Ok, Bioware (Mass Effect, Dragon Age), Bethesda (TES and the new Fallouts) are kind of obvious. I liked the Neverwinter series as well.
But here’s one people probably never heard of: Darklands by Microprose. It was buggier than dog poo when it released, and they were hurt by the scope of their intent vs. the capabilities of the tech at the time; but it was an interesting concept, and played much like Baldur’s Gate would play years later.
Also…Chrono Trigger…
The Witcher series has quickly become my favorites, I bought witcher 2 to try and forget Dragon Age 2, and quickly loved it. Also Deus Ex Human revolution
I’m a big fan of most rpgs whether jrpg or western,an rpg i really enjoyed due to it’s great narrative and unique combat system was Eternal Sonata,a under rated gem of a game.
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Yup. Thats a good one.
Hard though… I’m stuck very near the beginning… maybe I’m just now doing it right.
First spot: Bethesda games (TES and Fallout series) hands down, definitely. Their take on sandboxy is amazing, I think. I just emerge from the cell or whatver and have a whole world to explore, dominate, save or whatever I feel. At worst, I’m nudged along some main story, otherwise it’s just a smörgåsbord of immersion for me. I can make whatever character I like and make up whatever story I want for her. This also means the replay value is better than any game Ive seen worth mentioning.
Second: Neverwinter Nights 1. As a single player game it kind of sucked, but it’s the most intense multiplayer pw experience I’ve ever had.
Third: Probably KOTOR 1, and I blame the story for that.
Fourth The Baldur’s Gate series. Heard Planescape is amazing but after trying it three times and never getting out of the Asylum, I gave up.
Probably forgetting something.
I did: Soul Reaver 1. Should probably come before KOTOR.
- Planescape: Torment, for story, amazing dialogues, superb quests, and the best companions in the history of gaming (especially Morte).
- Fallout series (1, 2, NV, Resurrection), for not yet better made post-apocalyptic atmosphere, dark humor and possibility to make it through the game without killing. Also RPG system of Fallout is one of my favourites.
- KOTOR. Who never wanted to be a Jedi? Also quite good strory, and HK-47. You gotta love this guy, meatbags.
- Baldur’s Gate series, for really good fights, plenty of great sidequests, interesting characters and companions and female Edwin.
- Gothic 1&2, for starting as a complete loser, who can’t even hold sword properly, system of teachers and beautiful, detailed environment, that makes sence.
- TES series, for freedom in general, some side questlines (my favoutite are Dark Brotherhood and Thieves guild lines in Oblivion) and hundreds of hours of playing.
- South Park: The Stick of Truth, for surprisingly good combat system, ton of jokes, hilarious abbilities, playable Jew class and companions well known from the TV series.
- Mass Effect series, for nothing in particular, but I enjoyed it all the time.
Chrono Trigger, one of the best RPGs ever. Story, characters, gameplay, multiple endings…
Fallout 3, the first game that made me explore every place available, large or small, each one with its own background history that you can unveil by talking to people (if any is alive yet), reading computer logs, etc.
Mass Effect series, because of the choices and the impact they have through the other games. Also, it was the game where emotional connections to the main and side character were stronger for me.
Wow, I would never have guessed I’d see anyone mention The Fall: Last Days of Gaia, ever. I wish so bad it was translated, it’s one of the few games I remember in extreme detail when I was in highschool, I just wish I spoke/could read German, more than trying to guess based on words that are similar to Norwegian… That game was so cool.
Definitely KOTOR1, then KOTOR2, Witcher 2, Fallout NV, and Mass Effect of course.
I really like the Final Fantasy series, especially Final Fantasy 6 (JP) / 3 (US/EU) and Final Fantasy 9 (which is quite underestimated just because the graphics look childish). I’m usually not that much into the western RPGs, since they mostly don’t include emotional heart-breaking scenes IMHO. I’ve never played through any main story of the TES-series because I’ve never felt like the story was so interesting. Also Skyrim glitched very often for me, even after all those patches. Chrono Trigger (as mentioned by @israel ) is pretty good, too. The story, music and general atmosphere has rocked my childhood when I played SNES emulator (because Chrono Trigger was never released in Europe/Germany back then).
Septerra Core is the best JRPG for PC I can think of. But I can’t quite remember if I finished that game. It certainly had nice visuals and a cool cyberpunk-fantasy setting. 
