I'd like to bring your attention to Crystal Project on Steam. It's honestly one of the best jrpg games I've played in the last 5 years. It's less story driven than the DW/DQ series, but it is platformy and very exploration based. I haven't played since the balance patches, but the game was about everything I could possibly want in an exploration jrpg. It's more Final Fantasy like, but it scratched a deep itch I didn't know I had.