That is insanely generous. Wow.
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NeoGAF's Essential RPGs: 2017-2018 edition - Vote open until Oct 13th - Win Free RPGs
- Thread starter kswiston
- Start date
That is insanely generous. Wow.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
200?? Typo?
Like you, I spent the majority of my time on something else ( MMOs before 2010s ) and barely caught up with most of the classics. Looking at your list, it seems that you have played much more RPGs than me anyway though I did beat Chrono Trigger haha.
Alright, I'm voting. Write ups to follow.
--VOTE INFO START
<FULL POINT GAMES 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT 3 points} Mother 3
{UNDERRATED 4 points} Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Final Fantasy VI
Chrono Trigger
Witcher 3
Final Fantasy XII
Planescape: Torment
Persona 4
Bloodborne
Dragon Quest VIII
<HONORABLE MENTIONS 1 point>
Mass Effect 2
Golden Sun
Undertale
Earthbound
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Divinity: Original Sin
Dark Souls
Shadowrun: Dragonfall
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Terranigma
--VOTE INFO END--
--VOTE INFO START
<FULL POINT GAMES 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT 3 points} Mother 3
{UNDERRATED 4 points} Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Final Fantasy VI
Chrono Trigger
Witcher 3
Final Fantasy XII
Planescape: Torment
Persona 4
Bloodborne
Dragon Quest VIII
<HONORABLE MENTIONS 1 point>
Mass Effect 2
Golden Sun
Undertale
Earthbound
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Divinity: Original Sin
Dark Souls
Shadowrun: Dragonfall
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Terranigma
--VOTE INFO END--
Tbh half of why I post post-voting is to bump and hope someone sees the title on the front page, take notice, and participate
.The other half is that voting and then reading ballots makes me think about this stuff and consider why I voted how I did.
EDIT: Just saw this:
I have been waiting fervently to play Cosmic Star Heroine, but I was holding off on picking it up until the Limited Run physical copies released.
Just because of this post, though, I will pick it up right now on Steam, and I should have enough time to finish it before October 13.
-----
Whew, finally got a chance to read through most of the entries so far. A ton of great choices! And some games that I still, even after all these years, have never heard of. I have them in a .txt now and will check them out in a bit.
It's interesting how you've framed Dragon Quest as a series "with a long history of innovation with respect to the overall structure" of the narrative and the scenarios within it - because it's absolutely true. DQIV and DQV are two of the most interesting RPG narratives I've ever played through, so it's incredibly bizarre that the series has such a reputation for staleness and tradition. DQIV in particular would be considered experimental if it dropped today, much less in 1990.
DQIII has a sort of "elder statesman" classic vibe to it that makes it my favorite in the series - it's just so well-designed, well-paced, and well-structured, truly a sweeping adventure in every sense of the word. But DQIV is my second-favorite in the series, and to be honest I think it might be the actual best game (setting aside my personal preference for III).
The great thing about the chapter structure is that it doesn't just affect the story - it affects the gameplay as well, sometimes in very interesting ways. Torneko's chapter in particular is one of my favorite RPG scenarios.
Also worth mentioning is the villain, who is my favorite one in the series. Tragic and relatable to an extent, plus a great fight too.
To anyone interested in playing DQIV, I would recommend playing the Mobile version (iOS/Android). The DS version cut the party chat, which is a huge deal, and is the majority of the way that the cast get their character development. That's a major part of this game, which is probably the most character-driven entry in the series.
I have never played a DBZ RPG, but this gif and write-up sold me. Will definitely check this out.
Licensed property RPGs, when the stars align and they actually turn out decent, are always incredibly underrated. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is another good example.
Wow, that's a bold statement! But Panzer Dragoon Saga is a game that can certainly live up to that. Absolutely incredible game, and I'm glad to see it's already been mentioned a handful of times.
I would say the game is a good length for the kind of story it wants to tell, so in that respect I wouldn't call its short playtime a flaw. The real flaw is, spoilers for one section of the game,
Not saying that's a major problem or anything though; it's one of the best games I've ever played, in any genre, and made my own RPG list.
I think, in the very real sense that game design itself is an "art" separate from other disciplines like written storytelling and cinematography, I definitely agree with this statement. Dragon Quarter is so densely, and yet so elegantly, designed, that there's a sense of real inspiration and virtuosity just from seeing how all its systems come together - it's the kind of hand-crafted, artisan's touch that people love in other games as well, most recently the Souls series. It would easily make my list of the 10 most well-designed video-games I've played, and in this thread it got my "Underrated on GAF" vote.
Dragon Force is a perfect candidate for the underrated vote (just like the Saturn as a whole, to be honest; probably my second-favorite game system behind the SNES). Panzer Dragoon Saga at least has the notoriety of being ridiculously expensive, and also had the two previous Panzer games it built off of. Dragon Force, on the other hand, is this bizarre, one-off game (at least as far as I know), and is still expensive but not legendarily so.
Fantastic game though, and well-deserving of a playthrough for SRPG fans. SRPGs aren't my favorite subgenre by any means, but Dragon Force is one of the stronger ones I've played.
I miss games in the style of Dragon Force and Tactics Ogre: Person of Lordly Caliber. I always preferred those grand warfare campaigns to the more skirmish-oriented SRPGs that became the bread and butter of the subgenre. And, on the other side of the spectrum, the colossal simulation games like Total War were always too time-consuming and complex for me to really get into.
Glad to see another vote for Ultima IV, and an underrated highlight too! I agree that it's a shame that many of the concepts in Ultima IV weren't iterated upon, even in its own series. One of my issues with Ultima VII - which is still a stone-cold classic, don't get me wrong - is that it abandoned Ultima IV's moral systems, to instead focus on world-simulation systems. Too bad the moral stuff was never integrated back in.
If I ever humbly tried my hand at making an RPG, it would borrow heavily from the structure of Ultima IV. Who knows, maybe one day...
Great write-up of FFVIII. This came very close to making my Top 10, but I decided to give it an extended write-up in my Honorable Mention section instead. Absolutely, far and away, my favorite Final Fantasy game, and I've played all the mainline ones. The themes of love and time are so well-integrated into every aspect of the narrative (and, maybe even more importantly, the gameplay), and it plays with some surprisingly deep themes. Part of the reason I love FFVIII, though, is because it plays with these themes in a much subtler way than you'd expect; it has a surface level of messiness and adolescent drama that hides a core of great thematic development and understated character work.
I didn't even mention the soundtrack in my own write-up, and I probably should have - it's arguably the best one in the series. VI and VII might have more highs for me, but VIII's is arguably more consistent. The ending song, coupled with that amazing FMV, might legitimately be the best moment in the series.
This is purely anecdotal, but it seems that as time goes by, more and more people come into the franchise and gravitate towards appreciating FFVIII rather than trashing it. I think it will ultimately be vindicated by history, if it hasn't been already.
I didn't mention this on my own list, but I'm glad that you did, because it's an incredible game and definitely at least my 4th favorite RPG on the SNES behind Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, and FFVI. I know "4th favorite" doesn't sound like much, but on the SNES that's a pretty big deal. In fact there's a huge drop-off after Terranigma - it's in the same ballpark as the three above it, rather than the many below it.
The only thing that holds Terranigma back for me is the combat - it's certainly serviceable, but I just never found it particularly great, and several of the boss fights ended up a bit frustrating. It has one of the most interesting stories I've seen in a game, though, and "heartbreaking" is definitely how I would describe the ending. It's a hell of an ending, straight-up iconic in my opinion.
Shame that we never officially got it over here in the West, otherwise I feel like it would get a lot more love.
I really need to play this. There are unfortunately a good number of WRPG classics that I'm overall not too fond of, but this is one of the ones that I literally have never even touched. Hopefully I'll get on that soon! I've heard so many good things about it.
YES, you can say criminally underrated! The balls-to-the-wall gameplay of an arcade game, couched in an RPG adventure, and sprinkled with one of the most rocking soundtracks in the genre. I think in terms of pure gameplay, RPGs don't get much better than this.
The new Ys is an awesome game, a real return to form, but I think Felghana is still the gold standard.
---
Keep them coming, guys! Looking forward to reading through the rest of the thread.
This will pretty much be my rationale for posting further in this thread, as well. Once in a while just give it a little gas in the tank if it's getting low. Every time it gets bumped, it seems like there's usually a couple more entries.
I have been waiting fervently to play Cosmic Star Heroine, but I was holding off on picking it up until the Limited Run physical copies released.
Just because of this post, though, I will pick it up right now on Steam, and I should have enough time to finish it before October 13.
-----
Whew, finally got a chance to read through most of the entries so far. A ton of great choices! And some games that I still, even after all these years, have never heard of. I have them in a .txt now and will check them out in a bit.
It's interesting how you've framed Dragon Quest as a series "with a long history of innovation with respect to the overall structure" of the narrative and the scenarios within it - because it's absolutely true. DQIV and DQV are two of the most interesting RPG narratives I've ever played through, so it's incredibly bizarre that the series has such a reputation for staleness and tradition. DQIV in particular would be considered experimental if it dropped today, much less in 1990.
DQIII has a sort of "elder statesman" classic vibe to it that makes it my favorite in the series - it's just so well-designed, well-paced, and well-structured, truly a sweeping adventure in every sense of the word. But DQIV is my second-favorite in the series, and to be honest I think it might be the actual best game (setting aside my personal preference for III).
The great thing about the chapter structure is that it doesn't just affect the story - it affects the gameplay as well, sometimes in very interesting ways. Torneko's chapter in particular is one of my favorite RPG scenarios.
Also worth mentioning is the villain, who is my favorite one in the series. Tragic and relatable to an extent, plus a great fight too.
To anyone interested in playing DQIV, I would recommend playing the Mobile version (iOS/Android). The DS version cut the party chat, which is a huge deal, and is the majority of the way that the cast get their character development. That's a major part of this game, which is probably the most character-driven entry in the series.
{UNDERRATED – 4 points}
2) Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans
Extremely underrated title. If you're a fan of DBZ, you cannot pass on this title. It's ideal for those who prefer the original saga, but longtime fans should enjoy this too.
There's nothing 'special' about the battle system, however it is very competent and the graphics and animations were very well designed.
I have never played a DBZ RPG, but this gif and write-up sold me. Will definitely check this out.
Licensed property RPGs, when the stars align and they actually turn out decent, are always incredibly underrated. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is another good example.
Wow, that's a bold statement! But Panzer Dragoon Saga is a game that can certainly live up to that. Absolutely incredible game, and I'm glad to see it's already been mentioned a handful of times.
I would say the game is a good length for the kind of story it wants to tell, so in that respect I wouldn't call its short playtime a flaw. The real flaw is, spoilers for one section of the game,
the sewer section where you fly around as Azel and Edge. The section was important to get some character development for Azel, but it could've been a lot shorter and not much of value would be lost. Especially considering the game is short enough as-is.
I think, in the very real sense that game design itself is an "art" separate from other disciplines like written storytelling and cinematography, I definitely agree with this statement. Dragon Quarter is so densely, and yet so elegantly, designed, that there's a sense of real inspiration and virtuosity just from seeing how all its systems come together - it's the kind of hand-crafted, artisan's touch that people love in other games as well, most recently the Souls series. It would easily make my list of the 10 most well-designed video-games I've played, and in this thread it got my "Underrated on GAF" vote.
Dragon Force is a perfect candidate for the underrated vote (just like the Saturn as a whole, to be honest; probably my second-favorite game system behind the SNES). Panzer Dragoon Saga at least has the notoriety of being ridiculously expensive, and also had the two previous Panzer games it built off of. Dragon Force, on the other hand, is this bizarre, one-off game (at least as far as I know), and is still expensive but not legendarily so.
Fantastic game though, and well-deserving of a playthrough for SRPG fans. SRPGs aren't my favorite subgenre by any means, but Dragon Force is one of the stronger ones I've played.
I miss games in the style of Dragon Force and Tactics Ogre: Person of Lordly Caliber. I always preferred those grand warfare campaigns to the more skirmish-oriented SRPGs that became the bread and butter of the subgenre. And, on the other side of the spectrum, the colossal simulation games like Total War were always too time-consuming and complex for me to really get into.
Glad to see another vote for Ultima IV, and an underrated highlight too! I agree that it's a shame that many of the concepts in Ultima IV weren't iterated upon, even in its own series. One of my issues with Ultima VII - which is still a stone-cold classic, don't get me wrong - is that it abandoned Ultima IV's moral systems, to instead focus on world-simulation systems. Too bad the moral stuff was never integrated back in.
If I ever humbly tried my hand at making an RPG, it would borrow heavily from the structure of Ultima IV. Who knows, maybe one day...
Great write-up of FFVIII. This came very close to making my Top 10, but I decided to give it an extended write-up in my Honorable Mention section instead. Absolutely, far and away, my favorite Final Fantasy game, and I've played all the mainline ones. The themes of love and time are so well-integrated into every aspect of the narrative (and, maybe even more importantly, the gameplay), and it plays with some surprisingly deep themes. Part of the reason I love FFVIII, though, is because it plays with these themes in a much subtler way than you'd expect; it has a surface level of messiness and adolescent drama that hides a core of great thematic development and understated character work.
I didn't even mention the soundtrack in my own write-up, and I probably should have - it's arguably the best one in the series. VI and VII might have more highs for me, but VIII's is arguably more consistent. The ending song, coupled with that amazing FMV, might legitimately be the best moment in the series.
This is purely anecdotal, but it seems that as time goes by, more and more people come into the franchise and gravitate towards appreciating FFVIII rather than trashing it. I think it will ultimately be vindicated by history, if it hasn't been already.
Terranigma is a truly special game. Its uniqueness shines through in every respect. From the story filled with twists, turns and surprises, to the addicting and fun Zelda-esque gameplay, to the ever growing depth in creating the new history of a world. It's a shame that North America did not get this game during the SNES era, for I am certain that if it had we would all be looking back on Terranigma as one of the greatest SNES games of all time. In my opinion it is THE best SNES game. It's also heartbreaking.
I didn't mention this on my own list, but I'm glad that you did, because it's an incredible game and definitely at least my 4th favorite RPG on the SNES behind Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, and FFVI. I know "4th favorite" doesn't sound like much, but on the SNES that's a pretty big deal. In fact there's a huge drop-off after Terranigma - it's in the same ballpark as the three above it, rather than the many below it.
The only thing that holds Terranigma back for me is the combat - it's certainly serviceable, but I just never found it particularly great, and several of the boss fights ended up a bit frustrating. It has one of the most interesting stories I've seen in a game, though, and "heartbreaking" is definitely how I would describe the ending. It's a hell of an ending, straight-up iconic in my opinion.
Shame that we never officially got it over here in the West, otherwise I feel like it would get a lot more love.
I really need to play this. There are unfortunately a good number of WRPG classics that I'm overall not too fond of, but this is one of the ones that I literally have never even touched. Hopefully I'll get on that soon! I've heard so many good things about it.
{UNDERRATED – 4 points} Ys: The Oath in Felghana
Can I say Criminally underrated? I'm talking about the Ys series as a whole. A picture about 'what I expected vs. what I got' sold me on this game last year and within a year I've completed all Ys games except for the newest (damn you delay). The game is solid fun, hectic and very skill-based. The dungeon bosses are a really amazing crossover between a hack and slash and a bullet hell shooter. I guess you could compare it to a semi-3D Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance with some Nier:Automata bosses. Remember that amazing soundtrack from Metal Gear Rising? RULES OF NATURE!!! This game is packed to the brim with epic metal music complementing every hectic section of this game. Give this game untill the end of the first dungeon to decide if you like it. I'm positive it'll win you over. And when you're done with it, try Ys: Origin. Ys: Origin extremely similar and holds up greatly next to this game.
YES, you can say criminally underrated! The balls-to-the-wall gameplay of an arcade game, couched in an RPG adventure, and sprinkled with one of the most rocking soundtracks in the genre. I think in terms of pure gameplay, RPGs don't get much better than this.
The new Ys is an awesome game, a real return to form, but I think Felghana is still the gold standard.
---
Keep them coming, guys! Looking forward to reading through the rest of the thread.
Tbh half of why I post post-voting is to bump and hope someone sees the title on the front page, take notice, and participate
This will pretty much be my rationale for posting further in this thread, as well. Once in a while just give it a little gas in the tank if it's getting low. Every time it gets bumped, it seems like there's usually a couple more entries.
BlueBadger
Banned
My first time posting in this Super excited! Here we go!
This game was my first real RPG memory, and the first Final Fantasy I ever played. Honestly, I was (and still am) blown away by it. I know that for whatever reason, FFVIII is somewhat polarizing among Final Fantasy fans, but the things that make it polarizing are among the things I happen to love about it. I was hooked from disc 1 all the way to disc 4, and it was what got me into the Final Fantasy series to begin with.
Why is this an essential RPG? There are a plethora of reasons. To start with, I really do think that the soundtrack is one of the best I've ever heard. Fisherman's Horizon, Martial Law, and Balamb Garden are just a few incredible tracks (as well as the iconic Eyes On Me, of course). The cast is fun and super memorable. The world is absolutely beautiful, and I really enjoyed that it was a different take on Final Fantasy. The battle system was different and could be customized to the player, and the junction system was unique. I think it's something everyone should experience at least once, even if you decide that it's not your cup of tea.
I'm not sure how much acclaim this series gets, especially since it's a bit of an older series now (GBA), but when I started playing the Battle Network series (particularly the first three games), I was hooked. The third game was my choice because out of all the games, I found it to be the most interesting story wise, and it had an incredible soundtrack and a fun battle system that wasn't overly complicated. I feel like this game is underrated, because I don't really see people talk about it much. However, it's an incredible game, really fun and super addicting.
I'm one of the people who has actually never played The Thousand-Year Door (please don't judge me LOL. I actually just got my hands on a physical copy and will be playing it sometime before the end of this year). However, this game is associated with some really fond memories for me. I played this game every summer right after school ended for the year. Again, this is another game with an incredible soundtrack, a super cute aesthetic, and different partners that you get to use with Mario. Probably my favourite parts of the game were also in between chapters, when you got to play as Princess Peach.
While I haven't played The Thousand-Year Door and can't make much of a comparison, I thought this game was amazing, and should be considered essential as the very first of the Paper Mario games.
I invested 100 hours into this game. The funny thing is, it didn't feel at all like I had put such a huge amount of time into it, because I had such a blast. I was genuinely sad when I finished the game, because I so badly wanted there to be more. I feel like Persona 5 is easily one of the RPGs of the year, and an incredible addition to the series. It adds that element of darkness back to Persona that I feel might have been somewhat lacking in Persona 4 (I loved Persona 4 just as much as 5, but for different reasons). The soundtrack (particularly the battle theme and some of the last palace tracks) is incredible, with a great storyline full of plot twists and a really fun and playful cast. Games in the Persona series, and the latest addition in particular, should be considered essential because it's a great experience to play around with the social link system in conjunction with the dungeon phases. Persona 5 is also easily accessible to gamers who are not as hardcore and really play to enjoy the story.
I don't even know where to begin with this generation of Pokemon. Generation II was apparently supposed to be the last of the Pokemon games. However, due to its insane success, we have more generations added to the series than we could have imagined. Because this was supposed to be the last hurrah, the game was loaded with reasons to love it. You can't really go wrong when the game allows you to go through the entire Johto region, followed by the entire Kanto region and epic battles throughout. This game introduced the concept of roaming legendaries, which gives me a heart attack every time. The music was incredible (special shout out to Ecruteak City's theme), and I loved the two legendary birds. I consider this an essential RPG because you get to enjoy two amazing generations of Pokemon in just one game.
