If ben is looking for games of strategy that pretty much stand up on their charm alone, then I'd like to direct him to any given game made by Nippon Ichi, but for a platform I know he owns? Disgaea 5 complete. granted, the charm is in the form of being satire anime that attemps to take the piss of what Otaku tend to want in their video games, but the different sort of flavor may appeal to you, and you'll have so much game on your hands that you'll probably be playing it for a good, long while.
My favorite Fan Translated game is Rudra no Hihou, as that game is not only pretty awesome, but the fan translation required an overhaul of the battle system, given that Language is a HUGE part of how the magic system works in that game.
of course... the original Freeware version of La Mulana was japan only and fan-translated...
Of course, there's a TON of games I would love to try that are fan translated. Nanashi no Game, the DS Square-Enix survival horror game/ Ringu inspired haunted video game game has been on my mind as of recent because the main theme of that game recently got a remix in Final Fantasy XIV (AKA Final Fanfiction as I like to call the game) There's also Keroro RPG/Tales of Sgt. Frog if we're talking about the Wolf Team Namco RPG thing. Namco X Capcom WAS on my radar until I played Project X Zone and realized I had enough banpresto SRPGs for a while.
Another one i've had on my radar for the longest time has been Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru. That's a game I actually would love to see a retroactive on as it'd give me an excuse to play a long-lost but coveted game by the guys at Nintendo R&D1.