I can read Japanese well enough to get through games without a walk-through for the most part, but am I the only person who plays RPGs for the gameplay rather than the story? I'm a huge reader of fiction, and maybe because of this almost every RPG I've played has an incredible trite, cliched, and predictable story, especially those which came out through the 80's and early 90's. Sure, when I was a kid I enjoyed the stories of a few RPGs, but considering you spend 90% of your time fighting battles, traversing through dungeons, buying items, searching for clues, etc., to me that's where the meat of a game lies. The story is fairly unimportant to me, so usually I just skip through it unless it provides some information as to how to progress.
I think we feel at least a little similarly about this. Having to fight through dungeons, against bosses, and a climactic final boss means no matter how many plot twists and funky characters you introduce, all RPGs have to be the same story at their core.
That said, the reason why I enjoy older RPG stories is because I think that in their simplicity, they do a good job serving to enhance to
atmosphere of a game. When it comes to what's important to me in games, number one is gameplay, and number two is atmosphere.
PCE RPGs often have some pretty unique atmosphere going on. Whatever your language ability and preference in games, if you can appreciate this aspect of PCE RPGs, you'll enjoy them in general. As long as you can get along with the gameplay, that is.
On a final note, I'd say that the one RPG I've ever played that still strikes me as having truly elegant plot structure and storytelling by any standard is Chrono Trigger.
