Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn
Planescape: Torment
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Chrono Trigger
Golden Sun
Deus Ex
Mass Effect
Mass Effect 2
System Shock 2
Diablo II
i vote for Deus Ex Human Revolution because it's one of 3 RPG's i got to play this year. what made it stand out a lot was the atmosphere and the music. i have Icarus Main Theme playing as i type this!
1. Xenogears
2. Suikoden 2
3. Xenosaga Ep3
4. Final Fantasy Tactics
5. Vagrant Story
6. Shadow Hearts 2
7. Final Fantasy XII
8. Tactics Ogre LuCt (PSP Remake)
9. Final Fantasy VII
10. Digital Devil Saga 1
Baten Kaitos: Origins (Gamecube)
As a long time fan of jrpgs, I had grown disenchanted with the genre over the years. Too many wild Japanese tropes that left me confused by characters, story and mechanics almost had me swear off the genre forever. That is, until I picked this game up from a bargin bin (it sold incredibly poorly) on a whim. The combat system is unique and fun, the voice acting is top-notch, the characters are memorable and the story manages to include all of the great things that Japanese sensibilities bring to rpgs. It completely reenergized my love for the genre!
Shining Force (Sega Genesis)
The granddaddy of strategy rpgs, and a game made with such care (from Camelot) that it still holds up today. I loved the artstyle, the incredible level design and fantastic enemy design. It left an indelible impression on my young mind and has never left my heart.
Earthbound (SNES)
There arent enough great words that I could possibly say about Earthbound. The greatest compliment that games normally receive involves game mechanics, memorable levels or graphics. Earthbound has all of these in spades, but to commend the game on those simple merits would sell it short in my eyes. The game simply helped shape my sense of humor. This crazy explosion of uncut Japanese weirdness hit me at a impressionable stage in my life and never left me. I doubt that anyone who is over the age of 12 could have the game effect them in this way, but it fostered a love for the absurd in my young heart. This game is incredible and there has never been another game like it (even Mother 3, the sequel which has a more serious tone).
* Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne *
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy VI
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
Vagrant Story
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Mother 3
The World Ends With You
Dark Souls
Xenoblade
charming party, good music and a nice localization make for a good classic RPG ride.
-Grandia-
it is the definitive adventurers RPG. this game series gets voted -best battle system- on many occasions, don't pass this up, find out why and vote with us.
-Panzer Dragoon Saga-
unique dusty world, mesmerizing music and a fresh take on the RPG formula back when the Saturn got ignored. i cherish this game.
-Shining Force II-
i could vote for any true shining force without regrets. i picked this because it has a phoenix as a playable character and the best town theme ever. you don't even have to revive the phoenix when he dies, he'll come back at no expense
-Digital Devil Saga-
SMT formula perfected. throw away everything that made nocturne a chore, refine the battle engine and add meguro's most diverse soundtrack. your companions are nice too, only topped by P2: EP cast if we're talking SMT.
-Xenogears-
sick world, sick soundtrack. you'll never know where this game will take you. maybe the most diversified RPG world ever created.
-Tactics Ogre - Let Us Cling Together PSP-
toppels FFT this year. Final Fantasy Tactics remains the better story and better soundtrack, but the refinements in gameplay can't be ignored. It's impossible to ignore TO this year.
-Ys Seven-
crazy responsive controls. Ys is a beast that's been running wild for over 20 years. you'll miss out if you don't give it a try. crazy music again, like every other falcom game.
-Valkyrie Profile-
this game is pretty unique, so you better watch a few vids. there is a flaw where you can't get the best ending without reading a five-line-faq. do that and you'll get an RPG like no other. this might be sakuraba's best work btw.
every game i've listed has great music, that's no coincidence.
Hrmm, I'll give it a go. I'm not really one for ranking.
VtM: Bloodlines - Best writing, acting and atmosphere I've ever seen in an rpg.
Fallout 2 - (Sorry AP!) I'd include 1 and 2 together, really. Two was everything the first one was, but more. Some would argue it was a less 'pure' and I can't disagree. Humor and silliness does sort take over. Even so I enjoyed it more than the first.
Baldur's Gate. - Probably the best crpg ever. Incredibly fun to play, and a plot that kept me interested. Lot of fond memories killing Khalid and farming those basilisks.
Baldur's Gate 2 -- I liked it less than the first. Probably because the plot, which is better yes, really dictated the gameplay and took away that sense of exploration and freedom in the first. Even so, unknowingly going into EB Games and finding the Collector's Edition being put out, and then going into the game completely spoiler/preview free is one of my fondest gaming moments. They even killed Khalid for me!
Morrowind. -- While everyone was was getting their Tolkein and DnD on. The Elderscrolls were doing their weird, more alien-like Elder Scrolls. Morrowind defined the difference between TES and traditional fantasy. It was a completely unique world that was and remains different from the norm. I liked that the PC was a key component of the plot this time, and not just a regular adventurer like in Arena, Daggerfall, and Oblivion, too. It made the whole meeting with the Tribunal and Dagoth a lot more interesting, even if the game never fully capitalized on it.
Final Fantasy 12 - Most fun "fun" I've had in an rpg. I spent hours happily trying to get rare drops off monsters. The cast weren't annoying like most jrpg games, and the political plot was amazingly well done up until the 2/3rds point when the game switched to the usual jrpg-save the world stuff.
Grandia - Long game full of genuinely heartwarming moments. The transition from Disc 1 to Disc 2 was incredible. Never seen a game capture the sense of adventure and exploration so well. The battle system was just different enough to give it a flair, too.
Skies of Arcadia - A lot like Grandia in spirit, but with a weaker plot and a more interesting world. The world map really stands out, even now. Flying around in an airship was incredible, but seeing (and fighting) other ships was something else at the time. I broke out the Dreamcast a couple years back to replay it, and the graphics still held up. The only downside was the insane number of random battles, and the surprising difficulty of some bosses.
Tactics Ogre +2 - Best political-Shakespearean plot ever. Certainly the most realistic, at least up until the usual 'sudden evil threatens the world!' bit towards the end. Mostly the story conveyed a less fluffy version of war that most games go with. You also see a lot insight into the motivations and ideologies of the different characters and groups. - The actual battles are stellar, and a lot more challenging and decisive than in FFT or any other SRPG. This is due to healing being much harder to come by, and actual reviving being nearly non-existent. The risk of sudden perma-death, even for story characters, requires a completely different approach compared to more lenient games. Archers on high ground become insanely dangerous when they can nearly 1-shot your softer characters from afar. And this also made the battles where you were attacking a castle incredibly exhilarating. I would cringe each time an archer fired an arrow.
Secret of Mana - Favorite SNES game, not counting TO. Fun to play, even with a friend. The colorful world made it pleasing to the eye, and the plot didn't try to get too emo or complex, yet never risked seeming shallow. The game almost felt like a piece of art long before the whole the whole arty-game movement started.
The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind: It thrust the player into an enormous world and let them loose to do as they please. The sheer scope of the game combined with the wondrous world and memorable soundtrack, you can lose yourself in it for ages. Oblivion and Skyrim have iterated on its success, but Morrowind is still the best in my book.
Pokemon Gold/Silver: Red/Blue set the foundation for the gotta catch em all series, but GS blew all expectations away. The addition of a day/night system, minigames, 100-ish new pokemon to acquire, and the huge treat of returning to Kanto and the mind-blowing ultimate battle. Plus they were remade for the DS and somehow made even better.
Persona 3 FES: The mix of dark pokemon-esque demon capturing and brewing, catchy soundtrack, and unique setting made this a hell of a find. Suitably long, SMT combat (but still challenging if you want), and a riveting story. So awesome.
