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IGN's Top 100 RPGs of All Time

F

FinalAres

Member
Jennipeg said:
Yep, totally agree. The only small fault I have with VII is the odd story telling misstep. An example being the black materia, Cloud just announces its what Sephiroth is after, and it always felt like there was a scene missing because it was never mentioned before.
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I agree. But as we've seen with BOTW critical reception recently, a game can have minor faults and still overall be one of the best games ever if they do something completely right and are forward thinking. FF7 might not be the best game ever any more, but it's definitely the BotW of its time, and arguably more so because of what it did new and the impact it had.

As I said before, this may all be a result of the mismanagement of the FF brand, but the fact that there's such a huge divide between how FF7 is described by the gaming press (good but not great, overrated) and popular polls (top 5 ever) is kind of embarrassing for games journalism.
 
D

DOBERMAN INC

Member
As of now mine would be.

1. The Witcher III
2. Final Fantasy IX
3. Chrono Trigger
4. Final Fantasy VIII
5. Deus Ex
6. Baldur's Gate II
7. Skyrim
8. Morrowind
9. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
10.Dragon Age: Origins
 
K

kewlmyc

Member
Normally I don't bitch about lists like this, but...

Tales of Symphonia > Tales of Vesperia?

I don't see how anyone could come to that conclusion. I guess Symphonia did have more impact in the west due to it coming out on the Gamecube during a dry period, but Vesperia is pretty much better in every way. Sure the plot shits the bed in the 3rd act, but I could say the same for Symphonia and a good portion of Tales games.
 
QuantumZebra

QuantumZebra

Member
Svejk said:
Yeah, DA: Inquisition shouldn't even be on there... come on now.
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We're talking about a list that has EverQuest, FFVII, Xenoblade Chronicles, Xenogears, Jade Empire, and Divinity Original Sin in the *bottom* half of a top 100 RPGs list.

This shit was invalid from #100 on.
 
S

Syf

Banned
Wow, neither Morrowind nor Skyrim makes the top 20. I would have liked to see Morrowind up there, but at least they got it higher than Skyrim.
 
L

Lothars

Member
Jackstin said:
'
The truth is SE screwed the Final Fantasy brand, and FF7 was the victim. If SE had been consistently producing games that people could love then it would be higher rated. As it is we essentially had a generation and a half where people were saying "Final Fantasy is shit" and they were right,
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They are not right, It is the same thing as the people saying Final Fantasy 7 is shit. They are wrong just like anyone saying ffxiii and xv is shit. They are both really well liked games other than a vocal minority of people.
 
eXistor

eXistor

Member
Most of these types of lists don't really feel like personal lists, more like some algorithm. Pleasing everyone, yet no one.

dlauv said:
I understand why Bloodlines is so high, but I don't understand why Skies of Arcadia is.
Click to expand...

Should be higher.
 
F

FinalAres

Member
Lothars said:
They are not right, It is the same thing as the people saying Final Fantasy 7 is shit. They are wrong just like anyone saying ffxiii and xv is shit. They are both really well liked games other than a vocal minority of people.
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I think you're assuming what I'm saying here.

What else happened to Final Fantasy in the last 10 years? Sequels, low quality spin offs, mobile gatch games, cheap ports. Those are the low quality games.

Final Fantasy XIII is the least of its problems.
 
J

Jennipeg

Member
Wow, i'm really pleased to see Final Fantasy XII so high (31), i'd still swap it with IX at 40. Skyrim at 25 works for me.
 
A

aravuus

Member
The only good thing that's come out of this list so far is FF XII being pretty high up there. I feel like everyone always forgets about it, even though it's easily one of the best JRPGs gameplay-wise.

FF IX being number 40 makes me sad. If both Fallout 3 and 4 make it to the top 20, way above New Vegas, I'm probably gonna let out an audible "what the fuck".
 
L

Lothar

Banned
FF4 is about FF7 and FF12. That's good. Not a terrible list, provided that Earthbound and both Niers are in top 20.
 