Just when it seemed like Digimon had gotten phased out of the Western World, Bandai Namco provided us with this gem of a game. I've been a Digimon fan for as long as I can remember, and the moment I heard that this game was coming to the West, I was so excited. Despite how hyped I was, this game absolutely did not disappoint me. It was one of the best RPG's I had ever played, from the incredible storyline and soundtrack, all the way to my obsession with training and raising my favourite Digimon in the series as my party members. This game is essential, because I feel like it re-opened the floodgates to Digimon in the Western world again. We are expecting the sequel to Cyber Sleuth in the near future, and we have received Digimon Next Order since then. I can hardly wait to play the sequel.
Despite the fact that this game is actually quite a few years old, I only finally got around to playing it within the last year. One of my best friends (thank you Wazzy <3) had highly recommended it to me, and I picked up a physical copy on Amazon shortly after, since she never seems to be wrong when she recommends me games based on my preferences. Once again, she was spot on. This game has an amazing soundtrack and an awesome duo-storyline that you as the main character jumps through to arrive at the ultimate conclusion. This game is essential because I feel like all RPG lovers should experience this two-storyline system.
I'm going to start off by saying that the main reason why I selected Golden over the original Persona 4 is because I have an obsession with playing things on a portable system (thank you Vita <3). I try not to compare this game to Persona 5 too much, because I feel like the games are both equally good for different reasons. This game is loaded with really cool dungeons and music, plus a really fun cast to social link with. I'd say this one is particularly essential, especially for people looking to get into the Persona series, because this one became the face of the franchise for a really long time. It's got some great spin-off games, too.
I've played a few Tales games (Symphonia, Abyss and Zestiria), and this was the very first one of the three that I played. As a result, there could be a slight edge of nostalgia for me, but I really did find this game to be a lot of fun, and I really loved the art style (I played it on GC). The world, battle system, and music makes this game something I think all RPG lovers should try.
This was one of the first games I ever played for PS2. This game took me on a massive emotional journey, and I find that it affects me emotionally even more so now that I'm an adult. It also gave rise to one of my favourite characters in the whole Final Fantasy series (Rikku is kweeeeeen). The soundtrack is amazing, and the design of some of the aeons/summons were amazing. Special shout-out to Besaid, because I love just about anything tropical, and I have to say I really loved how the game ended. Final Fantasy X is great for newer gamers, IMO. I say this because I find that this is one of the first Final Fantasy games that has a bit more of a linear system, so it's not as easy to get lost but you still get to enjoy what makes an RPG great. Also, really love the sphere grid system.
-- VOTE INFO START --
<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT – 3 points} Final Fantasy VIII
{UNDERRATED – 4 points} MegaMan Battle Network 3
Paper Mario 64
Persona 5
Pokemon Gold
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
Radiant Historia
Persona 4 Golden
Tales of Symphonia
Final Fantasy X
<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Final Fantasy IX - Really wanted to include this in my top 10, because I love it just as much as VIII and X. But I find that how the trance system works and the speed of the battle system are two things that are hard for me to get behind fully.
Kingdom Hearts - Not a massive fan of the story, but the gameplay and music cannot be denied. So fun.
Parasite Eve - I only played the first one, but really had a blast with it and loved the premise behind it.
Ys VII - I bought this on my Vita and loved it. Looking forward to opening the new one.
MegaMan Battle Network 2 - Just as good as 3, IMO. I can't stress how good this series is.
Pokemon X - This game is massive. Really great for someone who's into nice graphics and has never gotten into Pokemon before.
Persona 3 Portable - I've only played the female protagonist's story line, and I loved it so much.
-- VOTE INFO END --
Super excited! Here we go!1. Final Fantasy VIII
This game was my first real RPG memory, and the first Final Fantasy I ever played. Honestly, I was (and still am) blown away by it. I know that for whatever reason, FFVIII is somewhat polarizing among Final Fantasy fans, but the things that make it polarizing are among the things I happen to love about it. I was hooked from disc 1 all the way to disc 4, and it was what got me into the Final Fantasy series to begin with.
Why is this an essential RPG? There are a plethora of reasons. To start with, I really do think that the soundtrack is one of the best I've ever heard. Fisherman's Horizon, Martial Law, and Balamb Garden are just a few incredible tracks (as well as the iconic Eyes On Me, of course). The cast is fun and super memorable. The world is absolutely beautiful, and I really enjoyed that it was a different take on Final Fantasy. The battle system was different and could be customized to the player, and the junction system was unique. I think it's something everyone should experience at least once, even if you decide that it's not your cup of tea.
2. MegaMan Battle Network 3[Underrated]
I'm not sure how much acclaim this series gets, especially since it's a bit of an older series now (GBA), but when I started playing the Battle Network series (particularly the first three games), I was hooked. The third game was my choice because out of all the games, I found it to be the most interesting story wise, and it had an incredible soundtrack and a fun battle system that wasn't overly complicated. I feel like this game is underrated, because I don't really see people talk about it much. However, it's an incredible game, really fun and super addicting.
3. Paper Mario (64)
I'm one of the people who has actually never played The Thousand-Year Door (please don't judge me LOL. I actually just got my hands on a physical copy and will be playing it sometime before the end of this year). However, this game is associated with some really fond memories for me. I played this game every summer right after school ended for the year. Again, this is another game with an incredible soundtrack, a super cute aesthetic, and different partners that you get to use with Mario. Probably my favourite parts of the game were also in between chapters, when you got to play as Princess Peach.
While I haven't played The Thousand-Year Door and can't make much of a comparison, I thought this game was amazing, and should be considered essential as the very first of the Paper Mario games.
4. Persona 5
I invested 100 hours into this game. The funny thing is, it didn't feel at all like I had put such a huge amount of time into it, because I had such a blast. I was genuinely sad when I finished the game, because I so badly wanted there to be more. I feel like Persona 5 is easily one of the RPGs of the year, and an incredible addition to the series. It adds that element of darkness back to Persona that I feel might have been somewhat lacking in Persona 4 (I loved Persona 4 just as much as 5, but for different reasons). The soundtrack (particularly the battle theme and some of the last palace tracks) is incredible, with a great storyline full of plot twists and a really fun and playful cast. Games in the Persona series, and the latest addition in particular, should be considered essential because it's a great experience to play around with the social link system in conjunction with the dungeon phases. Persona 5 is also easily accessible to gamers who are not as hardcore and really play to enjoy the story.
5. Pokemon Gold
I don't even know where to begin with this generation of Pokemon. Generation II was apparently supposed to be the last of the Pokemon games. However, due to its insane success, we have more generations added to the series than we could have imagined. Because this was supposed to be the last hurrah, the game was loaded with reasons to love it. You can't really go wrong when the game allows you to go through the entire Johto region, followed by the entire Kanto region and epic battles throughout. This game introduced the concept of roaming legendaries, which gives me a heart attack every time. The music was incredible (special shout out to Ecruteak City's theme), and I loved the two legendary birds. I consider this an essential RPG because you get to enjoy two amazing generations of Pokemon in just one game.
6. Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
Just when it seemed like Digimon had gotten phased out of the Western World, Bandai Namco provided us with this gem of a game. I've been a Digimon fan for as long as I can remember, and the moment I heard that this game was coming to the West, I was so excited. Despite how hyped I was, this game absolutely did not disappoint me. It was one of the best RPG's I had ever played, from the incredible storyline and soundtrack, all the way to my obsession with training and raising my favourite Digimon in the series as my party members. This game is essential, because I feel like it re-opened the floodgates to Digimon in the Western world again. We are expecting the sequel to Cyber Sleuth in the near future, and we have received Digimon Next Order since then. I can hardly wait to play the sequel.
7. Radiant Historia
Despite the fact that this game is actually quite a few years old, I only finally got around to playing it within the last year. One of my best friends (thank you Wazzy <3) had highly recommended it to me, and I picked up a physical copy on Amazon shortly after, since she never seems to be wrong when she recommends me games based on my preferences. Once again, she was spot on. This game has an amazing soundtrack and an awesome duo-storyline that you as the main character jumps through to arrive at the ultimate conclusion. This game is essential because I feel like all RPG lovers should experience this two-storyline system.
8. Persona 4 Golden
I'm going to start off by saying that the main reason why I selected Golden over the original Persona 4 is because I have an obsession with playing things on a portable system (thank you Vita <3). I try not to compare this game to Persona 5 too much, because I feel like the games are both equally good for different reasons. This game is loaded with really cool dungeons and music, plus a really fun cast to social link with. I'd say this one is particularly essential, especially for people looking to get into the Persona series, because this one became the face of the franchise for a really long time. It's got some great spin-off games, too.
9. Tales of Symphonia
I've played a few Tales games (Symphonia, Abyss and Zestiria), and this was the very first one of the three that I played. As a result, there could be a slight edge of nostalgia for me, but I really did find this game to be a lot of fun, and I really loved the art style (I played it on GC). The world, battle system, and music makes this game something I think all RPG lovers should try.
10. Final Fantasy X
This was one of the first games I ever played for PS2. This game took me on a massive emotional journey, and I find that it affects me emotionally even more so now that I'm an adult. It also gave rise to one of my favourite characters in the whole Final Fantasy series (Rikku is kweeeeeen). The soundtrack is amazing, and the design of some of the aeons/summons were amazing. Special shout-out to Besaid, because I love just about anything tropical, and I have to say I really loved how the game ended. Final Fantasy X is great for newer gamers, IMO. I say this because I find that this is one of the first Final Fantasy games that has a bit more of a linear system, so it's not as easy to get lost but you still get to enjoy what makes an RPG great. Also, really love the sphere grid system.
-- VOTE INFO START --
<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT – 3 points} Final Fantasy VIII
{UNDERRATED – 4 points} MegaMan Battle Network 3
Paper Mario 64
Persona 5
Pokemon Gold
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
Radiant Historia
Persona 4 Golden
Tales of Symphonia
Final Fantasy X
<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Final Fantasy IX - Really wanted to include this in my top 10, because I love it just as much as VIII and X. But I find that how the trance system works and the speed of the battle system are two things that are hard for me to get behind fully.
Kingdom Hearts - Not a massive fan of the story, but the gameplay and music cannot be denied. So fun.
Parasite Eve - I only played the first one, but really had a blast with it and loved the premise behind it.
Ys VII - I bought this on my Vita and loved it. Looking forward to opening the new one.
MegaMan Battle Network 2 - Just as good as 3, IMO. I can't stress how good this series is.
Pokemon X - This game is massive. Really great for someone who's into nice graphics and has never gotten into Pokemon before.
Persona 3 Portable - I've only played the female protagonist's story line, and I loved it so much.
-- VOTE INFO END --
First time participant in Essential RPG:s vote, extending a thanks to the organizers!
--VOTE INFO START—
<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT – 3 points} The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
{UNDERRATED – 4 points} Skies of Arcadia
Shenmue II
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Planescape: Torment
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VI
Yakuza 5
Valkyria Chronicles
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Shenmue
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Final Fantasy IX
Pillars of Eternity
Shadowrun: Returns
Fallout 4
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Mass Effect 2
Yakuza 4
Yakuza 3
--VOTE INFO END--
--VOTE INFO START—
<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT – 3 points} The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
{UNDERRATED – 4 points} Skies of Arcadia
Shenmue II
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Planescape: Torment
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VI
Yakuza 5
Valkyria Chronicles
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Shenmue
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Final Fantasy IX
Pillars of Eternity
Shadowrun: Returns
Fallout 4
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Mass Effect 2
Yakuza 4
Yakuza 3
--VOTE INFO END--
OcarinaOfDoom
Member
<FULL POINT GAMES 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT 3 points} Persona 4
Not only is Persona 4 my favorite RPG of all time, its my favorite game of all time. Perhaps my favorite thing about Persona 4 is its amazing cast of characters, which the game allows to shine with tying in the characters personalities with the dungeons, and then converting that into strong Social Links. Although Persona 4 doesnt have the strongest gameplay of the games Ive listed, the characters and setting have stuck with me for so long, and the amount of times Ive played through this game is too high for me to not put it as my highlight.
Persona 5
Persona 5 manages to follow up on Persona 4 by improving on the core gameplay formula on the series immensely. Dungeons are no longer randomly-generated which allows for stronger level design within the dungeons themselves, and revamping the Social Link system into the Confidant system gives players even more incentive to forge bonds thanks to the various bonuses provided.
Persona 3
By this point, it shouldnt be a shock that I like the modern Persona games, and 3 is no different. 3 features a relatively dark story and manages to pull it off wonderfully, as it is my favorite story in the franchise. Perhaps the biggest issue with Persona 3 is the fact that there is no true definitive version of the game, as both FES and Portable have exclusive features. Still, both versions still manage to be excellent in their own right thanks to the strong story and characters.
Xenoblade Chronicles
As one of the final big releases on the Wii, Xenoblade Chronicles was truly stunning. With a vast and expansive world as well as a load of various sidequests to do, Xenoblade is a game that can take a long amount of time, but is amazing for every single part.
Mother 3
Mother 3 not having a Western release is still disappointing, as the game manages to make the player feel emotions in a way that most games cannot. Mother 3 can go from the charming and quirky style that Earthbound is known for to a somber, emotional moment quickly, and manages to handle the transition well.
Earthbound
Earthbound features a quirky, unique style and charm to it that is nearly impossible to replicate. Thanks to this style, Earthbound manages to be fun at every moment, as you never know what crazy event can happen next.
Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
Trails of Cold Steel is a game with a strong cast, and a compelling story to boot. The gameplay is fun and allows for players to really plan out decisions and utilize the various mechanics in a great way, as manipulating turn order can be key in the game itself. With a neat variety in locations and environments, Cold Steel manages to feel fresh with every new chapter.
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
The Thousand Year Door takes the foundation laid by the original Paper Mario and makes it better. The game still holds up well, and provides a strong cast of characters and memorable moments.
Super Mario RPG
Super Mario RPG set the standard for all future Mario RPGs, and the game still holds up to this day. Mario RPG introduced some of the mechanics present in future Mario RPGs such as Action Commands to deal more damage from attacks.
Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest
Although Conquest has a story that is laughably bad at best, the gameplay and map design manages to carry it onto my top ten. Conquest is difficult, but not unfair, and the game feels like vintage Fire Emblem with a few of the newer features.
<HONORABLE MENTIONS 1 point>
Pokemon Platinum
Platinums biggest strength is perhaps the difficulty of the Champion, as I havent received a challenge like that in a Pokemon game in a while. Platinum manages to tell an acceptable story without it feeling like it interrupts or slows down standard gameplay.
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy Xs sphere grid allows for players to truly customize their characters and take them in different directions, adding replay value if players want to experiment with different builds.
Final Fantasy VII
An all time great, Final Fantasy VII features a strong narrative and felt ahead of its era. Even now, the game is still playable and manages to still feel excellent.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Skyrim is one of those games that seemingly gets another release every year, and for a good reason. With so much to do and see, Skyrim is a fantastic experience.
Fire Emblem
As the first Fire Emblem game released in Western territories, FE7 managed to introduce players to the franchise in a great way. Still holds up well as what I consider to be the best GBA Fire Emblem.
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE
Despite being the subject of criticism and confusion on its official reveal, Tokyo Mirage Sessions is great to play. The Session system is great to use and provides you with tons of satisfaction as you chain attacks together.
Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver
Gen 2 is a fan favorite for a good reason, as the game manages to squeeze two whole regions into one game. Having Pokemon follow you is something that still needs to be brought back, and the games final battle is one of the best in all of gaming.
Fire Emblem: Awakening
Awakening revitalized the Fire Emblem franchise partly thanks to its marriage mechanics, which are fun to mess around with and add tons of replay value as you experiment with different combinations.
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Path of Radiance is another classic Fire Emblem experience with a strong story and strong strategic gameplay.
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Persona Q manages to take the fan favorite characters of Persona 3 and 4, and although some of them arent given the best portrayal, the game still manages to be great fanservice. The gameplay is solid as well.
--VOTE INFO START
<FULL POINT GAMES 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT 3 points} Persona 4
Persona 3
Persona 5
Xenoblade Chronicles
Earthbound
Mother 3
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Super Mario RPG
<HONORABLE MENTIONS 1 point>
Pokemon Platinum
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy VII
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Fire Emblem
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Fire Emblem: Awakening
Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE
--VOTE INFO END--
{HIGHLIGHT 3 points} Persona 4
Not only is Persona 4 my favorite RPG of all time, its my favorite game of all time. Perhaps my favorite thing about Persona 4 is its amazing cast of characters, which the game allows to shine with tying in the characters personalities with the dungeons, and then converting that into strong Social Links. Although Persona 4 doesnt have the strongest gameplay of the games Ive listed, the characters and setting have stuck with me for so long, and the amount of times Ive played through this game is too high for me to not put it as my highlight.
Persona 5
Persona 5 manages to follow up on Persona 4 by improving on the core gameplay formula on the series immensely. Dungeons are no longer randomly-generated which allows for stronger level design within the dungeons themselves, and revamping the Social Link system into the Confidant system gives players even more incentive to forge bonds thanks to the various bonuses provided.
Persona 3
By this point, it shouldnt be a shock that I like the modern Persona games, and 3 is no different. 3 features a relatively dark story and manages to pull it off wonderfully, as it is my favorite story in the franchise. Perhaps the biggest issue with Persona 3 is the fact that there is no true definitive version of the game, as both FES and Portable have exclusive features. Still, both versions still manage to be excellent in their own right thanks to the strong story and characters.
Xenoblade Chronicles
As one of the final big releases on the Wii, Xenoblade Chronicles was truly stunning. With a vast and expansive world as well as a load of various sidequests to do, Xenoblade is a game that can take a long amount of time, but is amazing for every single part.
Mother 3
Mother 3 not having a Western release is still disappointing, as the game manages to make the player feel emotions in a way that most games cannot. Mother 3 can go from the charming and quirky style that Earthbound is known for to a somber, emotional moment quickly, and manages to handle the transition well.
Earthbound
Earthbound features a quirky, unique style and charm to it that is nearly impossible to replicate. Thanks to this style, Earthbound manages to be fun at every moment, as you never know what crazy event can happen next.
Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
Trails of Cold Steel is a game with a strong cast, and a compelling story to boot. The gameplay is fun and allows for players to really plan out decisions and utilize the various mechanics in a great way, as manipulating turn order can be key in the game itself. With a neat variety in locations and environments, Cold Steel manages to feel fresh with every new chapter.
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
The Thousand Year Door takes the foundation laid by the original Paper Mario and makes it better. The game still holds up well, and provides a strong cast of characters and memorable moments.
Super Mario RPG
Super Mario RPG set the standard for all future Mario RPGs, and the game still holds up to this day. Mario RPG introduced some of the mechanics present in future Mario RPGs such as Action Commands to deal more damage from attacks.
Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest
Although Conquest has a story that is laughably bad at best, the gameplay and map design manages to carry it onto my top ten. Conquest is difficult, but not unfair, and the game feels like vintage Fire Emblem with a few of the newer features.
<HONORABLE MENTIONS 1 point>
Pokemon Platinum
Platinums biggest strength is perhaps the difficulty of the Champion, as I havent received a challenge like that in a Pokemon game in a while. Platinum manages to tell an acceptable story without it feeling like it interrupts or slows down standard gameplay.