Chrono Trigger (2 points): What else can be said at this point? CT is the standard by which all jrpg's should be judged.
Guild Wars: A huge world, deep combat that doesnt rely on the cheapness of levels and rare weapon drops but rather on play skill and teamwork, an incredible soundtrack that haunts me to this day, and awesome pvp (though diminished now compared to back in the day). Best of all, no subscription fees.
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic: great turn-based combat, a wonderful ride of a story (and the famous twist), and great character customization. I still come back to this every so often just to relax.
Demons Souls: the Super Meat Boy of rpgs for me. Brutally challenging but never/rarely cheap. You are truly rewarded for learning, adapting, and mastering the game. Incredible atmosphere and great gameplay, a truly fantastic title.
Might & Magic 6: 6, 7, and 8 are all awesome, but 6 stands out as feeling the largest and most rewarding for me. A mix of turn-based and realtime combat, you go from nothing to god-tier in this huge world. Tons of options and secrets within the game as well. The story isn't amazing, but the game is.
Mass Effect: Wonderful space opera. It's pieces may not hold up to scrutiny, especially after ME2 improved stuff like combat, but the sum of the game is well beyond those parts. It is something magical, from the title screen music to the awesome credits song that closes the game so well.
Fallout 3: New Vegas improved upon it, but my money is on F3 as the superior game. Set in the wonderfully bleak Capital Wasteland, you explore this sandbox and develop your character to your gameplay style. The retro-future world of the series, with all it's decor and music makes for a truly memorable time.
Man, reading through this thread and the 2011 one reminds me that I have so many fantastic rpg's to get to. How depressing.
1. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (PS2) - Challenging, strategic combat with excellent atmosphere. Player choices affect not just the gameplay, but the endings as well. Not just my favorite rpg, but also my favorite game. Two points.
2. Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together (PSP) - Great combat system, interesting story, tons of replayability. My favorite SRPG.
3. Demon's Souls (PS3) - Incredible atmosphere with challenging and rewarding gameplay. Action RPGs just do not get better than this.
4. Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (PS2) - Endless customization and replay value, quirky, funny, and addictive.
5. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP) - Best version of an excellent game. One of the very best SRPGs yet made.
6. Dark Souls (PS3) - Outstanding game, in some ways even better than Demon's Souls.
7. Valkyria Chronicles (PS3) - Beautiful art design, fantastic SRPG, with a great battle system
8. Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 (PS2) - Great atmosphere, addictive turn-based combat. Not quite as challenging, nor as great as SMT: Nocturne, but still an excellent game.
9. Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (PS2) - Great atmosphere and combat, stylish occult storyline.
10. Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn (PC) - Simply put, Bioware at its finest. For Bioware, its all been downhill from here, as none of its games are even close to being as great as BG2. Its hard to imagine that the same company that churns out products like Mass Effect made the Baldur's Gate series.
Genso Suikoden 2 - This is my favorite game of all time. The gameplay was simplistic but worked for me. None of the battles really felt like a chore but that's because I used pretty much all the characters in the game. The story and the world that it paints is intricate and well thought up. There are also a few tunes that were quite memorable.
Nier - Game had a few quirks but it was the atmosphere and the music that did it for me.
Chrono Trigger - Not much to say since it'd probably be the same as everyone else. Though when I first arrived at the lost city, I must have spent like 30 minutes just listening to the music and watching the scenery.
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete - Everything about the game was pretty good. The story was quite simple, no convoluted plots here! Very well executed, one of those simple yet elegant RPGs.
Tales of Eternia - Tales games have always been about the combat. Eternia excels at it and has an interesting story & world.
Star Ocean 2 - Combat was very fun but it was all about the characters. PAs made the game very enjoyable since you learn so much more about the characters.
Grandia - A zero to hero RPG. I loved the adventure and the battle system was pretty unique.
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter - The gameplay was great, it wasn't as hard as a roguelike where you'd lose everything if you died. Loved the setting also, the sense of urgency made me care for the characters too.
Ultima VII - The way that the game was programmed made the world seem like it was alive. Loved how there were so many Easter eggs in the game also.
Quest for Glory: So You Want To Be A Hero - Dunno if this counts as it's more of an adventure game, but the way the game was played made me feel that this is what a DnDesque game should feel like.
Just gonna repost my list from last year, because the RPGs that come out every year (esp wrpgs) just get shittier and shittier.
Baldur's Gate 2: Epic story, chock full of content, great characters, and a kind of atmosphere and sheer density to the world that would never be matched by any game since then, certainly not by BioWare. Pick up the expansion too.
Planescape: Torment: Phenomenal story. Perfect for role-playing, and it places more confidence in the game's writers than any other game before or since. I love how there are just three swords in the game and you don't have to defeat a single enemy in combat if you don't want to. Flips traditional RPG conventions on its head, especially regarding death. Extremely clever, extremely well written. Please check it out... it's well worth your time.
Deus Ex: If Mass Effect strived to let you be Jack Bauer in space, then Deus Ex was basically Jack Bauer in a cyberpunk future. It did a great job of providing you choices within the context of the narrative. So, no, you can't change which side you're fighting for, but you certainly CAN change the playing field whether it's by
saving your brother Paul, killing Anna on the plane, killing Manderly, killing the hostages, etc.
, and the game doesn't punish you with a game over screen - it merely reacts to your choices. Hideous voice acting, horrible graphics, poor shooting mechanics - yet the amount of freedom it provides in allowing players to tackle both the story and the levels themselves is unparalleled. To me, that's what role-playing is all about.
Diablo 2: It's Diablo. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I don't think any WRPG has been copied more than the Diablo formula...
Knights of the Old Republic: Probably my favorite RPG of all time. I'm one of the few who played it after they played the 2D Black Isle games and still prefer it to those games (which are still very, very good). In my eyes, the perfect balance between Star Wars atmosphere/cheese, fantastic production values (and graphics that, while are aged, aren't offensively bad by 2010 standards), having a lot of content (without diluting the main focus of the game), the best Star Wars plot written within the Star Wars universe (KoTOR 2 has a better story, but it's too existential and morally ambiguous to qualify as a Star Wars story, per se), and a really strong balance between having RPG elements and remaining relatively accessible to really strike a chord with me as someone who watched Star Wars as a kid - it really did bring back memories, that magic of the first movie. Sure, I can understand that a lot of people don't share those same sentiments about Star Wars, but I feel like the game has a simplistic charm (one shared in the Star Wars series as a whole), and I love it because of that. And unlike a lot of people, the jump to 3D really made a huge difference for me - I'll admit it, my imagination aint what it used to be. Having these scenes play out in 3D vs. in isometric fashion is a huge plus for me, especially when it comes to integrating itself in the Star Wars canon.
Alone, the greatest RPG? Hardly. The story is predictable, cheesy at times, with laughably polarized choices. The combat system isn't the best. The graphics have aged. But this is a game that is absolutley more than the sum of its parts. At the very least, it's very much a gateway drug for many newcomers to WRPGs. I know I've used it to get people into the genre.
KoTOR 2: Does everything better than KoTOR 1 (story, RPG elements, combat, characters), but is 1) incomplete and 2) loses Star Wars charm in the process, causing it to pale in comparison.
NWN2: MoTB: Shares many similarities with KoTOR 2 and P:T (led by the same designer, after all). Great story... everything else is kind of meh. But that story is fantastic - I'm a bit too lazy to write out a full reasoning for why it's great. Maybe later :lol :lol
Mass Effect: Though it's less RPG than I initially hoped for when I saw it's reveal and the game is very hit and miss when it comes to locations, story, gameplay elements, you name it. That said, for every horrible level or gameplay element (I'm not sure if I can ever forgive the Mako, or the countless copy/pasted sidequests) there was an equally compelling reason to continue playing (amazing graphics, the final level, the overall story arc... all fantastic). Another BioWare case of it being more than the sum of its parts.
