Oh PS2-era Capcom, how I miss thee.
It was the peak for them (their home console output has never been more diversified since then) and many other Japanese 3rd parties.
It was also the era of countless A and B JRPGs series (FF, DQ, Shadow Hearts, Front Mission, KH, Rogue Galaxy, Suikoden, Wild Arms, Xenosaga, Dark Cloud, Dot Hack etc), 3rd person action games (DMC, Onimusha, Yakuza, Zone of the Enders), classic survival horror games (Fatal Frame, classic Silent Hill 2,3,4) and hack and slash games. Life was good in the 3rd person perspective.
Western pubs were only known for generic yearly sports franchises (FIFA, Madden etc), platformers (Insomniac) and shooters (Medal of Honor etc) back then. They were thankfully less influential back then in determining the general gaming trends.
Unfotunately, they hold all the cards in this gen leading up to the next gen (COD 4 led the charge for better or worse), and lead the homogenization of every fucking genre into the 1st person perspective or a shooter.