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy Xs sphere grid allows for players to truly customize their characters and take them in different directions, adding replay value if players want to experiment with different builds.
Final Fantasy VII
An all time great, Final Fantasy VII features a strong narrative and felt ahead of its era. Even now, the game is still playable and manages to still feel excellent.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Skyrim is one of those games that seemingly gets another release every year, and for a good reason. With so much to do and see, Skyrim is a fantastic experience.
Fire Emblem
As the first Fire Emblem game released in Western territories, FE7 managed to introduce players to the franchise in a great way. Still holds up well as what I consider to be the best GBA Fire Emblem.
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE
Despite being the subject of criticism and confusion on its official reveal, Tokyo Mirage Sessions is great to play. The Session system is great to use and provides you with tons of satisfaction as you chain attacks together.
Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver
Gen 2 is a fan favorite for a good reason, as the game manages to squeeze two whole regions into one game. Having Pokemon follow you is something that still needs to be brought back, and the games final battle is one of the best in all of gaming.
Fire Emblem: Awakening
Awakening revitalized the Fire Emblem franchise partly thanks to its marriage mechanics, which are fun to mess around with and add tons of replay value as you experiment with different combinations.
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Path of Radiance is another classic Fire Emblem experience with a strong story and strong strategic gameplay.
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Persona Q manages to take the fan favorite characters of Persona 3 and 4, and although some of them arent given the best portrayal, the game still manages to be great fanservice. The gameplay is solid as well.
--VOTE INFO START
<FULL POINT GAMES 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT 3 points} Persona 4
Persona 3
Persona 5
Xenoblade Chronicles
Earthbound
Mother 3
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Super Mario RPG
<HONORABLE MENTIONS 1 point>
Pokemon Platinum
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy VII
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Fire Emblem
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Fire Emblem: Awakening
Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE
--VOTE INFO END--
I always vote Xenosaga and Terranigma every year, eh. Too bad I doubt they will rank anywhere near top 100.
These are not ranked in any way, except for the two highlighted games.
Panzer Dragoon Saga (HIGHLIGHT)
This is not a perfect game by any means: it has some needless backtracking, and once you've mastered the combat system, which happens fairly quickly, you realize that finding a copy of this game is far harder than beating it. But it's certainly not from your typical JRPG, and the most beautiful overall experience I've had with a role-playing game. A divine soundtrack, great world and character design, a wholly original combat system. Play this with the Saturn 3d controller and it will feel unlike anything else in the genre.
Final Fantasy VIII (UNDERRATED)
Underrated is maybe too strong for a multi-million selling blockbuster RPG. "Needlessly vilified by many" may be a better choice of words. Love the soundtrack, the world design, the story and the bonkers leveling system that hides a lot of freedom behind a linear façade. A bold and original game, and the last entry in the series that felt truly fresh. I have something I like about every Final Fantasy, but VIII will always be special.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (SC)
The whole sub-series should really count as a single game, but if I have to choose one, Second Chapter it is. SC repeats the slow buildup structure of FC, but offers a stronger narrative and simply more of everything. Beautiful melodramatic JRPG with characters that you can root for, a very solid combat system and an incredibly well-developed game world. The only "classic" JRPG of the past ten years or so that has really impressed me. I played all three chapters back to back on the PS3, putting in 300 hours or so, and it never felt boring.
Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Dense, cohesive WRPG with really good writing and character design and solid gameplay. I just hope Harebrained Schemes will make more of these one day. I prefer the setting and the level design of Hong Kong over Dragonfall, which has the stronger characters, but really, it's a coin flip.
Persona 5
Polished, stylish and fun, and set in Tokyo, too. The logical culmination of the series.
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (1)
This is another short series that should count as a single game. FF-style narrative meets SMT-style combat meets cannibal cyber Hinduism set to guitar rock in the rain. So cool.
Nier
Another game that felt wholly original and very refreshing at a time when many JRPG series had ended, or moved to handhelds or begun to feel stagnant. I loved Nier for its soundtrack and overall atmosphere and multiple endings and weird minigames.
Seiken Densetsu 3
So-so gameplay, but this is the one 16-bit world that I can visit again and again and never grow tired of. I adore the art and the soundtrack. None of the SD games that came afterwards could really touch this.
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
A great combat system, and a great world to get lost in.
Jagged Alliance
Still my favorite strategy RPG after all these years. I might be the only one who slightly prefers the first game over the second one. Expanding your territory felt more fun, and the game had more drive.
-- VOTE INFO START--
<FULL POINT GAMES - 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT - 3 points} Panzer Dragoon Saga
{UNDERRATED - 4 points} Final Fantasy VIII
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (SC)
Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Persona 5
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (1)
Nier
Seiken Densetsu 3
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
Jagged Alliance
<HONORABLE MENTIONS - 1 point>
Suikoden V
Lunar SSSC
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy V
Dragon Quest VII
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
Xenogears
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Diablo
Shadowrun: Dragonfall
Panzer Dragoon Saga (HIGHLIGHT)
This is not a perfect game by any means: it has some needless backtracking, and once you've mastered the combat system, which happens fairly quickly, you realize that finding a copy of this game is far harder than beating it. But it's certainly not from your typical JRPG, and the most beautiful overall experience I've had with a role-playing game. A divine soundtrack, great world and character design, a wholly original combat system. Play this with the Saturn 3d controller and it will feel unlike anything else in the genre.
Final Fantasy VIII (UNDERRATED)
Underrated is maybe too strong for a multi-million selling blockbuster RPG. "Needlessly vilified by many" may be a better choice of words. Love the soundtrack, the world design, the story and the bonkers leveling system that hides a lot of freedom behind a linear façade. A bold and original game, and the last entry in the series that felt truly fresh. I have something I like about every Final Fantasy, but VIII will always be special.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (SC)
The whole sub-series should really count as a single game, but if I have to choose one, Second Chapter it is. SC repeats the slow buildup structure of FC, but offers a stronger narrative and simply more of everything. Beautiful melodramatic JRPG with characters that you can root for, a very solid combat system and an incredibly well-developed game world. The only "classic" JRPG of the past ten years or so that has really impressed me. I played all three chapters back to back on the PS3, putting in 300 hours or so, and it never felt boring.
Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Dense, cohesive WRPG with really good writing and character design and solid gameplay. I just hope Harebrained Schemes will make more of these one day. I prefer the setting and the level design of Hong Kong over Dragonfall, which has the stronger characters, but really, it's a coin flip.
Persona 5
Polished, stylish and fun, and set in Tokyo, too. The logical culmination of the series.
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (1)
This is another short series that should count as a single game. FF-style narrative meets SMT-style combat meets cannibal cyber Hinduism set to guitar rock in the rain. So cool.
Nier
Another game that felt wholly original and very refreshing at a time when many JRPG series had ended, or moved to handhelds or begun to feel stagnant. I loved Nier for its soundtrack and overall atmosphere and multiple endings and weird minigames.
Seiken Densetsu 3
So-so gameplay, but this is the one 16-bit world that I can visit again and again and never grow tired of. I adore the art and the soundtrack. None of the SD games that came afterwards could really touch this.
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
A great combat system, and a great world to get lost in.
Jagged Alliance
Still my favorite strategy RPG after all these years. I might be the only one who slightly prefers the first game over the second one. Expanding your territory felt more fun, and the game had more drive.
-- VOTE INFO START--
<FULL POINT GAMES - 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT - 3 points} Panzer Dragoon Saga
{UNDERRATED - 4 points} Final Fantasy VIII
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (SC)
Shadowrun: Hong Kong
Persona 5
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (1)
Nier
Seiken Densetsu 3
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
Jagged Alliance
<HONORABLE MENTIONS - 1 point>
Suikoden V
Lunar SSSC
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy V
Dragon Quest VII
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
Xenogears
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Diablo
Shadowrun: Dragonfall
tiebreaker
Member
Finsihed my list. My top 10 comprised of my most favourite RPGs in no particular order. As for honourable mentions, I picked games that I think deserve more recognition.
Rad Shadow
Banned
Essential RPGs
Top Ten
Final Fantasy 4 Favorite
This is my all-time favorite game that made me a lifelong fan of this genre. I played FF4 when I was only 8 or 9, so nostalgia is a big reason this game hits so close to home. The story might be very cliché now, but for its time it was groundbreaking. I enjoyed the Christian undertones the game portrayed with the main character and his sinful ways before turning to the light. Kain Highwind was cool looking and to this day he is one of my favorite RPG characters. His sprite might have struck a chord with my younger self, but these days I appreciate the internal struggle he dealt with. All in all, I can replay (and have replayed) this game countless times. I have bought it on all of its different platforms and doubt I will ever get tired of this one. If I ever were to have kids, this would be a game Id love to show my kids.
Suikoden 2
Its a shame that the fate of this franchise is in the hands of the Slot Machine Corporation known as Konami. Regardless of how shitty Konami is these days, they used to make quality games. Suikoden 2 is one of the best RPGs out there, and Suikoden 2 gets tons of praise and deservingly so. It took the charm from the first game, mixed in updated sprites and mechanics, threw them into the world that Suikoden 1 introduced and upped the story, characters, intrigue, and charm tenfold. The result was captivating. The story of the 27 true runes and the 108 Stars of Destiny is a classic and if you are a RPG fan thats somehow missed playing this game, do yourself a favor and put this at the top of your Que.
Tactics Ogre
Ah, the older brother of the much more popular Final Fantast Tactics. Tactics Ogre and FFT share a lot of the same creative team, so you can tell that the stories and characters have a similar feel to between them. TO is my personal fav between the two, because the political strife surrounding the game is me expansive. The fact that it adds to the already impressive world of Ogre Battle makes it even better. Getting to fight alongside Paladin Lans again was great, and it was gut-wrenching to see his demise. Things like that are what make a great game, and in this one the characters take center stage. There are so many diverse and interesting characters that you interact with. You need to replay this game multiple times to see each shine in their own, special way. Another great thing is your choices in the game can dramatically swing the course of your adventure. All in all, TO built a perfect tactical game that leaves you wanting more with every step you take.
Tales of Graces f
I like to refer to this game as the Smash Bros of RPGs; at least thats how I try to explain the battle system when showing this game off to friends! Sure, the story is a little corny, but I find it to be quizzically charming. The game starts you off as little kids, and then time skips to the teenage years, where the little kids are less little! The time skip does wonders for crybaby Hubert as he becomes a dual gun-sword-thing wielding bad ass! Just dont step on his glasses after fights please. This game has my favorite battle system in any RPG Ive played. Every direction gives you a different attack, plus you get special arts. This leads to many variations and combinations, so fights are never dull or repetitive. Plus, this is one of those rare games where every character is playable. Even the healers and mages have combos that are cool to pull off. Its just so much fun. I do love the Tales series skits, and this game gets a good blend of serious, aloof and outright comedy with them. Its a gem.
Secret of Mana
By yourself, with some friends, or playing alongside your significant other, Secret of Mana is fun just about any way you play it. Its odd that Square or other companies didnt build off this games multiplayer success, as it pretty much started and ended the couch co-op RPG trend. This game is laced with more of those nostalgia trips that I doubt will ever get old. You get three characters to pick from, but honestly they are similar enough when just fighting to make them interchangeable, magic aside. I loved the weapon system, being able to switch between so many different weapons, each with their own little niche in battles. Some of the best things to do were to get the enemy inflicted with one of your weapons status effects and watching the baddies suffer. The magic system is a tad broken, being able to spam spells one right after the other, but it was fun to level each element up. The game aged surprisingly well, despite some hit boxes being a little off when attacking. Now we are getting a remade game on the PS4? I cant wait to get my hands on it. You know the saying, Time flows like a river, and history repeats.
Suikoden 3 Underappreciated
This is my pick for an underappreciated gem. Its one of those games where you just cant seem to skip the intro anime opening. Its just so beautiful and majestic. Suikoden 2 gets all the love and praise, but Suikoden 3 was just as good. Suikoden 3 broke away from a single protagonist that the first two games followed. This game introduced three main characters initially and a total of six characters that you could control as the game ran its course. While one of the extra characters was more of a joke character and their perspective of the game, the other 5 characters storylines were very strong and well-polished. Personally I liked the story of Christ Lightfellow, the Silver Maiden the most. She goes through some high and lows, but she is accompanied by my favorite character in the Suikoverse, Nash Latkje. After the impact of Suikoden 2, I became hooked on the series. I started googling as much Suikoden goodness as I could find. Eventually, it lead me to discover a game called Suikogaiden. Nash was the main character in these spin offs, and his exploits were awesome. So when he was announced to be a playable character in S3, I was as giddy as a school girl. This game has tons of characters (almost) as cool as Nash. Its well worth a play through.
Wild ARMs
Heres another game with a powerful, unforgettable intro song. The moment you here that whistle, you are hooked. This was a game that was belled as being a game to hold you over until FF7 landed in the states. As it turns out, I ended up liking Wild ARMs so much more than the Squaresoft goldmine. Wild ARMs felt like a game straight out of the SNES era, but with a more modern plot. The three characters you controlled all had their quirks, each was unique and self-sufficient, but they needed each other at the same time. Rudy was the typical silent main that was starting to pop up more often, but he had a tragic backstory and his actions were powerful. He definitely broke away from typical silent mains that are just there for the player to input commands. Jack was the roguish treasure hunter with a knack for quips and his comical sidekick mouse, Hanpan, also helped expand his character. Cecilia was the princess that loved a good hamburger who just so happened to study at the local abbey where she found that she had the power to talk to Guardians, powerful spirits of the land. The three meet and the game really opens up. The western feel and the wonderful sprites and music really make this game pop. Sure, the battles are ugly, but like Biggie said, Im so ugly Im beautiful. Thats Wild ARMs appeal.
Xenogears
Xenogears has a fantastic blend of world building, characters, setting, music, gameplay, innovation, and drama. Its hard to argue that this isnt a timeless classic. The power of the playstation allowed this game to have some really gripping cut scenes that stuck out and stayed swirling in your head and you tried to comprehend the biblical and adult undertones the game portrayed. Fei served as a great main character, one could say he might be one of the greatest main characters in a RPG setting. He was kind, but he had a mysterious side. The game could get confusing with all the branching storylines, flashbacks, and plot twists, but the game deserved a second play through if you didnt get it all the first go around. Battles were fun, and it mixed combo based attacks with giant mech battles to perfection. Some might say the second half was marred by the exposition dump of info thrown at you, but I found it different, yet it didnt take away from the game as a whole. That, plus the second half sees you fight against a Voltron combiner mech and other off the wall plot points, Xenogears earned a spot on this list.
Earthbound
Smile and say Fuzzy Pickles! When you talk about outlandish games, Earthbound has to be mentioned. You fight with a yo-yo, wear baseball caps as armor, use plushie bears to defend yourself, trap zombie with a zombie aroma fly-swatter-glue thing, ride the loch ness monster, and fight the aborted fetus of the final villain Uh, yeah, Earthbound was a radical game, with crazy ideas and they all seemed to mold together in a masterpiece. You can name your characters, your special move, and even your favorite food, Earthbound had boatloads of charm. Its an easy game to play and as you get stronger, you can even skip fights completely and still gain xp points if the enemy you bump into is weaker than you. How neat! The locations you encounter in this game are one of a kind, and it has been hard for any game to come close to copy the feel of this game. The game even came with a strategy guide that had a scratch and sniff cut out. Some of the smells were putrid though, buyers beware!
Persona 4
I wish I was a butterfly
Sorry wrong, Persona! The Persona series got revitalized on the PS2, but thats not to say the earlier installments werent good. In my mind the series has yet to have a main installment be bad. It just so happens that I find Persona 4 as the best of the bunch. I think the story is what really drew me into this game. You dont get many murder mystery RPGs and Persona 4 blended the drama behind the gruesome crimes and the daily life of a teenage crew of Persona-wielding misfits perfectly. After the success of the third Persona, Atlus decided to stick with the school simulator style. You are stuck attending a years worth of school events, so get ready to study, you will need to get good grades if you want to max your stats, no...Seriously! Not only do you attend school, but you have to form friendships with random people in the world so your Persona bonds can get stronger. The cast of playable characters, mixed with the colorful cast of characters you bond with are what make this game truly special. The more you get to know people, the more involved you get with their stories, and some of them are truly a treat to discover. As most teenage dramas go, there are tons of misdemeanor hijinks to be had, but Persona 4 never pretends to be a game for young audiences. There are tons of mature undertones hiding around every corner. There is a constant reminder of the many religions and their Gods and Demons are prevalent due them being your trusty Persona summons throughout the game as well. Theres a ton of things to do in Persona 4, so make sure you set up your calendar and dont miss out!
Honorable Mentions
Tales of Vesperia
Yuri is the man. No nonsense main characters are cool. I wish the PS3 version was translated, but this was the best game on the 360. Its likely the only reason I still own that system. Vesperia was one of the first games I started achievement hunting, so I spent a lot of time in this game. Its a long game, but well worth it.
Tales of the Abyss
The Tales series is usually known for its great battle system and shoddy story or characters that arent too memorable. Abyss gives you Luke, one of the most annoying main characters ever. Hes whiny, spoiled, entitled, and thinks he knows everything. Hes the worst. Luckily, this was the intention of the creators. Luke gets one of the best redemption arcs, Ive ever seen for a character. His life gets thrown upside-down, he is betrayed, his friends leave him, and he gets humbled and starts righting all the wrongs he foolishly did in the past. He turns from ignorant youth to competent leader over the course of the game. It was quite the ride. Well done.
Final Fantasy 6
Widely regarded as one of the best RPGs ever, FF6 is a great game. I replay it every now and then. It has excellent music, and a wonderful cast of characters, one of the largest casts in the series. Kefka was a great villain, but he set such a high bar that I dont feel any FF antagonist since has been able to reach his level of villainy.
Ogre Battle
Fight it out! The Super Nintendo had some obscure gems. Im not even sure how I found this game. Maybe I rented it on a whim or saw an article on one of my Nintendo Power magazines, but Im glad I did get to play it. Ogre Battle happens to be the game that started my strategy guide collection. Its just a shame my dog decided to eat the front cover of that guide, but I still have it to this day; no cover and all.
Breath of the Wild
I love this game! Some might not consider this a RPG, but its close enough dag nabbit! This overtook A Link to the Past as my favorite Zelda game, and I keep finding new things I missed during my first play through. Its one of the most expansive and intricate games Ive ever played. Its the newest game on this list by far. Well deserved.
Final Fantasy XI
FFXI was my life for about 5 years. I know its cliché, but I met so many wonderful people playing this game. It was my first online game and it was a wonderful, frustrating, taxing, infuriating, mind-numbing, euphoric experience. Despite some of its flaws, I wouldnt change anything about my time playing this game.
Chrono Trigger
Square did right when they made this game. This will no doubt be on a lot of peoples list, so Ill just say that I loved to obliterate Gato and his stupid metal joints for hours.
Secret of Evermore
After Secret of Manas success, this game drew me in. There something about this games atmosphere that keeps me entertained every time I play it. It doesnt have as an extensive list of weapons as Mana did, and there is no multiplayer and your only other character you an control is your pet dog, but this game is still loads of fun.
