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NeoGAF's Essential RPGs - 2015 edition
- Thread starter kswiston
- Start date
Dracandros
Banned
I feel like after I made a decent starting attempt at a list (it was quite a challenge to come up with 17 in any way possible and I put VP2 on it to make 18), I don't think I have a gut feeling on what an RPG is anymore.
The line is so blurred, and perhaps it is better that way because trying to make a great product under specific rules and guidelines doesn't always lead to better results.
I will admit, to be fair, that I do have some difficulty in calling a very select few titles as games and that their overall scope blurs the line between game and either novel or animated movie. That's an entirely different discussion of course, but at the same time, if the lines are so blurred, then I don't see any true problem with putting Zelda titles or Tower of Doom on a list either. I don't think a game should be punished for presenting something different.
The line is so blurred, and perhaps it is better that way because trying to make a great product under specific rules and guidelines doesn't always lead to better results.
I will admit, to be fair, that I do have some difficulty in calling a very select few titles as games and that their overall scope blurs the line between game and either novel or animated movie. That's an entirely different discussion of course, but at the same time, if the lines are so blurred, then I don't see any true problem with putting Zelda titles or Tower of Doom on a list either. I don't think a game should be punished for presenting something different.
I never really saw the argument for the Zelda series being RPGs. Other than being set in a medieval world, what do they do that is RPG like?
It's funny how I'm just the opposite way. My first time ever playing a pen and paper RPG was last Fall, yet I've been playing console/PC RPGs since I was 7 or 8 years old. To me, RPGs were always games that were menu-driven (and 'action RPG' being those with more direct input, 'strategy RPG' where the combat was menu-driven but more position-based), with character stats that improved as you played the game. The dialogue tree aspect was never something that really interested me...
What?
There aren't that much Nintendo titles in the top 40 (and I actually don't remember a single nintendo only list in this thread), and over half of the top 40 is from the SNES/PSX/PS2 era...
The top is heavily biased towards consoles, and a lot towards jRPGs, but not the way you described it...
theprodigy
Member
It's Tabris, probably still salty about the Broncos or something.
edit: only 10 are even on Nintendo systems, and of those 3 of them (including two in the top 4) are 3rd party
IntelliHeath
As in "Heathcliff"
I can't really blame most of people for not playing Suikoden 2 since it's pretty rare game Fortunately for many people, they finally released S2 on PSN so people can play the game for cheap price.
Edited: Only 10 out of 40 games got released on Nintendo systems.
I tried Chrono Trigger 2 years ago on DS and just couldn't get into it. The only thing I liked about it was its soundtrack, I stopped playing around halfway through.
For reference my top JRPGs are
1. Suikoden II
2. Final Fantasy VII
3. Vandal Hearts
I still have yet to play Xenogears and Persona 4 which are considered some of the top JRPGs.
For reference my top JRPGs are
1. Suikoden II
2. Final Fantasy VII
3. Vandal Hearts
I still have yet to play Xenogears and Persona 4 which are considered some of the top JRPGs.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
I'm disgusted to share a love of CT with someone like you
IntelliHeath
As in "Heathcliff"
Did anyone play Fallout 1 and 2 here?
How hard is it? Any protips and advices for me?
How hard is it? Any protips and advices for me?
hemtae
Member
Save often. Don't go for a dumb character until you know what you're doing. Tag a combat skill as tagging works a bit differently than in FO3/NV iirc. Save really often.
Disagree. I don't see where you're coming from here TBH. Number 1 has been on playstation systems for like 20 years. Number 2 is exclusively on playstation platforms. The sad truth is, most PSX RPGs suck by todays standards. Suikoden II I'll give you (27), but Xenogears (37) is just an awful game by almost any metric.
Keep agi and int high and take Gifted as one of your two traits. You'll figure out the rest as you go.
It can be a little cheap, but particularly in F2, stealing can be huge.
zero shift
Banned
As far as I'm considered JRPGs didn't start to age well until around 2000. That's when developers stopped dropping a lot of the old stupid janky conventions (high frequency random battles) of the genre as well as unskippable long cutscenes before a tough boss battle.
You managed to squeeze a lot of wrong into less than 100 characters here.
Edit: It feels like there is a lot of high end crazy on this page from several ppl
Depends on what you consider hard...because they can be beat without killing anything. Although, combat is pretty much a gamble at very low and high levels on the harder difficulties.
A lot of options are only visible if your character has the supported skills, perks, attributes, prior decisions, karma, equipped gear, gender, reputation, and order in which you visit locations/do tasks.
