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[zero shift]

Sucks that there are no Ys games.

It's cool that Earthbound has the best ranking its ever had. Conversely, Mother 3 has already had its worst year if it's not even in the Top 40. I really, really hope we get a Virtual Console surprise this year.

Sad because I really dislike Earthbound but adore Mother 3.

44(t). The World Ends With You

This one definitely fell some ranks, but to be honest I can't say I'm too surprised. The game is almost a decade old now and has had zero sequels.

Hopefully I'll be able to add some (non-Persona) SMT to my ballot in the coming years.

That'd be good. I probably won't be coming back to this site a year from now, so my vote will be gone which will make the game that much harder to climb up.

 

[Notorious_Roy]

Dear Lord in heaven. I don't have too much grounds to complain since I forgot to finish writing up my ballots due to a lot of recent travels, but still. Wow.

That's what re-release and remake hype does. I'm sure IX will rise next year due to the recent STEAM release.

 

[decoyplatypus]

Fire Emblem Awakening as top Fire Emblem is plain sad. At least it is not top 20 .

In earlier polls, the FE vote tended to be fairly light* and split between FE7, 9, and 10, with the rare vote for 4 or 5. Awakening's divisive status within the fanbase doesn't matter as much when it only takes a small, dedicated group to clear the other FEs. And it turns out the number of Awakening fans is not small.

I would grumble about it, but then some old-timer would come and lecture me about how horrible it was to watch all the fans since '03 vote FE7 over Thracia 776. Better just to be happy FE is represented in the top twenty-five.

*In the last pre-Awakening poll, if you aggregated all the FE votes it would have, I think, just made top twenty.

 

[djtiesto]

Surprised to see the DQ series score so low. I guess America really doesn't like the series

 

[Farks!]

Quite surprised to see BG2 winning the best combat award. I mean, it's not bad, but it's usually not brought up when you discuss games with great combat. I was sure it would go to either Dark Souls, Divinity or some other turn based game.

 

[Htown]

Really happy to see Mount and Blade: Warband make the Essential Combat list

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Quite surprised to see BG2 winning the best combat award. I mean, it's not bad, but it's usually not brought up when you discuss games with great combat. I was sure it would go to either Dark Souls, Divinity or some other turn based game.

In a just combat list it would probably score lower than Temple of the Elemental Evil, but since there is so many other things being scored at once, including overall best games, then all list seem to be skewed towards "overall better" games.

 

[decoyplatypus]

Surprised to see the DQ series score so low. I guess America really doesn't like the series

DQ is always going to struggle in this poll because there's no one DQ game that every fan will put on his/her ballot. Last year it split a relatively small number of votes among four different games.

Quite surprised to see BG2 winning the best combat award. I mean, it's not bad, but it's usually not brought up when you discuss games with great combat. I was sure it would go to either Dark Souls, Divinity or some other turn based game.

I have the opposite impression, but maybe I spend too much time in threads debating the merits of RTwP or discussing the ways in which Pillars of Eternity's combat does or does not fall short of BG2 (i.e. places where people are likely to rhapsodize about BG2 combat). I also feel like the Firkraag fight shows up on a lot of "favorite encounters" lists.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

That's what re-release and remake hype does. I'm sure IX will rise next year due to the recent STEAM release.

I was surprised by VII's ranking, but actually X being above IX shocked me too. But yeah I'm sure IX rises next year

 

[Lothar]

Dear Lord in heaven. I don't have too much grounds to complain since I forgot to finish writing up my ballots due to a lot of recent travels, but still. Wow.

I know, it's a joke for FF9 to be on that list with its slowest battles in the history of RPGs. Like FF9 is really more essential than the top Dragon Quest games.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

Quite surprised to see BG2 winning the best combat award. I mean, it's not bad, but it's usually not brought up when you discuss games with great combat. I was sure it would go to either Dark Souls, Divinity or some other turn based game.

The list is presented in alphabetical order.

 

[Neoleo2143]

In earlier polls, the FE vote tended to be fairly light* and split between FE7, 9, and 10, with the rare vote for 4 or 5. Awakening's divisive status within the fanbase doesn't matter as much when it only takes a small, dedicated group to clear the other FEs. And it turns out the number of Awakening fans is not small.

I would grumble about it, but then some old-timer would come and lecture me about how horrible it was to watch all the fans since '03 vote FE7 over Thracia 776. Better just to be happy FE is represented in the top twenty-five.

