This game has won the vote, so here's your post about it.
Romancing Saga 3 is a Japanese role-playing game for the Super Nintendo which, like many of the other Saga games, emphasizes non-linearity over the usual straight-as-an-arrow style of JRPGs. You pick a character and customize them slightly... and, after a short introduction, you're let loose to explore the world and build your party. Eventually, of course, you save the world. It's a Japanese-only game, so you will need to patch the game (which you, of course, legally own)
with this patch, which I believe is agreed to be the best one available.
Though the game starts focused on the fate of Monica and Mikhail, in the end the story is really about the Death Eclipse, which threatens everyone. As such, who you pick as your main character doesn't affect the main story of the game -- they all have the same goal in the end. However, it may make certain events or characters inaccessible or merely harder. Still, in the end if you just pick the character who seems most interesting to you you'll probably be alright; none of the main characters are particularly underpowered compared to any of the others. So, let's talk about the possible protagonists. Note that you can choose another weapon specialty for them if you pick them as your main character, but they will still have some proficiency with their default weapon regardless.
Julian Naul is a swordsman from a small village, who becomes involved in the plot when he helps escort Monica back home. He learns skills quicker than most of the other heroes.
Thomas Bed is a merchant, and as such has access to the Stock Market, which is less interesting than it sounds. He's good with spears, and also always starts with Water Magic.
Mikhail is the Marquis of Loanne, which means he can help develop his township through investment and can also participate in large-scale warfare (though don't expect anything so complex as, say, a proper strategy RPG). He's rather arrogant, which affects some events in the story, and he's good with Epees and Sun Magic.
Harid is a mercenary from the Naj Desert, and is one of the better fighters in the game, especially with a sword. However, because of his status as a mercenary, people tend to dislike him, which makes some story scenarios harder or impossible to complete.
Sara Carson is from the same small town as Julian and several other characters, and is good with a bow. Her part of the main story is somewhat different from everyone else's, but she's not particularly remarkable skill or stat-wise.
Ellen Carson is Sara's sister, and unlike her sister is quite good at fighting, both with an axe and with martial arts, and so is quite useful as a main character even if she is otherwise unremarkable. She's supposed to be close friends with Julian and Thomas.
Monica is the princess of Loanne, and Mikhail's sister. She's the focus of the introduction scenario, and, because she has no specialty, can be set up to be any kind of build you want for a protagonist, though she's never quite as good at it as people who specialize.
Lastly, Katrina Rawn is Monica's bodyguard. She loses a royal relic and is exiled from Loanne until she finds it, which locks her out of the city for an appreciable amount of time depending on how you progress through the game. Still, she's very good at almost everything except magic, especially B.Swords and Epees.
And there are plenty of other recruit-able characters, as well, some of whom are fairly well hidden. Think of the game as sort of a combination of Western and Japanese RPGs; go to the tavern and do some sidequests. The game keeps track of events you're participating in, so don't worry about it.