Favorite (Non Pokemon) RPG?

What's your favorite non pokemon RPG?

Mine is either Tales of Symphonia for the Gamecube (for the battle system and art style) or Final Fantasy X for the PS2 because I really liked the story.

Tales of Symphonia-- I've been playing through this game again recently... and it still holds up great.  I used to rag on the game's story because I used to nostalgically think that it was a kiddie, cookie cutter JRPG story, but every time I replay ToS, I'm reminded that's not true.  It's a fairly complex, well written story which actually flows along quite well unlike most other games in the Tales series (see Abyss, Vesperia).  The combat system is what really shines in this game though-- think smash brothers with hit points.

Honorable mention goes to the Final Fantasy Tactics games, but they're more of strategy games that traditional RPGs in my book.

Oh god, I have an entire list for this. I'll list a couple of my favorites:

• Xenosaga I - I haven't beaten this game and I got it for $5 at GameStop without its case, but I came close to beating it. The music was fantastic, the graphics were great, and the combat system was different, interesting, and difficult. The cut scenes were pretty good, but they lasted from 15-45 minutes usually, which is ridiculous. Honestly, when the first hour of the game has a save point in-between cut scenes, you know something is wrong.
  
  
• Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean - I beat this game about a week ago, and I absolutely loved it. This game felt like what a good RPG should be. I loved the combat system the most because it involves choosing the right Spirit Number on your cards to make your damage increase, and none of the battles get annoying and feel like a chore. A combo of two 3's would increase your damage by 11%, and a straight combo (1-9) would increase it by 255%. The music had a folk sense to it, but when you enter combat, it would switch to electric guitars and intense music.
  
  
• Final Fantasy VI - This was one of my first RPGs that I played when I was a kid. While I didn't really understand it all that much as a kid, it grew on me and I enjoy it a lot as an adult now. With a vast amount of characters to use and all of them with a different class, the game didn't make you feel like you had a limited number of characters to choose. The music is so great, and it brings a lot of nostalgia when I hear the first three seconds of any of the music. If you want to play a good RPG for a GBA emulator, this game is definitely worth it.
  
  
• Shin Megami Tensei: Persona I - The single most difficult game I have ever beaten. Shin Megami Tensei games are notorious for having ridiculous enemies: from normal enemies you encounter in a dungeon, to boss battles that were designed to make you cry, to even bonus bosses that can only be beaten by sheer luck, even if you use the strategy recommended (note: strategy is not plural for a reason). Persona 1 does not have a bonus boss, but that doesn't mean the enemies and bosses aren't any easier. With instant death moves, managing money, hit-and-miss weaknesses, and running through a dungeon for an hour and finally finding a savepoint, this game is difficult and fun at the same time. They somehow found the perfect formula to make your pull your hair out and run outside screaming in rage only to come back a day later with the same determination as when you played last time.
  
  
• Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken - This is the second Fire Emblem game that I played and beat. I enjoyed this game a lot and found it much better than Sacred Stones. I can play this game multiple times without feeling bored from redoing it because of Hector's Mode and Hard-Mode, leading up to 3 extra playthroughs. Music was great, animations were fun, and it was actually a pretty challenging game.
  

Anything with little story and a good battle system.

1. Inazuma Eleven - It's simple enjoyable without much crossover in game play from a sports game. The players are a bit homogenized, most have 1 special + that pretty common, only the main team have any character development. The story is basically: You love soccer, so you play soccer and somehow you end up saving it. It's missing most core elements of an RPG except with a very enjoyable battle system, and its mostly just charming. It's mostly a game I would of liked to make.

2. Etrian Odyssey - once again limited story, the world is dangerous go and do something about even if your guild sucks. Simple turn based battle system, with a very enjoyable map making system on the bottom screen. Difficultly ranges from insane to impossible throughout the entire game, once you reach the 2nd floor of the first dungeon.

3. Anything pretty much, besides Kingdom Hearts.

Thousand Year Door. I've played this more times than I can count.

It's like a ritual; every time I have something stressful like exams coming up, I start a new file.

mario rpg for the snes, though the reason for this one is a bit nostalgic. First videogame i ever played. Other than that one i'd go with final fantasy games.