My first foray into the CRPG genre was the original Fallout. Yes, the Bethesda-era debut was called Fallout 3 for a reason, as Interplay and Black Isle Studios had been working their magic alongside of industry titans like (old) BioWare for several years before it became a modern-day RPG filled with busywork.
The complete freedom to approach situations in old-school CRPGs really spoke to me, on top of the action elements and adventure game problem solving. A lot of those games were ahead of their time, and showed off just how enduring the genre is. Disco Elysium is proof of that, over two decades since I fell in love with CRPGs in the first place.
Source: Destructoid Review: Disco Elysium