*In the last pre-Awakening poll, if you aggregated all the FE votes it would have, I think, just made top twenty.

If you ask me, an FE fan whose played every game, Path of Radiance being above Radiant Dawn combat wise is concerning. I have no qualms with awakening being up there, as a role playing game it's actually quite good at stimulating feelings of being a role player since it's not that hard to attach to the characters at first glance, thanks to the superb dialogue. At the same time, Awakening has one of the fastest interfaces for an SRPG on handheld, which is vital to the experience. There's always been this huge debate between the RPG and Strategy aspects of the series and I don't think that can be rectified since the two are effectively at war with each other. While I feel Awakening focused on the incorrect aspects of progression in RPGs and skills in its approach, Fates pretty much streamlines the flaws of the systems rather nicely, adding a bunch of tricks in the skills and what not, while also doubling down on varied and challenging scenarios. We have yet to see whether the localization dialogue will be up to snuff, but since it's Treehouse, Path of Radiance is the best indication of the quality to be expected.

And I actually prefer Mystery of the Emblem over Thracia.

 

[Farks!]

The list is presented in alphabetical order.

Aha, ok, thanks for clarifying.

 

[MoonFrog]

In earlier polls, the FE vote tended to be fairly light* and split between FE7, 9, and 10, with the rare vote for 4 or 5. Awakening's divisive status within the fanbase doesn't matter as much when it only takes a small, dedicated group to clear the other FEs. And it turns out the number of Awakening fans is not small.

I would grumble about it, but then some old-timer would come and lecture me about how horrible it was to watch all the fans since '03 vote FE7 over Thracia 776. Better just to be happy FE is represented in the top twenty-five.

*In the last pre-Awakening poll, if you aggregated all the FE votes it would have, I think, just made top twenty.

Yeah, I get that it is a feeble grumble (hence I couched it in s) but it does make me sad. I mean, you do run into people who have played lots of FE and love Awakening. It always baffles me, but such fans definitely exist. Still, the general trend is the more FE you have played, the less highly you think of Awakening.

IDK the hope is that seeing as FE has long been a series of flux, that it becomes something better again. The Awakening 'taint' is here for the foreseeable future, but there could perhaps be a good game hidden behind that 'taint.'

I think I voted for FE4, 6, & 9 on my ballot. 8 and 10 may have gotten my honorable mentions--8 because that was my first FE (i.e. would probably be 7 if I played that first, but both of those games are lower on my list) and 10 because, while I believe it has serious issues, those arose when its ambitions faltered rather than because of what it sought to be. The "what it sought to be" has become immensely more important to me post-Awakening .

I got FE 5 this past summer but I lost my save early on to not realizing escaping with main character would kill the rest of your un-escaped party (the level with Sety in the jail--4 or 5 gaiden?). I'll have to pick it up again when my SNES is available to me. And use all three save files...

EDIT:

If you ask me, an FE fan whose played every game, Path of Radiance being above Radiant Dawn combat wise is concerning.

I would agree that combat is not why PoR is a better game than RD. RD falters on story, character, RPG progression fronts; not the quality of its levels. That said, I will disagree heartily with the idea that Awakening has anything approaching good dialogue or good characters .

As to Mystery of the Emblem: Like FE5, I got that recently (for Christmas, in fact), and I intend to play it when I am with my SNES.

 

[llehuty]

The FE:Awakening debate is really similar to the FFVII debate, both games are super popular, so they will be ranking higher than other entries in the saga because more people have played them.

I didn't vote this year, bit if I had to put a Fire Emblem game, it would have to be Awakening because it's the only one I played.

Also, if it weren't for Awakening, the saga would be dead, so I guess they did something right with it. I have tried before one of the GBA games (the 3DS ambassador game), but it wasn't as accesible and appealing as Awakening for me.

 

[Theodoricos]

I've played exactly half of the top 20 Essential RPGs. Nice, that means I've got only 10 RPGs to play!

Good list, by the way. Thanks for putting the hard work to tally the votes.

 

[Neoleo2143]

Yeah, I get that it is a feeble grumble (hence I couched it in s) but it does make me sad. I mean, you do run into people who have played lots of FE and love Awakening. It always baffles me, but such fans definitely exist. Still, the general trend is the more FE you have played, the less highly you think of Awakening.

