Oof! How the heck did I find this thread when it was made so long ago? No idea! My favorite game, you ask?
It was a game that came out when I was much too young to even read the title, so I'd called it 'the monster game'. In about... 2017 I finally learned the real name. It was an old RPG dungeon crawler called "Azure Dreams". It has a cult following and is apparently crazy rare. Even in japan, I could never find a copy! But just this past christmas, I managed to find a mint condition copy. I haven't played it again, yet, but I'm also way too excited and would end up triggering a migraine. Hah!
It was made by Konami in the 90's, Azure dreams is a game where the protagonists home is overshadowed by a monster tower. His father was a well known monster tamer - I often equate it to pokemon, but it plays nothing like that - and when the protagonist was only a child, his father had gone into the tower and never returned. At the age of 15 and finally able to become a tamer himself, the Protagonist ventures into the tower to both find his father, and become as great a legend as he was.
All the while, you're able to make your small town a bustling tourist zone with bird riding - they're the size of chocobo's - expand your own house, and romance up to seven different girls in the town! The story is phenomenal, and the graphics were astounding for the time. Not to mention - the OST? Absolute comfort. Its understated yet memorable. I have yet to see a review under four stars out of five.