This is a surprisingly easy list for me; my top three haven't changed too much over the last few years. My top 10 or even my top 5 would be another story though. Anyways, in order...
1. Xenoblade Chronicles. Xenoblade is quite simply the greatest game ever created. I didn't realize just how stale and predictable JRPGs had become until I played Xenoblade, which surprised and pleased me at every turn. It has a story that sucks you in and is constantly leading you astray by giving you flashes of the future, inviting you to predict what is going to happen next...and then turning your expectations on their ear and revealing something completely unexpected. It has an active and engaging battle system which toes the line between an ATB system and real-time combat, giving you the best of both worlds: real-time, but with an element of strategy which means you can't just spam the same moves over and over to win. It discourages power-levelling, meaning that it is actually challenging a lot of the time. It's set on the carcass of a deity, and has some pretty stunning locations, especially for the Wii, which was nowhere near capable of what the PS3 or 360 could deliver. It also doesn't sport the standard voice cast you find in every other JRPG on the market, which is a huge relief. It actually lasts almost as long as it claims to last - the story took me about 60 hours to play through, with a fair degree of exploration along the way - and not once does it stop being enjoyable. The soundtrack is also breathtaking. The only negative thing I can think of to say about Xenoblade is that it ultimately has to come to an end. It's the best JRPG to come out in well over a decade and it's going to take something damn near flawless to surpass it.
2. Tales of Symphonia. Playing Symphonia Chronicles last year just reaffirmed for me how much I love this game. It's aged very well, all things considered. It has a fantastically varied cast, an engaging battle system, and the music is some of Sakuraba's best. The first time I played it a lot of the story twists shocked me too...I also think it's the only Tales game that has done the "two worlds" concept right as well, with the possible exception of Eternia, which even then didn't give really equal focus to both sides. Symphonia also has Zelos Wilder, so any and all arguments that could be put forth against the main cast become irrelevant. It's also the only Tales game to date to give proper focus to its villains - good villains go a long way with me, as their motives are often far more interesting than the protagonist's, and the whole structure of the Desians and its leader's motivations was very interesting indeed - and, whilst it has a crappy sequel, that doesn't affect the quality of the first title. It's a shame the skits aren't fully voiced, but you can't have everything.
3. NieR. NieR has something few other video games of the last three generations have had, at least in my opinion: a genuinely emotional story. NieR is a masterpiece of storytelling, which only gets deeper and more heartbreaking with each consecutive playthrough as you find out why the world has gone to hell, exactly what has gone on over the weird time gap between the prologue and the rest of the game, and what you've actually been doing throughout it in your quest. It's dark, often humourous in a fatalistic fashion, and bits of it are painfully tragic. The world has gone to hell, and it shows. NieR also has a very interesting cast. A sarcastic talking book, a foul-mouthed hermaphrodite, a boy who turns everything he looks at to stone who lives in a big empty mansion with his monster sister chained up in the basement, and Nier himself, a middle-aged man (!) trying to save his daughter. They make for quite a colourful cast with some highly amusing party banter. Did I mention the soundtrack? No other game even comes close to measuring up to it. It's 90% vocals, and it generates an amazing atmosphere throughout the game. It also gets bonus points for having a connection to Drakengard, one of my favourite PS2 games.
...it pains me to leave the little-known Baten Kaitos: Neverending Wings and the Lost Ocean out of this list, so it's getting an honourable mention here.