Phantasy Star 4
One of the first RPGs that I played that had artistic anime stills before I even really knew what anime was! This was another trailblazer in the RPG community where the story was ahead of its time. One would have thought that after such a spectacular game, the shining force series was gearing up to be another great RPG franchise. This was the last numbered title in the series. The games that came after this were more online oriented or had other oddities about them; they never followed up on IVs success. Shame
Witcher 3
I never played the Witcher games until the 3rd installment. This game is huge! Im sure I ran around more then I needed to in this game, but I enjoyed trying to explore everything while ignoring the main story. I did this for over 100 hours. Gwent was a lot of fun too.
Unranked Honorable Mentions
Mass Effect 2
Punching female reporters has never been this much fun!
Castlevania: SotN
Crissagrim ruins this game, but dammit if I cant help but use it.
Link to the Past
If you dont go into the dark world, get the hammer, escape, and then explore the world before beating all the dungeons, you are playing this game wrong.
Chrono Cross
I loved when Norris met Norris. The game should have caved in at this exact moment.
Wild ARMs 4
The grid battle system is so much fun. I love manipulating it so that Raquel becomes a death goddess.
Shadow Hearts 2
Yuri Hyuga is back and better than ever! He just has a couple thousand of demons (internal and otherwise) to deal with. You will enjoy the ride.
Alundra
Zelda clones arent always good. This one is.
Grandia
I struggled with which Grandia to nominate. I chose the first game due to Rapp picking his nose sometimes.
Tales of Xillia 2
This game rocks!
Lufia 2
After the first game I thought, man, wouldnt it be cool to see Maxim and companies adventures before Doom Island? Well Taito heard my prayers and then gave me this game which also introduced Dekar. Winning.
End Tally of Systems:
SNES: 9
Genesis: 1
PS1: 8
PS2: 5
360: 1
PS3: 3
PS4: 1
Switch: 1
PC: 1
Oops. Forgot the tldr section.
--VOTE INFO START--
<FULL POINT GAMES - 2 points>
{Highlight - 3 points} FF4
{Underrated - 4 points} Suikoden 3
Suikoden 2
Tactics Ogre
Persona 4
Secret of Mana
Earthbound
Tales of Graces f
Xenogears
Wild Arms
<HONORABLE MENTIONS 1 point>
Breath of the Wild
Tales of Vesperia
Tales of the Abyss
FF6
FFXI
Chrono Trigger
Ogre Battle
Secret of Evermore
Phantasy Star 4
Witcher 3
-UNRANKED HONORABLE MENTIONS-
Tales of Xillia 2
Alundra
A Link to the Past
Lufia 2
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Grandia
Shadow Hearts 2
Mass Effect 2
Wild ARMs 4
Chrono Cross
-VOTE INFO END-
Top Ten
Final Fantasy 4 Favorite
This is my all-time favorite game that made me a lifelong fan of this genre. I played FF4 when I was only 8 or 9, so nostalgia is a big reason this game hits so close to home. The story might be very cliché now, but for its time it was groundbreaking. I enjoyed the Christian undertones the game portrayed with the main character and his sinful ways before turning to the light. Kain Highwind was cool looking and to this day he is one of my favorite RPG characters. His sprite might have struck a chord with my younger self, but these days I appreciate the internal struggle he dealt with. All in all, I can replay (and have replayed) this game countless times. I have bought it on all of its different platforms and doubt I will ever get tired of this one. If I ever were to have kids, this would be a game Id love to show my kids.
Suikoden 2
Its a shame that the fate of this franchise is in the hands of the Slot Machine Corporation known as Konami. Regardless of how shitty Konami is these days, they used to make quality games. Suikoden 2 is one of the best RPGs out there, and Suikoden 2 gets tons of praise and deservingly so. It took the charm from the first game, mixed in updated sprites and mechanics, threw them into the world that Suikoden 1 introduced and upped the story, characters, intrigue, and charm tenfold. The result was captivating. The story of the 27 true runes and the 108 Stars of Destiny is a classic and if you are a RPG fan thats somehow missed playing this game, do yourself a favor and put this at the top of your Que.
Tactics Ogre
Ah, the older brother of the much more popular Final Fantast Tactics. Tactics Ogre and FFT share a lot of the same creative team, so you can tell that the stories and characters have a similar feel to between them. TO is my personal fav between the two, because the political strife surrounding the game is me expansive. The fact that it adds to the already impressive world of Ogre Battle makes it even better. Getting to fight alongside Paladin Lans again was great, and it was gut-wrenching to see his demise. Things like that are what make a great game, and in this one the characters take center stage. There are so many diverse and interesting characters that you interact with. You need to replay this game multiple times to see each shine in their own, special way. Another great thing is your choices in the game can dramatically swing the course of your adventure. All in all, TO built a perfect tactical game that leaves you wanting more with every step you take.
Tales of Graces f
I like to refer to this game as the Smash Bros of RPGs; at least thats how I try to explain the battle system when showing this game off to friends! Sure, the story is a little corny, but I find it to be quizzically charming. The game starts you off as little kids, and then time skips to the teenage years, where the little kids are less little! The time skip does wonders for crybaby Hubert as he becomes a dual gun-sword-thing wielding bad ass! Just dont step on his glasses after fights please. This game has my favorite battle system in any RPG Ive played. Every direction gives you a different attack, plus you get special arts. This leads to many variations and combinations, so fights are never dull or repetitive. Plus, this is one of those rare games where every character is playable. Even the healers and mages have combos that are cool to pull off. Its just so much fun. I do love the Tales series skits, and this game gets a good blend of serious, aloof and outright comedy with them. Its a gem.
Secret of Mana
By yourself, with some friends, or playing alongside your significant other, Secret of Mana is fun just about any way you play it. Its odd that Square or other companies didnt build off this games multiplayer success, as it pretty much started and ended the couch co-op RPG trend. This game is laced with more of those nostalgia trips that I doubt will ever get old. You get three characters to pick from, but honestly they are similar enough when just fighting to make them interchangeable, magic aside. I loved the weapon system, being able to switch between so many different weapons, each with their own little niche in battles. Some of the best things to do were to get the enemy inflicted with one of your weapons status effects and watching the baddies suffer. The magic system is a tad broken, being able to spam spells one right after the other, but it was fun to level each element up. The game aged surprisingly well, despite some hit boxes being a little off when attacking. Now we are getting a remade game on the PS4? I cant wait to get my hands on it. You know the saying, Time flows like a river, and history repeats.
Suikoden 3 Underappreciated
This is my pick for an underappreciated gem. Its one of those games where you just cant seem to skip the intro anime opening. Its just so beautiful and majestic. Suikoden 2 gets all the love and praise, but Suikoden 3 was just as good. Suikoden 3 broke away from a single protagonist that the first two games followed. This game introduced three main characters initially and a total of six characters that you could control as the game ran its course. While one of the extra characters was more of a joke character and their perspective of the game, the other 5 characters storylines were very strong and well-polished. Personally I liked the story of Christ Lightfellow, the Silver Maiden the most. She goes through some high and lows, but she is accompanied by my favorite character in the Suikoverse, Nash Latkje. After the impact of Suikoden 2, I became hooked on the series. I started googling as much Suikoden goodness as I could find. Eventually, it lead me to discover a game called Suikogaiden. Nash was the main character in these spin offs, and his exploits were awesome. So when he was announced to be a playable character in S3, I was as giddy as a school girl. This game has tons of characters (almost) as cool as Nash. Its well worth a play through.
Wild ARMs
Heres another game with a powerful, unforgettable intro song. The moment you here that whistle, you are hooked. This was a game that was belled as being a game to hold you over until FF7 landed in the states. As it turns out, I ended up liking Wild ARMs so much more than the Squaresoft goldmine. Wild ARMs felt like a game straight out of the SNES era, but with a more modern plot. The three characters you controlled all had their quirks, each was unique and self-sufficient, but they needed each other at the same time. Rudy was the typical silent main that was starting to pop up more often, but he had a tragic backstory and his actions were powerful. He definitely broke away from typical silent mains that are just there for the player to input commands. Jack was the roguish treasure hunter with a knack for quips and his comical sidekick mouse, Hanpan, also helped expand his character. Cecilia was the princess that loved a good hamburger who just so happened to study at the local abbey where she found that she had the power to talk to Guardians, powerful spirits of the land. The three meet and the game really opens up. The western feel and the wonderful sprites and music really make this game pop. Sure, the battles are ugly, but like Biggie said, Im so ugly Im beautiful. Thats Wild ARMs appeal.
Xenogears
Xenogears has a fantastic blend of world building, characters, setting, music, gameplay, innovation, and drama. Its hard to argue that this isnt a timeless classic. The power of the playstation allowed this game to have some really gripping cut scenes that stuck out and stayed swirling in your head and you tried to comprehend the biblical and adult undertones the game portrayed. Fei served as a great main character, one could say he might be one of the greatest main characters in a RPG setting. He was kind, but he had a mysterious side. The game could get confusing with all the branching storylines, flashbacks, and plot twists, but the game deserved a second play through if you didnt get it all the first go around. Battles were fun, and it mixed combo based attacks with giant mech battles to perfection. Some might say the second half was marred by the exposition dump of info thrown at you, but I found it different, yet it didnt take away from the game as a whole. That, plus the second half sees you fight against a Voltron combiner mech and other off the wall plot points, Xenogears earned a spot on this list.
Earthbound
Smile and say Fuzzy Pickles! When you talk about outlandish games, Earthbound has to be mentioned. You fight with a yo-yo, wear baseball caps as armor, use plushie bears to defend yourself, trap zombie with a zombie aroma fly-swatter-glue thing, ride the loch ness monster, and fight the aborted fetus of the final villain Uh, yeah, Earthbound was a radical game, with crazy ideas and they all seemed to mold together in a masterpiece. You can name your characters, your special move, and even your favorite food, Earthbound had boatloads of charm. Its an easy game to play and as you get stronger, you can even skip fights completely and still gain xp points if the enemy you bump into is weaker than you. How neat! The locations you encounter in this game are one of a kind, and it has been hard for any game to come close to copy the feel of this game. The game even came with a strategy guide that had a scratch and sniff cut out. Some of the smells were putrid though, buyers beware!
Persona 4
I wish I was a butterfly
Sorry wrong, Persona! The Persona series got revitalized on the PS2, but thats not to say the earlier installments werent good. In my mind the series has yet to have a main installment be bad. It just so happens that I find Persona 4 as the best of the bunch. I think the story is what really drew me into this game. You dont get many murder mystery RPGs and Persona 4 blended the drama behind the gruesome crimes and the daily life of a teenage crew of Persona-wielding misfits perfectly. After the success of the third Persona, Atlus decided to stick with the school simulator style. You are stuck attending a years worth of school events, so get ready to study, you will need to get good grades if you want to max your stats, no...Seriously! Not only do you attend school, but you have to form friendships with random people in the world so your Persona bonds can get stronger. The cast of playable characters, mixed with the colorful cast of characters you bond with are what make this game truly special. The more you get to know people, the more involved you get with their stories, and some of them are truly a treat to discover. As most teenage dramas go, there are tons of misdemeanor hijinks to be had, but Persona 4 never pretends to be a game for young audiences. There are tons of mature undertones hiding around every corner. There is a constant reminder of the many religions and their Gods and Demons are prevalent due them being your trusty Persona summons throughout the game as well. Theres a ton of things to do in Persona 4, so make sure you set up your calendar and dont miss out!
Honorable Mentions
Tales of Vesperia
Yuri is the man. No nonsense main characters are cool. I wish the PS3 version was translated, but this was the best game on the 360. Its likely the only reason I still own that system. Vesperia was one of the first games I started achievement hunting, so I spent a lot of time in this game. Its a long game, but well worth it.
Tales of the Abyss
The Tales series is usually known for its great battle system and shoddy story or characters that arent too memorable. Abyss gives you Luke, one of the most annoying main characters ever. Hes whiny, spoiled, entitled, and thinks he knows everything. Hes the worst. Luckily, this was the intention of the creators. Luke gets one of the best redemption arcs, Ive ever seen for a character. His life gets thrown upside-down, he is betrayed, his friends leave him, and he gets humbled and starts righting all the wrongs he foolishly did in the past. He turns from ignorant youth to competent leader over the course of the game. It was quite the ride. Well done.
Final Fantasy 6
Widely regarded as one of the best RPGs ever, FF6 is a great game. I replay it every now and then. It has excellent music, and a wonderful cast of characters, one of the largest casts in the series. Kefka was a great villain, but he set such a high bar that I dont feel any FF antagonist since has been able to reach his level of villainy.
Ogre Battle
Fight it out! The Super Nintendo had some obscure gems. Im not even sure how I found this game. Maybe I rented it on a whim or saw an article on one of my Nintendo Power magazines, but Im glad I did get to play it. Ogre Battle happens to be the game that started my strategy guide collection. Its just a shame my dog decided to eat the front cover of that guide, but I still have it to this day; no cover and all.
Breath of the Wild
I love this game! Some might not consider this a RPG, but its close enough dag nabbit! This overtook A Link to the Past as my favorite Zelda game, and I keep finding new things I missed during my first play through. Its one of the most expansive and intricate games Ive ever played. Its the newest game on this list by far. Well deserved.
Final Fantasy XI
FFXI was my life for about 5 years. I know its cliché, but I met so many wonderful people playing this game. It was my first online game and it was a wonderful, frustrating, taxing, infuriating, mind-numbing, euphoric experience. Despite some of its flaws, I wouldnt change anything about my time playing this game.
Chrono Trigger
Square did right when they made this game. This will no doubt be on a lot of peoples list, so Ill just say that I loved to obliterate Gato and his stupid metal joints for hours.
Secret of Evermore
After Secret of Manas success, this game drew me in. There something about this games atmosphere that keeps me entertained every time I play it. It doesnt have as an extensive list of weapons as Mana did, and there is no multiplayer and your only other character you an control is your pet dog, but this game is still loads of fun.
Phantasy Star 4
One of the first RPGs that I played that had artistic anime stills before I even really knew what anime was! This was another trailblazer in the RPG community where the story was ahead of its time. One would have thought that after such a spectacular game, the shining force series was gearing up to be another great RPG franchise. This was the last numbered title in the series. The games that came after this were more online oriented or had other oddities about them; they never followed up on IVs success. Shame
Witcher 3
I never played the Witcher games until the 3rd installment. This game is huge! Im sure I ran around more then I needed to in this game, but I enjoyed trying to explore everything while ignoring the main story. I did this for over 100 hours. Gwent was a lot of fun too.
Unranked Honorable Mentions
Mass Effect 2
Punching female reporters has never been this much fun!
Castlevania: SotN
Crissagrim ruins this game, but dammit if I cant help but use it.
Link to the Past
If you dont go into the dark world, get the hammer, escape, and then explore the world before beating all the dungeons, you are playing this game wrong.
Chrono Cross
I loved when Norris met Norris. The game should have caved in at this exact moment.
Wild ARMs 4
The grid battle system is so much fun. I love manipulating it so that Raquel becomes a death goddess.
Shadow Hearts 2
Yuri Hyuga is back and better than ever! He just has a couple thousand of demons (internal and otherwise) to deal with. You will enjoy the ride.
Alundra
Zelda clones arent always good. This one is.
Grandia
I struggled with which Grandia to nominate. I chose the first game due to Rapp picking his nose sometimes.
Tales of Xillia 2
This game lets you play the previous games final bosses. Getting to play as Gaius was rewarding enough.
Lufia 2
After the first game I thought, man, wouldnt it be cool to see Maxim and companies adventures before Doom Island? Well Taito heard my prayers and then gave me this game which also introduced Dekar. Winning.
End Tally of Systems:
SNES: 9
Genesis: 1
PS1: 8
PS2: 5
360: 1
PS3: 3
PS4: 1
Switch: 1
PC: 1
Oops. Forgot the tldr section.
--VOTE INFO START--
<FULL POINT GAMES - 2 points>
{Highlight - 3 points} FF4
{Underrated - 4 points} Suikoden 3
Suikoden 2
Tactics Ogre
Persona 4
Secret of Mana
Earthbound
Tales of Graces f
Xenogears
Wild Arms
<HONORABLE MENTIONS 1 point>
Breath of the Wild
Tales of Vesperia
Tales of the Abyss
FF6
FFXI
Chrono Trigger
Ogre Battle
Secret of Evermore
Phantasy Star 4
Witcher 3
-UNRANKED HONORABLE MENTIONS-
Tales of Xillia 2
Alundra
A Link to the Past
Lufia 2
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Grandia
Shadow Hearts 2
Mass Effect 2
Wild ARMs 4
Chrono Cross
-VOTE INFO END-
Aaronrules380
Member
I get why people like xenogears, but in all honesty as a video game it's kind of shit. Every aspect of actual gameplay was awful, from a flashy battle system that had no actual depth or nuance to a shitty map design and camera that made it super easy to get lost to poor platforming bits
whatever6352
Member
From the OP
8. This is not the place to put down the taste of others, pit WRPGs against JRPGS, or to dispute the definition of a roleplaying game. If you hate Skyrim, or Final Fantasy VII, or Xenoblade, go make a thread to vent.
Not the right place for this but... On the other hand, I love the battle system and never had any issues with the maps or camera. I won't deny there is some bad platforming though.
Aaronrules380
Member
Fair enough and I apologize
Some people place RPG stories over gameplay and map design. Look at Fire Emblem Echoes for a recent example. Great production values and good story by FE standards. Super boring maps. I don't think that there is a wrong way to enjoy games though.
On another note, for those 50ppp people who missed the discussion last night:
I added the banner above to the OP. I will see if I can get the thread title slightly adjusted to attract attention as well.
Despite the fact that we have over 150 posts in this thread, I think that fewer than 50 people qualify for a free copy of Cosmic Star Heroine. Plenty left! Remember that you need to add comments to your lists to qualify for free games.
On another note, for those 50ppp people who missed the discussion last night:
I added the banner above to the OP. I will see if I can get the thread title slightly adjusted to attract attention as well.
Despite the fact that we have over 150 posts in this thread, I think that fewer than 50 people qualify for a free copy of Cosmic Star Heroine. Plenty left! Remember that you need to add comments to your lists to qualify for free games.
Rad Shadow
Banned
Some people place RPG stories over gameplay and map design. Look at Fire Emblem Echoes for a recent example. Great production values and good story by FE standards. Super boring maps. I don't think that there is a wrong way to enjoy games though.
On another note, for those 50ppp people who missed the discussion last night:
I added the banner above to the OP. I will see if I can get the thread title slightly adjusted to attract attention as well.
Despite the fact that we have over 150 posts in this thread, I think that fewer than 50 people qualify for a free copy of Cosmic Star Heroine. Plenty left! Remember that you need to add comments to your lists to qualify for free games.
Wait.
I just submitted my list. What do I have to do to enter this sweepstakes?
You already qualify by posting your ballot.
On another note, for those 50ppp people who missed the discussion last night:
I added the banner above to the OP. I will see if I can get the thread title slightly adjusted to attract attention as well.
Despite the fact that we have over 150 posts in this thread, I think that fewer than 50 people qualify for a free copy of Cosmic Star Heroine. Plenty left! Remember that you need to add comments to your lists to qualify for free games.
Incredibly generous of Robert!
That's very good idea. I'd say 5, including spin-offs. Or 4 without spin-off. Either way that's a lot of extra work to do.
I'm going through some write ups and there's a couple RPG's I really want to try because of them!