IDK the hope is that seeing as FE has long been a series of flux, that it becomes something better again. The Awakening 'taint' is here for the foreseeable future, but there could perhaps be a good game hidden behind that 'taint.'

I think I voted for FE4, 6, & 9 on my ballot. 8 and 10 may have gotten my honorable mentions--8 because that was my first FE (i.e. would probably be 7 if I played that first, but both of those games are lower on my list) and 10 because, while I believe it has serious issues, those arose when its ambitions faltered rather than because of what it sought to be. The "what it sought to be" has become immensely more important to me post-Awakening .

I got FE 5 this past summer but I lost my save early on to not realizing escaping with main character would kill the rest of your un-escaped party (the level with Sety in the jail--4 or 5 gaiden?). I'll have to pick it up again when my SNES is available to me. And use all three save files...

EDIT:


I would agree that combat is not why PoR is a better game than RD. RD falters on story, character, RPG progression fronts; not the quality of its levels. That said, I will disagree heartily with the idea that Awakening has anything approaching good dialogue or good characters .

As to Mystery of the Emblem: Like FE5, I got that recently (for Christmas, in fact), and I intend to play it when I am with my SNES.

I didn't mention characters. Dialogue in awakening flows beautifully actually, there was seldom a moment where I felt the dialogue itself was extremely poor.
That being said, Awakening has a couple standouts such as Libra, Inigo and Gregor, where if you reduce them to tropes, you basically kill any meaning the character had.
Awakneing's thought process isn't inherently flawed actually, giving enemies really powerful skills such as pass really does change up play radically. But progression and unit to enemy balance is downright terrible, that was where awakening failed and where Fates works much better. Oh and the save file thing makes me glad Fates has 9.

 

[A-V-B]

2- Chrono Trigger: The Essential RPG Gods All-Stars game. Uematsu on Music, Toriyama on Art and Sakaguchi on everything else.

Whoa ho ho, hang on there, buddy! Chrono Trigger is Yasunori Mitsuda's musical baby. Uematsu assisted Mitsuda when Mitsuda had worked so hard he developed ulcers.

 

[MoonFrog]

I didn't mention characters. Dialogue in awakening flows beautifully actually, there was seldom a moment where I felt the dialogue itself was extremely poor.
That being said, Awakening has a couple standouts such as Libra, Inigo and Gregor, where if you reduce them to tropes, you basically kill any meaning the character had.
Awakneing's thought process isn't inherently flawed actually, giving enemies really powerful skills such as pass really does change up play radically. But progression and unit to enemy balance is downright terrible, that was where awakening failed and where Fates works much better. Oh and the save file thing makes me glad Fates has 9.

Hmmm...I guess I'm having a hard time seeing the dialogue as much beyond the expression of the characters and finding the characters and what they had to say to be mostly annoying makes me not want to praise the dialogue. Maybe I'm too used to VGs having goofy, garbled translations? Idk if the content is bad, I'm not going to care how fluently it is expressed. That said, fluent expression is a value as it can obviously prevent said content from being conveyed. So perhaps I'm not being entirely fair.

As to Fates...well, I remain hopeful. I know the artistic direction is going to piss me off, but I hope the combat, characters, world, story, etc. are a cut above Awakening. I think it is entirely possible that some of those hopes obtain.

 

[kswiston]

Due to a break from gaming while I was doing field research for my Masters degree, I ended up playing Radiant Dawn before Path of Radiance (though I had beaten FE4 and the three GBA titles previously). As such, Path of Radiance sort of felt like a step backwards when I finally played it in 2009. I know people liked the stronger story in POR, but even that is sort of generic by wider non-Fire Emblem rpg standards. Give me more diverse combat and more maps to play in my Fire Emblem games any day. Also, I disliked using Laguz units outside of a few late game exceptions (and the herons), so having a wider variety of regular units was good.

 

[Azuran]

Fire Emblem Awakening as top Fire Emblem is plain sad. At least it is not top 20 .

I think that will be the only axe I have to grind. For the most part I'm just curious what the list will be and I have enjoyed reading people's ballots to inform my "to-play sometime list" and to help choose some Christmas gifts for the RPG-inclined this past holiday. Awakening, however, can go die in a hole . Here's to hoping I don't feel the same way about Fates!

I wasn't planning on voting for Awakening at first since it left a lot to be desired but it was kinda hard not to when I put almost 300 hours into that game. It was still a great game at the end of the day. I also love the expanded marriage mechanics so I perfectly know I'm one of those people. I'm actually happy to see Awakening so high seeing how people love to crap on it on this site.

