Thank god LostWinds didn’t die with WiiWare. (Though playing it with a mouse isn’t really the same, admittedly.) I was so glad when I saw it pop up on Steam.
A lot of trash doesn’t have a reason to be rereleased, for sure, but I think you’re maybe underestimating how many genuinely cool titles get neglected for a heap of dumb, business-related reasons.
Would recommend OS over RS3, because much as I love archaeology, RS3 is overmonetised (I think most of the community agrees with that?), and that seems like a big part of what OP wanted to get away from.
Would disagree it’s where the game begins, given how story-directed it is. FFXIV is, to me, a single-player JRPG in the shell of MMO combat with a huge amount of multiplayer content. (Especially with the fulfilment of duty support allowing you to do MSQ dungeons with bots.)
Sands of Time was so cool. That series was flawed (Warrior Within was the emo-most game in an era full of emo sequels as the original audience reached adolescence), but I’m sad that it essentially got canceled by warping into AC.