The Legend of the Five Rings for me is the ultimate card game. It has a plot and the characters are human and not monsters with super powers. Of course, the game in card form is no longer available on the market as Fantasy Flight discontinued it, much to the disappointment of many players. It is relatively difficult, but once you learn it, you get hooked. It is a mix of age of empires with elements of feudal Japan but with tcg (trading card games) rules.