I still place PoR above it thought!

 

[leroidys]

Due to a break from gaming while I was doing field research for my Masters degree, I ended up playing Radiant Dawn before Path of Radiance (though I had beaten FE4 and the three GBA titles previously). As such, Path of Radiance sort of felt like a step backwards when I finally played it in 2009. I know people liked the stronger story in POR, but even that is sort of generic by wider non-Fire Emblem rpg standards. Give me more diverse combat and more maps to play in my Fire Emblem games any day. Also, I disliked using Laguz units outside of a few late game exceptions (and the herons), so having a wider variety of regular units was good.

Gameplay and maps are derfinitely better in RD, but I liked the length, characters, and support convos in PoR better. I essentially consider them two halves of a whole though, except when I have to make a distinction, such as in rating threads like these

I hope they do an NX HD release or something. I'd be a little sad to see the prices of my copies plummet, but it would be worth it to get more people to Telius.

 

[Spieler Eins]

Big drop for TWEWY. I always want to replay it, but then don't bring myself to delete my 100% file, despite such a huge time gap since my first playthrough. Screw games without multiples save files...

 

[kswiston]

I wasn't planning on voting for Awakening at first since it left a lot to be desired but it was kinda hard not to when I put almost 300 hours into that game. It was still a great game at the end of the day. I also love the expanded marriage mechanics so I perfectly know I'm one of those people. I'm actually happy to see Awakening so high seeing how people love to crap on it on this site.

I still place PoR above it thought!

Being that these threads focus on recommending people games, I do think that Awakening is (for now) the easiest game in the Fire Emblem series to recommend to newbies. You don't have to mess around with often incomplete translations and unofficial emulation (FE1-6 + FE12). It's not $60-100 for used copies (Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn). It has by far the best production values of the remaining handheld options, and it is probably the most beginner friendly game in the series (especially for people who don't play SPRGs).

 

[Unai]

So, top 5 PC is:

1. Dark Souls
2. Fallout New Vegas
3. The Witcher III: Wild Hunt
4. Planescape: Torment
5. Baldur's Gate II

Souls fine by me.

Edit: Oh shit, I forgot that Final Fantasy VI and VII are PC games now too.

 

[kswiston]

I think the top 20 is the most balanced Japan vs the West list we have had in many years.

 

[Farks!]

OP, how's the result posts coming along?

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

OP, how's the result posts coming along?

Getting some stuff done for it. I should have write ups for the Top 5-10 done today.

I'd also like to put out a call for some soundtrack suggestions. I'm planning to have links for a few tracks from each game in the post as in the past (for the main list, as well as obviously for the soundtrack list as well), so if anyone has suggestions (preferably with Youtube links), that would be much appreciated. I have some ideas for games that I've played/have strong affinity for the soundtracks for, but for a lot of them I don't necessarily have any ideas, so any suggestions would help.

 

[MoonFrog]

I wasn't planning on voting for Awakening at first since it left a lot to be desired but it was kinda hard not to when I put almost 300 hours into that game. It was still a great game at the end of the day. I also love the expanded marriage mechanics so I perfectly know I'm one of those people. I'm actually happy to see Awakening so high seeing how people love to crap on it on this site.

I still place PoR above it thought!

Tbh, I'm not one of those "dating sim=worst thing ever" people. I am perhaps embarrassed to admit, but when I was first playing Awakening the idea of cultivating a relationship between a FE avatar and a FE girl was attractive. The thing is, I tried sooo many supports and none of them spoke to me but at the same time I could see their 'type'-pandering. That really turned me off. It was better with other characters because then I would just choose based on what sort of units seemed like good parents for the kids. I felt the supports in FE 6-9 a lot more and Awakening characters did not even feel like FE characters to me. They seemed designed towards modern dating sim sensibilities as opposed to Fire Emblem tradition, which makes sense when you consider the development 'place and time' Awakening occupied.

I guess my point as to "dating sim" is I have to be able to a) enjoy it while doing it and b) walk away and think that the relationships are cool even when I'm not looking at the cute anime girls. There has to be something more there that I can respect. It would also help if I respected the wider game more because whenever I do complain about "Awakening as dating sim" it is really a complaint about Awakening as "dating sim that doesn't satisfy me" and "weak Fire Emblem."