Alpha Protocol: I know a lot of people deride it for being buggy as hell (it is), having unsatisfying combat (it does...), being made by Obsidian (well... yeah), but it actually ended up being everything I wanted in Mass Effect. Great dialogue, very open-story, with choices that actually have consequences, etc. Very underrated game.
Fallout: New Vegas. For me, it struck the right chord between playing to the side of me that loves open story games (like half of this list is made up of Chris Avellone games :lol :lol :lol ) and open world games, and, once I got it running in a relatively stable state on my PC, turned out to be great. I miss the days where games would give you 4 different main quest options, tons of different factions to help/piss off, the freedom to kill just about anyone and not break your game, and the ability to fail quests! How many games actually let you fail quests these days, and not just punish you with a game over screen, but with in-game ramifications? Not many... certainly none coming out of BioWare anytime soon.
Yes. I haven't tallied anything yet. Giving people until the deadline to adjust their posts.
Speaking of which, you have until 1pm tomorrow afternoon to vote if you are still interested. I will bump the thread once more tomorrow morning and then draw winners for the game prizes in the early afternoon.
EDIT: Current tally is 190 participants. Slightly down from last year, but most people justified their choices making for a stronger thread overall I would say.
The World Ends With You (2 points) - Greatly under appreciated. I love this game. The battle system makes brilliant use of the hardware and the different systems all connect so well. The dynamic difficulty is just icing on the cake. The perfect portable RPG.
Demon's Souls - Somehow I never really believed all the hype. It just didn't seem possible that this game was as fun as everyone said, or that if it was it just wouldn't be fun for me. I was convinced it simply wasn't "my kind of game," but now I'm pretty certain that it's pretty close to perfect for anyone who loves stats and finding the perfect build. The combat truly is sublime.
Valkyria Chronicles - The art style is gorgeous and the more dynamic approach to combat feels natural on a console.
Persona 4 - This was a HARD choice between Persona 4 and Persona 3 and I think if you asked me next week it might flip back. Basically both casts are great in their own unique way but it's pretty hard to argue against the improved combat and unique dungeons.
Suikoden - While I know logically that Suikoden II is the superior game, the original will always hold a place in my heart. I've never played a game more times to completion than I did with Suikoden. And I loved it every time.
Final Fantasy VII - While it's tempting to put Final Fantasy IV or VI on the list -- each for their own unique reasons -- it's hard to forget that feeling of leaving Midgar for the first time. I remember my friend who didn't even like video games coming over to my house every day after school to watch me play through the beginning of FF7. It ended up taking us a week to get through what is supposed to just be the opening section really and then when we reached the world map finally it literally blew my mind that there was so much more left to explore. Combine that with the Materia system, which was the first unique JRPG system that I felt I truly mastered, and you have one of my personal favorites of all time.
Fallout - When this game was originally released, the only PC my family owned was exclusively for homework. I never got to play it upon release and it was only years later, after playing Fallout 3, that I got to experience it. Wow. I never really played this style of RPG before in my life and while that can be really daunting, this game was worth relearning everything I knew. Enjoyed it so much I actually watched multiple let's plays just to see how other people approach the events. I really love this game.
Chrono Trigger - The game that defined New Game + and the perfect length of a RPG.
Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - I haven't played all the Paper Mario games yet so maybe this won't always be on my list, but thus far it's my favorite in the series of Mario RPGs. Most creative and absolutely wonderfully written. The combat system is engaging and frequently evolving. Plus Bowser is awesome.
Shining Force 2 - My first SRPG. I remember renting this from Blockbuster every other week for a long time and frequently having to restart because my save would be erased. Took a long time to talk my parents into buying it for me, yet somehow I never really hated restarting the game. It was just that much fun to me.
Um… Let’s just go with this. I’ll try to limit this to one game per series, as hard as it may be, to be completely fair. This isn’t a definitive list at all, but I want to cast a vote this year.
1.Genso Suikoden II
I don’t think I can come up with the proper words to justify why I like this game so much. I’ll try, but I feel like anything I come up with won’t do it justice.
This is my favourite game ever. I consider both it and Genso Suikoden to be sister games, but essentially, Genso Suikoden II built upon the foundations that Genso Suikoden put into place and perfected many of those foundations (some of which were later built upon in subsequent Genso Suikoden titles). Both games have quite a bit of parallels, but Genso Suikoden II is essentially what Genso Suikoden wanted to pull off but couldn’t at the time.
The presentation of this game is superb, and what I mean is Fumi Ishikawa’s gorgeous artwork, the emotional and ethnically-influenced Miki Higashino/Keiko Fukami soundtrack, and the amazing, amazing sprite animation. The sprites are so detailed and their animations are among the best I’ve seen in a videogame… maybe even the best I’ve seen, period. The sprites were clearly made with the best intention of making the narrative flow well, communicate expressions well, and delight players when the characters have the chance to do.
The narrative is what most people remember from this game—a narrative that includes subject matter such as implied rape, child soldiers (ie: children getting involved in what should be mainly adult affairs), social justice, war, tragedy, and politics. What’s great about the narrative is that the characters are so memorable and well-developed. Characters such as Viktor, Nanami, Pilika, Jowy and Shu are well-written, have good dialogue, and are memorable not just based on what they say, but their actions, their reactions (Pilika, in particular, as a character who experienced symptoms of psychological shock and PTSD, and her behaviour throughout the game until the halfway point is interesting to observe), and what happens to them throughout the narrative. Luca Blight is a character who needs no introduction because of his brutal war and killing tactics. His story is perhaps one of the most tragic of all the characters.
Speaking of characters, this was the first game where characters from the previous game’s cameos were expected and players looked forward to seeing how older characters developed. This began a tradition in the Suikoden series where cameo appearances were expected. Flik, Viktor and Apple are characters from the previous game who demonstrated minor immaturity, but in Genso Suikoden II, they’re more mature and battle-hardened, and are thus more able to take up the sword readily to get things done, no questions asked. If a player had a save from the first game, this would introduce dialogue changes, and will also net them another special playable character (whom I enjoy using a lot because of his amazing stats, omg).
The battle system is lightning-fast, and the animations for unite attacks and regular attacks are really great to watch in action. The spell effects were wonderful to watch, and still are. A newer system which allowed the player to equip up to three runes on each party member allowed for better flexibility and more customization around weaker party members to make them stronger and more useful in combat. Higher-level runes such as the Cyclone Rune or the Rage Rune can be combined with other higher-level elemental runes (as long as they are elementally-compatible) to produce devastating combination spells as well.
Genso Suikoden II also has my favourite large-scale battle type. It’s basically an SRPG system, and the more characters you have, the more units you are able to use (and the diversity of units increase as you rotate your units around). It’s unfortunate that this model was not used in other mainline Genso Suikoden titles, because this was perfect. The Genso Suikoden II fanmade homage/clone introduces a ranking system, which probably should have been the next step in evolving the large-scale battles.
There’s more I can say about this game, and I can write pages and pages. But Genso Suikoden II is quite important to me as a game. It has heart and soul. I think everyone should play it.