A couple are Panzer Dragoon, Dragon Ball Z Attack Of The Saiyans, Paper Mario Thousand Year Door and Shin Megami Nocturne. I'll continue reading through the thread to read and see if there's any other great games I'm missing out on.
I really enjoyed your write up of VIII and almost had to do a double take that it was in the Honorable mentions section! I appreciate that even though it didn't make your top 10 you gave time to it's write up discussing what is special about it and why it deserves a mention. While there is a lot of divisiveness online I still think VIII is one of the most popular entries in Final Fantasy and fans have become a lot more vocal with the release of newer games. Like you, I can only hope that continues especially for such an ambitious game.
I also enjoyed Xenogears combat. I don't think it's the greatest combat system compared to many others but I had fun with the combo's.
A couple are Panzer Dragoon, Dragon Ball Z Attack Of The Saiyans, Paper Mario Thousand Year Door and Shin Megami Nocturne. I'll continue reading through the thread to read and see if there's any other great games I'm missing out on.
Thanks!
I really enjoyed your write up of VIII and almost had to do a double take that it was in the Honorable mentions section! I appreciate that even though it didn't make your top 10 you gave time to it's write up discussing what is special about it and why it deserves a mention. While there is a lot of divisiveness online I still think VIII is one of the most popular entries in Final Fantasy and fans have become a lot more vocal with the release of newer games. Like you, I can only hope that continues especially for such an ambitious game.
I also enjoyed Xenogears combat. I don't think it's the greatest combat system compared to many others but I had fun with the combo's.
Witcher 3: Hands down my favorite WRPG in existence. The writing was sublime, especially considering in the DLC episodes. The characters were a delight, and I personally loved the gameplay. The world felt real and lived in to a degree almost no other game can replicate. The soundtrack was also one of the best there is. This was just an enthralling piece of media and it was crazy they could pull it off.
Diablo 2: Of my entire list, I probably spent more time on Diablo 2 than any other game aside from FFXI. Diablo 2 was crack in game form, and it's connected to so many memories growing up. Creating builds, arming my characters, making friends, and taking on the demons of the underworld just couldn't get any better.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The game eluded me at first, but when I finally dug into it, FFT became one of my favorite Final Fantasies ever. The new translation on the PSP version especially pulls it above many others. The story and setting are just amazing. I love political intrigue, so this is candy to me. The gameplay was perfect for me, too. Not too full of options crazy stuff to do like some latter day SRPGs would get to, but enough there to really dig into.
Final Fantasy VII: I'm not sure there can be any more said than has already been said about FFVII. It's a classic in almost every way. The story was engaging, the music is some of Uematsu's best, and the characters were iconic.
Mass Effect 2: This game scratched a sci-fi itch not too many others could. The characters were wonderful and I loved the focus on them throughout the game. Bioware's strength is in their characters and the way this set up really leaned heavily into that strength. The game also played phenomenally well especially compared to its predecessor.
Dragon Age Origins: I played the hell out of this thing when I first got it. It was one of the first WRPGs to really get me into the genre. Before this I was a JRPG fan mostly and thought WRPGs were mostly bethesda-like stuff. Couldn't get into them. This thing, though, grabbed me and didn't let go. I played three full times through right in a row which is unheard of for me. I loved getting to know the characters and what they'd do if you picked something else. It gave you a very good feel for who they really were when you could see just what would make them tell you to fuck off and leave.
Chrono Trigger: Despite being an SNES game, Chrono Trigger still feels like it hasn't aged a day. Other games on this list that are even from the Playstation era feel dated in some way, but Chrono Trigger was so ahead of its time. It's an amazing journey with crazy good pacing and a heavenly soundtrack that rounds things out. Characters are iconic.
Final Fantasy VIII: This is what got me into JRPGs in a big way. It's largely here because of nostalgia, but I can't help it. I just love this game to pieces. The story and characters just connected with me at the time in my life when I first played. The soundtrack is one of Uematsu's best. Some of the big moments in this game surpass any other Final Fantasy, too.
Persona 4: Even though Persona 3 existed, I still think 4 felt like an amazing breath of fresh air for the RPG genre. It perfected the social link system and the overall story felt so radically different from anything else you could play. Yes, it's basically Scooby Doo and the gang, but where else can you get that? As with any Persona game, the characters are phenomenal. The game oozes with style and heart, too. Music is fresh and great.
Xenogears: This game blew my damned mind when I was younger. It's a foundational game in my life and in my love of JRPGs and games in general. I loved the complex philosophical storyline and the soundtrack is so memorable. It may have had some flaws, but it's still a masterpiece in my mind. There wasn't anything like this before and almost nothing after.
<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT – 3 points} Witcher 3
Diablo 2
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy VII
Mass Effect 2
Dragon Age: Origins
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy VIII
Persona 4
Xenogears
<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Persona 5
Persona 3
Chrono Cross
Diablo 3
Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy IX
Dragon Quest VIII
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Digital Devil Saga 1
Ni No Kuni
--VOTE INFO END--
Diablo 2: Of my entire list, I probably spent more time on Diablo 2 than any other game aside from FFXI. Diablo 2 was crack in game form, and it's connected to so many memories growing up. Creating builds, arming my characters, making friends, and taking on the demons of the underworld just couldn't get any better.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The game eluded me at first, but when I finally dug into it, FFT became one of my favorite Final Fantasies ever. The new translation on the PSP version especially pulls it above many others. The story and setting are just amazing. I love political intrigue, so this is candy to me. The gameplay was perfect for me, too. Not too full of options crazy stuff to do like some latter day SRPGs would get to, but enough there to really dig into.
Final Fantasy VII: I'm not sure there can be any more said than has already been said about FFVII. It's a classic in almost every way. The story was engaging, the music is some of Uematsu's best, and the characters were iconic.
Mass Effect 2: This game scratched a sci-fi itch not too many others could. The characters were wonderful and I loved the focus on them throughout the game. Bioware's strength is in their characters and the way this set up really leaned heavily into that strength. The game also played phenomenally well especially compared to its predecessor.
Dragon Age Origins: I played the hell out of this thing when I first got it. It was one of the first WRPGs to really get me into the genre. Before this I was a JRPG fan mostly and thought WRPGs were mostly bethesda-like stuff. Couldn't get into them. This thing, though, grabbed me and didn't let go. I played three full times through right in a row which is unheard of for me. I loved getting to know the characters and what they'd do if you picked something else. It gave you a very good feel for who they really were when you could see just what would make them tell you to fuck off and leave.
Chrono Trigger: Despite being an SNES game, Chrono Trigger still feels like it hasn't aged a day. Other games on this list that are even from the Playstation era feel dated in some way, but Chrono Trigger was so ahead of its time. It's an amazing journey with crazy good pacing and a heavenly soundtrack that rounds things out. Characters are iconic.
Final Fantasy VIII: This is what got me into JRPGs in a big way. It's largely here because of nostalgia, but I can't help it. I just love this game to pieces. The story and characters just connected with me at the time in my life when I first played. The soundtrack is one of Uematsu's best. Some of the big moments in this game surpass any other Final Fantasy, too.
Persona 4: Even though Persona 3 existed, I still think 4 felt like an amazing breath of fresh air for the RPG genre. It perfected the social link system and the overall story felt so radically different from anything else you could play. Yes, it's basically Scooby Doo and the gang, but where else can you get that? As with any Persona game, the characters are phenomenal. The game oozes with style and heart, too. Music is fresh and great.
Xenogears: This game blew my damned mind when I was younger. It's a foundational game in my life and in my love of JRPGs and games in general. I loved the complex philosophical storyline and the soundtrack is so memorable. It may have had some flaws, but it's still a masterpiece in my mind. There wasn't anything like this before and almost nothing after.
<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT – 3 points} Witcher 3
Diablo 2
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy VII
Mass Effect 2
Dragon Age: Origins
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy VIII
Persona 4
Xenogears
<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Persona 5
Persona 3
Chrono Cross
Diablo 3
Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy IX
Dragon Quest VIII
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Digital Devil Saga 1
Ni No Kuni
--VOTE INFO END--
I tried to limit myself to not including the same series too many times. FFVI, VIII, and XII were hard to push off the list, but I did so in the spirit of variety since I already had three FF games. I also almost replaced Suikoden II with Skies of Arcadia. I know my list would change day by day, so I am just going to leave what I have when I first wrote it. I also didn't include more multiplayer focused RPGs like Crystal Chronicles and Phantasy Star Online.
Hey, don't give up hope. My son liked it a lot.
I haven't gotten a chance to play it yet, but I am sure I will be a big fan once I do! I did buy it for full price and plan to give the key from being in the first 200 posts to a friend who I know will love it and spread the word about it to everyone he knows.
I think it is awesome you are doing the give away so thanks Robert!
Aaronrules380
Member
Totally understand that and I wasn't trying to be judgement all. On echoes I'd say most of the maps are at least serviceable (though A bunch of celiac maps weee utter trash) and the general strategy gameplay was still super fun and rewardingSome people place RPG stories over gameplay and map design. Look at Fire Emblem Echoes for a recent example. Great production values and good story by FE standards. Super boring maps. I don't think that there is a wrong way to enjoy games though.
On another note, for those 50ppp people who missed the discussion last night:
I added the banner above to the OP. I will see if I can get the thread title slightly adjusted to attract attention as well.
Despite the fact that we have over 150 posts in this thread, I think that fewer than 50 people qualify for a free copy of Cosmic Star Heroine. Plenty left! Remember that you need to add comments to your lists to qualify for free games.
Cosmic Star looks pretty neat so people in 200 getting it free is really awesome!
I'm the same in how I limited my top 10 format. I only allowed for two mainline Final Fantasy games and one non-mainline that was different enough, that being Tactics. I also decided on only one Persona game because I feel like once you enjoy one of them you'll enjoy the majority of them, especially with 3-5.
Speaking of Skies of Arcadia, I own it, just recently bought a Dreamcast but never played it. I'm wondering if I should start finally or Vandal Hearts II since the tactical system was intriguing. I also kind of want Vandal Hearts if it heavily ties into II but if not I'll go back to it later.
I'm the same in how I limited my top 10 format. I only allowed for two mainline Final Fantasy games and one non-mainline that was different enough, that being Tactics. I also decided on only one Persona game because I feel like once you enjoy one of them you'll enjoy the majority of them, especially with 3-5.
Speaking of Skies of Arcadia, I own it, just recently bought a Dreamcast but never played it. I'm wondering if I should start finally or Vandal Hearts II since the tactical system was intriguing. I also kind of want Vandal Hearts if it heavily ties into II but if not I'll go back to it later.
Funyarinpa
Member
1. Persona 4 Golden: The first JRPG I've ever played. Bought it on a whim for 10 dollars, thinking "let's see why people hype this so much"- the game changed my life.
Sure, the random dungeons were rather tedious and the turn-based combat was annoying sometimes- but the other half of the game, the part of the game where you're solving a murder mystery or hanging out with friends or helping out at the daycare or working at a small shop- the daily life part of the game hooked me like absolutely nothing else. The relatable cast, the increasingly familiar locales of Inaba the rural town, the wonderful music all drew me in.
Persona 4 Golden, to this day, is the only game to make me feel like I'm living my life to the fullest.
UNDERRATED: 2. Soul Sacrifice Delta: Soul Sacrifice Delta has the best lore I've seen in any game. It's deeply sorrowful- the remnants of sorcery from an ancient war has corrupted nature and now animals and plants have turned into beasts roaming the land. The worst of all, however, is humans with malformed desires- those humans turn into Archfiends. That's where the Monster Hunter-esque gameplay kicks in.
The story and lore is presented like an illustrated book, and it looks amazing. The prologue hurt me enough, by itself, for me to remember this game forever.
Did I mention that the composer is Yasunori Mitsuda?
3. Persona 3: A lot of my praise for Persona 4 also applies here. But Persona 3 really shines in its presentation, plot, and character development. Few games have integrated their central theme so well into themselves: Persona 3 approaches death and life from many angles, all the more poignant and relatable as the game progresses, and the way the cast's troubles, insecurities, pasts, conceits and desires all clash and mesh in the latter half of the game makes for an unforgettable experience. The finale of the game is incredibly intense and the ending is life-changing.
4. Dark Souls: Dark Souls is here simply by the virtue of having the best level design I've seen in any fucking game. The way Dark Souls' desolate, dilapidated, sorrowful setting loops back upon itself in the most unexpected ways and places (an elevator here, a ladder there, or a well-hidden passage) is incredible and the first half of the game is completely unforgettable thanks to that. The atmosphere is masterfully realized. The combat system is unforgiving, fair, and satisfying. The cast is peculiar, off-putting, all slightly off-kilter. The lore, which you obtain only through environmental clues, NPC interactions, and item descriptions is complex, engaging, and depressing.
Although the game's solidity in environment and boss design wavers in the latter half, the game is still a hallmark of the genre.
5. System Shock 2: System Shock 2 has my favorite gameplay in any FPS. You can interact with practically anything (from framed pictures to toilets to magazines), there's a detailed inventory and leveling system (that warrants at least 3 playthroughs), and the sci-fi story of something gone horribly amiss on humanity's first FTL spaceship is incredible. The lore is picked up through data logs (many corpses in the game can be identified thanks to that) and you slowly piece together just what really happened on the Von Braun before you awoke from cryogenic sleep. The enemy and environment variety is also amazing.
6. Final Fantasy X: Not too much to say here. I fell in love with Spira. I fell in love with Spira's culture and religion. I fell in love with the cast. I fell in love with the cast's journey. It was just the sort of game that makes you wish you, too, were there.
--VOTE INFO START—
<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT – 3 points} Persona 4 Golden
{UNDERRATED – 4 points} Soul Sacrifice Delta
Persona 3
Dark Souls
System Shock 2
Final Fantasy X
--VOTE INFO END--
Sure, the random dungeons were rather tedious and the turn-based combat was annoying sometimes- but the other half of the game, the part of the game where you're solving a murder mystery or hanging out with friends or helping out at the daycare or working at a small shop- the daily life part of the game hooked me like absolutely nothing else. The relatable cast, the increasingly familiar locales of Inaba the rural town, the wonderful music all drew me in.
Persona 4 Golden, to this day, is the only game to make me feel like I'm living my life to the fullest.
UNDERRATED: 2. Soul Sacrifice Delta: Soul Sacrifice Delta has the best lore I've seen in any game. It's deeply sorrowful- the remnants of sorcery from an ancient war has corrupted nature and now animals and plants have turned into beasts roaming the land. The worst of all, however, is humans with malformed desires- those humans turn into Archfiends. That's where the Monster Hunter-esque gameplay kicks in.
The story and lore is presented like an illustrated book, and it looks amazing. The prologue hurt me enough, by itself, for me to remember this game forever.
Did I mention that the composer is Yasunori Mitsuda?
3. Persona 3: A lot of my praise for Persona 4 also applies here. But Persona 3 really shines in its presentation, plot, and character development. Few games have integrated their central theme so well into themselves: Persona 3 approaches death and life from many angles, all the more poignant and relatable as the game progresses, and the way the cast's troubles, insecurities, pasts, conceits and desires all clash and mesh in the latter half of the game makes for an unforgettable experience. The finale of the game is incredibly intense and the ending is life-changing.
4. Dark Souls: Dark Souls is here simply by the virtue of having the best level design I've seen in any fucking game. The way Dark Souls' desolate, dilapidated, sorrowful setting loops back upon itself in the most unexpected ways and places (an elevator here, a ladder there, or a well-hidden passage) is incredible and the first half of the game is completely unforgettable thanks to that. The atmosphere is masterfully realized. The combat system is unforgiving, fair, and satisfying. The cast is peculiar, off-putting, all slightly off-kilter. The lore, which you obtain only through environmental clues, NPC interactions, and item descriptions is complex, engaging, and depressing.
Although the game's solidity in environment and boss design wavers in the latter half, the game is still a hallmark of the genre.
5. System Shock 2: System Shock 2 has my favorite gameplay in any FPS. You can interact with practically anything (from framed pictures to toilets to magazines), there's a detailed inventory and leveling system (that warrants at least 3 playthroughs), and the sci-fi story of something gone horribly amiss on humanity's first FTL spaceship is incredible. The lore is picked up through data logs (many corpses in the game can be identified thanks to that) and you slowly piece together just what really happened on the Von Braun before you awoke from cryogenic sleep. The enemy and environment variety is also amazing.
6. Final Fantasy X: Not too much to say here. I fell in love with Spira. I fell in love with Spira's culture and religion. I fell in love with the cast. I fell in love with the cast's journey. It was just the sort of game that makes you wish you, too, were there.
--VOTE INFO START—
<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT – 3 points} Persona 4 Golden
{UNDERRATED – 4 points} Soul Sacrifice Delta
Persona 3
Dark Souls
System Shock 2
Final Fantasy X
--VOTE INFO END--
I've played a few RPG's and there are plently more I still need to play. This list could change a lot next year. Picked two titles that really deserved some more attention as highlight and underrated vote. Sorry about my failed attempt at comedy in the honourable mentions. It's what I do to keep myself sane.
EarthBound - SNES
EarthBound or Mother 2 is a quirky RPG written by Shigesato Itoi and developed by Ape with a little help from his friends. The difference with other RPG's is quite clear from the get go. You're fighting against dogs, hippies and starmen in a contemporary setting. Its strength lies in its charm. The world and its characters are all wonderfully written with a bit of humor in it.
The player controls Ness, a boy gifted with PSI powers, who gets caught up in a bizarre adventure to save the world. Along the way he finds friends that join his cause: Paula, Jeff and Poo. Paula is your main PSI caster, Jeff is the rocket man, Poo the martial artist with some cool techniques. Ness is the one that supports the group with a balance between physical strength and PSI powers.
Combat is a love or hate situation. It's turnbased with a cool mechanic attached to it: rolling down counter. During combat you'll get hit by enemies and your HP will roll down. It could be slow or it could be fast, it depends a bit on the attack. Your HP continues to roll down until it hits the value, but during that time battle continues. This means you can save yourself from fatal attacks if you manage to beat your enemies before your HP rolls down to zero. Another cool mechanic, way ahead of its time is killing mobs way below your current level. When you touch an enemy on the screen from behind, you instantly kill that critter and gets its experience points.
Earthbound is a game that carries the love for RPG's, but tries to break the frame it's in. A very unconvential RPG that was ahead of its time. I played a few years ago when it reached the Wii U's Virtual Console. I was completely smitten with the game and teared up during the ending. This one of the finest experiences I had with RPG's. What I love is its warmth. I felt really comfortably playing the game. Sure, EarthBound has its darker tones, however it's the good moments I cherish. I mean what kinda game recaps your progress during a coffee break in a bath, well EarthBound. Everyone that calls himself a RPG fan should at least try this game and form their own opinion on it.
Xanadu Next - PC
I knew the moment this game was translated, it would get ignored. This is probably the best game I can think of that deserves the underrated vote.
Xanadu Next is an action RPG made by Nihon Falcom. If we make a Falcom scale on fast-slow with Ys being the fastest and Brandish the slowest, Xanadu Next would sit right in the middle. It mixes up the field action with dungeon crawling in an interconnected world. Just like Ys and Brandish its focus is on gameplay. Very addicting gameplay if I might add. Several times I tried to put down the game, only for it to result in "one more".