As to mechanics of marriage, the children are much better done in SnK as part of the story and they also play better. If I ever play Awakening again (doubtful), I plan to play a no children (other than Lucina) game. They link up poorly with the support system the game was pushing and their stats are just monstrous. No children would also be a good excuse to avoid certain gaiden for my completionist self .

But yeah, I don't mean to shit on people who voted for Awakening or anything. I just wanted to state my unhappiness with where FE is and what it has become and how it is doing better than ever (within the community) despite moving in a direction I, as a particular sort of hardcore FE fan, really really don't like. If you like Awakening, that is undoubtedly the better position to be in .

 

[RespectThySole]

Getting some stuff done for it. I should have write ups for the Top 5-10 done today.

I'd also like to put out a call for some soundtrack suggestions. I'm planning to have links for a few tracks from each game in the post as in the past (for the main list, as well as obviously for the soundtrack list as well), so if anyone has suggestions (preferably with Youtube links), that would be much appreciated. I have some ideas for games that I've played/have strong affinity for the soundtracks for, but for a lot of them I don't necessarily have any ideas, so any suggestions would help.

Here's a few suggestions for The Witcher 3:

Silver for Monsters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQS4o_bYA_M

Fields of Ard Skellig

https://youtube.com/watch?v=gokhBJWSjeM

You're Immortal

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4biaG1GkNVA

Whispers of Oxenfurt

https://youtube.com/watch?v=mWuycrTNnaU

Ladies of the Wood

https://youtube.com/watch?v=J8J9HXcOxrs

 

[Neoleo2143]

I guess my point as to "dating sim" is I have to be able to a) enjoy it while doing it and b) walk away and think that the relationships are cool even when I'm not looking at the cute anime girls. There has to be something more there that I can respect. It would also help if I respected the wider game more because whenever I do complain about "Awakening as dating sim" it is really a complaint about Awakening as "dating sim that doesn't satisfy me" and "weak Fire Emblem."

As to mechanics of marriage, the children are much better done in SnK as part of the story and they also play better. If I ever play Awakening again (doubtful), I plan to play a no children (other than Lucina) game. They link up poorly with the support system the game was pushing and their stats are just monstrous. No children would also be a good excuse to avoid certain gaiden for my completionist self .

I actually dislike SnK for effectively replacing all the good characters the game had with pretty generic ones that aren't elaborated on. I will say mechanically they are handled better but when I think about how they get the items they do, it makes little sense from a plot perspective. The reason that children in Awakening are handled poorly from a mechanical perspective is the necessity to grind to get them up to speed for the most part. Some like Lucina and Severa are perfectly fine, others like Inigo and Gerome, are terrible.

I suppose the part about "respectability" is entirely subjective. I actually like a couple relationships in Awakening, Chrom and Sully is a rather good one, Sumia and Robin is another. I don't think Awakening is a good dating sim as much as it is a decent role playing shipping mechanic.

They're nothing compared to stuff like Xander/Corrin and I also find a large bit of the cast of Fates quite a bit more interesting than Awakening, but that's besides the point.

 

[Lothar]

Getting some stuff done for it. I should have write ups for the Top 5-10 done today.

I'd also like to put out a call for some soundtrack suggestions. I'm planning to have links for a few tracks from each game in the post as in the past (for the main list, as well as obviously for the soundtrack list as well), so if anyone has suggestions (preferably with Youtube links), that would be much appreciated. I have some ideas for games that I've played/have strong affinity for the soundtracks for, but for a lot of them I don't necessarily have any ideas, so any suggestions would help.

Nier

Gods Bound By Rules
Hills of Radiant Winds
City of Commerce
Grandma
Wretched Automatons
Ultimate Weapon

Someone who was wanting me to play Nier sold me on the game by linking me to the Gods Bound By Rules song, so that has to be in it.

Persona 4

I'll Face Myself
Heartbreak, Heartbreak

Final Fantasy 7

Main Theme

Final Fantasy Tactics

Trisection
Chapel
Battle on the Bridge
Decisive Battle

Final Fantasy 6

Terra's Theme
Searching For Friends
Dancing Mad

Chrono Trigger

Corridors of Time

 

[MoonFrog]

I actually dislike SnK for effectively replacing all the good characters the game had with pretty generic ones that aren't elaborated on. I will say mechanically they are handled better but when I think about how they get the items they do, it makes little sense from a plot perspective. The reason that children in Awakening are handled poorly from a mechanical perspective is the necessity to grind to get them up to speed for the most part. Some like Lucina and Severa are perfectly fine, others like Inigo and Gerome, are terrible.

