Oh man, you're in for a treat if you like big party/squad old school JRPGs. The amount of characters on Suikoden II alone is completely bonkers, and so are the party combinations and strategies. 

To be honest, I used to lurk around the forums way before I signed up as a member. I think I first started visiting VGC back in 2005/2006. So yeah, now I feel old as heck LOL.

Right now I am playing Valkyria Chronicles 4. Not sure if this counts or not. (Are strategy RPGs ok?) Anyway, I'm on chapter 5 and loving the game so far.

Ha, familiar thread popping up.

Currently switching between rdr2 and Dragon Quest XI.
Somehow, although I seriously enjoy the type of game, Dragon Quest doesn't grab me as it did with VIII. Maybe it's a phase, but I had no problem finishing the zodiac age.
That said, World of Final Fantasy arrived today... should I?

Standard version or Maxima?

I only played the Standard and I really enjoyed it. The monster capturing concept was well done, and some of the particularities of the combat system (monster stacking) were really fun to mess around. 

Story is bare bones, so there's nothing much to look in that direction, but the gameplay is good enough to keep you hooked for the whole game (and post game content). 

Every spell that is crafted consists of at least two cards - one is carrier and the other is effect. Depending on your skills, there is certain amount of slots spell can have. Then there's modifiers on top of that

Effects are (by type of magic):

- Air: Air, Life and Lightning
- Earth: Stone, Earth and Undead
- Fire: Fire, Power and Force
- Water: Water, Ice and Psyche
- Necro: Poison, Corpse and Decay

Carriers : Altar, Area Effect, Enchant, Missile, Summon, Trap

Modifiers: Damage, Homing, Protection, Ricochet, Spray, Time

So for example basic Heal would be Life + Enchant.
What's great about this system is you can combine several things and make some really powerful and unexpected combinations.

Yeah, I absolutely love lengthy RPGs, but....man, I hope I can find the time to continue to play them.

Not only a new first time dad, but the dad of twins.  A boy and girl. Life got real. Real fast.  

Just finished Ni No Kuni 2, 155 hr grind for the platinum. I enjoyed it though, even if the boss battles werent too challenging.

Just finished Southpark the stick of truth last night. Was very fun. I still need to go and finish the last boss in Xenoblade 2

I have the same issue with lengthy RPGs nowadays. I find it hard to commit to one, given my limited gaming time. It took me over two months just to get through DQXI 100%. 

It's easier when it's something on the Switch or 3ds, since I can play those on the bus to work, but anything on PC/Home Console needs to be something that I really want to play above anything else. I usually settle for SP games that I can finish in 20 - 30 hours. 

That's really cool, reminds me a bit of the DSS Card system in Castlevania: Circle of the Moon for the GBA. You combined two different set of cards (Action and Attribute) to create several different magic effects (whip elemental effects, summons, monster attacks, etc).

I think I'm going to give it a try soon then :D