I grew up with Phantasy Star IV, Final Fantasy VII as my favorite RPGs and didn't see how it could get any better than that. Then I finally got a hold of Baldur's Gate II and never looked back. The amount of fascinating characters, plot, side quests, choices in dialogue, strategy in the battles, just blew away everything I accepted as status quo for an RPG.

I've loved both sides of the pond but as I got older I've begun to feel that WRPG is the right way to do an RPG, mostly since they actually get close to letting you play a role.