J

JeffZero

Purple Drazi
I like FF4, but it's middle-of-the-pack for me. I like FF12, too, and a fair bit more than 4. But 7's my jam, no matter the whiplash involving that game. I'm impressed that IGN ranked it so low. Legit impressed. Their current batch of mainstay contributors really ain't as hot on it as some.
 
N

Nottle

Member
Jennipeg said:
Its definitely on my list of games to play. Is the PSN version ok? I know I need to avoid the weird mobile remake.
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I bought it 2 years ago for GBA. I am unsure what the deal was with all those play station ports of Ff1,2,4,5,6 and Chrono Trigger. I feel like I heard some/ all have loading times and some ugly ps1 cutscenes. I personally only have experience with the GBA version, though be careful buying on Amazon, I bought 2 pirated copies until I got the real deal.
 
D

Darkstorne

Member
Nategc20 said:
I think morrowind should crack the top ten. In retrospect, that game was absolutely revolutionary.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'd agree. For so many reasons (probably modding scope most of all). I'd love to know how they're weighting this list but I'm not even sure they're putting too much thought into it. I do really like the write-ups for each game though, so if nothing else it's a great way to get some brief insight into great RPGs I've never been able to play.

Xumbrega said:
so they will put fallout 3 above morrowind and new vegas, huh?
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I highly doubt it. Read the write-ups instead of just focusing on the title positions:

"Fallout 3 was entertaining enough, but Fallout: New Vegas is unforgettable."
 
J

JeffZero

Purple Drazi
Not sure how I feel about ME1 ranking so high, either, but I know here on GAF it'll be celebrated. Don't get me wrong. I adore that game and my adoration for the franchise is intense. Mass Effect stopped me from quitting gaming altogether. I have memories galore. Chatting with BioWare devs, kicking back in the old twitter threads, you name it. My boy Ralemont knows what's up. Subjectively, I guess you might say, ME1 cracks my Top 15. (Yeah, I'm one of those weirdos who ranks things, too. We're weird.) But objectively...? I dunno, man. I just don't know. Game's flawed. It doesn't really grab me much 'til the third act. It grabs me enough, I mean, I'm a huge space opera mark by trade. But nothing truly and deeply clicked for me until at least Noveria, but probably Virmire, that first time through.
 
M

Magicpaint

Member
Nice to see a DQ game actually inside the Top 50.

kewlmyc said:
Normally I don't bitch about lists like this, but...

Tales of Symphonia > Tales of Vesperia?

I don't see how anyone could come to that conclusion. I guess Symphonia did have more impact in the west due to it coming out on the Gamecube during a dry period, but Vesperia is pretty much better in every way. Sure the plot shits the bed in the 3rd act, but I could say the same for Symphonia and a good portion of Tales games.
Click to expand...

Eh, I like Symphonia more than Vesperia. I prefer the world set-up, I prefer its skill system and the more dynamic cast. I prefer the side quests (by far), I prefer the music, I prefer the dungeons etc etc. Vesperia has the better lead by a country mile, and also a better battle system, but I definitely enjoyed Symphonia more.

PS Mass Effect is probably my favourite Xbox 360 game. I don't like it as quite much as the KOTOR games, but it's up there. Great game.
 
D

Darkstorne

Member
JeffZero said:
Not sure how I feel about ME1 ranking so high, either, but I know here on GAF it'll be celebrated. Don't get me wrong. I adore that game and my adoration for the franchise is intense. Mass Effect stopped me from quitting gaming altogether. I have memories galore. Chatting with BioWare devs, kicking back in the old twitter threads, you name it. My boy Ralemont knows what's up. Subjectively, I guess you might say, ME1 cracks my Top 15. (Yeah, I'm one of those weirdos who ranks things, too. We're weird.) But objectively...? I dunno, man. I just don't know. Game's flawed. It doesn't really grab me much 'til the third act. It grabs me enough, I mean, I'm a huge space opera mark by trade. But nothing truly and deeply clicked for me until at least Noveria, but probably Virmire, that first time through.
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To me, it's deserving of the spot for genuinely being a forward-thinking RPG. It introduced the dialogue wheel as a truly cinematic method of conversing in games that has (for better and worse) been adopted by other games across the industry. It was one of the first RPGs to successfully make real-time action combat with guns work in an RPG setting (something we take for granted today). And perhaps most importantly it was one of the first games to make use of quality cinematography throughout the entire game, and not just relegate that level of polish to key sequences.

