I didn't play Eye of the Beholder much, but as I recall it was ridiculously hard. I still have it lying around somewhere. Daggerfall is pretty brutal itself. I just started a new character the other day, and I've died at least ten times already. It's not at all like any other RPG I've ever played, save for Arena. You don't have to touch the main story (and I've only gotten a few quests in, although I've devoted thousands of hours of my life to the game). This is my favorite game of all time, however, it's definitely an RPG to avoid if you love JRPGs.
I will second....or third, the awesomeness of Xenogears. It seems to get a fair bit of hate, but if you're someone who plays RPG's for the storylines it is not to be missed. It's an especially attractive game for people who find interest in stuff like DaVinci code and religious conspiracy, although it obviously deals with no extant real religion. As far as "bad RPG's" go for, I thankfully haven't played many. I found the first Golden Sun game to be a bit of a drag, never finished it. FF Tactics Advance was a pain in the ass due to the law system, but that was really it's only flaw.
My local gamestop actually wrote on the games packiging(it was a trade in) "makes a good doorstop" not that I didn't like it but I found Xenosaga very time consuming and I thought Panzer Dragoon Orta was not as good as the others. I'm another who couldn't get into FF just found it to boring also compared to other Tales games Legendia wasn't as good. I really liked the .hacks which many will disagree but I liked the premise game could use a little work and not so many installments. Tales of Symphonia I really liked. Kh was good but the second was easier then the first(Com was just plain boring:-( ). SoA was a lot of fun and I'm still playing it.
Yeah, I can say it again and again, Xenogears is one of the few games I will play over and over again and find something new to understand each time, since I originally played it as a kid. I really wish they could do more with it or something, but then theres a chance of screwing it up.
Good call on the So-called "Lunar" GBA/DS games, Casual. But please do play Silver Star Story and Eternal Blue Complete on the PSX. Everyone has to make that pilgrimage at least once. Those two, you should never, EVER, avoid.
btw, if you're into mazochistic stuff like Fire Emblem, FF:Tactics, Ogre Battle and Nut-clamps, give a shot to Baten Kaitos 1 and 2 on the GC. HUGE rpg games (Card based). I m of course exagerating. Baten Kaitos 1 and its sequel are not as dull as Fire Emblem and FF:Tactics (or PSo3), but they might seem slow compared to others. The story is amazingly interesting though.
