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RPGs with the best plot/characters ?

O

ourumov

Member
My brother is a RPG-nutt and yesterday while playing Valkyrie Profile he admitted he couldn't continue playing a game with a so bad plot. Not that I have the slightest about the plot in Valkyrie Profile, my appreciation says that the game looks awesome and sounds awesome (although most Sakuraba games sound nearly the same...he seems using always the same themes). But well, I find this kinda curious.

Anyways, we both agree that FF VII plot was pretty good and then he mentioned Xenogears as a good contender too (haven't beat it but I believe him). He also claims that Skies of Arcadia plot was really good but that Tales of Symphonia for instance was pretty simplistic. In that sense he can't wait to play Shin Megami Tensei III, which we bought a couple of months ago and that is waiting there, till I am done with my PS2 affairs. SMT3 seems to have a good plot...At leas that's what I thought after the initial sequence in the hospital...Pretty interesting.

Now I am beating Final Fantasy V and the plot is kinda sucky but the system comes to the rescue in this case and you can overcome this little problem. It is really a pitty since this game is pretty adictive...Well, I guess 1992 had different standards when it comes to the importance of these elements along with character lines...Even Fire Emblem III (which I own but I've never beaten due to the language barrier) seems to feature a better story.
Dunno, but games like Suikoden (the first one) give a lot more credit to characters and story...In 4 years, things changed a lot.
Of course, sorry to not have mentioned Crono Trigger, which IMO has a pretty nice story!

Well, to the point of this thread. I would like to know which RPGs have the better plot/characters...of course that is pretty subjective but well...I am all ears. I am particularly interested in the following titles:


Dragon Quest IV, V, VI, VIII
Final Fantasy VI, VIII, IX (no need to comment on FFX...I felt the pain...)
Bahamutt Lagoon
Romancing Saga 3
Lunar series
Shadow Hearts
Grandia I (part II seemed pretty simple from what I saw )
DewPrism
Brave Fencer Musashinden
Breath of Fire I, II, III, IV, Quarter
 
I hated Chrono Cross' plotline, till I replayed it, then it just sorta 'clicked' with me, now it's one of my favorites. Also, this thread is not complete without mentioning Planescape: Torment.

Shadow hearts has great charecters, one of my favorite RPGs this gen, haevn't played Covenant yet though.
 
I wouldn't say that Chrono Trigger has the most well developed or interesting characters, but to me they were some of the most endearing.
 
ourumov said:
My brother is a RPG-nutt and yesterday while playing Valkyrie Profile he admitted he couldn't continue playing a game with a so bad plot. Not that I have the slightest about the plot in Valkyrie Profile, my appreciation says that the game looks awesome and sounds awesome (although most Sakuraba games sound nearly the same...he seems using always the same themes). But well, I find this kinda curious.
Click to expand...

Sakuraba music is repetitive, sure, but I think VP has some of his best work in.

That aside, while Valkyrie Profile doesn't have an amazing linear narrative or anything, the individual stories are great - and if you fulfil the conditions for the proper storyline (which resolves the prologue) then it's really awesome. VP is one of the few RPGs that really got to me emotionally. Plus it has an awesome battle system. I think it's probably my favourite PS1 RPG (tied with Chrono Cross, perhaps).

Anyways, we both agree that FF VII plot was pretty good and then he mentioned Xenogears as a good contender too (haven't beat it but I believe him). He also claims that Skies of Arcadia plot was really good but that Tales of Symphonia for instance was pretty simplistic. In that sense he can't wait to play Shin Megami Tensei III, which we bought a couple of months ago and that is waiting there, till I am done with my PS2 affairs. SMT3 seems to have a good plot...At leas that's what I thought after the initial sequence in the hospital...Pretty interesting.
Click to expand...

Xenogears (and Xenosaga 1, although I despise Episode 2's battle/skill system so much that I doubt I'll ever have a decent opinion on its plot...) has an awesome plot and decent characters, especially if you like pointless religious references and deliberately obscure storytelling (which I do!). Otherwise I pretty much agree with your brother.

Well, to the point of this thread. I would like to know which RPGs have the better plot/characters...of course that is pretty subjective but well...I am all ears. I am particularly interested in the following titles:

Final Fantasy VI, VIII, IX (no need to comment on FFX...I felt the pain...)
Click to expand...

VI - great characters, a couple of decent plot twists, but nothing earth-shattering.
VIII - most of the characters are annoying and the plot is incoherent at best, but it's still good melodramatic fun.
IX - stereotypical Final Fantasy plot in almost every way, but very likeable (if slightly cliche) characters.

(but I liked X a lot, so there you go...)

Grandia I (part II seemed pretty simple from what I saw )
Click to expand...