2.Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger is one of those games that you can easily recommend to both newcomers and veterans alike. I’ll talk about the battle system in a moment, but let’s look at how utterly beautiful this game is. The Honne background art is so colourful and detailed. The Toriyama art, is essentially an excuse for—and this is truly the case, actually—Sakaguchi and co. to play with the whimsical nature of Toriyama’s universe, with characters that stand out, and still look rather unique in terms of the colour palettes used for them, the designs, and the characters’ identities (ex: humans, robots, animals, etc). The spritework is detailed, the animations are wonderful to watch, and it’s just a joy to watch. The Mitsuda/Uematsu/Matsueda soundtrack demonstrates so much compositional synergy, catchiness and beauty throughout. And the story is just utterly delightful and tragic at the same time. Everyone who worked on this game should be proud.
But the battle system is truly what shines in this game. Dubbed “ATB 2.0”, Hiroyuki Ito & co. amped up the familiar ATB system found in previous Final Fantasy games (starting with FFIV) and developed it into a system that takes into account party synergy, combo attacks, timing (helping make the speed stat being one of the most important stats in the game rather than sheer power), the importance of healing, both difficulty and ease, and enemy positioning for linear, group or single attacks. It’s a beautiful system. There is never any “right” or “wrong” party because each party member brings their own special abilities (everyone but Magus has a healing spell, for instance), and players can customize their parties for efficiency, favouritism, etc.
The beauty of Chrono Trigger truly lies in its accessibility to newcomers and veterans alike. People can play through it without any problems to get through the story, but veterans can play through it to amp up the difficulty to test themselves.
3.Mother 3
Mother 3 is a perfect example of good storytelling in an RPG. When I played Mother 3, I was expecting Earthbound. I was not expecting such a profound tale of love, loss, capitalism, loss of rustic charm, and a ton of other themes this narrative included. The music was great, the battle system with the addition of the rhythm hits was fun, the characters and chapter divisions were well-planned, and the dialogue was wonderful (especially if you go back and look at all the dialogue throughout the chapters in Tazmily Village). In fact, I think Tazmily Village is kind of like Clock Town where I felt like the people were what made the town so great. I'm not sure if a lot of people did this, but if you go back to Tazmily after nearly every new chapter, the NPC dialogue changes.
You increasingly see how the effects of everyone's new capitalist lives are shaping their thoughts and words and feelings. It's a huge contrast to the previous chapters (1-3), where they were generous, traded things amongst each other without resorted to the new thing called "money", where everyone went on a search for a lost citizen, etc. Some of them continuously say that they don't want to live in the sticks. It isn't until you return from your mushroom trip on the island that you realize that everyone is gone. And that the village is deserted.
The development of the town and its citizens are really interesting to look at because of all of this. I really liked how well it was written, and it's one of towns I remember the most in any videogame I've played. The fan-translation was also well-done, imo. I loved its flavour.
And the rhythm-based battles were really cool, especially when playing on a GBA. Learning the underlying rhythms was one of my favourite parts of the game was well. Clearly, Mother 3 was a labour of love in terms of writing on Itoi’s part. It doesn’t really get much better than this.
4.Shadow Hearts
As much as I love the refinements made to the Judgement Ring battle system in Shadow Hearts II (hit direction, combo attacks, emphasis on elemental strikes, Solomon’s Key, character skill development variations and systems) and From the New World (Stock System; Stellar Charts), the original Shadow Hearts will probably always be my favourite out of the trio (quartet if we’re counting Koudelka). The game captivated me from the moment it began. But the subject matter, mood and atmosphere makes the game… and this is mostly due to Hirota’s music direction. He was not the only composer for this game, but most of his compositions lent themselves very well to the game’s atmosphere (fear and tenseness), and the game’s narrative benefitted from that overall. The Judgement Ring was brand new at the time, and it forced the player to work for their ability to attack a target successfully, while urging the player to achieve perfect bonuses in the process (for stronger attacks and for the game’s ranking system). It was quite refreshing, and battles became a thrill to play through.
5.Tales of Graces f
I do not play Tales games primarily for the narrative. In this manner, I never played Tales of Graces solely for the narrative, though it is one of the better Team Destiny narratives out there. I played it for the Style-Shift-Linear Motion Battle System (SS-LMBS) constructed for the game. If you’ve played a Tales game—albeit a recent post-Tales of Symphonia game—you’ll know that battling takes place on a 3D plane as opposed to a 2D plane that the older Tales games employed. Tales of Graces uses the 3D plane to its full advantage while keeping the linear motion gameplay intact (especially since the player is penalized 1 CC for free running). TP is not employed in this game, and the more flexible CC system is used instead for better comboing efforts. The game also includes the “around-step” system, which enables the player to shift the character around the enemy on different “lines” in order to avoid enemy attack or to break enemy guard. Graces also employs gambits in the form of the Arles Pot and cooking. You do not manually cook, nor is cooking mostly done post-battle. Instead, you throw the food into the Pot, assign a gambit condition to it (ex: use when HP < 60%), you can throw books in the Pot for battle advantages (ex: faster movement on field/battle, cook twice during battle), etc., and they’ll be used automatically during battle when the conditions are met. It’s convenient and the system works quite well.
In fact, all of the systems involved in Tales of Graces’ battle systems and ability systems (especially Titles, which give characters added status boosts and gives them new abilities), work so fluidly and so well together on all difficulties, especially Chaos Mode (another reason why I enjoy the Tales series so much; difficulty options are refreshing!). It’s a great game, and I’m glad that people will finally be able to experience it in 2012. It's really damn fun.
6.Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu
I like Seisen no Keifu mostly for its narrative. It takes a lot of risks, and involves rape, incest, protagonist death, generational conflict and character manipulation… with one of the most evil villains in a videogame, Manfroy, orchestrating the entire affair. For a game published by Nintendo, this sort of storytelling and subject matter was a bit of a surprise. It was the first game in the series to use the Weapon Triangle, and the Lover Points system was pretty fun to experience and work with. Overall, my favourite Fire Emblem title.
7.Baldur’s Gate II
This game is probably my favourite game that Bioware developed. I don’t know really know what happened down the road, but I feel like BG2 was Bioware’s best work. While Baldur’s Gate was pretty great, Baldur’s Gate II builds upon nearly every aspect of the original, making lots of improvements. It’s essentially D&D (and Bioware) at its best. It’s my favourite Infinity Engine game, and the music is fantastic.
The main quest of the game is lengthy (and it has an expansion! :O), and the narrative had great pacing and great elements attached to it. What I like a lot about this game is just how huge it is! There’re a ton of sidequests to do, the places you visit are quite varied and very well-designed, the character-writing in this game (ie: the people who give you sidequests) are very well-written, and the sidequests just flesh out the world even more. They’re optional, but to get the full experience of Amn, it’s advisable that you do them. The environments are also quite gorgeous and varied, and the models are well-animated. All-in-all, it’s just a very fun game with fun combat. I don’t think I can say much of what already hasn’t been said.
8.Terranigma
Quintet is… was… one of my favourite developers when I was a kid. Nearly everything they churned out was something that I enjoyed a lot, enough to make me replay the games again and again. Terranigma was Quintet’s final game for the Super Nintendo. Regrettably, it was never brought over to the US, but Europeans and Japanese players had a chance to experience this game. Sure, it may be light on the combat elements (though at least in this Soul Blazer game, elemental properties had more importance, albeit just a little), the levelling takes a while, and magic was underdeveloped (and only really handy during the Bloody Mary battle), but it was a very fun experience. A lot of that comes from the storytelling, script, settings and awesome music. It’s just one of those games that you have to play to get how awesome the narrative, dialogue and ending are.
