Definitely Salt and Sanctuary.

Metroidvania meets Souls with a Sphere Grid level system and a wonderful level of character customization. 

Plus it was GREAT tricking a friend into using A Stained Page. "WHAT'S HAPPENING WHY ARE THEY KILLING ME."

Well, that's the intention XD

Being realistic, I doubt anyone playing it nowdays will love it as much as I do (even as I doubt anyone that played it back in the day love it as much as I do, lol), I have a very personal bond with the game, it is THAT good IMO, but even above that, it's special to me.

If you were into PS1 Final Fantasy games you'll probably want to try it, the guys on Game Informer just played a bit of it on youtube as Hynad linked on my wall, just one of them had played it, and absolutely love it as well, and is showing it to the other two, you may watch it to see if it's for you or not, there are tons of gameplays on YT as well.

It's greatly paced (specially the first disc, but all of them are set on a very nice going way), there is hardly any wasting of time with useless stuff, it doesn't have an epic OST like FF games but still a pretty good one (I absolutely love a bunch of the tracks), it has a pretty unique an engaging battle system, it has a great story and lore I can't even picture how some of the reviewers dared to call cliche (probably because they didn't make it past half of the first disc), it's freaking cool, it's great value for your money as it's huge (even more now, 4 discs for $5.99 on PSN...), it was quite high quality to the time (the CGs are still gorgeous to this day, the pre-rendered backgrounds as well, the char models in world and in battle are above FF7 stuff so being non-Square its an unique feat for a PS1 RPG).
It does have some translation issues (which make it funnier IMO, but issues are issues), and it has no open exploration (something old FF fans loved, even if that's not the focus on this one, as I said old FF fans should try it, there's that), and it usues a limited inventory system for items (some people find it annoying, but it adds to strategy IMO, and equips limit is huge so no being picky with equips you can carry it all), but that's pretty much it.

If you do try it someday, feel free to ask me anything or to share your experience with me, liking it or not.

That sounds like a fucking great game! *Adds to wishlish*

There are some major twists on the story, and after the first disc it gets so much wider, you'll see.

By the time you reach Bale you'll probably love the music there (I do), towns are really beautiful, also pretty unique from one to another as you'll notice, you'll be going to all kinds of places, the variety of scenary is huge, it's new stuff after new stuff, pretty much the whole time.

Well, there is a ton of stuff ahead, so enjoy it.

But btw, did you accept the first merchant offer (right after Seles) to learn about the items? That's a tutorial a lot of people miss and it helps a lot, as it's actually about how does magic and elements work in the game, if you said no I can tell you how it is.

Maybe not as awesome as the first one, but still, now that I've finished it: Steins;Gate 0