I suppose the part about "respectability" is entirely subjective. I actually like a couple relationships in Awakening, Chrom and Sully is a rather good one, Sumia and Robin is another. I don't think Awakening is a good dating sim as much as it is a decent role playing shipping mechanic.

They're nothing compared to stuff like Xander/Corrin and I also find a large bit of the cast of Fates quite a bit more interesting than Awakening, but that's besides the point.

Spoiler

Death of Sigurd and revenge story arc is much better than the time traveling. That is probably the most ambitious story FE has ever told and the game had the chops to support it. Maybe the Tellius games rival it in terms of ambition, but I'd say RD fumbled on the execution. Meanwhile, in a series of charming but simple and repeating stories Awakening stands out as the silliest imo. And then, yes, the children are mechanically worse. Could SnK benefit from today's production values, card space, etc?Sure, but I'd still take the broad strokes of that story plus the better mechanics any day.

As to "respectability," I don't think it is entirely subjective or if it is, it is not so in the relativist way subjectivity is commonly used (which is by no means what sophisticated subjectivisms posit). I think there are better and worse relationships and that there are more genuine and more 'pandering' ways of developing them. Awakening struck me as towards the latter in each case, in general and in comparison to other Fire Emblems. I'm open to there being counter examples. I thought some of the characters were better than others too (can't really remember who exactly; it has been a while). Perhaps I am wrong about Awakening, but I do think there is a truth of the matter either way.

Generally, the impression I get from Awakening is that it wants to be something culturally relevant to today as opposed to just being Fire Emblem. I feel I am reinforced in this belief by its massive resurgence in Japan and by IS's own narrative on its development as FEs last chance to find relevance or be a dead series. Maybe there is a depth to the cast that I am missing? But this was my take away back in 2013 or whenever the game came out. Either way, I'd still miss silly old old-school FE anyway.

 

[Neoleo2143]

As to "respectability," I don't think it is entirely subjective or if it is, it is not so in the relativist way subjectivity is commonly used (which is by no means what sophisticated subjectivisms posit). I think there are better and worse relationships and that there are more genuine and more 'pandering' ways of developing them. Awakening struck me as towards the latter in each case, in general and in comparison to other Fire Emblems. I'm open to there being counter examples. I thought some of the characters were better than others too (can't really remember who exactly; it has been a while). Perhaps I am wrong about Awakening, but I do think there is a truth of the matter either way.

Generally, the impression I get from Awakening is that it wants to be something culturally relevant to today as opposed to just being Fire Emblem. I feel I am reinforced in this belief by its massive resurgence in Japan and by IS's own narrative on its development as FEs last chance to find relevance or be a dead series. Maybe there is a depth to the cast that I am missing? But this was my take away back in 2013 or whenever the game came out. Either way, I'd still miss silly old old-school FE anyway.

My view of SnK is mostly influenced by my study of the Volsung Saga of which Genealogy takes many, many inspirations from. Pretty much all the major points of the game are directly taken from this story and slightly remixed in a way, only there was a lack of cultural context that really gave the original story meaning. Genealogy only lightly touches on these ideas for the most part outside its "twists". That's probably why I'm not favorable to it as much as others.

Now I don't hold Awakening in high regard either as an FE game but I prefer to have "death of the author" be the order of the day. So that stuff about the restructuring of FE hasn't bothered me especially as I took a hard look at all the games and the characters.

 

[zero shift]

I think the top 20 is the most balanced Japan vs the West list we have had in many years.

I feel that this thread had more RPG purists voting in it rather than just gamers who also play RPGs at times.

 

[Dad]

Some OST suggestions

Mass Effect
The Presidium
The Wards
Spectre Induction
Noveria
Uncharted Worlds
Vigil
M4 Part II

Mass Effect 2
The Illusive Man
Humans Are Disappearing
The Normandy Reborn
Suicide Mission
Reflections

Dark Souls
Firelink Shrine
Ornstein & Smough
Great Grey Wolf Sif
Gravelord Nito
Gwyn, Lord of Cinder
Nameless Song

Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger
Memories of Green
Yearning of the Wind
Frog's Theme
At the Bottom of Night
Corridors of Time
Black Dream

