[Suzerain of Sheol]

2. Wizardry 8

From what I understand, the crown jewel of the "hardcore old-school dungeon crawl" genre. And let me get it out of the way: this game is TOUGH. Hand-holding is not a thing here. But as far as D&D-influenced RPGs go, this is far and away the greatest of them for me.

First off, the party creator. Hands down the best I have even seen. You get to create six characters from a myriad of classes (Fighter, Valkyrie, Lord, Samurai, Rogue, Ninja, Monk, Ranger, Engineer, Mage, Priest, Psion, Alchemist, Bishop) crossed with an equal myriad of races (Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, Gnomes, Dragon-people, Cat-people, Wolf-people, Lizard-people, Wookies, and Fairies). There's something insane like 600 trillion different possible party combinations, and of course each character has 8 core stats and a multitude of skills and abilities to level up. The complexity and level of customization available is just wonderful (for those who like in-depth RPGs).

Now, the gameplay. It's in first-person, but the combat is turn-based. It all has a very Dungeons-and-Dragons feel to it, which is exactly what the game is going for. And oh, the battles. They are never, NEVER able to be hand-waved away. Every single fight is a struggle to the death against a vicious foe, and you are nearly always outnumbered. Your characters start off very weak, and in the beginning running away from encounters is often the best move. You need to plan, find suitable terrain, make sure all your buffs are cast on the right people, and get your party formation just right for each confrontation.

But that's the beauty of it. The game is totally non-linear. You can go wherever you want as soon as you exit the starter dungeon. You can brave the hardest areas in the game and rely on your wits and luck to see you through to powerful treasures, or you can take things slow, it's totally up to the player, and the level-scaling works to balance the difficulty just right most of the time.

The graphics are dated, but they actually hold up really well. For a 3d rpg from 2000, it's surprisingly smooth and easy on the eyes. The locations are all vividly realized and the Fantasy-meets-Space-Warfare theme makes for some really cool atmospheres.

The story is fairly basic, but also rather unique in the genre. Your a group of mercenaries whose ship crash-landed on Dominus, the planet of the Cosmic Lords, and literally everyone there is on the "Quest of Ascension" trying to become gods. And you join in, playing the various factions and races against each other all the while thwarting the designs of the Dark Savant.

The game just got re-released for cheap on both Steam and GoodOldGames, and I highly HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who's a fan of classic RPGs.

If that doesn't sway you, try this: "Half-dragon samurai with a lightsaber". This is a thing you can have in this game.

Edit: actually, I thought of an even better one. "Fairie valkyrie with a pistol that shoots lightning" :D