Since I'm assuming you aren't looking for an MMORPG, I can only think of one PC RPG not yet listed.
It's called Freedom Force. It's a top-down Stratagy RPG, with a 60's superhero theme. The whole game plays out like a giant comic book, complete with speech ballons, visible sound effects, and well... here, let me just show you the golden-age goodness this game oozes with:
The whole thing is just one giant homage to golden-age comics. It's got a nice beefy length (no less than 20 hours, and that's if you rush and ignore side-quests), a large roster of characters to choose from (including characters like Man-Bot and El Diablo), and even a character-creator, so you can make your own heroes, and import them into the story mode (and it's really mod-friendly, letting you get nutty with the creator).
And even if you've never heard of the game, it DOES have a bit of a pedigree. It's made by Irrational Games. That's right, the same company that made Bioshock.
And the cherry on top? It's on Steam, and dirt cheap, I might add. Plus, it has a sequel (also on Steam), called Freedom Force vs The Third Reich. Yes, you send a squad of superheroes into the past to fight nazis. Can you really ask for anything more?
If you don't really care about graphics, I'd recommend looking up a game series called "Geneforge". They are turn-based RPGs that have been highly praised for their stories, unique settings, and deep gameplay-impacting moral choice systems (legitimate moral choices, not "should I be an asshole or not" choices). Given, the graphics suck (I'm talking sprite-based with no voice acting suck) but if you think you can get by that then they are really great games in basically all other regards. I'd recommend you start with Geneforge 3 if you do decide to look into them, it's the most accessible story-wise of the entire series.
Wikipedia series index: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneforge_(series)
I'd suggest the first Two Worlds, if you think a vast world and Everything The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind did right and The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion did wrong is worth the painfully/laughably bad voice acting, mediocre (But lengthy, and decently-paced) main storyline, and lack of character creation (Though character customization and development in-game is at least equal to, if not superior, to Oblivion's)
I hear the sequel's good, but haven't had a chance to play it.
Or, you could wait 4 more months to get The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Also, I strongly disagree with your assertion that Diablo and its clones aren't RPG's... if anything, they are more like RPGs than any Final Fantasy after the first, with genuine Character Developement (I'm talking skills and abilities that actually mean something, not meaningless dialogue speeche and game-assigned "personality")
They also have more emergent storylines, as there are very few cutscenes in those games to point out "This is an arbitrarily more important accomplishment than ANYTHING ELSE you've done!"
When you have to stop evil, you have to go out, kick ass and take loot, because no cutscene or scripted event is gonna come along and save your ass or defeat Evil for you, and when you do smash your face into Evil's skull for the last time, it will stay down, with no cutscene to come along and save its ass despite your ass-kicking skills.
While it's not exactly an RPG, (least a don't think it is) S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has that sort of open world feel to it, and it's crammed full of screwed up anomalies which laugh at the laws of physics, messed up mutants and other crazy survivalists just like you who won't hesitate to shoot you in the face and steal all two of your bullets and your rusty AK. It's like Australia, everythings trying to kill you.
I would describe it more but it's actually kinda hard to do so. It's totally unique.
I'd especially recommend it if you're looking for a challenge or something a bit different.
There is nothing quite like it.
Well I guess this beats the thread I was gonna make about RPG's I should try. Even more so because of the awesome rating system
OT: I would recommend Neverwinter Nights 2 and it's expansions (SoZ especially if you like making your own companions instead of using the ones given)
The Witcher 1 & 2, I find them to be pretty good games
I'm hesitant about saying The Last Remnant, since I seem to be the only one amongst my friends that likes it at all
Fallout 1 & 2 are fantastic games (hell I don't even mind tactics: brotherhood of steel)
Also I have heard good things about the Gothic series, as well as Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines
And on another note a lot of these games can be enhanced due to the copious amount of mods/player generated content available.
I've been kinda on the fence about NWN 2. So far, nothings really sold me about it.
If you look, I actually listed The Last Remnant under a :\ . Uninspired story, kinda interesting but at times frustrating battle system and horrid voice acting imo.
Scow2 said:
I'd suggest the first Two Worlds, if you think a vast world and Everything The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind did right and The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion did wrong is worth the painfully/laughably bad voice acting, mediocre (But lengthy, and decently-paced) main storyline, and lack of character creation (Though character customization and development in-game is at least equal to, if not superior, to Oblivion's)
I hear the sequel's good, but haven't had a chance to play it.
Or, you could wait 4 more months to get The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Also, I strongly disagree with your assertion that Diablo and its clones aren't RPG's... if anything, they are more like RPGs than any Final Fantasy after the first, with genuine Character Developement (I'm talking skills and abilities that actually mean something, not meaningless dialogue speeche and game-assigned "personality")
They also have more emergent storylines, as there are very few cutscenes in those games to point out "This is an arbitrarily more important accomplishment than ANYTHING ELSE you've done!"
When you have to stop evil, you have to go out, kick ass and take loot, because no cutscene or scripted event is gonna come along and save your ass or defeat Evil for you, and when you do smash your face into Evil's skull for the last time, it will stay down, with no cutscene to come along and save its ass despite your ass-kicking skills.
I actually didn't enjoy the worlds of either Elder Scrolls and probably won't be picking up Skyrim. It just doesn't look like my thing.
Only character development from my several playthroughs of D2 is "I can smash stuff." Level up! "I can smash things better now!" And the plot is very thin, half the time it felt like an excuse to go to new places and destroy things there.