9.Final Fantasy IX
This is, without a doubt, what Final Fantasy is to me. It is like an idealized interpretation of what Final Fantasy as a whole is. The characters are pretty whimsical and it shows through their character design, but they have their serious sides too (both Vivi and Zidane characterize this quite well). They can be silly, but they all have their personal issues to deal with throughout the game. Vivi is a good example of exemplifying this with his constant questions about the importance of life, and what it’s like to die, trying to come to terms that he, too, will die one day. It’s a bit like a child trying to rationalize what life truly is, but Vivi looks at it with a rather mature perspective. In a way, he was one of the most mature characters in the entire game. I felt like the silly moments complemented and balanced the dark moments of the game perfectly. I don’t really like how Disc 4 goes, or how Disc 3 ends very much, but the rest of the game is a wonderful journey filled with excitement, wonderful background art/town designs (ex: Lindblum, Treno, Dali, Black Mage Village, etc), and it’s accompanied by one of Uematsu’s finest scores.
10.Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
I’m quite glad that players finally got to experience my favourite Dragon Quest game via the DS port. The generational narrative is truly what pulls me into the game (ie: especially the bit where the main character is turned into a statue and cannot watch his children grow up; it’s quite emotional). You can also choose who the main character marries (I usually choose Bianca since I like her more), but this doesn’t impact the main narrative too much—combat, yes, some narrative-elements, yes. What’s wonderful about this narrative is that it’s a tale about family, and the meaning of family unity. It’s a very nice piece. Dragon Quest V also introduced the monster recruiting system, and players are able to get spells earlier (if they put enough work into it) than their normal characters would. It’s pretty cool and fleshed-out quite well.
Too many Honourable Mentions to list, but know that Planescape: Torment, Genso Suikoden I and V, Final Fantasies II, V, VI, X-2, and XII, Pokemon HeartGold/Superior Silver, Emerald Dragon, Growlanser, Diablo II, Valkyria Chronicles, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, both Baten Kaitos games, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Grandia and Shin Megami Tensei 3, among many others are in here.
I wish I could play a Deus Ex game, but every first-person perspective game makes me feel ill (with the exception of dungeon crawlers like SMT or Etrian Odyssey (no… EO makes me a little dizzy too)).
I have regrettably never played a game from The Witcher series either since my computer isn’t awesome.
I'm going to try to limit the Matsuno games to 2 :/
Persona 5 - All of the games released under the SMT umbrella could take up the list, but Persona 5 combined a great cast with a battle system that kept you on your toes because random battles could and would give you game over if you tried to mash your way through. The plot twist at the end was great, and the story itself balanced the serious with the humor rather well.
I'm glad for the voting extension, I hope I'm still able to jump in. I will put my list in and then edit for my reasons.
This will be an all-time favourite list in no particular order.
1. Chrono Trigger: A great story that kept me going for the entire game, which is rare for a JRPG. Even drew me back in a decade later.
2. Baldurs' Gate II: Hours and hours of great play, but then add in the strategy! Oh man the hours I spent on just crafting one Lich battle was heaven.
3. Diablo II: Clicky clicky. The revisions Blizzard put in kept this one fresh far beyond when it should have staled. Can't wait for 3, will it surpass 2?
4. Fallout 2: The best of the series, the battles were great fun but the dialogue and quests were the glue that kept it all together. See Fallout Tactics for a combat-only version.
5. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: I have only delved into the TES series a bit, but had dozens of hours in Oblivion. Skyrim puts it to shame. The huge world packed full of stuff to find, curious and awesome side quests just falling in your lap from pure exploration makes walking over each hill a joy. What will I find next?
6. Gothic 2: This was a surprise hit for me. I installed it one day a few years ago on a whim to play an RPG and fell in love. The combat learning curve was vicious but once you got the hang of it it was fun.
7. Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door: This is one of those secret joys. The ease of gameplay just keeps me going for hour after hour.
8. Dark Cloud 2: Another game that drew me in for a second play (rare with the rate of game releases) I love building the towns and satisfying the citizens demands. The combination of action combat and danger (dying can come fast and easy!) coupled with the town building was a perfect way to mix it up. Then add in golf....
9. Planescape Torment: A classic on many lists, the story was all of it. The combat I could leave but the dialogue and the world was so weird I keep playing it over and over...
10. Final Fantasy Tactics: I have never finished this game. I played it on PS originally and screwed my characters so badly I couldn't win a fight and that was it for me, regardless of the fun I had with it. Fast forward years later and I got the PSP version. Throw another 50 hours in, and I did it properly this time, but still playing... SRPGs have a special place in my heart.
Love the thread, discussing my favourite games of my favourite genre is never a bad thing.
Dark Souls is an amazingly unique game that presents itself spectacularly. Truly oppressive environments combined with interesting bosses and a storyline that you have to discover (and shape) yourself make it very entertaining and also means you'll be spending a lot of time learning about the game.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The best entry in the Elder Scrolls series, for me anyway. The world may be smaller but it's jam packed with tons of hand crafted content, with a healthy dose of generated quests as well.
Chrono Trigger
A staple rpg for any gamer to play. This game has immaculate pacing, combine that with fantastic characters and an interesting story and clever game mechanics and you've got one of the best games of all time.
Persona 4
Probably my favorite game of all time. I understand it's not for some people, but I literally can never get bored of this game. Tons of customization, interesting characters and a meaningful storyline, good strategic combat, mystery, comedy, romance, drama, fuck. I can go on forever but I have to work!
Lufia II
Amaaaazing storyline and clever puzzles, classic RPG battle system and loveable characters. I think a lot of people forget about this game, which is a shame!
Final Fantasy VIII
Lots of people bitch about this one for whatever reason, it's my favorite. The time-stuff in this game make it really memorable to me, as well as all the Guardian Force stuff. I also love the fact that you can break the game from an early level if you're clever enough to figure out how to abuse the available game systems. Also THE CARD GAME IS AMAZING!
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft consumed a lot of my life, but for a good reason. It taught me a lot, and it helps me point out reasons why other MMOs will never be as successful as it. I think that lately it's moved away, but I would absolutely recommend it to anyone looking to start with an MMO, along with SWTOR.
Diablo II
Another Blizzard game on my list - another genre defining game that consumed hours upon hours of my life. One of the premier social RPGs of the old days. If you enjoy grinding, you will love this game.
Super Mario RPG
This is one of the first RPGs I've ever played, I have tons of memories of it. The music is fantastic and memorable, as well as plenty of the environments and moments in the game.
Valkyria Chronicles
Of all the tactical RPGs that exist, I love VC's approach. It contains all the fun, all the suspense (restarting when someone dies D, and all the heart-wrenching story details of the FE and FFT games, and places it magnificently into a 3D stage. You'll fall in love with the characters.
Since it is the holiday season, and we are super close to 200 participants, I am extending the deadline for the draw by another 2 hours.
Anyone who participates by 3pm EST (1 hour from now) qualifies.
I will also give out a Humble Bundle 3 Key to a random person in addition to the other draws. Not really RPG related, but I have one extra and nothing else to do with it.
1- Final Fantasy VII
2- Xenogears
3- Suikoden III
4- Final Fantasy Tactics
5- Final Fantasy VI
6- Fallout 3
7- Lunar : Silver Story Complete
8- Front Mission 3
9- Star Ocean 3
10- Xenoblade
Here is my list in no particular order. Sorry that my descriptions may not be the greatest; I'm no writer or journalist.
Final Fantasy XII - I've always greatly enjoyed the FF series. The hype I had prior to 12's release had gotten me worried that maybe it wouldn't live up to my expectations. Thankfully, that was not the case. As soon as I began playing I knew that this game was something special. The game still managed to feel like Final Fantasy even with such drastic changes to the gameplay elements. I fell in love with the battle system and I felt that the Gambit system worked well for setting up my party members. While I was such a huge fan of the world map layouts of the earlier FF games, I found myself loving the new MMO-like world in 12 and how the monsters were on the field and you could go seamlessly in and out of battle. FF12 was just This game truly felt like the next step forward in the right direction for JRPGs.