You play as a knight that gets talked into investigating Harlech Island by a scholar. On the island he encounters a warrior named Dvorak whom gives him a fatal wound. To save his life, a guardian is attached to him. Now the knight is bounded by Harlech and its guardian. He'll die if he ever leaves, unless he can find the Dragon Slayer.
What makes Xanadu Next interesting is the gameplay loop. Typically you hit monsters, they drop gold and loot. You use that to buy better equipment so you stand a better chance while crawling the dungeons. There are two ways to attack, either with physical weapons or with spells. Weapons such as swords grant the user skills. You can use these skills so long as you have that weapon. Now if you master a weapon (100%), that skill is unlocked and you can use it freely without that weapon. You can still use that weapon until you reach max your profiency (200%). Your weapon of choice will do a lot more damage now. Xanadu Next gives you the choice: do you switch weapons or do you keep it. Of course you can also use spells. Both spells and skills use mp, but regular weapons also have standard attacks. So Xanadu Next gives you a lot of choice in how you build your character. Keep in mind you're limited to only four skill/magic slots.
I played this game last year when it finally released in English and it became my game of the year. Kinda sad if a game originally from 2005 beats the rest of the competition, but it was that good. That gameplay loop feels so satisfying. Exploring dungeons and beating giant bosses is amazing. Xanadu Next may not be a looker with its ugly as sin models, however I forgot about that one hour in. At least I can appreciate the way Falcom tries to frame scenes in their games. Xanadu Next still used some FMV instead of animated cutscenes, which has a certain style to it I like. While you do play
this game for that satisfying gameplay loop, I got punched in the gut when the story catches up. I absolutely love this game and will continue to shill it to ya'll.
Pokémon Red/Blue - GB
These games came at just the right time and the right place. The hype around it was something else and of course as a young fellow I got caught up in it as well.
Pokémon deals with capturing monsters that fit in your pocket. You raise these critters by making them battle other pokémon. Each monster has a name and belongs to a certain type. By exploiting type weaknesses you'll gain the advantage in these fights. It's a pretty simple concept and was a huge hit amongst kids. Because it was that simple, I got through the English quite well. Picked up a bit of vocabulary along the way.
Now my sister is five years older than me and erased my savefile with about 80 hours of gameplay on it. I was so pissed at her back then, but I decided to start over again. It was a lot easier to play through the game again with the knowledge of the previous one still in my mind. Since then I've developed a tic where I get the need to erase my savefile and start over again (thanks sis).
Pokémon Red/Blue were the first games in the series and I have a lot of fond memories of it, that's why I put it in. Eventhough the franchise has progressed quite a lot in terms of quality of life, this game I'll always remember.
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade - GBA
My first encounter with Fire Emblem was this game. A friend of my had it on the GBA and showed it to me. He wasn't that good, cause when he booted up the game I saw one of his units die front and center. Mesmerized by that animation I kept that scene in the back of my head and I vaguely remembered the name. But yeah when you're a teenager the next thing pops up and you forget about the rest. So I was quite surprised to find the game in a bargain bin in one of the local gamestores one time. I bought it and experienced first hand how tough it could be lol.
You see Fire Emblem is a tactical turn based rpg where units die permanently when their HP reach zero. The player is then given two choices: either continue on and live with that loss or reset and try again. The first time I played The Blazing Blade (that's the official title now), I just kept going. Eventually I reached the last chapter of the game and got slaughtered lol. I'm not the type that throws the game in the corner, nope I started over again.This time I would make sure not have any more casualties! It didn't quite work out that way, however I did manage to beat the game. After that many more playthroughs were done in this game.
I really liked how this classical tale expands its story. The various campaigns were great. I loved how challenging it could get. Even now after what 25 playthroughs I'm still not done with the game. It has become one of my all time favorites.
Paper Mario - N64
One of those games I missed during the N64 era. Several years later I played it on the Wii's Virtual Console (alongside Majora's Mask).
Paper Mario is a charming game where you play with characters from the Mario universe, which all happen to be flat like paper. It's filled with humor, making fun of some of the stuff you find in other Mario games.
The combat is quite neat. It's turnbased with a twist. You can reduce damage by pressing the action command at the right time. Likewise you can deal more damage during your turn as well. Paper Mario also has partners with their own abilities and that makes it a lot of fun inside and outside of battles.
One of the chapters that I like to remember is the town covered in snow and ice. There lives an author that writes thrillers. It so happens a murder occurs and everyone suscepts the author. Then it's up to Mario to investigate the case. Just one of these things you'll find the game. Loved it from start till finish.
Demon's Souls - PS3
I knew a guy that loved this game and he had plently of versions of it. I was quite interested in the game as Dark Souls already took off, but I never played one. Well I got one of his sealed copies pretty cheap and I just left it in seal for exactly two years lol.
I don't know why I decided that day to play this game (other than I felt like it), but I'm glad I did. The world of Boletaria has such a great atmosphere. I got drunk of that vibe right from the start. Sure, I had my fair share of struggles, however I overcame those. Now it's become one of the best game experiences I ever had.
Xenoblade Chronicles - Wii, N3DS
The Wii era was almost over, only Skyward Sword and some smaller games were coming. I was kinda done with the thing. Then I saw this thing was coming over (thanks NoE). Big titans that are clashing with each other and people are living on that? Sign me the fuck up.
Preordered the limited edition of that game with the red pro controller and plugged it in. I noticed I could play with Japanese voices, so I went with that (Norio Wakamoto son). First few hours I was liking it quite a bit, then I came out of that cave and on that big open field. The fantastic music of Gaur Plains kicked in and I was just in awe of the grand scale of it all.
Exploring all of the Bionis was such a treat. The story was a nice take on the classic hero's journey. This was the first time I discovered such a gem. I basically did every quest I could in the game. Very entertaining and it showed me there was still love for the JPRG genre.
Funny enough Skyward Sword was kinda a let down, because this game came before it.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd - PC
Jason Schreier is not gonna like me putting this next to Xenoblade haha, but I don't care I love both so much. The Legend of Heroes is subseries of the long running Dragon Slayer of Falcom. A subseries of that is Trails in the Sky. This is the third and final game in the "Sky trilogy". The Sky trilogy also known as the Liberl arc is set in the world of Zemuria and specifically in the country of Liberl. Other Trails games take place in different part in Zemuria, but share the overarching plot that ties all these games together. It's a highly ambitious project that has been in making for quite a while. Trails in the Sky the 3rd takes an unique stance in this large franchise by connecting dots one would have never done.
Unlike its predecessors the 3rd is mostly about dungeon crawling. It shares assets and combat from the previous games, but tells a seperate main story with a different protagonist. Don't even attempt to play this game before finishing the previous two games. It builds a lot on what those games set while still going completely off the grid. That's what makes it the best. Experimental fan disc probably sounds a bit harsh, but it comes close to what makes this game work.
Aside from dungeon crawling you'll discover doors. These doors contain lore. Moon doors are somewhat lengthy and feature playable elements. Star doors range from cool tidbits to revealing major revelations. Sun doors are a bunch of mini games.
This game will also be in my goty list, so good. I mean I got an avatar of Fast Crafts Man and all.
Okami - PS2, Wii, PS3
It's not really a RPG, but at the same time it is a RPG. Long unskippable story events? Check. Cool artstyle? Check. Weird af characters? Check.
Okami is a really cool game that incorporates Japanese folklore in its story, style and gameplay. That the gameplay is more like zelda doesn't really matter. You play it for the folklore and that's what makes it a rpg to me.
Ys I&II Chronicles - PSP, PC
Falcom games are in high demand in this list. I had to list a Ys game and what better way than to show my respect for its roots.
Persona 5
With stunning visuals this RPG makes the journey worth it.
Chrono Trigger
Classic RPG that still holds up well, ribbit.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
The first chapter in this series makes quite the impression and ends on a high note. It makes you crave for a sequel like a Pom.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC
Estelle's second wind in a beautiful created RPG. Bards still tell the story of how this gorilla met her boy.
Ys Origin
One of the finest action rpgs without a red haired adventurer.
Ys: Oath in Felghana
One of the finest action rpgs with a red haired adventurer.
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
From crybaby to man, read the story of how that guy from smash became awesome.
Shin Megami Tensei IV
I love the smell of demon in the morning.
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth
Never played the original ($$), but this is one fine game worth playing. Let it be engraved upon your soul!
Child of Light
When Ubisoft tries to make a fairy tale and actually succeeds.
--VOTE INFO START
<FULL POINT GAMES 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT 3 points} EarthBound
{UNDERRATED 4 points} Xanadu Next
Pokémon Red/Blue
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
Paper Mario
Demon's Souls
Xenoblade Chronicles
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd
Okami
Ys I&II Chronicles
<HONORABLE MENTIONS 1 point>
Persona 5
Chrono Trigger
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky First Chapter
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter
Ys Origin
Ys: Oath in Felghana
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth
Child of Light
--VOTE INFO END--
EarthBound - SNES
EarthBound or Mother 2 is a quirky RPG written by Shigesato Itoi and developed by Ape with a little help from his friends. The difference with other RPG's is quite clear from the get go. You're fighting against dogs, hippies and starmen in a contemporary setting. Its strength lies in its charm. The world and its characters are all wonderfully written with a bit of humor in it.
The player controls Ness, a boy gifted with PSI powers, who gets caught up in a bizarre adventure to save the world. Along the way he finds friends that join his cause: Paula, Jeff and Poo. Paula is your main PSI caster, Jeff is the rocket man, Poo the martial artist with some cool techniques. Ness is the one that supports the group with a balance between physical strength and PSI powers.
Combat is a love or hate situation. It's turnbased with a cool mechanic attached to it: rolling down counter. During combat you'll get hit by enemies and your HP will roll down. It could be slow or it could be fast, it depends a bit on the attack. Your HP continues to roll down until it hits the value, but during that time battle continues. This means you can save yourself from fatal attacks if you manage to beat your enemies before your HP rolls down to zero. Another cool mechanic, way ahead of its time is killing mobs way below your current level. When you touch an enemy on the screen from behind, you instantly kill that critter and gets its experience points.
Earthbound is a game that carries the love for RPG's, but tries to break the frame it's in. A very unconvential RPG that was ahead of its time. I played a few years ago when it reached the Wii U's Virtual Console. I was completely smitten with the game and teared up during the ending. This one of the finest experiences I had with RPG's. What I love is its warmth. I felt really comfortably playing the game. Sure, EarthBound has its darker tones, however it's the good moments I cherish. I mean what kinda game recaps your progress during a coffee break in a bath, well EarthBound. Everyone that calls himself a RPG fan should at least try this game and form their own opinion on it.
Xanadu Next - PC
I knew the moment this game was translated, it would get ignored. This is probably the best game I can think of that deserves the underrated vote.
Xanadu Next is an action RPG made by Nihon Falcom. If we make a Falcom scale on fast-slow with Ys being the fastest and Brandish the slowest, Xanadu Next would sit right in the middle. It mixes up the field action with dungeon crawling in an interconnected world. Just like Ys and Brandish its focus is on gameplay. Very addicting gameplay if I might add. Several times I tried to put down the game, only for it to result in "one more".
You play as a knight that gets talked into investigating Harlech Island by a scholar. On the island he encounters a warrior named Dvorak whom gives him a fatal wound. To save his life, a guardian is attached to him. Now the knight is bounded by Harlech and its guardian. He'll die if he ever leaves, unless he can find the Dragon Slayer.
What makes Xanadu Next interesting is the gameplay loop. Typically you hit monsters, they drop gold and loot. You use that to buy better equipment so you stand a better chance while crawling the dungeons. There are two ways to attack, either with physical weapons or with spells. Weapons such as swords grant the user skills. You can use these skills so long as you have that weapon. Now if you master a weapon (100%), that skill is unlocked and you can use it freely without that weapon. You can still use that weapon until you reach max your profiency (200%). Your weapon of choice will do a lot more damage now. Xanadu Next gives you the choice: do you switch weapons or do you keep it. Of course you can also use spells. Both spells and skills use mp, but regular weapons also have standard attacks. So Xanadu Next gives you a lot of choice in how you build your character. Keep in mind you're limited to only four skill/magic slots.
I played this game last year when it finally released in English and it became my game of the year. Kinda sad if a game originally from 2005 beats the rest of the competition, but it was that good. That gameplay loop feels so satisfying. Exploring dungeons and beating giant bosses is amazing. Xanadu Next may not be a looker with its ugly as sin models, however I forgot about that one hour in. At least I can appreciate the way Falcom tries to frame scenes in their games. Xanadu Next still used some FMV instead of animated cutscenes, which has a certain style to it I like. While you do play
this game for that satisfying gameplay loop, I got punched in the gut when the story catches up. I absolutely love this game and will continue to shill it to ya'll.
Pokémon Red/Blue - GB
These games came at just the right time and the right place. The hype around it was something else and of course as a young fellow I got caught up in it as well.
Pokémon deals with capturing monsters that fit in your pocket. You raise these critters by making them battle other pokémon. Each monster has a name and belongs to a certain type. By exploiting type weaknesses you'll gain the advantage in these fights. It's a pretty simple concept and was a huge hit amongst kids. Because it was that simple, I got through the English quite well. Picked up a bit of vocabulary along the way.
Now my sister is five years older than me and erased my savefile with about 80 hours of gameplay on it. I was so pissed at her back then, but I decided to start over again. It was a lot easier to play through the game again with the knowledge of the previous one still in my mind. Since then I've developed a tic where I get the need to erase my savefile and start over again (thanks sis).
Pokémon Red/Blue were the first games in the series and I have a lot of fond memories of it, that's why I put it in. Eventhough the franchise has progressed quite a lot in terms of quality of life, this game I'll always remember.
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade - GBA
My first encounter with Fire Emblem was this game. A friend of my had it on the GBA and showed it to me. He wasn't that good, cause when he booted up the game I saw one of his units die front and center. Mesmerized by that animation I kept that scene in the back of my head and I vaguely remembered the name. But yeah when you're a teenager the next thing pops up and you forget about the rest. So I was quite surprised to find the game in a bargain bin in one of the local gamestores one time. I bought it and experienced first hand how tough it could be lol.
You see Fire Emblem is a tactical turn based rpg where units die permanently when their HP reach zero. The player is then given two choices: either continue on and live with that loss or reset and try again. The first time I played The Blazing Blade (that's the official title now), I just kept going. Eventually I reached the last chapter of the game and got slaughtered lol. I'm not the type that throws the game in the corner, nope I started over again.This time I would make sure not have any more casualties! It didn't quite work out that way, however I did manage to beat the game. After that many more playthroughs were done in this game.
I really liked how this classical tale expands its story. The various campaigns were great. I loved how challenging it could get. Even now after what 25 playthroughs I'm still not done with the game. It has become one of my all time favorites.
Paper Mario - N64
One of those games I missed during the N64 era. Several years later I played it on the Wii's Virtual Console (alongside Majora's Mask).
Paper Mario is a charming game where you play with characters from the Mario universe, which all happen to be flat like paper. It's filled with humor, making fun of some of the stuff you find in other Mario games.
The combat is quite neat. It's turnbased with a twist. You can reduce damage by pressing the action command at the right time. Likewise you can deal more damage during your turn as well. Paper Mario also has partners with their own abilities and that makes it a lot of fun inside and outside of battles.
One of the chapters that I like to remember is the town covered in snow and ice. There lives an author that writes thrillers. It so happens a murder occurs and everyone suscepts the author. Then it's up to Mario to investigate the case. Just one of these things you'll find the game. Loved it from start till finish.
Demon's Souls - PS3
I knew a guy that loved this game and he had plently of versions of it. I was quite interested in the game as Dark Souls already took off, but I never played one. Well I got one of his sealed copies pretty cheap and I just left it in seal for exactly two years lol.
I don't know why I decided that day to play this game (other than I felt like it), but I'm glad I did. The world of Boletaria has such a great atmosphere. I got drunk of that vibe right from the start. Sure, I had my fair share of struggles, however I overcame those. Now it's become one of the best game experiences I ever had.
Xenoblade Chronicles - Wii, N3DS
The Wii era was almost over, only Skyward Sword and some smaller games were coming. I was kinda done with the thing. Then I saw this thing was coming over (thanks NoE). Big titans that are clashing with each other and people are living on that? Sign me the fuck up.
Preordered the limited edition of that game with the red pro controller and plugged it in. I noticed I could play with Japanese voices, so I went with that (Norio Wakamoto son). First few hours I was liking it quite a bit, then I came out of that cave and on that big open field. The fantastic music of Gaur Plains kicked in and I was just in awe of the grand scale of it all.
Exploring all of the Bionis was such a treat. The story was a nice take on the classic hero's journey. This was the first time I discovered such a gem. I basically did every quest I could in the game. Very entertaining and it showed me there was still love for the JPRG genre.
Funny enough Skyward Sword was kinda a let down, because this game came before it.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd - PC
Jason Schreier is not gonna like me putting this next to Xenoblade haha, but I don't care I love both so much. The Legend of Heroes is subseries of the long running Dragon Slayer of Falcom. A subseries of that is Trails in the Sky. This is the third and final game in the "Sky trilogy". The Sky trilogy also known as the Liberl arc is set in the world of Zemuria and specifically in the country of Liberl. Other Trails games take place in different part in Zemuria, but share the overarching plot that ties all these games together. It's a highly ambitious project that has been in making for quite a while. Trails in the Sky the 3rd takes an unique stance in this large franchise by connecting dots one would have never done.
Unlike its predecessors the 3rd is mostly about dungeon crawling. It shares assets and combat from the previous games, but tells a seperate main story with a different protagonist. Don't even attempt to play this game before finishing the previous two games. It builds a lot on what those games set while still going completely off the grid. That's what makes it the best. Experimental fan disc probably sounds a bit harsh, but it comes close to what makes this game work.
Aside from dungeon crawling you'll discover doors. These doors contain lore. Moon doors are somewhat lengthy and feature playable elements. Star doors range from cool tidbits to revealing major revelations. Sun doors are a bunch of mini games.
This game will also be in my goty list, so good. I mean I got an avatar of Fast Crafts Man and all.
Okami - PS2, Wii, PS3
It's not really a RPG, but at the same time it is a RPG. Long unskippable story events? Check. Cool artstyle? Check. Weird af characters? Check.
Okami is a really cool game that incorporates Japanese folklore in its story, style and gameplay. That the gameplay is more like zelda doesn't really matter. You play it for the folklore and that's what makes it a rpg to me.
Ys I&II Chronicles - PSP, PC
Falcom games are in high demand in this list. I had to list a Ys game and what better way than to show my respect for its roots.
Persona 5
With stunning visuals this RPG makes the journey worth it.
Chrono Trigger
Classic RPG that still holds up well, ribbit.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
The first chapter in this series makes quite the impression and ends on a high note. It makes you crave for a sequel like a Pom.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC
Estelle's second wind in a beautiful created RPG. Bards still tell the story of how this gorilla met her boy.
Ys Origin
One of the finest action rpgs without a red haired adventurer.
Ys: Oath in Felghana
One of the finest action rpgs with a red haired adventurer.
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
From crybaby to man, read the story of how that guy from smash became awesome.
Shin Megami Tensei IV
I love the smell of demon in the morning.
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth
Never played the original ($$), but this is one fine game worth playing. Let it be engraved upon your soul!
Child of Light
When Ubisoft tries to make a fairy tale and actually succeeds.
