fairly easy if you are willing to sacrifice the action adventure for turn based RPG. As well, doing this puts it into a JRPG aesthetic so you might actually have quite a few people check out your game. There is still plenty of people out there with interest in linear adventures.