oooh a good question that usually gets asked on my SFW but am grateful someone has an interest here!!

the Mega Man Battle Network series is probably some of my favorite RPGs and if you like action RPGs with solid mechanics I always have to shout about them; you don't need to know a thing about a Mega Man. the stories aren't even remotely deep but there's just so much to love; a charming kids adventure vibe is contrasted with very cool Y2K-styled cyberspace visuals, tons of great music (but of course!), awesome character designs, and a highly unique, novel, and fun battle system that combines aspects of turn-based RPGs, real-time action, and collectable card games. the first game is pretty rough around the edges but 2 through 6 are excellent at best and decent at worst imo. I feel very strongly on them and those games kind of informed a lot of my aesthetic tastes and interests :]

following up on this is Mega Man Zero; the games that make up probably some of my favorite platformers of all time! a post-post apocalyptic setting and centuries of robot wars underline a challenging action quadrilogy full of mindbending heroism, gray morality, and violently bisecting robots with your laser sword. in the same way as the above game this permanently and violently shaped my aesthetic tastes, my gaming tastes, my everything

uhhh turns out i really just like Mega Man :] there's a few other games that i dont feel quite as strongly about but would still recommend; if you love Diablo-style ARPGs then Grim Dawn is hands down my favorite in the genre, it's extremely well-baked and loaded with goodies, i love to hop on here and there to make a new character to blow stuff up with. i recently finished In Stars And Time, a story-centric RPG based around time loops; it made me cry!! the game is very long, but for anyone who has the patience I recommend going into it as blind as possible and letting the journey grab you. CrossCode was a really strong action RPG that beautifully captured a simulated MMO-type experience and had a nice feel about the joys of human connection and how something as simple as an online game can be so meaningful for you. Cassette Beasts is also something I've been playing a bit with friends since the multiplayer update dropped and it's probably the Pokemon-like to rule them all, balancing unique ideas with iteration upon its inspirations. and Gravity Circuit is already a strong contender for becoming my favorite action platformer, being a Mega Man-inspired game with a grappling hook and a piledriver.