Chrono Trigger - Time traveling, you say? Sounds awesome to me! And it was. While the initial playthrough of the game itself was an amazing experience. It was all of the following playthroughs after unlocking new game + that blew me away. Being able to access things that were unaccessable on the first playthrough felt great. And realizing that you could actually beat the game at any number of different points and receive different endings kept me playing this over and over back in the SNES days. After playing the DS version recently and seeing how well the game still holds up, I knew that this had to be on my list.
Fallout 3 - I had never played any of the previous Fallout games or any Elder Scrolls games, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. What I found was an enjoyable world that I couldn't wait to explore more of. Who ever thought that anyone would say that about exploring a wasteland? But I would pick up random sidequests and go off on a tangent for hours before returning to the main questline. The VATS was great and I didn't find myself tiring of it over the course of the game like I thought I would. The music was great as well, though I could have used a few more tracks.
Xenogears - This was my favorite RPG of the Playstation generation. The story always had me interested in continuing on and I remember always feeling like a badass by being able to pilot the gears in the game. While the graphics weren't the best by any means, I thought that they were charming in their own way. Though in a recent playthrough I definitely felt that a remake with new visuals would definitely benefit the game. Oh man, and the music for this game! Fantastic!
Demon's Souls - Puberty, Alcohol, Sex - Apparently none of these things actually made me a man. They tricked me into thinking that I was a man, but Demon's Souls set me straight and showed me that I was nothing more than a scared little girl. But this game quickly whipped me into shape by throwing out buckets of rape at every turn. While this game was brutal and unforgiving, it was extremely rewarding when you got better and actually accomplished something. By the end of the game I had finally felt like I truly became a man. But then Demon's Souls said, "Don't get too cocky," and decided to up the difficulty on the new game+.
Final Fantasy VI - While this isn't the first FF game that I played, it pretty much cemented JRPGs as my favorite genre and influenced my gaming tastes for years to come. I was amazed at the size of playable characters and genuinely enjoyed most of them (this made it quite difficult for me to form a team of only four). The music is some of the most memorable in gaming history for me and I find myself still listening to the soundtrack to this very day. The visuals were top notch for the time and still look appealing today. Another thing that amazed me about FF6 was the villain, Kefka. He is one of the most memorable villains for me and what he actually does about halfway through the game always blew me away. Spoilers regarding what he did:
pretty much destroying most of the world, leaving it in ruin.
Valkyria Chronicles - The PSN demo for this game was pretty barebones but still managed to sell me on the game. I loved the art style and non grid based SRPG gameplay. The first person aiming felt fresh for an SRPG and I thought it was great that your character wasn't quite safe from enemy fire when moving around on his or her turn. I found a great deal of challenge in some of the missions.
Mass Effect 2 - I was always more of a JRPG player rather than a WRPG player. But Mass Effect was one of the games that definitely helped open my eyes to a whole new world of RPG goodness. And Mass Effect 2 felt like a great improvement over the first. While I do prefer the story of the first game, I felt as if the second game was able to pull me in more and get me even more immersed in the world. I love the visuals and the mood that it sets. While ME2's gameplay feels a little more actiony with the introduction of a cover system, I think that it works quite well. And oh man, the games intro was fantastic!
Diablo 2 - This game is still played by many today for a good reason. It's awesome! I wasted countless hours on Diablo 2 when it first released; running through the game with all the different classes to see what I enjoyed the most. The amount of loot and the randomly changing map layouts made each playthrough feel less repetitive. And just when I thought I played enough D2, I ran through the game with a buddy and found a whole new level of enjoyment out of it. This is a true classic!
Xenoblade - The next step in JRPG evolution.This game feels like it does everything right. The environments are fantastic and make you want to waste many hours exploring, the story and characters are enjoyable, the battles are fun, and the music is perfection. I don't regret spending the 80ish bucks it cost to import this to the US when it came out. Anyone who picks this up when it launches in the US in 2012 is in for a pleasant surprise
OK the voting phase is officially done. I will continue to accept late votes towards the final aggregate list for another couple hours as I work on the results updates, but nobody qualifies for the draws past this post. Stay tuned for the announcement draw winners shortly.
I have decided to vote myself. I enjoy tactical rpgs so my list is skewed towards them.
Not in any order:
1) Suikoden II (2 points) - Suikoden 2 is my favourite PS1 rpg. Its battle system was quick and did not suffer from all the bloat that has plagued the genre in the last 10 years. Its characters were memorable, and the story was engaging. The mini-games were actually fun, including the 108 stars of destiny recruitment meta-game. The music was also first rate. If this game ever sees a re-release on PSN, I would highly recommend it.
2) Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together - I briefly played through part of the PS1 port of Tactics Ogre a decade ago, but the PSP version of the game is the first version that I actually completed. I can't speak for the original version, but Tactics Ogre on PSP is the best strategy rpg of its kind to date. It is easy to see why this game (and Final Fantasy Tactics) were so influential to the genre.
3) Might and Magic VII - Last year I picked Might and Magic VI, but I think IV-VIII are all worth playing. The Might and Magic games are addicting for the same reasons that Skyrim is addicting. The world is huge, and there are a ton of secrets to discover. The Might and Magic games are extremely non-linear and encourage exploration. The dungeon designs are also excellent, with no two being the same.
4) Final Fantasy Tactics - This is my biggest nostalgia pick. Tactics Ogre is the superior game, but I still prefer Final Fantasy Tactics. Both of the games share a lot of great qualities, so if you like one, you will probably like the other.
5) Fire Emblem (GBA) - A stand in for the entire series. The Fire Emblem games are more strategy than rpg, but all of them are excellent. Nothing is more satisfying than ripping through a half-dozen enemy units with your promoted swordsmen or paladin.
6) Shining Force 2 - Shining Force 2 copies the Fire Emblem battle formula (right down to the unit promotions and battle cutscenes) and adds more RPG elements to it. When you are not fighting, you can explore towns and traverse the world map like a normal 16-bit jrpg, revisiting past locations as you please.
7) Elder Scrolls: Skyrim - I love Bethesda games, bugs and all. There are very few modern games that give me the same sense of exploration and freedom that their titles do. I also appreciate the effort they put into their world building and lore. Since I have never properly completed Morrowind, I am giving Skyrim my Bethesda vote this year. I feel that it was a big step up from Oblivion and Fallout 3 (both titles I thoroughly enjoyed). I couldn't care less if the writing was bland for a lot of the questlines, or if the voice acting can be repetitive.
8) Baldur's Gate 2 - I also like Bioware titles (even the bad ones like DA2 to some extent). However, unlike Bethesda, I think they peaked early with BG2. The game had everything I enjoy about wrpgs: the freedom to choose my play style, complex characters, a great story, and tons of places to explore. Also, the AD&D rule set is still the best rpg rule set out there.
9) Persona 4 - Persona 4 was my favourite PS2 era RPG. The game fixed almost all of my issues with Persona 3 (giving you control over your entire party being the most welcome fix) and offered a level of challenge missing from most modern jrpgs. Also, status effects and resistances are actually important in fights other than boss-battles. It was nice to play a jrpg where I didn't just mash X for 90% of the encounters.
10) World of Warcraft - I was never addicted to WoW, but I have played the game off and on for 7 years now, and have probably logged more time on it than any other game. Typically I prefer single player games to multiplayer ones, but I love the economies in MMOs. I get as much fun out of working the market as I do out of questing.