Xenoblade Chronicles
Main Theme
Memories
Confrontation with the Enemy
Unfinished Battle
Colony 9
Gaur Plains
Satorl Marsh (Night)
Mechanical Rhythm

Undertale
Snowdin Town
Shop
Bonetrousel
Dummy!
Another Medium
Spider Dance
Undertale
Hopes and Dreams

Fire Emblem: Awakening
Don't Speak Her Name!
What If I'm Not Worthy of Her Ideals?
Conquest
Conquest (Ablaze)
Id (Purpose)
Id (Hope)

 

[MoonFrog]

My view of SnK is mostly influenced by my study of the Volsung Saga of which Genealogy takes many, many inspirations from. Pretty much all the major points of the game are directly taken from this story and slightly remixed in a way, only there was a lack of cultural context that really gave the original story meaning. Genealogy only lightly touches on these ideas for the most part outside its "twists". That's probably why I'm not favorable to it as much as others.

Now I don't hold Awakening in high regard either as an FE game but I prefer to have "death of the author" be the order of the day. So that stuff about the restructuring of FE hasn't bothered me especially as I took a hard look at all the games and the characters.

I get that. It is unappealing to encounter unrigorous, misleading usage of something you take seriously and even study. I hate, say, encountering Plato in literature or god forbid a politician's speech. Anime tends to be dripping with this stuff from talk of the bible to philosophy to Norse sagas, etc.

That said, the world and the conflict of the Jugdral games (and I'd say the Tellius games: PoR being my personal favorite as a simple, classic tale done well) are a cut above typical Fire Emblem and particularly Awakening, which I see at the bottom of that list. That is undoubtedly less impressive when you see the source material but I don't think that changes its actual quality. That SnK takes straight from Western classics, even if it is a poor man's version, could very well be why it has a better story.

As to "death of the author:" My reaction to Awakening's style was also prior to my discovery and rationalization of why that might be. I didn't like the style and felt the change before I figured out why it might have occurred. I'm not attached to the intent of IS so much as I find it interesting that my own reaction is in line with IS's intent. A work will probably not entirely reflect the intent of the author and yes it should be examined on its own terms. That said, realizing that the author intended what you experienced supports, imo, that it may be there. Something of the intent may shine through. I believe this point is very different from arguing from intent to the nature of the content.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

I've started updating the op. I've got the first 10 games up there now (didn't think I'd need to eat through two posts for that, so I guess I might have gotten a little overly ambitious). I'll still probably be doing some editing for that stuff, and changing things around, but I wanted to at least have something to show for it. And I'll probably go back and change a couple of images out later, but I thought it would be good to get things up and show people how I'm thinking of doing things (although later entries will need to be shorter lest I use up every post by #25).

Let me know what you think of it.

And if the entries aren't enough for you right now, I've also got some more results here:
51(t). Final Fantasy IV
51(t). The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
53. Skies of Arcadia:
54(t). The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
54(t). Chrono Cross
56(t). Xenoblade Chronicles X
56(t). Pillars of Eternity
58(t). Shadowrun: Dragonfall
58(t). Alpha Protocol
60(t). Mario & Luigi: Suuperstar Saga
60(t). South Park: The Stick of Truth
60(t). Paper Mario
63(t). Baldur's Gate
63(t). Fire Emblem 7: Blazing Sword
63(t). Valkyrie Profile
66(t). Fallout 3
66(t). Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
68. Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer
69(t). Might & Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven
69(t). Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
69(t). Final Fantasy V

There's a lot to parse here, obviously. First of all, we have two new debuts for the year tied in Xenoblade Chronicles X and Pillars of Eternity. Very different games, and long anticipated, but both couldn't quite manage Top 50 support. On the other hand, we have two older games making the Top 100 for the first time in South Park: The Stick of Truth and Might & Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven, perhaps making this the first time those two games have been mentioned in the same sentence. South Park benefits from a general Obsidian/Black Isle wave, with a large chunk of their games making the Top 100, and many hitting all time highs. Might & Magic took a slower path up the chart, but it built up steady support. It marks not just its first time this high, but the first time the franchise as a whole has reached this level. Fallout 3, on the other hand, is moving in the opposite direction. And Skyrim drops out of the Top 50 for the first time, a far cry from its Top 5 debut in 2012.

The release of Trails in the Sky SC seems to have helped the original rebound from a low year last year, but it's still below where it was in the 2013 thread. Neverwinter Nights 2 has been the model of consistency in recent years, always charting at right around the same spot.