Edit: This is also why I was let down by Andromeda, which focused so much on trying to be Mass Effect that it forgot the reason Mass Effect was so successful is because it was trying to set a new bar for RPGs for a new console generation.
 
T

Tarextherex

Banned
FFIV was amazing for its time but putting it at 22 over much better/influential games is suspect af. Unless you're playing the DS version that actually adds difficulty there's very little reason to play that game now if you don't have a huge interest on the series/genre's history. Like if you played at least one JRPG before it/watched an anime you already know everything that's going to happen from the very first minute. It's an RPG in the most basic sense: random battles with a somewhat high encounter rate, going through cities in generic environments, best equipment locked behind insane drop rates etc. It's absurd that FFVII is about 30 spots lower, a game with a much more interesting initial hook that has never been replicated. It influenced so many rpgs to move away from this tired gameplay structure in bland medieval settings. That's coming from a Nintendo fan that was annoyed by fanboyism of that game in the past/dislikes cinematic games. I played it for the first time in 2015 and it's definitely one of the best RPG's I've played with an opening act that is by far the best in the genre, only Chrono Trigger's comes close. No way such a game would be in the lower half of a top 100 RPG list. Sure it's not as good after certain spoilers but give credit where it's due. People seem to be adamant on their idea of what the game stands for(square going with sony, cutscenes, cgi, low amount of party members etc) rather than acknowledging the merits of the game itself.
 
V

Vincent Grayson

Member
I feel like an interesting exercise would be to get everyone who worked on this list to give their own say, top 10 RPGs, define their criteria for determining what is an RPG, what their first RPG was.
 
Y

YankeeDonB

Member
Well, this list is at least staying interesting! DQV so high is nice, as are FF IX and XII.

Skyrim NOT in the top 10 is a welcome surprise.
 
J

jacobeid

Banned
How are Pokemon Sun and Moon so high on the list? I liked moon a lot, but what?

Really not feeling this list at all ha.
 
A

aravuus

Member
Vincent Grayson said:
I feel like an interesting exercise would be to get everyone who worked on this list to give their own say, top 10 RPGs, define their criteria for determining what is an RPG, what their first RPG was.
Click to expand...

For sure, I'd be very interested in reading that.

I mean, this is pretty much the most random top anything list I've ever seen. If someone told me the list was completely randomized, I wouldn't doubt them.
 
D

DecoReturns

Member
PK Gaming said:
Fire Emblem is on the list, but which Fire Emblem are they referring to? Fire Emblem 1? Shadow Dragon? Fire Emblem 7?
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Has to be 7. Since it's just called Fire Emblem and the others weren't released here.

They already used Fire Emblem Awakening. So looks like they are using their respective titles
 
A

aett

Member
Can't read the list since IGN is blocked at my work (and I can't even access the first page of this thread thanks to the link), so here's my totally awesome RPG top ten list.

In no particular order:

Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy VI
The Witcher III
Xenoblade Chronicles
Fallout: New Vegas
Earthbound
Breath of Fire IV
Suikoden II
Dragon Quest VIII
Persona 4 Golden

Honorable mentions: Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, The World Ends With You, Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy X
 
E

Eusis

Member
DecoReturns said:
Has to be 7. Since it's just called Fire Emblem and the others weren't released here.

They already used Fire Emblem Awakening. So looks like they are using their respective titles
Click to expand...
They also had Persona 5 and Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3, so yeah they're using official localized names, even with garbage that's basically vestigial now.

If Persona 4 pops up in the top 20 I kinda hope it's Golden just to cut that crap off (plus it's pretty much straight up better anyway.)
 
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