OK. So I am using Random.Org to pick the draw winners. The last list other than mine was post #275. I am choosing random numbers between 1 and 275. If the number matched your post, you won. If your post did not meet the qualification criteria, it picked another number.
Qualifications were as follows:
1) All draws - your post had to be an actual list of votes. Comment posts were not eligible. My posts obviously didn't count.
2) Main draw - you needed to explain the picks you made on your list.
Draw 1: A gift of games of your choice on Steam or GOG.com up to $10 in value
Post 117 - Aselith
Draw 2: A Steam copy of Dungeons of Dreadmor (a cool roguelike rpg)
A) Post 74 - Sir Garbageman
B) Post 218 - Phreaker
Draw 3: A Steam Copy of Cthulhu Saves the World and Breath of Death VII
A) Post 87 - bigdaddygamebot
B) Post 127 - Link1110
Bonus Draw: Humble Indie Bundle 3 Steam Key containing 5 great indie titles
Post 94 - prowler_
Congratulations to those who were randomly selected. I will be sending out PMs shortly.
Aggregate results forthcoming.
Thanks to the 196 people who participated this year!
Alright, I'm not the most versed in RPGs overall, but have played (I feel) quite a few. Here are my picks:
Suikoden II, I may be biased about this game, but it was my first real entry into RPGs. Absolutely amazing, and has some of my favorite characters of all time (Clives, Luca Blight).
Fallout 3, Post-apocalyptic setting, first person elements, great idea of what a Western RPG is about. Lots to do.
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Amazing style, with the charm of the Nintendo canon. This game consumed me for weeks when it came out.
Final Fantasy Tactics, Nothing can really be said about this game. Just simply amazing, story, gameplay, style, look.
Dark Souls, Because I don't own a Playstation 3, I didn't get a chance to play Demon Souls, but this game really just captures what gaming is about. Challenge, immersion, and fun.
I will edit this post later with the remaining five picks. Time to leave work
EDIT: lol, I guess I just missed it. Well, that's ok
1. Suikoden 2
2. Suikoden 1
3. Suikoden 3
4. Suikoden 5
5. Final Fantasy VII
6. Diablo 2
7. Final Fantasy IX
8. Vandal Hearts
9. Vandal Hearts 2
10. Final Fantasy X
11. Mass Effect
12. Mass Effect 2
Yeah not that much variety, I have to admit, I still haven't played many JRPGs, mainly played Final Fantasy and Suikoden series.
EDIT: forgot about WRPGs, this changes my list slightly
OK. So I am using Random.Org to pick the draw winners. The last list other than mine was post #275. I am choosing random numbers between 1 and 275. If the number matched your post, you won. If your post did not meet the qualification criteria, it picked another number.
Qualifications were as follows:
1) All draws - your post had to be an actual list of votes. Comment posts were not eligible. My posts obviously didn't count.
2) Main draw - you needed to explain the picks you made on your list.
Draw 1: A gift of games of your choice on Steam or GOG.com up to $10 in value
Post 117 - Aselith
Draw 2: A Steam copy of Dungeons of Dreadmor (a cool roguelike rpg)
A) Post 74 - Sir Garbageman
B) Post 218 - Phreaker
Draw 3: A Steam Copy of Cthulhu Saves the World and Breath of Death VII
A) Post 87 - bigdaddygamebot
B) Post 127 - Link1110
Bonus Draw: Humble Indie Bundle 3 Steam Key containing 5 great indie titles
Post 94 - prowler_
Congratulations to those who were randomly selected. I will be sending out PMs shortly.
Aggregate results forthcoming.
Thanks to the 196 people who participated this year!
OK. So I am using Random.Org to pick the draw winners. The last list other than mine was post #275. I am choosing random numbers between 1 and 275. If the number matched your post, you won. If your post did not meet the qualification criteria, it picked another number.
Qualifications were as follows:
1) All draws - your post had to be an actual list of votes. Comment posts were not eligible. My posts obviously didn't count.
2) Main draw - you needed to explain the picks you made on your list.
Draw 1: A gift of games of your choice on Steam or GOG.com up to $10 in value
Post 117 - Aselith
Draw 2: A Steam copy of Dungeons of Dreadmor (a cool roguelike rpg)
A) Post 74 - Sir Garbageman
B) Post 218 - Phreaker
Draw 3: A Steam Copy of Cthulhu Saves the World and Breath of Death VII
A) Post 87 - bigdaddygamebot
B) Post 127 - Link1110
Bonus Draw: Humble Indie Bundle 3 Steam Key containing 5 great indie titles
Post 94 - prowler_
Congratulations to those who were randomly selected. I will be sending out PMs shortly.
Aggregate results forthcoming.
Thanks to the 196 people who participated this year!
Woohoo! Thanks a lot! Everyone has to play the games I picked now if you haven't because my list has been decided to have been the most worthy BY THE GODS!
OK the voting phase is officially done. I will continue to accept late votes towards the final aggregate list for another couple hours as I work on the results updates, but nobody qualifies for the draws past this post. Stay tuned for the announcement draw winners shortly.
I have decided to vote myself. I enjoy tactical rpgs so my list is skewed towards them.
Not in any order:
1) Suikoden II (2 points) - Suikoden 2 is my favourite PS1 rpg. Its battle system was quick and did not suffer from all the bloat that has plagued the genre in the last 10 years. Its characters were memorable, and the story was engaging. The mini-games were actually fun, including the 108 stars of destiny recruitment meta-game. The music was also first rate. If this game ever sees a re-release on PSN, I would highly recommend it.
2) Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together - I briefly played through part of the PS1 port of Tactics Ogre a decade ago, but the PSP version of the game is the first version that I actually completed. I can't speak for the original version, but Tactics Ogre on PSP is the best strategy rpg of its kind to date. It is easy to see why this game (and Final Fantasy Tactics) were so influential to the genre.
3) Might and Magic VII - Last year I picked Might and Magic VI, but I think IV-VIII are all worth playing. The Might and Magic games are addicting for the same reasons that Skyrim is addicting. The world is huge, and there are a ton of secrets to discover. The Might and Magic games are extremely non-linear and encourage exploration. The dungeon designs are also excellent, with no two being the same.
4) Final Fantasy Tactics - This is my biggest nostalgia pick. Tactics Ogre is the superior game, but I still prefer Final Fantasy Tactics. Both of the games share a lot of great qualities, so if you like one, you will probably like the other.
5) Fire Emblem (GBA) - A stand in for the entire series. The Fire Emblem games are more strategy than rpg, but all of them are excellent. Nothing is more satisfying than ripping through a half-dozen enemy units with your promoted swordsmen or paladin.
6) Shining Force 2 - Shining Force 2 copies the Fire Emblem battle formula (right down to the unit promotions and battle cutscenes) and adds more RPG elements to it. When you are not fighting, you can explore towns and traverse the world map like a normal 16-bit jrpg, revisiting past locations as you please.
7) Elder Scrolls: Skyrim - I love Bethesda games, bugs and all. There are very few modern games that give me the same sense of exploration and freedom that their titles do. I also appreciate the effort they put into their world building and lore. Since I have never properly completed Morrowind, I am giving Skyrim my Bethesda vote this year. I feel that it was a big step up from Oblivion and Fallout 3 (both titles I thoroughly enjoyed). I couldn't care less if the writing was bland for a lot of the questlines, or if the voice acting can be repetitive.
8) Baldur's Gate 2 - I also like Bioware titles (even the bad ones like DA2 to some extent). However, unlike Bethesda, I think they peaked early with BG2. The game had everything I enjoy about wrpgs: the freedom to choose my play style, complex characters, a great story, and tons of places to explore. Also, the AD&D rule set is still the best rpg rule set out there.