--VOTE INFO START
<FULL POINT GAMES 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT 3 points} EarthBound
{UNDERRATED 4 points} Xanadu Next
Pokémon Red/Blue
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
Paper Mario
Demon's Souls
Xenoblade Chronicles
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd
Okami
Ys I&II Chronicles
<HONORABLE MENTIONS 1 point>
Persona 5
Chrono Trigger
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky First Chapter
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky Second Chapter
Ys Origin
Ys: Oath in Felghana
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth
Child of Light
--VOTE INFO END--
I appreciate your love for Okami, I really do and I adore the game but it's not an RPG and I don't think it should be in a ranking list for essential RPG's. It's more than likely not going to rank at all due to it being classified as action adventure but if it's something you're set on keeping by all means go for it. I guess it's also left up to the OP if he will count it or not which if we DO start including games like Okami then my honorable mentions needs an update xD To clarify, I understand your specific reasoning is for it's lore and that you understand it's not an RPG but I mean for this particular thread it might be a waste.
Otherwise great list! I need to play Blazing Blade on VC.
I've seen VI in quite a few lists though? It's also been in quite a few honorable mentions.
Dandy Crocodile
Member
I've got 28 games off the top of my head, gotta go home and browse what I own tonight. Then I've gotta cut and sort. But I'm pretty sure FF6 will be on there.
Great write-up for this! Haven't played it yet unfortunately, but will definitely check it out soon. I've been very curious about it, and I picked it up on GOG a couple months ago.
I've noticed this too. XII also doesn't seem to be getting as much support as I was expecting, given it just got the PS4 remaster.
Also, at this rate it's likely Persona 4 will finally end Chrono Trigger's reign. At least based on what I've seen eyeballing the entries so far.
It was definitely the Honorable Mention I felt most strongly about, which is why I gave it the same kind of write-up that the main entries got. It's easily one of my all-time favorite games, and my favorite Squaresoft/Square Enix RPG.
If I had done 6 JRPGs and 4 WRPGs, it would've made my main list.
I don't feel it's wasted. To me it doesn't really matter if it makes it in or not. More games on my list that have worse chances.
What does matter are these write ups. If someone tries Okami because I'm shilling for it, then that's a win for me.
Besides I have to think really hard if something can top that experience of Ryoshima Coast.
I also consider Zelda to be a rpg of sorts. They just never pulled the trigger again after Zelda II.
Man, just imagine it. Persona 4 is the most essential RPG of all time.
Not gonna lie, I feel uncomfortable thinking about.
That's totally fair. I only meant the chances would be low because you might be the only person that puts Okami since many don't classify it as an RPG but hey, more people playing it the better!
I've gone back and forth on Zelda since I used to label Ocarina Of Time and Majora's Mask as RPGs but ultimately I didn't think it fit the basic criteria for RPG so I stopped. I feel it's understandable if Zelda games get listed since the label has been debated.
To be fair, it was previously number 2 so it's not a huge stretch.
Rad Shadow
Banned
30 games wasn't enough!
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Morrowind is my most beloved game. I think it represents the best open world has to offer. How so? Because its world is the focal point. See it has great side quests, a good main story, conflicts ,alien looking landscapes, puzzles, awesome dungeons, beautifully foreign looking races, a deep, alive feeling lore and worldbuilding which makes this land believeable. But none of those elements take dominion over another. No instead they form a whole, Morrowind. If you ever wanted a world, to lose yourself in, than this is the one you were looking for.
Shadowrun: Dragonfall
Now this game was a surprise hit for me. I was not at all familiar with its predecessor or the Shadowrun universe in general. Really it felt like a breath of fresh air to me, with its setting. A cyberpunk future in which orcs, elfs and humans etc, live together. Magic and technology exist side by side but don`t cancel eachother out like in Arcanum. No they work rather well together. Also present are the archetypical bad megacorps , they are headed by dragons, this time around. And they are of the cunning and manipulating sort, my favorite! Combat is done Xcom style , just that you have fewer actions which you can perform . And it takes place in one elevation only. The real reason you would play this game though, is for its good written characters and the story, which is excellent.
Baldurs Gate II: Shadows of Amn
My most replayed and rebought game. I think this is Bioware`s magnum opus. Really, the reason i replayed it so many times is because you have so many characters to choose from. And they all interact with one another, in a way, that feels so lively and real. No game i played since, could match its party interactions. Also each companion has its own lenghty quest. The content in this game truly is massive. My first playthrough took me nearly over 160 hours. It also has such a wonderfully wicked antagonist, in Jon Irenicus, who will stay in your memory long after you will have finished it. Some of you might be afraid because of the complex nature, of some of its systems. You needn`t be. I for example never bothered to learn its thac0 system. And i did just fine.
Dark Souls II
Well this place could have easily gone to the first one. Which has the better designed areas and feels more interconnected. But here you will get to know one of the best written characters in all of gaming (Lucatiel of Mirrah) It also has the same awesome combat as its predecessor. The different boss encounters are also really good. Another highlight for me was its hubworld/area Majula, with its beautifully melancholic melody.
Really Dark Souls II does not need to hide itself, as it is the finest Souls has to offer.
Gothic 1
This action rpg has a pretty novel premise. You are inside a mining colony that functions as a prison. And your goal is to escape. Its inmates are almost all convicts so it follows that they are very rough with each other. Their Language is very direct and they curse (as does your player avatar) a lot, like almost every second sentence.
But because of the setting it doesn`t feel out of place. Some highlights include: npcs with daily routines, monsters all with different types of behavior, an open world which was handcraftet (each treasure, each enemy, each everything was placed by hand) and orcs which, for the first time, feel threatening, terrifying even.
Nier Automata
I had always heard about the crazy storys in Yoko Taro games. So i was expecting a lot. Needless to, i was not let down. It touches on a lot of themes, some of which include; what does it mean to be human, the death of someone important in ones life, unintendet consequences of actions taken and many more. To illustrate most of these themes, it will use the machine lifeforms which inhabit the earth and are your main enemies. The main protagonists, 2b and 9s, are really well done. I really like their chemistry. The more reserved 2b, who`s always setting up boundaries for 9s, only for him to cross these. It worked very well. A big shoutout to their voice actors who really did a fantastic job. Its action combat is well done and the combos you can string together feel satisfying. The world itself is open and at times feels a little bit empty. But i very much liked the look of it. Also, as you wander it, your ears will be spoiled by one of the best soundtracks in history. It really is one for the ages. This is also one of the most quotable games i had the joy to experience. I could give examples but i`ll refrain myself, because i think it`s unnecessary. One last point. Sadly over the years i have become less susceptible to emotions portrayed in games. I became more of an observant player, understanding the emotions of characters, but not able to feel them myself. Well, as i finished this game i felt something for the first time in a long time.
Shadow Hearts II: Covenant
Being a direct sequel to the first, one would think the overall tone would be the same. But surprisingly it is not. And i think that`s for the better. The the first has a very serious tone and goes for more of a horror feeling. This takes itself not too serious. Consider the time period this game plays in. It takes place in Europe during the first world war. That in itself is a rather seldom thing but now put a bunch of the most bizarre and eccentric Characters, you`ve ever seen, in it and you`ve got yourself quite the show. Really i love all the main characters, even the villains are wonderfull. Also i should not forget to mention its battlesystem, as it`s one of the better ones out there. It`s turn based, and has all the good stuff like magic, fusions; combo attacks. But what really makes it so satisfying to play is the judgement ring. This is a circle with different colored zones. If you get to hit the red area for example, you`ll get a crit if you miss though, your hit misses and any combo you had going ends. That gives it this risk and reward feeling which won`t you ever let get bored of it.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
This is the grand finale witcher fans waited so eagerly for, especially those of us who read the books.As for the first time, it would center the plot, around the other important characters, from the novels. How they brought these characters to life, surpassed my highest expectations.As i saw Ciri for the first time i simply began nodding happily. This is how i imagined her character to be. And that is true for the other characters as well.
They all are really, the shining highlight of this game. That`s not to say the other parts aren`t impressive either. The open world looks almost like a painting in its vibrant colors.There are many different areas for you to travel trough. Deep dark forests, a cold snow tundra but my personal favorite is still the spooky swamp a.k.a the Crookback Bog. The quests in this game are also wonderfully written with many choices for you to make. Even the smallest quests will have some kind of story to them. You won`t find a quest that will not provide you with some form of context. That`s really quite an achievement. The combat, while not the best, is still very enjoyable.
The World Ends With You
Everything about this game, its vocal music, its artstyle even its battlesystem did not seem appealing to me. That was until i tried it for the first time and my biases were proven wrong. Beginning with its story, which is easily understandable and pretty straightforward for a jrpg. It centers around the idea of understanding ones true self and coming to terms with it. The characters really sell this to you in a believeable manner. The game itself takes place in modern day Tokyo. You do battle in real time using pins which each have different abilitys, that you can activate, for example by drawing a circle or scratching an enemy etc, on your touchscreen. Clothes functions as your armor, the more hip and expansive they are, the better. Another neat idea: all your pins, clothes and accessories are from different brands. And all those brands underlie trends. That means they can be in or out of said trend. The more in trend they are, the more effective they become in batlle and vice versa. At last the music. I was no friend of vocal tracks in my games until i played this. The hip-hop tracks in this are very catchy and fit just neatly. Yeah everything in this game fits neatly as if it was supposed to be this way from the beginning. One of the best designed and most original rpgs you`ll find.
Valkyrie Profile
You play as Lenneth, a valkyrie tasked with recruiting einherjar (warriors who died in battle) and prepare them for the final war, that is to come. As such you will be able to experience their last moments in life. These individual storys are often gut wrenching. Happy moments are rare to come by. No this is a world filled with cruelty and not much hope to spare. The characters you recruit are flawed human beings. I mean real flaws and not something trivial. Because you get to see how they behaved in life, you might not like them. But believe me, this gives them a depth and humanity you seldom find in games. Combat is turn based with the twist that all your characters share one turn. The attacks are also flashy, for me that is a plus. In dungeons this becomes more of a platformer where you have to jump alot to reach certain places, it also feels very satisfying. Enemies are visible, so no random encounters. Some people might not like that it has a countdown system. See each chapter is divided into periods, which you will use up whenever you visit a town, enter a dungeon or recruit a character. I never found this to be an issue, as i had always enough time avaible in the end. Though i played the game only ever in hard mode, where you get more periods for you to use up. I can`t praise its artstyle enough though. It`s one of the most unique and beautiful ones, you`ll find. The sprite work is also amazing, it animates so beautifully.
--VOTE INFO START
<FULL POINT GAMES 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT 3 points} The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
{UNDERRATED 4 points} Shadowrun: Dragonfall
Baldurs Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Dark Souls II
Gothic 1
Nier Automata
Shadow Hearts II: Covenant
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The World Ends With You
Valkyrie Profile
--VOTE INFO END--
Morrowind is my most beloved game. I think it represents the best open world has to offer. How so? Because its world is the focal point. See it has great side quests, a good main story, conflicts ,alien looking landscapes, puzzles, awesome dungeons, beautifully foreign looking races, a deep, alive feeling lore and worldbuilding which makes this land believeable. But none of those elements take dominion over another. No instead they form a whole, Morrowind. If you ever wanted a world, to lose yourself in, than this is the one you were looking for.
Shadowrun: Dragonfall
Now this game was a surprise hit for me. I was not at all familiar with its predecessor or the Shadowrun universe in general. Really it felt like a breath of fresh air to me, with its setting. A cyberpunk future in which orcs, elfs and humans etc, live together. Magic and technology exist side by side but don`t cancel eachother out like in Arcanum. No they work rather well together. Also present are the archetypical bad megacorps , they are headed by dragons, this time around. And they are of the cunning and manipulating sort, my favorite! Combat is done Xcom style , just that you have fewer actions which you can perform . And it takes place in one elevation only. The real reason you would play this game though, is for its good written characters and the story, which is excellent.
Baldurs Gate II: Shadows of Amn
My most replayed and rebought game. I think this is Bioware`s magnum opus. Really, the reason i replayed it so many times is because you have so many characters to choose from. And they all interact with one another, in a way, that feels so lively and real. No game i played since, could match its party interactions. Also each companion has its own lenghty quest. The content in this game truly is massive. My first playthrough took me nearly over 160 hours. It also has such a wonderfully wicked antagonist, in Jon Irenicus, who will stay in your memory long after you will have finished it. Some of you might be afraid because of the complex nature, of some of its systems. You needn`t be. I for example never bothered to learn its thac0 system. And i did just fine.
Dark Souls II
Well this place could have easily gone to the first one. Which has the better designed areas and feels more interconnected. But here you will get to know one of the best written characters in all of gaming (Lucatiel of Mirrah) It also has the same awesome combat as its predecessor. The different boss encounters are also really good. Another highlight for me was its hubworld/area Majula, with its beautifully melancholic melody.
Really Dark Souls II does not need to hide itself, as it is the finest Souls has to offer.
Gothic 1
This action rpg has a pretty novel premise. You are inside a mining colony that functions as a prison. And your goal is to escape. Its inmates are almost all convicts so it follows that they are very rough with each other. Their Language is very direct and they curse (as does your player avatar) a lot, like almost every second sentence.
But because of the setting it doesn`t feel out of place. Some highlights include: npcs with daily routines, monsters all with different types of behavior, an open world which was handcraftet (each treasure, each enemy, each everything was placed by hand) and orcs which, for the first time, feel threatening, terrifying even.
Nier Automata
I had always heard about the crazy storys in Yoko Taro games. So i was expecting a lot. Needless to, i was not let down. It touches on a lot of themes, some of which include; what does it mean to be human, the death of someone important in ones life, unintendet consequences of actions taken and many more. To illustrate most of these themes, it will use the machine lifeforms which inhabit the earth and are your main enemies. The main protagonists, 2b and 9s, are really well done. I really like their chemistry. The more reserved 2b, who`s always setting up boundaries for 9s, only for him to cross these. It worked very well. A big shoutout to their voice actors who really did a fantastic job. Its action combat is well done and the combos you can string together feel satisfying. The world itself is open and at times feels a little bit empty. But i very much liked the look of it. Also, as you wander it, your ears will be spoiled by one of the best soundtracks in history. It really is one for the ages. This is also one of the most quotable games i had the joy to experience. I could give examples but i`ll refrain myself, because i think it`s unnecessary. One last point. Sadly over the years i have become less susceptible to emotions portrayed in games. I became more of an observant player, understanding the emotions of characters, but not able to feel them myself. Well, as i finished this game i felt something for the first time in a long time.
Shadow Hearts II: Covenant
Being a direct sequel to the first, one would think the overall tone would be the same. But surprisingly it is not. And i think that`s for the better. The the first has a very serious tone and goes for more of a horror feeling. This takes itself not too serious. Consider the time period this game plays in. It takes place in Europe during the first world war. That in itself is a rather seldom thing but now put a bunch of the most bizarre and eccentric Characters, you`ve ever seen, in it and you`ve got yourself quite the show. Really i love all the main characters, even the villains are wonderfull. Also i should not forget to mention its battlesystem, as it`s one of the better ones out there. It`s turn based, and has all the good stuff like magic, fusions; combo attacks. But what really makes it so satisfying to play is the judgement ring. This is a circle with different colored zones. If you get to hit the red area for example, you`ll get a crit if you miss though, your hit misses and any combo you had going ends. That gives it this risk and reward feeling which won`t you ever let get bored of it.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
This is the grand finale witcher fans waited so eagerly for, especially those of us who read the books.As for the first time, it would center the plot, around the other important characters, from the novels. How they brought these characters to life, surpassed my highest expectations.As i saw Ciri for the first time i simply began nodding happily. This is how i imagined her character to be. And that is true for the other characters as well.
They all are really, the shining highlight of this game. That`s not to say the other parts aren`t impressive either. The open world looks almost like a painting in its vibrant colors.There are many different areas for you to travel trough. Deep dark forests, a cold snow tundra but my personal favorite is still the spooky swamp a.k.a the Crookback Bog. The quests in this game are also wonderfully written with many choices for you to make. Even the smallest quests will have some kind of story to them. You won`t find a quest that will not provide you with some form of context. That`s really quite an achievement. The combat, while not the best, is still very enjoyable.
The World Ends With You
Everything about this game, its vocal music, its artstyle even its battlesystem did not seem appealing to me. That was until i tried it for the first time and my biases were proven wrong. Beginning with its story, which is easily understandable and pretty straightforward for a jrpg. It centers around the idea of understanding ones true self and coming to terms with it. The characters really sell this to you in a believeable manner. The game itself takes place in modern day Tokyo. You do battle in real time using pins which each have different abilitys, that you can activate, for example by drawing a circle or scratching an enemy etc, on your touchscreen. Clothes functions as your armor, the more hip and expansive they are, the better. Another neat idea: all your pins, clothes and accessories are from different brands. And all those brands underlie trends. That means they can be in or out of said trend. The more in trend they are, the more effective they become in batlle and vice versa. At last the music. I was no friend of vocal tracks in my games until i played this. The hip-hop tracks in this are very catchy and fit just neatly. Yeah everything in this game fits neatly as if it was supposed to be this way from the beginning. One of the best designed and most original rpgs you`ll find.
Valkyrie Profile
You play as Lenneth, a valkyrie tasked with recruiting einherjar (warriors who died in battle) and prepare them for the final war, that is to come. As such you will be able to experience their last moments in life. These individual storys are often gut wrenching. Happy moments are rare to come by. No this is a world filled with cruelty and not much hope to spare. The characters you recruit are flawed human beings. I mean real flaws and not something trivial. Because you get to see how they behaved in life, you might not like them. But believe me, this gives them a depth and humanity you seldom find in games. Combat is turn based with the twist that all your characters share one turn. The attacks are also flashy, for me that is a plus. In dungeons this becomes more of a platformer where you have to jump alot to reach certain places, it also feels very satisfying. Enemies are visible, so no random encounters. Some people might not like that it has a countdown system. See each chapter is divided into periods, which you will use up whenever you visit a town, enter a dungeon or recruit a character. I never found this to be an issue, as i had always enough time avaible in the end. Though i played the game only ever in hard mode, where you get more periods for you to use up. I can`t praise its artstyle enough though. It`s one of the most unique and beautiful ones, you`ll find. The sprite work is also amazing, it animates so beautifully.
--VOTE INFO START
<FULL POINT GAMES 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT 3 points} The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
{UNDERRATED 4 points} Shadowrun: Dragonfall
Baldurs Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Dark Souls II
Gothic 1
Nier Automata
Shadow Hearts II: Covenant
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The World Ends With You
Valkyrie Profile
--VOTE INFO END--
It'll happen at some point. Only a matter of time I think, if not this year then probably next.
I have some...reservations about the Persona series as a whole, and even especially about Persona 4. But on an "Essential RPG" list, they definitely are something that should be represented in a notable position. Because they are pretty unique.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Persona games are like my worst nightmare. I hope that won't happen.
I know. Almost invalided the whole list for me. Funny enough, apart from P4, the rest of the list is very solid for me.
tiebreaker
Member
Yes, but only until a new voting thread.
Anyway, it's About time there is a shake up on the ranks.
I eventually want at least 4x the participants that we have had so far in this thread.
It's way too early to make any conclusions from the voting patterns of the 50ish people who have voted so far. I also have a few lazy ballots in my PM inbox.
Persona 4 coming out on top would be pretty surprising given that Persona fans just received a brand new title. Usually that leads to more vote splitting.
