Ah, nostalgia alert. Duck and cover.
Wizardry 8.
The best 'modern' old-school RPG there is. Maybe even the only one. From the comments of those of you that don't like it, I gather that your beefs with the game result from the combat, the story and the levelled monsters. I will try to address each of those points and present my perspectives. Also, I will go off on tangents to rave about the nostalgic value of this game.
The combat:
Fighting three groups of 6 to 8 monsters each whose turns take ages to complete might not be the pinnacle of suspense and action, I will grant you that. But the combat was deep. It was tactical. Maybe it was pretty boring, but it was also challenging and offered many, many options. Every party used other tactics in combat, and the game was very open when it came to the party creation.
Just think: It did not only have formations and weapon ranges and a plethora of spells which were all actually useful, no: It also had enemies that would employ quite a vast scope of tactics to keep it difficult and interesting. I don't remember an RPG with better combat. Seriously, I don't - maybe I haven't played enough, but this game's combat lacked nothing in my eyes.
But it was boring. Very boring at times. Fighting 14 lizard-things that creep at you in slow motion is not fun, I will admit that. Luckily, there is a mod that speeds up combat by about 50 times. Still: It was too slow.
The story:
Well, this point is difficult without spoiling anything. The story is... old-school. No fancy, modern cutscene storytelling. No, you get most of the story by dialogue and by reading, and you will miss most of it if you don't know which questions to type and which keywords to use. Also, you /will/ be completely unable to appreciate it if you haven't played Wizardry seven. Seriously. In Wizardry 8, the story will not be told to you - you have to hunt for it yourself, by going to the right places and asking the right questions. This, again, is just like in 7 and very old-school. Me, I like that. It takes work, but the rewards were manifold. Also, it has a nice final plot-twist.
Levelled monsters:
Well. I haven't played Oblivion, so I don't know how not to do it, but I know that Wiz 8 did it right: Combat never became too easy in most areas due to monsters that mercilessly became stronger with you. At the beginning, when one starts out in the Monastery (or at the T'Rang/Umpani HQ) and travels to Arnika (might very well be the most difficult portion of the game), one still believes it gets easier once you level. It doesn't, except for some areas, which have a maximum level of monsters.
Well, this has some drawbacks: One doesn't get the 'I am TEH MASTER!!111' vibe one usually gets at high levels. But this is somewhat compensated by the satisfaction that each successful battle was well-earned.
Does this make the game too difficult?
No, unless you are a, sorry, pussy. 7 was harder. 4 was insane. Even 1, which was almost a party-based rogue-like without randomization in some regards, was much harder. Still, it's not an easy game. It's a good challenge for a fan of old RPGs.
To summarize:
This game feels OLD. It felt old when it was released, and it still feels old. It has the classic 'party=blob' feeling of the old games. It is as difficult as the old games. The story is... well, it was presented just like the story in six and seven, just more fleshed out. It /feels/ old-school. This is something I /love/. I weep at the thought that such games are no more, and Wizardry 8 was like the last, mighty roar of an ancient, venerable dragon who is doomed to die and perish. It's true - you can't appreciate it without patience and determination. But the rewards are greater: It's a trip back in time, and it should put a smile onto the face every RPG fan of the old days.
If you haven't done so, get 6, 7 and 8, and play them all, with the same party, importing them from one game to another. You will be surprised how rewarding it will be to beat those great games!