9) Persona 4 - Persona 4 was my favourite PS2 era RPG. The game fixed almost all of my issues with Persona 3 (giving you control over your entire party being the most welcome fix) and offered a level of challenge missing from most modern jrpgs. Also, status effects and resistances are actually important in fights other than boss-battles. It was nice to play a jrpg where I didn't just mash X for 90% of the encounters.
10) World of Warcraft - I was never addicted to WoW, but I have played the game off and on for 7 years now, and have probably logged more time on it than any other game. Typically I prefer single player games to multiplayer ones, but I love the economies in MMOs. I get as much fun out of working the market as I do out of questing.
Nice list. Though I personally prefer the 3.5 ed ruleset over AD&D. Still, it's a testament to how awesome thie core of BG2 is. Wouldn't mind if Bioware actually had Obsidian to keep them in check for, say, Dragon Age. (I know, none too subtle there.)
Hope you didn't mind me not doing descriptions this time. I just felt I might have been repeating myself or others. Maybe next year if you do go with my idea of an additional 10 at half a point apiece.
I am in the middle of tallying all the votes, but here were the top 10 Final Fantasy titles this year.
1) Final Fantasy 6 - 61 points
2) Final Fantasy 7 - 36 points
3) Final Fantasy Tactics - 32 points
4) Final Fantasy 12 - 29 points
5) Final Fantasy 9 - 27 points
6) Final Fantasy 10 - 17 points
7) Final Fantasy 8 - 13 points
8) Final Fantasy 4 - 10 points
9) Final Fantasy 13 - 5 points
10) Final Fantasy 5 - 4 points
Final Fantasy 6, 7 and Tactics have had those same spots on every list. This is the best showing for FF12 and the worst showing for FF4 though.
OK. So I am using Random.Org to pick the draw winners. The last list other than mine was post #275. I am choosing random numbers between 1 and 275. If the number matched your post, you won. If your post did not meet the qualification criteria, it picked another number.
Qualifications were as follows:
1) All draws - your post had to be an actual list of votes. Comment posts were not eligible. My posts obviously didn't count.
2) Main draw - you needed to explain the picks you made on your list.
Draw 1: A gift of games of your choice on Steam or GOG.com up to $10 in value
Post 117 - Aselith
Draw 2: A Steam copy of Dungeons of Dreadmor (a cool roguelike rpg)
A) Post 74 - Sir Garbageman
B) Post 218 - Phreaker
Draw 3: A Steam Copy of Cthulhu Saves the World and Breath of Death VII
A) Post 87 - bigdaddygamebot
B) Post 127 - Link1110
Bonus Draw: Humble Indie Bundle 3 Steam Key containing 5 great indie titles
Post 94 - prowler_
Congratulations to those who were randomly selected. I will be sending out PMs shortly.
Aggregate results forthcoming.
Thanks to the 196 people who participated this year!
I know Champions of Norrath and X-Men Legends 2 are practically the same, but they are two very different takes on my favorite genre: co-op, action RPGs for consoles.
I am in the middle of tallying all the votes, but here were the top 10 Final Fantasy titles this year. 9) Final Fantasy 13 - 5 points
10) Final Fantasy 5 - 4 points
I am in the middle of tallying all the votes, but here were the top 10 Final Fantasy titles this year.
1) Final Fantasy 6 - 61 points
2) Final Fantasy 7 - 36 points
3) Final Fantasy Tactics - 32 points
4) Final Fantasy 12 - 29 points
5) Final Fantasy 9 - 27 points
6) Final Fantasy 10 - 17 points
7) Final Fantasy 8 - 13 points
8) Final Fantasy 4 - 10 points
9) Final Fantasy 13 - 5 points
10) Final Fantasy 5 - 4 points
Final Fantasy 6, 7 and Tactics have had those same spots on every list. This is the best showing for FF12 and the worst showing for FF4 though.
The lowest out of the top 10. FFI-III, XI, and all the spin-offs other than FF Tactics were lower. Final Fantasy III and XIV were the only numbered games to get 0 votes.
Most people started playing Jrpgs during the PS1 and PS2 eras and the voting clearly shows that. When people voted for 16-bit rpgs, they typically voted for Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy VI.
It is by far my favorite FF story and cast. Ferris/Faris's character is great. The only time a character's death affected me in a game was in FFV (
Galuf
). Villain is stupid, but the mid-game "twist" is pretty cool. Overall, it's exactly what I want an RPG story to be; not bloated, with minor twistage, and sympathetic characters.
Unless I missed something major, here are your top 5 by points:
1) Chrono Trigger - 75
2) Final Fantasy 6 - 61
3) Xenoblade - 50
4) The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim - 44
5) Persona 4 - 42
Notes
- Chrono Trigger and FF VI retain their #1 and #2 ranks for the third year running.
- Xenoblade fans are rabid. I will have to pick up this game when it releases in NA.
- Skyrim cannibalized votes from both Morrowind and Oblivion. Both of those titles are way down this year. Oblivion was hit worse than Morrowind. It's currently out of the top 70, and I haven't finished tallying some of the lower top 100 games.
- Persona 4 holds its #5 position.
I will start updating the OP with more results shortly. I plan on finishing all the vote counts tonight then working on the finished result in the morning.
The top 100 will probably consist of games that received 5+ votes. There was less homogeneity in the votes this year which is good.
Most people started playing Jrpgs during the PS1 and PS2 eras and the voting clearly shows that. When people voted for 16-bit rpgs, they typically voted for Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy VI.
While it may be the case that many people started playing JRPGs in the PSone era and after, I don't think that has anything to do with the results. Those eras have by far the largest number of great JRPGs, so this was only natural.
If anything, the huge amount of votes for FFVI shows many of the voters were playing JRPGs before the PSone era, as nobody is going to vote that as their favorite FF unless they played it during its heyday. You can't really say the same for the later FFs, which are are loved by people that started in all the different eras.
Chrono Trigger isn't my favorite RPG, but I can see why it has such lasting appeal. I played it for the first time this year (DS version) and almost nothing about it felt dated or bloated. Not only are there no random battles, but fighting is fast and fun. The tech system allows for interesting strategies, yet the fights remain relatively simple and accessible. With the exception of some of the optional sidequests (like the
hidden reptite village stuff with that goddamn mountain
, the pacing is excellent and the game's length feels just about perfect. I'd be in heaven if developers made more games like this and put them on the downloadable services.
And for anyone that might be skeptical about Xenoblade's strong support, it really is that good. I have no qualms about calling it my favorite RPG of the generation.
It's interesting that, looking at last year's top 10, there wasn't a single game released last year that made a strong enough impression to be included there. In fact, the highest 2010 release was Mass Effect 2 at 24. This year, though, both Xenoblade and Skyrim charted in the top 5. What's interesting, though, is that Xenoblade was released in Japan in 2010 and failed to make last year's chart but got EU-localized this year. I guess more exposure gained it more fans. I'm already looking forward to next year since everyone's probably still caught up in Skyrim fever at the moment, and see if Skyrim holds up after a year's time.
I don't know what I'm shocked t more. How low Final Fantasy X is or how low Final Fantasy XIII is. I mean the game is brand new fresh in peoples minds during a generation where consoles are JRPG starved. It was that shitty huh?
I don't know what I'm shocked t more. How low Final Fantasy X is or how low Final Fantasy XIII is. I mean the game is brand new fresh in peoples minds during a generation where consoles are JRPG starved. It was that shitty huh?
In these lists people tend to get excited and hyped for the flavor of the month all the time. Just look at Mass Effect 2, or the 200(7?) GOTY awards and MGS4.