Stop mentioning the Witcher people, please. I've tried it, but won't ever finish it because I hate listening to my own character so much
Right now, I am enjoying the games by Spiderweb software very much.
I know Geneforge is popular, but I recommend you start with Avadon: The Black Fortress. It's the newest and easiest to "jump into" - it's an old school turn-based RPG style game but written very well and fun as Hell to play.
Since you seem to be okay with console ports, you are doing yourself a disservice if you haven't looked into Divinity 2: Dragon Knight Saga (make sure to get this version, and NOT NOT NOT Ego Draconis). It's a wonderful RPG. The plot and world are a little token, but it overcomes with a ton of wonderful wit and humor, and a world that just makes tender, sweet, passionate love to your eyeballs if you can play it on maximum. It's the right type of wit and humor. Some of the smarmy/sarcastic responses are really hilarious, and the responses you get sometimes are equally so. There are a bunch of subtle references to Western literature too, so if you are a book worm, you'll really like spotting all the little shout outs to everyone from Shakespeare to Goethe. The biggest fault is that it is a little low on replay value, and the difficulty curve can be really funny at times as well, but it's a very memorable experience.
It's a criminally underrated RPG.
Maxos
Also, definitely look into Alpha Protocol. If you like to roleplay in your RPGs, then there is no way you won't enjoy the game. It easily has the single most complex and intricate conversation trees in any game of recent memory. Even further, it's the only game that holds true on the promise that all your actions have consequences. Even the tiniest of actions like being a dick to an NPC can turn around and bite you in the ass, and some NPCs will even cite your behavior through the game. This simple fact will easily give you 3 to 4 playthroughs, and each at about 12-14 hours, you'll get a ton of bang for your buck. Don't listen to the game's critical acclaim: the evisceration it got is one of the biggest fucking reasons I loathe the gaming journalism community and the gaming community as a whole really(but that's a rant for another time). Check it out.
If you disliked Baldur's Gate 2 and Planescape: Torment I'm not really sure what to suggest considering those are two of my all time favourites, but hell, I can try. 'PC' rpg are a bit of a love of mine so I've certainly played enough of em.
Lessee.. well there's Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, a ridiculously good rpg from a few years back by the now defunct Troika games. Very similar in a lot of ways to Deus Ex gameplay wise and seeing as you've got a smiley by that game Bloodlines is definitely worth a shot. Like Deus Ex the gameplay itself is... alright, but not the strong point of the game. Instead the game is more heavily focused around character development, dialogue and exploration. Regardless it's really good, but then I also wouldn't recommend it to anyone with a weak stomach since it really does go into a few rather gruesome scenario. Sparkly vampires these are not and like it or not, you're one of them!
Game was bug ridden on release which contributed to a mediocre initial reception, but after two official patches and a dedicated community which continue to release unofficial patches to this day bugs aren't an issue anymore.
What else. Oh, I know: Gothic 2. It's an older game in the same vein as Bethesda's work, aka open ended worlds to explore, only much more heavily focused and in quite a few ways just plain better. The world isn't as big but it's absolutely crammed to the brim with things to find and places to explore, meanwhile there are less NPC but those fewer numbers have more personality. World in general also just feels more alive! The game is also heavily focused on player-choice. At one point you'll have to join one of three factions in order to advance, which of those three you join can have massive implications ranging from the mundane stuff as a few unique quests and locations, to different dialogue and ways you're perceived by the world in large.
Very good game and one of my personal favourite 'open world' experience. It's got its rough parts and if you buy it from gog.com the game comes with the expansion pre-installed which ramps the difficulty up to 11 (It is a really, really unforgiving experience at times!), plus the voice acting is often bloody terrible as it often is from 'European' rpg. But hell, It's a great game. Look it up!
Oh, here's another you might be interested it: Divine Divinity. Bit of a more obscure rpg, but definitely worth looking into. Picture a game Diablo style point & click combat (You liked that series, right?) only with the open world and non-linear world of Fallout and plentiful character dialogue and side-quests ala Baldur's Gate. Essentially it's a bit of a mish-mash of different game styles that actually came together to work really well this one time. Voice acting is so bad it's actually laughable, but the story itself is solid and the world you inhabit is quite interesting. Combat is also entertaining as well, again like Diablo only with this game you're not locked into a class allowing you to play, should you choose, as a massive sword wielding barbarian that specializes in defensive magic for added melee brutality among other obvious combinations like a sneaky wizard, a healing archer, whatever you want. Game also has a brilliant soundtrack, also available from gog, damned fine site!
And on that note here's one last one (Or two) to look into: Arx Fatalis. A first-person open-ended dungeon crawler designed as a spiritual successor to the old Ultima Underworld series, a staple of rpg entertainment. The entire game takes place underground, one giant dungeon that consists of towns and villages, ancient tombs and temples, vast natural caverns, and forgotten ruins. Combat is first person but actually one of the better interpretations of fp-melee combat. There's also a very heavy emphasis on player-interaction. You can start a fire and place raw fish you fished from an underground river nearby to cook them, making them healthier to eat. You can climb into hidden areas, rob houses, and just generally interact with the world in a number of ways. Magic is also done in a unique way with the player having to draw symbols on the screen as means of casting spells, spells themselves which can be combined and used to interesting effect.
I said 'two' at the top because the same developers who made Arx Fatalis, named Arkane, also made a more recent game called 'Dark Messiah of Might and Magic' which was actually pretty damned fun. Heard the console version was an utter joke, but the PC version was surprisingly damned fun and had probably the best first-person melee combat in a game to date. Fun game.
No real trailers for Arx around, but it's got similar first person combat to the above.
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