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
Probably the craziest opinion about the topic. Equivalent to saying that american football is football, and rugby is soccer. As the person has never seen a game of soccer and has only heard the name when attached to Pepsi commercials.
zero shift
Banned
Well it's the truth. Of course there were some games like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI and VII that have aged well. But the majority of JRPGs from the 90s were riddled with high random encounters, simplisitic battle systems, sharp difficulty curves, bad translations, and unskippable cutscenes. This is more so true from the first half of the decade than the latter half though.
KuwabaraTheMan
Banned
It's trending up in these threads. And being voted the 34th best RPG of all time is nothing to sneeze at. I imagine it will go up even higher next time.
With the last gen fading more and more out, I doubt more people will get around to play it. I don't see it ever being re-released either.
I keep my PS3 around just for the ability to replay NieR, when I feel like it.
And USF4 sometimes.
This is the worst ;_;. I recently bought Golden Sun on Wii U VC just to have save states for this purpose.
Opinions. How do they work?
Ivory Samoan
Gold Member
I found Fallout 1 harder, you have to reserve your ammo etc more, but it's very manageable.
Fallout 2 is the better game though IMO, more voice acting too.... feels more 'modern'.
Be careful how you spec... no respecs if I recall correctly (could be wrong/modded now though).
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
This post is so much wrong, it's borderline offensive.
And yet despite all that, they're still better than modern JRPGs. Says a lot.
theprodigy
Member
this comment is weird coming from someone with a top 3 all from one series that started from 2009
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Those aren't JRPGs (despite being Japanese, but let's not get started on that again). My favourite JRPGs are all pre-2000.
zero shift
Banned
Play more modern JRPGs.
I doubt it. I put it on my list, but I've seen very few other mentions. Perhaps over time it will gain some popularity, especially with the old school CRPG crowd, as the series continues to expand.
Shadowrun: Dragonfall is in the top 80.
I think that is pretty good for a game that most people haven't had a chance to play yet. I'm not sure how well Dragonfall will do in future lists if Shadowrun games continue to be pumped out a brisk pace. These sorts of lists typically favour more unique games.
I think that is pretty good for a game that most people haven't had a chance to play yet. I'm not sure how well Dragonfall will do in future lists if Shadowrun games continue to be pumped out a brisk pace. These sorts of lists typically favour more unique games.
IAmRandom31
Banned
I have a hard time seeing Mass Effect as a legit RPG but people are VERY loose with the term these days ( even calling Demons / Dark a JRPG lol ). Its like calling Tony Hawk Pro Skater a platformer. You are, if you are extremely loose with the perimeters of the genre, technically correct ... but yeh I wouldn't say that. Mass Effect is a TPS / Adventure with some very, very light RPG mechanics like skill point allocation and such.
I see some obvious problems. But yeh, its more of a popularity contest with these types of things. The Souls games are currently popular, so they of course rank higher then old classics like Earthbound or whatever.
I see some obvious problems. But yeh, its more of a popularity contest with these types of things. The Souls games are currently popular, so they of course rank higher then old classics like Earthbound or whatever.
Dracandros
Banned
...
Xenogears got mixed reactions; some people found it great and others thought it was completely boring, and Suikoden 2 I'd personally agree is top-10 material but its placement isn't surprising given how rare the game is in its original form. This is nothing to do with platform bias.
Oh, that's not too bad then for a fairly recent game, on a mostly console-centric board. I think that the series going forward will help the older installments getting continued exposure, but that's just an intuition. I'll just have to see how the SR games will be ranked two or three years from now.
I have posted #41-45. If anyone would like to write a 80-125 word summary for Kingdom Hearts II, I would appreciate it.
Hopefully I will be able to add those remaining 5 games in the Top 50 today. The cutoff for the top 50 was 30 points this time around. Unfortunately we had 5 games tied with 30 points, and only ranks 48-50 to put them in. Since none of them received a 3pt vote, I will have to go back through the votes and count honorable mentions.
Hopefully I will be able to add those remaining 5 games in the Top 50 today. The cutoff for the top 50 was 30 points this time around. Unfortunately we had 5 games tied with 30 points, and only ranks 48-50 to put them in. Since none of them received a 3pt vote, I will have to go back through the votes and count honorable mentions.
ViewtifulJC
Banned
Arkage
Banned
Well, JRPGs that were successful in the West. It's sad to see that the only DQ entry is ranking in at #43 despite it being the biggest jRPG franchise in Japan (or at least, used to be).
That was still the best attempt at a spin-off thread.
So I went through Honourable mentions votes, and Paper Mario (N64) and Tales of Symphonia are exactly tied for #50. I am going to make an executive decision and bump Paper Mario out of the top 50. The sequel is already on the list, while Tales hasn't been represented yet. Sorry PM fans.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
No, thank you.
manzoman96
Member
List is looking great so far. Great job OP!
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