Kingdom Hearts: The story had me hooked for literally over a year (as my PS2 had the dreaded DRE and I was at the young age where $200-$300 was a substantial hurdle). I felt like I could really relate to Sora, and thus I shared his feelings for Kairi (which wasn't as disturbing as it sounds given that I was around their age at the time). The beautiful ending made me cry, and it didn't hurt that the fighting mechanics were so tightly-honed

You're lucky I'm in a good mood. My finger hovered over the ban button for a good 20 seconds before deciding to spare you.

BTW, thanks for all the great responses - most of you - and I'm getting a lot of great info here. 

Skies of Arcadia and Grandia 2 for the Dreamcast. They hit the spot for every thing a good jrpg should have, battles system, story, characters, etc.

1) Tales of Symphonia - I love the storyline, characters and the fact you can play four player co-op on it. that way my fiance and I could play it together.

2) Xenogears - In a land populated with fantasy worlds that resemble middle ages britain, or lord of the rings, a sci-fi mecha game was an awesome touch....the gameplay was also a breath of frest air, as I had never played an RPG with similiar controls since then. I cranked some serious hours into this game back in the day.

3) Grandia 2 - I simply loved the storyline in this game, even though it's the cliche'd "evil religion" based story. plus the characters were mostly not generic cliches which is better than most.

Final Fantasy Tactics, because of the magnificent story, characters, combat system, difficulty, replayability, side quests, character design and of course music.

P.S. : and Pokemon Pearl is a JRPG ...

Why?  It's a very good choice, and one of the deepest online multiplayer metagames in any RPG ever made. 

For me:

Chrono Trigger:  Incredible and original plot, unique (and crazy) characters, a very unique art style, a stunning musical score, and great replayability.  Also, still my favorite gameplay in a turn based JRPG.  In my opinion this is simply the most perfect game ever made.  I have no complaints about it, and I loved every minute.

Final Fantasy VI:  The first JRPG that ever really got me attached to the story.  Also the first one to touch me emotionally.  There were a lot of moments that really left a strong lasting impression on me.  The opera scene is one of my most pleasant and strongest memories of gaming.   

Final Fantasy IX:  The characters.  This game is all about the characters.  Final Fantasy IX still has the best character development of any game I've ever played.  Each one was unique, and each one had their own internal struggles, yet were united in cause through a masterfully wound story.  The villains weren't great, and the ending wasn't perfect, but the characters and their stories were so amazing that I can and do play this game over and over.   

The opera scene of FFVI...I still don't know why people liked it so much...

It is really not my favourite scene of FFVI while their are so many fans of it =/.

Final Fantasy IV.

On top of being my first Final Fantasy, I was also very into the medieval period at the time (such as medieval Lego sets). I also love the fact that it is a tale of redemption for your past (Cecil becoming a Paladin). Its probably because of FFIV's theme of redemption that I enjoy the works of F.M. Dostoevsky so much today.

does Breath of Fire 3 count?....if not.....Parasite Eve...