Here are my top 10, ranked from favorite to least favorite:
1.Dragon Age: Origins
2. The Witcher and Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
3. Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas
4. Risen: Dark Waters and Risen 2
5. Elder Scrolls series
6. Mass Effect series
7. Alpha Protocol
8. Game of Thrones: RPG
9. South Park: the Stick of Truth
10. Two Worlds 2
As for the why, I’ll mention the main unique thing that makes each game so special in my opinion.
Dragon Age: Origins is special for its for the very detailed fictional world, the interesting characters, the deep RPG elements, the great story-telling (story is generic, yes, but it was told in an epic way).
The Witcher series for the mature themes, the politics, the fascinating world and characters. I also like it because it makes no attempt to be politically correct or to please everyone or to appeal to the least common denominator, which is an issue with some Bioware games.
I like Fallout for the cool skill trees and open worlds.
I like Risen for the lack of level scaling.
I like Elder Scrolls for the beautiful open worlds.
I like Mass Effect for the dialogue trees and decision-making
I like Alpha Protocol for the same reason as Mass Effect, but also for how much your decisions affect the outcome.
Game of Thrones: Great story, well told.
South Park: the humour and fun basic combat.
Two Worlds 2: also no level scaling.
I’d also like to state my most hated RPG of all time: Dungeon Siege III.
Now I’m not a fan of dungeon crawlers, but that one was just a total ridiculous mess.
As far as I’m concerned, Two Worlds 2 was a brilliant parody with a lot of nice ideas thrown into it. What I really loved about the dialogues was that… Well, the original Two Worlds was liked, amongst other things, for ‘too bad it’s funny’ dialogue, so for the second game, scriptwriters basically went ‘screw it’ and started subtly making fun of every RPG cliché in history.
Another great thing about it was how incredibly different the three acts were - savannah, medieval china-ish and a horror movie (yes, I’m not kidding.)
While it’s difficult to recommend Two Worlds two for all the things it does badly, it’s very easy to just say that it is most definitely worth a try.
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Chrono Trigger - simply the greatest game ever yet made, a masterpiece in all of its parts. It exists on a plane of finesse that is shared with no other game.
Gothic 2, and 1 - These are the greatest Western RPGs yet made. Gothic 2’s Night of the Raven expansion is particularly super-awesome, but the entire game is, as well. So many ways to complete quests, the most realistic-living world yet put into a game, and more world-depth than anything else.
Bloodmoon - specifically the Bloodmoon expansion from Morrowind, as it is the peak of quality from the Morrowind collection.
The one thing that always comes up when I think of the Elder Scrolls…is how I wish I could play multiple characters in the same world map… kind of like Animal Crossing for the Gamecube. Different Profiles but all in the same world. That way…one of them could be the Dragonborn and then others could play out their own adventures in the world without having to do all the same events and starter quests.
Shroud of the Avatar (SotA) by Richard Garriot (Lord British), the creator or Ultima series.
The game is the successor of Ultima Online and was also crowdsourced with Kickstarter where it gathered over $2M in pledges. I’m one of the high-tier backers and I hope It will be the best “classic” online RPG ever 
Official website is https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/
Till April 7 there are a promotional campaign where old backers can gift new ones a “founder” status that gives unique rewards and discounts.
KOTOR 2: The sith Lords. I love the grey areas in it and the story is just amazing. If you are playing it with the restoring mod, it is one of the best games. Ever! I love it.
fallout just love that series 3 and newvegas was great. cant wait for 4 in a year or 2. One of the best - great setting, fun characters and the sandbox of doing what you want to do and options.
I really loved the first bioshock but hated the other 2. (although a shooter)
I really enjoyed the fallen utopia under the ocean and decay - just fantastic for me.
great story with creepiness.
guess i am one of the few whom didnt like skyrim.
I… I have tried to play it about 3 times. I’m sorry for being blunt given the cult status of the title, but I found it being absolutely rubbish - and I have only ever played with the restored content mod. Story was just about the only redeeming quality, but even in the story, there has been a massive conflict of gameplay which was strictly built around the idea of Good vs. Evil and storytelling which moved between the shades of grey, resolving into situations where it felt like the game rewards you good and evil points completely arbitrarily.
Other issues KOTOR 2 has, and those are the ones which prevented me from playing it, are difficulty spikes. I don’t want to get intor spoiler territory here, but I really got burned on a certain bar fight which I could only get trough using a bug exploit. And that’s not all - difficulty is just all over the place, and often enough you don’t even have the option to retreat and return later. I’m not a fan of massive level scaling, but feel free to put it into KOTOR 2, at the very least it would be playable.
Needless to say, in spite of the fact that I disliked strict Good and Evil morality in the original game, I have enjoyed it way more than the second.