Thanks everyone.
@Sheexy: I liked SoM the best out of all of them, for being as smooth as I've ever seen or enjoyed in a game, period, as well as having an awesome story to begin with and having characters I could empathize with.
Although SD3 really felt more like they were trying to make it "D&D the action rpg" (a recent replay of it reminded me just how crawly combat can feel at times), I can still count it among the games that were good. If I had to complain about anything, it'd be that I was a little disappointed that there weren't any weapons that caused status effects or debuffs like SoM had, and the STs didn't do it either (glad that LoM's do).
LoM was good for flashy weapon attacks, perplexing plot points, and going nuts over the most intricate/annoying equipment creation system I've ever seen. It seems it also had something to offer for people who wanted more than one character, but aside from a pet or golem you really don't need one. I felt a bit like the instruments system could've gone a lot farther than it did, even though from the perspective of the story, it was also sort of unnecessary. I don't really know whether to complain that they didn't do more with that, or complain that I didn't want it to begin with, as far as the instruments go. As for the characters, more than half of them annoyed me, and I feel the rest didn't get enough time on-screen. There were only two constant characters that I really liked, and they were both Jumi NPCs.
I read the overview of HoM on this site with spoilers, and from everything I've learned about it, it would have been great if it had just used an action rpg system instead of doing something weird. So, that might be the only new game I have good words for.
I'll refrain from talking about any of the other games since I don't have much to say about them at all. I didn't even finish SwoM, because I got lost after the desert, but also because I was disappointed it didn't use SoM's system right after I took it out of the package. I also never played FFA so I can't be awash with nostalgia while I play SwoM either... I kinda lost my reasons to play it after that.
What I'd like to see is a game that plays like SoM, but has classes, isn't an MMO, lets you play online, has a massively-online lobby, and is compatible across both portable and console systems as well as PCs. Sometimes I cry because I know it'll never happen.
I'd be happy if they just took baby steps.
