I have always liked RPGs, the problem has been commitment because those bastards do be lengthy. The tradeoff is how rewarding they often are. Ya know, assuming the battle systems and the story remain engaging. Hell, there are cases where only one of those two aspects is strong, but strong enough to carry the rest of the game. Not often, but it happens.
Super Mario RPG was probably my actual first real RPG and I think it holds up well to this day still. It was very forward-thinking in some aspects, such as keeping all earned EXP if you lose a fight (although you do still return to the last time you saved), and party members who aren't in the active party will still level up. Sure, the graphics don't hit for everyone, but I'm still charmed by them, the music is fantastic, the isometric platforming is definitely janky but still manageable... it's a great game, a terrific starting RPG, and honestly I wish we could see it with a modern coat of paint. Something akin to the plastic toy set style of the Link's Awakening remake would be super fitting.
Then of course, its successor, Paper Mario. Another fantastic game that definitely holds up a lot better, and is one of the few Nintendo 64 games in general that have aged well. I've still yet to play any other games in the series, I borrowed Thousand-Year Door from a cousin but admittedly lost interest in the first chapter. Something to remedy one day, but the original is still fantastic.
A weird little outlier is The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. A western-developed JRPG-style game set in Middle-Earth, specifically mimicking the movies' settings? Sign me the fuck up. Electronic Gaming Monthly boldly claimed it as "the most exciting RPG since Final Fantasy," a claim the box proudly sported on the front cover. I haven't played this game in ages (heh), but I remember it being decent with... a story that was frankly poor fanfic featuring original characters, but that was outweighed by the ability to explore settings from the films and that made my teenage brain explode. I'd like to try it again one day, even knowing the story is shit, just for nostalgia's sake.
I never got into Final Fantasy games until later. My first was IV, after watching a streamer friend speedrun the 3D version. I never did finish it, but I fixed that in fall 2020. After which I played VI, and then V. Those are the only ones I've beaten. I did try XII, but I lost interest after a few hours. I did start VII, but then Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity and Spider-Man: Miles Morales came out, so I had higher priorities. I'll get back to VII at some point because I'm genuinely interested, and I'm told I would enjoy IX, as it's basically "one last hurrah" for the classic style of Final Fantasy.
V is one of those games where one aspect of its design carries it despite the other being weaker. That would be its gameplay. The story in V is... lacking. It's very vanilla. But the job system is fantastic to grow and experiment with, makes playing the game worth it. VI is definitely the better game in all other aspects, to be absolutely clear, but I do prefer V's jobs to the Esper system in VI. However, I'm also fine with characters having predetermined skills, ala IV. IV is such a weird game with a nonsensical plot but I have a soft spot for it, and I'd call it my favorite despite thinking it weaker in many aspects compared to V and VI.
The big daddy is Xenoblade. Honestly it was Shulk's inclusion in Smash that got me interested, and I was not disappointed. Fantastic experience and simply my favorite JRPG. The Definitive Edition definitely updates some of the weaker aspects and is the suggested version to play, but you still can't go wrong with the original. Gorgeous, incredible soundtrack, fantastic story and characters, beautiful world design, it's one of those rare magical games that transports me away to that distant land when playing.
Then there's Xenoblade X. Its combat sucked until you get your mech, the soundtrack is weak, and the story and characters are trash. The good story is hidden away behind sidequests.
Then there's Xenoblade 2. Despite its "anime" exterior, it's more in line with the original, albeit the developer did intend for it to be more of a "shonen" style story, and it does show. Still, it's a solid story with great visuals and a combat system that is admittedly poorly explained but, once you master it, oh so satisfying. It's my favorite combat of the three games, but the original game is still the strongest overall.
There's a lot of JRPGs I'm missing out on and need to fix that. Classics like Chrono Trigger and Xenogears, Secret of Mana, other Final Fantasies... it's a lot. One day I may get to them... maybe.
But what about Western RPGs? Admittedly also not as well-versed, less so even, but I've tried a few. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the only game I've played in its series. I do like its story but honestly it's just kind of a funny game in the sense that it has so few voice actors, who are just exaggerating their lines enough to be endearing. I'd kind of like to play it again, but that would be quite the undertaking. That, and I'm thinking about how repetitive Oblivion Gates got and I'm not sure if I want to deal with that again.
Fallout? Well, I tried the originals... and I find I'm not cut out for them. I do not like the isometric point-and-click style, riddled with literal luck mechanics based on tabletop. That's why I gravitate more towards the first-person RPG version. Fallout 3! ... is one of the worst-written things I've ever played. Oh sure, the world design is good, and there's a lot of sidequests that carry the experience better. Hell, even most of the DLC chapters are solid. But the main plot? Atrocious. I've heard Fallout 4 is worse, but I wouldn't know, that game played better but it still lost my interest after a little while.
So let's sneak in between them. New Vegas? Fantastic. Incredible. One of the best games of all time. However... this is the opposite situation of Final Fantasy V, where now it's the story carrying the game. The gameplay... is serviceable, but once fighting gets added into the mix... It's the same engine as Fallout 3 so both games share this problem. It's just... not suited for gunplay. It's the Elder Scrolls engine with guns stapled onto it. After a while I finally adjusted, but it's basically why they made VATS the way they did. Fallout 4 definitely plays way better as a shooter, it just tumbles backward in every other aspect. New Vegas though? Incredible world-building and story, which you can actually influence. My favorite RPG of all time, period.
It says a lot though that it wasn't even developed by Bethesda, but Obsidian, comprised of former Fallout 1 and 2 devs. They would then go on to make The Outer Worlds, kind of like Fallout in space, with updated mechanics including gunplay that actually feels good! It carries a lot of the same charm and atmosphere as New Vegas, although admittedly isn't as strong in the exploration or story departments. It's still a very solid game, and I'd take it over Bethesda Fallout any day.
And that's my major experiences with RPGs. I'm sure something slipped but uh. I think this post is big enough already.