The 20-30 hour mark is where it just starts getting really good for me. All these names and locations and histories are starting to make sense, I'm beginning to really impact the world and carve out my place in it, and now I'm getting exposed to quests that really dig deeper into the lore.

I'm with you on characters, though. It's not the characters, the story, or the quests that make these games great. Heck, even the actual playing them isn't all that great on a comparative level. It's some intangible that pulls it all together and allows you to escape into another world.