I'd say .hack//sign was the best, it was talky to be sure but I love the talky, the intrigue, the characters. The later versions are more actiony but get more shoneny.
Yeah, I'm an hour or so into .Hack//Sign, and it's been really good.
The mechanics of the universe aren't often detailed, and you only see combat for a few minutes per episode. Even the combat is always done in order to further a plot point. The story isn't really about the MMORPG setting, or how cool or strange it is. It's about a handful of players with their various personalities and dysfunctions. The plot explores the reason they play the game, and the interpersonal conflicts that arise in a world with no clear end-goal, and different repercussions than the real world.
The characters are subtly written, and it's really been fun to guess at the motives and personalities behind their gaming avatars. There's the Silver Knight, who acts as a volunteer server administrator to keep things just and fair, and Bear who plays to make sure everyone is happy, safe, and having fun. There's Sora the Twin-Blade, who plays to be the most powerful character and possibly to be loved or valued by others, and Crim the Spearmaster who, despite a busy professional career, plays the game because he fell in love with another player. Mimiru the Heavy Blade, who plays the game to find and be with friends, and of course Tsukasa the Wavemaster, who is apparently using the game to escape from a fucked up life.
I think they're using a sandbox MMORPG as a metaphore for life, and how we all decide on what we are going to do with it. I'm really glad I picked this up.