Well FF9 & FF6 had good stories IMO, but when it comes to RPGs it’s not always a good idea to focus on story.
Loved all of them. <333
I think I may be the only person who didn’t like Kotor. I really really just hated every second of that game and I have no idea why. I do however, love me some Vagrant Story. Never got a chance to play Skies, and I have no idea what Planescape is.
Something current…Star Ocean: The Last Hope is damn good. I didn’t want to play it at first, but it’s very good.
Lost Odyssey blows. Most boring game I’ve played in years, cheesy story, complete crap ending. Don’t play it.
You’re on crack. Lost Odyssey was awesome. Amazing story, simple and fun battle system. The dreams are really well detailed too.
Baldur’s gate series. PLay them. Now. Get the 4 in 1 box set. Now. Before they all disappear (it’s pretty rare to find them all together nowadays.
They are the best the west has to offer for RPGs, and come from the same maker a Mass Effect.
Also, Oblivion, very pretty game, but can be buggy as hell. Fallout 3 is also great, and no IT IS NOT OBLIVION WITH GUNS!!
Neverwinter nights and Neverwinter nights 2 (the graphics are a bit crap for NWN2 though) and make sure you get all the expansions for both of them (hordes of the underdark expansion is fantastic). Also form the makers of Mass Effect (noticing a trend here? lmao)
Hmmm what else? Fable 2 was kinda ok not bad but not exceedingly good either. Good for the weekend like the last one lol.
Dues Ex was also great, deus ex 2, a bit meh tbh.
Lost Odyssey is pretty good. I enjoyed it until I got to the point near the end where I had the option to finish it and I really cbf knocking it out. The story is pretty decent and the characters are pretty damn cool one in particular is damn funny. Main dude is an asshole kind of like Squall in FF8.
OP pick up Lost Odyssey if you want something that feels like a classic RPG.
Planescape: Torment is a very well written PC RPG. It’s got like what, 5 or less compulsory battles? You can talk your way out of everything if you have the right skills. It’s a game that focuses on its world and characters.
Get it.
I think someone also said VAmpire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, which is another story gem. However, it’s real time action.
Pokemon
The only RPGs that no one mentioned that I give a nod to are The Legend of Dragoon and Barkley: Shut Up and Jam Gaiden. I’ve said it on the boards before that Legend of Dragoon put me on RPGs and I’ve never looked back.
That was my line up as well subbing Yuna as a Dark Night so her and Paine could rape with Darkness Spam and Rikku X-Poitioning that shit down. This is also a good braindead Level Up team as well. Or you could switch Alchemist with White Mage and do Prayer Spam but either way is fine. I’ve been thinking of picking up Last Mission because I wanna collect all those summons for a NG+. And from what I’ve seen Psychic and Festival-Goer are Curleh Mustache Tier.
Rather than pine about how 16-bit era Square was great and fell from grace and that FF6 is the best game ever made like I always do, I’m going to name two more recent examples, one from each side of the ocean:
Mass Effect (360)
Persona 4 (PS2)
Both are great titles (no P4 spoilers please; I’m still working through it).
I’m going to take this opportunity to once again say that nothing beats my P4 main character’s name: Jim DeLancey. Hearing a student call me DeLancey-kun makes my day.
Dr. B plays Mass Effect and Persona 4 at the same time, which, given his reality-altering sexiness, sometimes results in Shephard helping the kids in the TV world and Jim DeLancey asking Sovereign why it’s such a bitch.
The Front Mission Series
Shin Megami Tensei series (Persona’s, Digital Devil Saga’s, Nocturne)
Tales of Symphonia
Grandia II
Diablo II is a must have even though it isn’t turn based. I’ve spent around 800 hours of my life on that game.
Mass Effect. On my second play through. I started out as a Soldier, now I’m an Adept, and it’s like a completely different game. This game really is incredible.
After this I’m probably going to try and finish Skies of Arcadia on my Wii, FFXII, and maybe blue dragon or lost odyssey. I’m currently grinding through DQIV on the DS, and I got the star ocean games on the PSP.
Man, I have too many RPGs to play this summer before school starts again. I barely have time for this shit cause of my home life and work. lol
Mass Effect like everyone says is awesome.
Lost Odyssey had a great story but the gameplay was eh. My main gripe was that they didn’t let you level grind. It’s my fucking choice, fascist designers.
.hack//G.U. series is worth playing IMO. If the gameplay of standard JRPGs doesn’t bore you then this won’t. Of course, buying the first and second games are an investment. I wasn’t disappointed.
“SAKAKI IS, SAKAKI IS!”
“Nobody looks at me… NOBODY EVER LOOKS AT ME!”
My thing with RPGs is that I HATE level grinding. To me, that’s an old school thing of the past. I don’t have a lot of time to play any more, so I want a game to give me options on how I want to play. RPGs in particular have gotten so much better about this, thank god. I don’t really miss the days of “Run around for 20 hours before you really know why you’re running around” type gameplay.
Personally, I didn’t like Blue Dragon very much. I didn’t play it to completion, though… maybe it gets better past the second half.
I feel obligated to say “Play Eternal Sonata!”, because I had a great time with the game.
I enjoyed the light/dark battle system, even though it was easily exploitable. The Chopin rendition’s were beautiful, too.
Final Fantasy VI if you haven’t played it (or FF3 on SNES).
Chrono Trigger, too.
Breath of Fire series (up to IV. Dragon Quarter’s not bad, but it’s… different).
There aren’t too many “JRPG’s” around nowadays. Lost Odyssey wasn’t the crap pile most people make it out to be, but it wasn’t that exceptional either. Music was great, though! 
It’s all about Final Fantasy X, Valkyrie Profile, Xenogears and Xenosaga III. I would say Dark Cloud 2, but I hear a lot of people didn’t like building the towns. It didn’t bother me that much because I had a strategy guide.
Xenogears if you haven’t.
Final Fantasy IV DS <-the best version, and it’s hard as fuck as well.
I think I’m the only one that hasn’t played mass effect. I really dislike these newer types of RPGs and the game never appealed to me because from what I gathered from pictures, it’s like sci-fi. I don’t really like sci-fi or alien stuff.
Dragon Quest VIII one of the best RPGs I’ve played IMO
Pretty much any Tales game
I’m fine with a game that gives you options on how you want to play. Lost Odyssey does not do that, it takes away an option. It’s so restricting. “This is the level you have to be to comfortably pass this level/boss and we won’t allow any higher”. It should be up to the player to decide. If the designer doesn’t like grinding he should make it so that you don’t have to, instead of can’t.
On a different note, I’ve been spoiled by Final Fantasy when it comes to JRPGs. Whenever I come across a JRPG without summons I feel a little cheated.
pft, he said old school, so obviously go with Persona 1 and 2