I liked II better than what I played of I (I think I finished the first disc of I, I really can't remember) - I was a bit twee and, certainly in the English version, has HORRIBLE voice acting. II is extremely cheesy once more (there's a religious organisation in it, you can write your own plot) but the characters are a bit better.

DewPrism
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say the story is great but I thought Mint and Rue were fantastic lead characters - definitely worth playing through twice and not just for the different approaches/dungeons. As an action RPG, obviously, it's not exactly deep.

Breath of Fire I, II, III, IV, Quarter
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Only played IV and Quarter - IV is okay, although it only really gets going right at the end, and I never played enough of Quarter to really say although the setting is at least something a little innovative.
 
Nothing and I mean nothing beats Baldur's Gate Trilogy (1 + 2 + ToB) plot.

Nothing except Deus Ex.
And Fallout (1+2).

WAY beneath them:

KOTOR has some good story better than NWN for sure.

Grandia has a cool "little" story, FF6 also comes to mind.

But you really don't know how good a story and a plot can be if you haven't played BG2. No console game comes close to its grandness.

And before anyone asks: Planescape Torment was just too weird for me, beat the game but loathed the setting.
 
Nothing will ever come close to the greatness of FF8 sadly... not even a sequel because Square would come up with some way to fuck it up.
 
SaGa Frontier 2
Grandia
Lunar
FFXI
SoA

Grandia has better characters and a more epic story/setting than II. Try it. :D

If you like Star Wars, KoTOR actually explains a bit about the force and the ability to make huge weaponry like the Death Star. It has some great characters, but some of the dialogue and characters annoyed the hell out of me (I'm looking at you, Carth).
 
Borys said:
Nothing and I mean nothing beats Baldur's Gate Trilogy (1 + 2 + ToB) plot.

Nothing except Deus Ex.
And Fallout (1+2).

WAY beneath them:

KOTOR has some good story better than NWN for sure.

Grandia has a cool "little" story, FF6 also comes to mind.

But you really don't know how good a story and a plot can be if you haven't played BG2. No console game comes close to its grandness.

And before anyone asks: Planescape Torment was just too weird for me, beat the game but loathed the setting.
Click to expand...

I hated BGs, loved KoTOR go figure... Planescape has one of the best stories of recent RPGs.. craps all over BG2 in my opinion... Fallout 2 is just all sorts of greatness and Deus Ex is hot.. for consoles this gen Shadow Heart 2 gets my vote along with Jade Empire
 
I'm not touching this topic with a 10 foot pole.

One thing I've learned from GAF and other gaming forums over the years is that story/writing/characters in rpgs tend to be viewed very subjectively. For every rpg that one person hates, there is someone else who loves it. Actual gameplay mechanics can usually be agreed on as to what is good and bad, but going by every rpg thread take any rpg plot and you'll find people on both sides of the fence.
 
Bebpo said:
I'm not touching this topic with a 10 foot pole.

One thing I've learned from GAF and other gaming forums over the years is that story/writing/characters in rpgs tend to be viewed very subjectively. For every rpg that one person hates, there is someone else who loves it. Actual gameplay mechanics can usually be agreed on as to what is good and bad, but going by every rpg thread take any rpg plot and you'll find people on both sides of the fence.
Click to expand...

Well your opinions on RPGs are always welcome! (But I am still WESTSIDE fo' life when it comes to RPGs)
 
Bebpo said:
I'm not touching this topic with a 10 foot pole.

One thing I've learned from GAF and other gaming forums over the years is that story/writing/characters in rpgs tend to be viewed very subjectively. For every rpg that one person hates, there is someone else who loves it. Actual gameplay mechanics can usually be agreed on as to what is good and bad, but going by every rpg thread take any rpg plot and you'll find people on both sides of the fence.
Click to expand...

I'm going to go ahead and agree with this. I really wanted to recommend the OP some titles but then I read this,

ourumov said:
Well, to the point of this thread. I would like to know which RPGs have the better plot/characters...of course that is pretty subjective but well...I am all ears. I am particularly interested in the following titles:

Breath of Fire III
Click to expand...

I love Breath of Fire 3. Memorable characters, awesome story.
Click to expand...

ourumov said:
After the PSP one was announced I seemed to notice a lot of hate against it...I thought it sucked.
Click to expand...

and I started thinking that it wasn't such a great idea.
 
Blackace said:
I hated BGs, loved KoTOR go figure... Planescape has one of the best stories of recent RPGs.. craps all over BG2 in my opinion... Fallout 2 is just all sorts of greatness and Deus Ex is hot.. for consoles this gen Shadow Heart 2 gets my vote along with Jade Empire
Click to expand...

Heh, seems everything is subjective...

Ya, I better not post in here again, just respect others opinion that's all.
 
Borys said:
Heh, seems everything is subjective...