 

[Aaronrules380]

To be fair, X suffered from launching at the end of the year and being super fucking long, not to mention being on the wii u as everyone knew the system is on the way out. It would most likely have done better had the voting taken place later in the year

 

[leroidys]

Vagrant Story and PDS not even in the top 70. smdh

 

[Ekai]

Vagrant Story and PDS not even in the top 70. smdh

Never played Vagrant Story. I did vote for PDS though. That game is quite good. Tho not even half of my top 30 have placed yet. I think 12 of them have a place now? So I may have cursed the game by voting for it.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Voted for PDS quite high too. Did my part. But the poor game has no chance.

 

[KuwabaraTheMan]

The massive asking price on the game is probably the biggest thing holding Panzer Dragoon Saga back. Without a more affordable version available, it may well continue to slip down the charts. (It missed the Top 100 by a single vote this year)

 

[orthodoxy1095]

Wait, did Radiant Historia really not make the top 50?

Y'all have trash taste.

Spoiler

Kidding. Sort of

 

[Ekai]

The massive asking price on the game is probably the biggest thing holding Panzer Dragoon Saga back. Without a more affordable version available, it may well continue to slip down the charts. (It missed the Top 100 by a single vote this year)

A sad truth. I mean, it's only at a low low price of 450 dollars right now. You'd think more would have shelled out to play it.
Butt really, that game needs to be more readily available. It's such a gem. It was in my consideration for all 3 categories, easily.

 

[zero shift]

Why is Might & Magic VI getting so popular being that it is such an old game?

To be fair, X suffered from launching at the end of the year and being super fucking long, not to mention being on the wii u as everyone knew the system is on the way out. It would most likely have done better had the voting taken place later in the year

I feel that X will continue to fall. I just don't think the game will have that much lasting appeal.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

I feel that X will continue to fall. I just don't think the game will have that much lasting appeal.

Agreed. I'm curious what happens to Pillars though, seeing that they have a similar placement on the list. I feel like X will fall, but Pillars could rise a few spots.

 

[leroidys]

The massive asking price on the game is probably the biggest thing holding Panzer Dragoon Saga back. Without a more affordable version available, it may well continue to slip down the charts. (It missed the Top 100 by a single vote this year)

Yeah, definitely. Should be Sega's #1 priority for a re-release or remaster IMHO.

 

[Thores]

I've started updating the op. I've got the first 10 games up there now (didn't think I'd need to eat through two posts for that, so I guess I might have gotten a little overly ambitious). I'll still probably be doing some editing for that stuff, and changing things around, but I wanted to at least have something to show for it. And I'll probably go back and change a couple of images out later, but I thought it would be good to get things up and show people how I'm thinking of doing things (although later entries will need to be shorter lest I use up every post by #25).

Let me know what you think of it.

The writeups are fantastic so far. Comprehensive, informative, and I love the addition of user review quotes. It's an honor to have my quote used for Persona 4!

I do miss the gorgeous kswiston graphics. Not only did they look great, they delivered so much info in a single image per game. And it's worth noting that if the supplementary info like rank, platform, and Essential Awards were in the image instead of text, you would have had an extra 1300 characters to work with in your first two posts. Possibly more actually, since I'm not counting the amount of characters taken up by having to use three urls per game for the images, instead of one.

That said, your use of images is still quite functional and your posts look really solid overall. I seriously hope I don't sound ungrateful, because I love what I'm seeing so far and I'm really impressed with the amount of work you've put into the Top 10 alone. It just would have been nice if an image editing wizard had volunteered to collaborate with you on the pictures side of things. Maybe next year!

I hope that feedback came off as constructive feedback instead of mean. My overall takeaway was very positive, and I'm looking forward to seeing how the final product turns out!

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Vagrant Story and PDS not even in the top 70. smdh

I was helping!

But like I said last year, Matsuno's benchmark-setting glory days fades further and further into the past, blunting their "path not taken" vibe they had 5, 10 years ago. Plus you have his recent games being very lo-fi, which is very different from the at-the-time mechanics and cinematic tour-de-forces.

In addition to that, outside of TO and FFT, get largely passed over for rerelease.

A sad truth. I mean, it's only at a low low price of 450 dollars right now. You'd think more would have shelled out to play it.
Butt really, that game needs to be more readily available. It's such a gem. It was in my consideration for all 3 categories, easily.

And that comes from its insane rarity.