In the past two threads that I ran (2013 and 2015), the cut off for the Top 50 was about 30 points. The cut off for the Top 10 was about 70 points.
It's way too early to make any conclusions from the voting patterns of the 50ish people who have voted so far. I also have a few lazy ballots in my PM inbox.
Persona 4 coming out on top would be pretty surprising given that Persona fans just received a brand new title. Usually that leads to more vote splitting.
In the past two threads that I ran (2013 and 2015), the cut off for the Top 50 was about 30 points. The cut off for the Top 10 was about 70 points.
Megatron
Member
I havent put together one of these before, because I somewhat struggle with the concept. This isnt a best of list, its a most essential or as I interpret it, if you wanted someone to play 10 games to have the greatest possible understanding and appreciation of the RPG genre, what games would you choose? Phrasing it this way, helps me determine that I would want to hit at least one entry in each of the major RPG series, and at least one entry per console generation starting with gen 3. Which brings us to the question of ranking. How do you rank such a list? And for this I would say I would rank them in the order I would want them to play them, which is essentially chronological.
1. Final Fantasy 1 ; UNDERATED ON GAF - I wanted to start off with a gen 3 RPG. Dragon Quest/Warrior 1 is a little too basic and not really fun to play now. Starting the list with DQ 2-4 just feels wrong, even though the stories are only somewhat related to the original. So Instead Im going with FF1, a game I played through many, many times as a child. I think it still holds up and is worth playing today, and is a really good first RPG.
2. Final Fantasy 6 ; After playing through the first Final Fantasy, jumping into maybe the very best of the 16 bit era SNES RPGs is a great way to see how the genre began to evolve. From the generic characters of FF1 to the named characters with their own stories in FF6. Final fantasy 6 is a classic that still doesnt quite get the respect it deserves.
3. Chrono Trigger ; A game that frequently finishes very high in all time greatest game or RPG lists, I would say that Chrono Trigger is a must play game. It needs to be experienced by any gamer who really wants to experience historys best moments in gaming. It feels a little redundant to have both of these on a list of just ten, but really both of these feel pretty essential to me.
4. Final Fantasy Tactics ; I wish my list didnt have so much Final Fantasy, or so many Square RPGs, but thats the bulk of what I played when I was younger. I wanted to put a strategy RPG game on the list, and for me personally, this is the best one I ever played. The job class is terrific, and becomes addicitive. The game is hard, but worth playing.
5. Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver ; If youre going to play a list of the best RPGs of all time, you have to play a Pokemon game. But which one? I recommend Silver/Gold because it literally contains the regions from Red/Blue on top of its own, making this game feel huge. And if youre going to play it, well I guess you should play the remake which is the best version of the game.
6. Skies of Arcadia ; This game is very well remembered by those who played it, but unfortunately that wasnt enough people. Really wish this would get a remaster/rerelease or dare I dream, a sequel .!
7. Dragon Quest 8 ; LIST HIGHLIGH ; Probably my favorite RPG of all time.
8. Persona 4 Golden ; I only just played through this one this year. My first Persona game, and it more than lived up to the hype. Awesome and enthralling game.
9. Mass Effect 2 ; Probably Gen 7s best RPG. Its ok to skip ME1 if you play through the included web comic to get the gyst of the plot.
10. Witcher 3 ; Probably the best current gen RPG available now.
HM:
11. Dragon Quest 5 ; If this were a list of best RPGs this one would be in my top 3. But essential I have to be more choosey. I already had a representative from the DQ series, the monster capture genre is filled by Pokemon, and games from this gen are well represented, so it missed the cut. But that doesnt keep it from being an outstanding game.
12. Final Fantasy 7 ; I never liked it quite as much as everyone else did, but theres no mistaking its importance. It brought RPGs onto the map. It probably deserves to be on my list, but due to wanting to hit every gen, it got bumped. Its worth playing to me, more for its significance than for how much fun I think it would be to play now, but still an important entry in gaming history and worth playing.
13. Super Mario RPG ; Awesome game, but I had enough SNES games and Square games, so it missed the cut.
14. Lunar: Silver Star Story ; Another tough cut. This is an excellent title that has been remade a few times. The version I played was the PlayStation version. I dont remember it so well now, but I remember being thoroughly engrossed by it and playing it all the way through.
15. Wild Arms ; My list is sorely under represented by PS1 era RPGs, which is a shame, as that was a golden age of RPGs. And a generation where we started seeing more quality RPGs from companies other than Square.
16. Star Wars KOTOR
17. Final Fantasy 8
18. Ni No Kuni
19. Golden Sun
20. Dragon Quest 2
1. Final Fantasy 1 ; UNDERATED ON GAF - I wanted to start off with a gen 3 RPG. Dragon Quest/Warrior 1 is a little too basic and not really fun to play now. Starting the list with DQ 2-4 just feels wrong, even though the stories are only somewhat related to the original. So Instead Im going with FF1, a game I played through many, many times as a child. I think it still holds up and is worth playing today, and is a really good first RPG.
2. Final Fantasy 6 ; After playing through the first Final Fantasy, jumping into maybe the very best of the 16 bit era SNES RPGs is a great way to see how the genre began to evolve. From the generic characters of FF1 to the named characters with their own stories in FF6. Final fantasy 6 is a classic that still doesnt quite get the respect it deserves.
3. Chrono Trigger ; A game that frequently finishes very high in all time greatest game or RPG lists, I would say that Chrono Trigger is a must play game. It needs to be experienced by any gamer who really wants to experience historys best moments in gaming. It feels a little redundant to have both of these on a list of just ten, but really both of these feel pretty essential to me.
4. Final Fantasy Tactics ; I wish my list didnt have so much Final Fantasy, or so many Square RPGs, but thats the bulk of what I played when I was younger. I wanted to put a strategy RPG game on the list, and for me personally, this is the best one I ever played. The job class is terrific, and becomes addicitive. The game is hard, but worth playing.
5. Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver ; If youre going to play a list of the best RPGs of all time, you have to play a Pokemon game. But which one? I recommend Silver/Gold because it literally contains the regions from Red/Blue on top of its own, making this game feel huge. And if youre going to play it, well I guess you should play the remake which is the best version of the game.
6. Skies of Arcadia ; This game is very well remembered by those who played it, but unfortunately that wasnt enough people. Really wish this would get a remaster/rerelease or dare I dream, a sequel .!
7. Dragon Quest 8 ; LIST HIGHLIGH ; Probably my favorite RPG of all time.
8. Persona 4 Golden ; I only just played through this one this year. My first Persona game, and it more than lived up to the hype. Awesome and enthralling game.
9. Mass Effect 2 ; Probably Gen 7s best RPG. Its ok to skip ME1 if you play through the included web comic to get the gyst of the plot.
10. Witcher 3 ; Probably the best current gen RPG available now.
HM:
11. Dragon Quest 5 ; If this were a list of best RPGs this one would be in my top 3. But essential I have to be more choosey. I already had a representative from the DQ series, the monster capture genre is filled by Pokemon, and games from this gen are well represented, so it missed the cut. But that doesnt keep it from being an outstanding game.
12. Final Fantasy 7 ; I never liked it quite as much as everyone else did, but theres no mistaking its importance. It brought RPGs onto the map. It probably deserves to be on my list, but due to wanting to hit every gen, it got bumped. Its worth playing to me, more for its significance than for how much fun I think it would be to play now, but still an important entry in gaming history and worth playing.
13. Super Mario RPG ; Awesome game, but I had enough SNES games and Square games, so it missed the cut.
14. Lunar: Silver Star Story ; Another tough cut. This is an excellent title that has been remade a few times. The version I played was the PlayStation version. I dont remember it so well now, but I remember being thoroughly engrossed by it and playing it all the way through.
15. Wild Arms ; My list is sorely under represented by PS1 era RPGs, which is a shame, as that was a golden age of RPGs. And a generation where we started seeing more quality RPGs from companies other than Square.
16. Star Wars KOTOR
17. Final Fantasy 8
18. Ni No Kuni
19. Golden Sun
20. Dragon Quest 2
Large Professor
Member
Planescape: Torment
This game wasn't exactly love at first sight for me. In fact, I only started to truly appreciate it after a couple of hours. When the plot, the universe and the characters started to make sense to me. What I ultimately experienced was by far the best written story in a video game ever. Despite the issues the game has (the combat among others) it's by far my favorite RPG.
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
BG2 basically does everything right: it has the best combat in a C-RPG, an amazing roaster of characters, a fascinating universe, beautiful music & an incredible amount of side quests. The only part where it's maybe lacking a bit is the main plot, which is pretty basic.
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
Arcanum is probably the most underrated C-RPG. The combat is fun, but heavily unbalanced, the graphics severely lack charm, but the game makes up for it with an unmatched sense of liberty and choices given to the player, an incredibly fascinating universe, which pits magic against technology, and probably the best main plot in any of the classic C-RPGs.
Chrono Cross
I don't like J-RPGs that much. Mostly because of the lack of liberty and the super annoying random encounters. Chrono Cross has visible enemies and quite an amount of different paths (and endings) you can follow as a player. It's also the best looking J-RPG on the PS1, with the most memorable music and a huge roaster of characters.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
I played this classic not so long ago. It doesn't start that great with a tutorial that's mostly centered on the awkward combat and stealth system. What I loved was the fact that the game is set in a contemporary world and that as a vampire you're supposed to prevent certain secrets from being uncovered.
--VOTE INFO START—
<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT – 3 points} Planescape: Torment
{UNDERRATED – 4 points} Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Chrono Cross
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout 2
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy VII
<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Deus Ex
Final Fantasy VIII
Xenonauts
Jagged Alliance 2
Baldur's Gate 1
Fallout 1
Fallout 3
--VOTE INFO END--
This game wasn't exactly love at first sight for me. In fact, I only started to truly appreciate it after a couple of hours. When the plot, the universe and the characters started to make sense to me. What I ultimately experienced was by far the best written story in a video game ever. Despite the issues the game has (the combat among others) it's by far my favorite RPG.
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
BG2 basically does everything right: it has the best combat in a C-RPG, an amazing roaster of characters, a fascinating universe, beautiful music & an incredible amount of side quests. The only part where it's maybe lacking a bit is the main plot, which is pretty basic.
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
Arcanum is probably the most underrated C-RPG. The combat is fun, but heavily unbalanced, the graphics severely lack charm, but the game makes up for it with an unmatched sense of liberty and choices given to the player, an incredibly fascinating universe, which pits magic against technology, and probably the best main plot in any of the classic C-RPGs.
Chrono Cross
I don't like J-RPGs that much. Mostly because of the lack of liberty and the super annoying random encounters. Chrono Cross has visible enemies and quite an amount of different paths (and endings) you can follow as a player. It's also the best looking J-RPG on the PS1, with the most memorable music and a huge roaster of characters.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
I played this classic not so long ago. It doesn't start that great with a tutorial that's mostly centered on the awkward combat and stealth system. What I loved was the fact that the game is set in a contemporary world and that as a vampire you're supposed to prevent certain secrets from being uncovered.
--VOTE INFO START—
<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT – 3 points} Planescape: Torment
{UNDERRATED – 4 points} Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Chrono Cross
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout 2
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy VII
<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Deus Ex
Final Fantasy VIII
Xenonauts
Jagged Alliance 2
Baldur's Gate 1
Fallout 1
Fallout 3
--VOTE INFO END--
Chairmanchuck
Member
{HIGHLIGHT – 3 points} 1. The Legends of Hero Trails in the Sky
I started it around last month and it really hit me hard. The characters are all likable, the music is god-tier, the story is captivating and it is one of the game that you cant put away when you started a session. I played it with the new speed-patch and I think its necessary.
{UNDERRATED – 4 points} 2. Neptunia Rebirth 1
Its more like a joke-game, but even then I really liked the progression in that game. The story is pretty standard, the characters all fit one certain trope, the music isnt really good, but I somehow liked the progression system where you have to kill certain enemies is what made it addicting to me. You can unlock harder parts of the same dungeon by crafting new plans for the dungeon
3. Nier Automata
While its more like a "hybrid" RPG, I really loved everything about it. The lovely sidequests, the great music, the story, the characters and the whole style about Routes and how the game actually feels complete without any DLC or microtransaction BS. The endings to all the Routes are done really good.
4. Final Fantasy XIII
While most agree its not a good FF, I would argue otherwise. I didnt like the decision that the game opens up during the end, but then you have a "semi open world" with a lot of sidequests. What I liked about FF13 was the music and the cutscenes. They felt very "animey", but I liked them despite not liking most of the characters.
5. Final Fantasy 8
A lot of people seem to hate the game, but I also liked it. The draw system was something unique and while you could exploit it during the end, still felt fun. The story was nice, since you began in a school and then in the end rescued the world. The love story was well written imo and the characters were all likable. It also had a lot of sidequests which I personally loved.
6. Gothic 2
As a German Gothic was a must-have, but Gothic 2 improved on almost everything. It still had the "jankiness" of a German RPG, but it did something that not many RPGs did at that time. It offered multiple endings, a world that seemed to react to how you acted, similar to Ultimate titles and great German VAs. The atmosphere was gorgeous and at that time it looked gorgeous. It needed a great PC to even run. Despite that I know a lot of people who upgraded their PC just for that. And the games were just released on Steam!
7. Star Ocean 2
It was my first JRPG besides FF7 when I got my PSX and it was huge. I loved the music and the characters and the whole story. I remember after finishing CD 1 the game is over, since it felt like its over. Then a whole new world opened. To me it felt like I already played 200h of that and it still keeps going, but it was still fun. I wanted to see how they conclude the story and granted, it wasnt that good of an ending, but satisfying.
8. Wild Arms
Also one of my first JRPGs it kinda tried to put a JRPG in a western setting, though WA2 did that better. Wild Arms though felt like a great JRPG in the veins of old SNES JRPGs and I cant get that opening music out of my head.
<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT – 3 points} The Legends of Hero Trails in the Sky
{UNDERRATED – 4 points} Neptunia Rebirth 1
Nier Automata
Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy 8
Gothic 2
Star Ocean 2
Wild Arms
Final Fantasy 7
Gothic 1
<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Terranigma
Secret of Mana
Secret of Evermore
Mystic Quest
Final Fantasy 6
Lufia 2
Wild Arms 2
Star Ocean 3
Lunar Silver Star Story
Eternal Sonata
--VOTE INFO END--
I started it around last month and it really hit me hard. The characters are all likable, the music is god-tier, the story is captivating and it is one of the game that you cant put away when you started a session. I played it with the new speed-patch and I think its necessary.
{UNDERRATED – 4 points} 2. Neptunia Rebirth 1
Its more like a joke-game, but even then I really liked the progression in that game. The story is pretty standard, the characters all fit one certain trope, the music isnt really good, but I somehow liked the progression system where you have to kill certain enemies is what made it addicting to me. You can unlock harder parts of the same dungeon by crafting new plans for the dungeon
3. Nier Automata
While its more like a "hybrid" RPG, I really loved everything about it. The lovely sidequests, the great music, the story, the characters and the whole style about Routes and how the game actually feels complete without any DLC or microtransaction BS. The endings to all the Routes are done really good.
4. Final Fantasy XIII
While most agree its not a good FF, I would argue otherwise. I didnt like the decision that the game opens up during the end, but then you have a "semi open world" with a lot of sidequests. What I liked about FF13 was the music and the cutscenes. They felt very "animey", but I liked them despite not liking most of the characters.
5. Final Fantasy 8
A lot of people seem to hate the game, but I also liked it. The draw system was something unique and while you could exploit it during the end, still felt fun. The story was nice, since you began in a school and then in the end rescued the world. The love story was well written imo and the characters were all likable. It also had a lot of sidequests which I personally loved.
6. Gothic 2
As a German Gothic was a must-have, but Gothic 2 improved on almost everything. It still had the "jankiness" of a German RPG, but it did something that not many RPGs did at that time. It offered multiple endings, a world that seemed to react to how you acted, similar to Ultimate titles and great German VAs. The atmosphere was gorgeous and at that time it looked gorgeous. It needed a great PC to even run. Despite that I know a lot of people who upgraded their PC just for that. And the games were just released on Steam!
7. Star Ocean 2
It was my first JRPG besides FF7 when I got my PSX and it was huge. I loved the music and the characters and the whole story. I remember after finishing CD 1 the game is over, since it felt like its over. Then a whole new world opened. To me it felt like I already played 200h of that and it still keeps going, but it was still fun. I wanted to see how they conclude the story and granted, it wasnt that good of an ending, but satisfying.
8. Wild Arms
Also one of my first JRPGs it kinda tried to put a JRPG in a western setting, though WA2 did that better. Wild Arms though felt like a great JRPG in the veins of old SNES JRPGs and I cant get that opening music out of my head.
<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
{HIGHLIGHT – 3 points} The Legends of Hero Trails in the Sky
{UNDERRATED – 4 points} Neptunia Rebirth 1
Nier Automata
Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy 8
Gothic 2
Star Ocean 2
Wild Arms
Final Fantasy 7
Gothic 1
<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Terranigma
Secret of Mana
Secret of Evermore
Mystic Quest
Final Fantasy 6
Lufia 2
Wild Arms 2
Star Ocean 3
Lunar Silver Star Story
Eternal Sonata
--VOTE INFO END--
Mike Bison
Neo Member
1. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Aged like fine wine. Engaging quests, crazy potion brewing, weird creatures, charming NPCs and interesting dungeons. Huge distinctive world with things to do and see at every corner. The combat is not the best, but everything else more than makes up for it's shortcomings.
2. Final Fantasy IX
Interesting characters and world, great music, a not so edgy story that's engaging, and the combat is much improved. The card game is pretty great too.
3. Fallout 3
Huge empty but rich world filled with all kinds of interesting stories and people. The VATS adds an interesting strategical approach to the game, and proves to be quite useful while trapped inside a vault. There are a lot of interesting locations filled with personality, and a lot of wacky weapons and outfits to find.
4. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
FPS horror game with interesting RPG elements and gunplay. Delightful Ukrainian setting, plenty of raiders to kill, and abandoned buildings with scary mutants. Cheeki Breeki.
5. Pokémon FireRed Version
Part of my childhood. Great art style, so many pokemon characters to catch, and much improved UI.
--VOTE INFO START—
<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Final Fantasy IX
Fallout 3
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
Pokémon FireRed Version
--VOTE INFO END--
Aged like fine wine. Engaging quests, crazy potion brewing, weird creatures, charming NPCs and interesting dungeons. Huge distinctive world with things to do and see at every corner. The combat is not the best, but everything else more than makes up for it's shortcomings.
2. Final Fantasy IX
Interesting characters and world, great music, a not so edgy story that's engaging, and the combat is much improved. The card game is pretty great too.
3. Fallout 3
Huge empty but rich world filled with all kinds of interesting stories and people. The VATS adds an interesting strategical approach to the game, and proves to be quite useful while trapped inside a vault. There are a lot of interesting locations filled with personality, and a lot of wacky weapons and outfits to find.
4. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
FPS horror game with interesting RPG elements and gunplay. Delightful Ukrainian setting, plenty of raiders to kill, and abandoned buildings with scary mutants. Cheeki Breeki.
5. Pokémon FireRed Version
Part of my childhood. Great art style, so many pokemon characters to catch, and much improved UI.
--VOTE INFO START—
<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Final Fantasy IX
Fallout 3
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
Pokémon FireRed Version
--VOTE INFO END--