Nobody's mentioned Chrono Cross. I've never played it myself, but I'm sure it has fans

I'd be another one to suggest Xenogears. Which might be my favorite RPG ever. Excellent characters, development, storytelling, music and atmosphere. Battles are usually intense and fun rather than really repetitive (to me).

Other than that I have to second anyone who suggested Legend of Legaia. Its a lighter more cookie cutter RPG. But its fun and I liked the characters and style. But its real draw was the battle system. I actually enjoyed random encounters in this game. Stringing together huge combos for massive damage. It was almost like having a fighting game in an RPG