Ya, I better not post in here again, just respect others opinion that's all.
Click to expand...

just agree to disagree! :D I am not saying you were wrong... just my taste in the RPGs out there!
 
Borys said:
Agreed :)

Now, where's my BG3 Atari?
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hahah I would like to see it, that I would! RPGs are dying and quickly... I hope this trend stops otherwise I might not be a gamer soon... RPGs, Adventure, and sports are the type of games I like most... :/
 
Blackace said:
hahah I would like to see it, that I would! RPGs are dying and quickly... I hope this trend stops otherwise I might not be a gamer soon... RPGs, Adventure, and sports are the type of games I like most... :/
Click to expand...

Sports game aren't going anywhere soon, you can bet $100M on that (Electronic Arts makes too much money on them).

Adventure games... sadly, died a long time ago. I know there was Syberia 1&2, The Longest Journey, Still Life and lots of others from Europe but it can only get worse from now on.

PC RPGs are dying :( not because they are bad but because nobody buys them (Bloodlines anyone? ~100K units sold? how weak is that :( ).

Console RPGs are as healthy as ever with strong eastern presence on PS2/3 and strong western presence on Xbox/ Xbox 2.

So cheer up, Blackace!
Only adventure games are dead. That's a very good moment to hunt all those XXXX Quests from Sierra, Mysts or Zorks down!
 
I gotta agree that Planescapes Torment story knocked me out the box. It was such a different approach to what we are use too yet it was ingeniously written in dialog without becoming over-bearing and monotonus. It was quite an achievement at the time.
 
For "best plot in an RPG", I'm really tempted to point back at some of Infocom's text adventures. One of 'em even won a science fiction writing award.

RPG with the best characters?
Paper Mario
(either one in the series) or
Mario & Luigi
. Hard to find characters better than that! (Now, the plot is an entirely different story (
snicker
).
 
Bebpo said:
I'm not touching this topic with a 10 foot pole.

One thing I've learned from GAF and other gaming forums over the years is that story/writing/characters in rpgs tend to be viewed very subjectively. For every rpg that one person hates, there is someone else who loves it. Actual gameplay mechanics can usually be agreed on as to what is good and bad, but going by every rpg thread take any rpg plot and you'll find people on both sides of the fence.
Click to expand...

It would have been nice to hear the opinion of the master... :P
 
b0026252_943197.jpg

Oh yeah
 
DavidDayton said:
For "best plot in an RPG", I'm really tempted to point back at some of Infocom's text adventures. One of 'em even won a science fiction writing award.
Click to expand...

Not really RPGs as such, though (you could make the case for Beyond Zork, but then that was hardly the high point of Infocom writing).

Anyway, I agree with everyone who says taste in RPG stories is subjective, except in the case of Planescape Torment, where if you do not agree that its story is great you are just plain wrong.
 
DavidDayton said:
For "best plot in an RPG", I'm really tempted to point back at some of Infocom's text adventures. One of 'em even won a science fiction writing award.

RPG with the best characters?
Paper Mario
(either one in the series) or
Mario & Luigi
. Hard to find characters better than that! (Now, the plot is an entirely different story (
snicker
).
Click to expand...


Have you heard of the genre "adventure" game or even "text adventure" game? Because those are the types of games you just mentioned in your first sentence. They're not RPGs.
 
Knights of the Old Republic is my choice. Granted I've never played any of the Baldur's Gate games.

Chrono Trigger tells an interesting story as well. And the characters had a lot of personality, how could anyone not like Frog?
 
I'm a Yoshinori Kitase whore, so naturally- FFVI/VII/VIII/X are on the top of my list, not in that order. :D

as far as more Western RPGs, Fallout 1 and 2 own me.
I fear for Fallout 3...
 
Valkyrie Profile is my favorite RPG of all time.

That said, the OP's friend might want to check out DDS, even if it is part 1 of 2. Great game that excels on all fronts.
 
iapetus said:
Not really RPGs as such, though (you could make the case for Beyond Zork, but then that was hardly the high point of Infocom writing).
Click to expand...
Pellham said:
Have you heard of the genre "adventure" game or even "text adventure" game? Because those are the types of games you just mentioned in your first sentence. They're not RPGs.
Click to expand...

Eh. Given the somewhat fluid defintion attributed to "RPG", I feel free to lump many Infocom games into that catagory... heck, Zork even has battles and (hidden) hitpoints. I've always considered text adventures to be a bit of a subcatagory of RPGs, especially considering the vast amount of control and "personality" that can be done in a -good- text adventure.

(Not to get off topic too much, but what does an "RPG" have that a classic text adventure does not have?)
 
I was going to spend some time writing a mini-essay on why I like Final Fantasy VII and Breath of Fire III, but it would be lost on this thread.
 
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