Arcanum.

This.

I love this game. The dialogues and customization are great. The smallest thing you say/choose/do can have a major or minor effect on some quests or the main story. Playing the game as an Half-Ogre with 1 in intelligence is an amazing experience.

Chocobo Racing (PSX) ; it was a racing game, not RPG--though did have a RPG-esque story, still-- damn worth mentioning. It has the worst graphics you could possibly ask for--- but it's THE most addictive game I've ever played (and still do on occassion)

As a notorious dumb fanboy, I feel inclined to fully agree.

I don't think Star Ocean 2 really counts as it's well known for its bad voice acting and its generally hodgepodge nature, but if I mention it to gamers in person they go all slack-jawed. Frankly I think it's an awesome game beyond the wooden dialogue (yeah, written word can sound wooden if you try hard enough) and dated-even-for-their-time graphics.

Holy shit. Somebody mentioned Silver. Silver is, like, my favorite PC game of all time. Why didn't I take the time to mention it..?

Anachronox is great. And while people are talking about PC RPGS both Septerra Core: Legacy Of The Creator and Silver should be mentioned.

Septerra Core: Legacy Of The Creator

Silver

awesome games, both of them. especially septerra core.

Hm. Though I DO think that screen of Silver is impossible. You get Vivienne after Sekune, so there should be three characters, right?

Nevermind, I'm talking too much again.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Probably one of my favorite RPGs ever, and, considering it was the game that bankrupt Troika, I guess it didn't sell too well. At the time it was released it was buggy/laggy but the patches + fan patches seemed to have fixed that up (I played it... last summer I think... and it was basically bug/lag-free free)

Everything about the game was awesome, the weakest points of it were really the combat (they tried to do a bit too much with it) and that they couldn't use the source engine to its full effect. Along with HL2 it was the first game to use the source engine, and they didn't have the full documentation or something...

It has some pretty decent replay value too, playing as a Malkavian or a Nosferatsu changes the game up a lot. Malkavians have every dialog option changed (they are all insane) randomly hear voices (this scared the shit out of me at like 1 am) and have a bunch of other weird things happen (conversation with a stop sign awesome.) Nosferatsu can't be seen by humans so they have to move through the sewers to get places. Every class has at least one quest line to themselves if I recall correctly.

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/vampirethemasqueradebloodlines
http://www.vampirebloodlines.com

(Troika also made Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura and The Temple of Elemental Evil (both of which I think have been mentioned.))

I wholeheartedly recommend both PSX Lunar games.
They aren't for everyone, to be sure.  They're both very old-school, even back when they first came out, but the dialogue and characters are simply amazing.  Great villains and great voice-over work.

Also, don't play them if you don't like linear games.  There are VERY few sidequests, but walking around, talking to people after every big event to see what new stuff they have to say is kindo of a sidequest in and of itself.  There is soooo much dialogue (QUALITY dialogue, on top of that) in these games, it's not even funny.

I'd start with the first one.  I think the second one is probably slightly better in most aspects, but the first one has an undeniable charm, plus you need it to understand some of the later plot points in the second one.

Also, the game is actually somewhat challenging.  Definitely not to the point of the SMT series, but it'll keep you on your toes, most likely.  And, for me (who is quickly growing tired of gaming as a whole) these two games I can see myself playing twenty years down the road...They're THAT replayable.

MY UTMOST RECOMMENDATIONS.

Eternal Eyes


Just kidding. That gamed sucked.

I like the setting and everything of Shadowrun but that game was frustrating. At least give some type of hint about what you're supposed to do or where you're supposed to go.