I'd normally just put that in my original post, but I really want people to experience the game. If you can't play it, give the machinima a chance. And by "machinima," I don't just mean a fan short inspired by the game. This is literally the bulk of the game, turned into a movie for a 2002 contest. A few humorous and worthwhile side bits are removed, but the edit is otherwise well done. You get the experience and story without the tedium.

Sure, it's on the blocky Quake 2 engine, but what they managed with the technology is simply amazing. (especially with lip-syncing and facial emotion) Plus, the voice acting, dialogue & humor are great, the characters are worthwhile and some of the story situations are one-of-a-kind.

It suffered from an overly-long development period and a pitiful marketing budget. There's also some developer drama in there, which is interesting in its own right, but I won't go on about it. (part of the same development house that did Daikatana) It was also a bit niche due to having been a JRPG in gameplay, a western-written story and released only on the PC.

It's available from the linked site for streaming or download. The game should really be on GoG.com, but it belongs to Eidos. This version will save you some time, too. If even one person checks this out and enjoys it, I'll have accomplished something for underrated gaming gems.