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[Worthintendo]

Working on my reasons why, will update once I've finished them

1)Secret of Mana

2)Chrono Trigger

3)Earthbound

4)Fallout 3

5)Final Fantasy 4

6)Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga (3 Points)

7)Golden Sun 2

8)The Last Story

9)Half Minute Hero

10)FTL

Honorable Mentions
Mario & Luigi Bowsers Inside Story
Xenoblade
Final Fantasy 4 Heroes of Light
Pokemon Gold & Silver
Final Fantasy 6

 

[Augemitbutter]

1) -Suikoden II-

a flawless masterpiece.

2 ) -Lunar: The Silver Star Story Complete-

charming party, good music and a nice localization make for a good classic RPG ride.

3) -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.

4) -Panzer Dragoon Saga-

unique desert world, mesmerizing music and a fresh take on the RPG formula back when everybody ignored the Saturn. i cherish this game.

5) -Shining Force II-

i could vote for any true shining force without regrets. i picked this one 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.

6) -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.

7) -Xenogears-

sick world, sick soundtrack. you'll never know where this game will take you. maybe the most diversified RPG world ever created.

8) -Tactics Ogre - Let Us Cling Together PSP-

Final Fantasy Tactics remains the better story and better soundtrack, but the refinements in gameplay can't be ignored. a real treasure.

9) -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.

10) -Valkyrie Profile-

very unique game. 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.


Honorable Mentions:


11) Suikoden

12) Suikoden III

13) Dragon's Dogma

14) Growlanser IV Wayfarer of Time

15) Ys Oath in Felghana

 

[R_thanatos]

H2: Drakkhen (SNES)



The game more typically shows up on people's most-disliked games lists, but, being one of the earlier SNES games that I got around when the system came out, I put a great deal of time in with this game, and while it certainly isn't perfect, there's still a good amount to appreciate. The world, composed of four separate sections, with castles in each are varied and interesting to explore. The castles themselves, in particular, have an amazing atmosphere and sense of mystery to them. The soundtrack as well is simply enchanting. While the battle system could have used a bit more work, even just for the journey through the game, it's a great experience.

you're the first i encounter who liked this game.. the battle system is a total unknow for me ..why the heck does lakes kill you when you encouter an ennemy or an ally ?
yes regular "lakes".

How the heck does this game works ?

 

[UberTag]

That was all that I noticed on a quick pass through.

Seeing that you're going the automated route for vote tallying, you'll want to make a note of certain games that have been called out under their Japanese, import or remake names (calling SMT: Nocturne as SMT: Lucifer's Call, for instance).

A couple people lumped-sum votes together for the Golden Sun and Xenosaga series which could impact whether certain titles make the Top 50.

You'll also need to bucket the various Pokemon version colors as needed. That's always fun.

 

[Ultratech]

you're the first i encounter who liked this game.. the battle system is a total unknow for me ..why the heck does lakes kill you when you encouter an ennemy or an ally ?
yes regular "lakes".

How the heck does this game works ?

Dunno, it's pretty random. Granted, you can work around a lot of stuff, but there's so much BS going on.

Like Constellations attacking in the middle of the night, random tombstones turning into Panther heads that shoot lasers, and Dragons falling from the sky, breaking your hard-earned equipment.

Also, lakes kill you since your guys can't swim and armor is heavy.

It's an interesting play, but I sure wouldn't recommend it nor call it essential.

 

[kswiston]

<1 hour left to vote!

Remember, as of 12pm EST, you can't change any of the votes on your existing list. You are of course free to continue adding descriptions, pictures, etc if you want. Just keep your votes as they are.

I'll accept (new) late entries until I am done tallying everything on the first 4 pages. After that, additional lists will not be reflected in the aggregate list.

Thanks to the 195 people who have contributed so far. We need one more participant to tie last year's total, and 7 more to tie 2011's. At the very least, it's nice to see that there hasn't been a major drop off in interest.

Seeing that you're going the automated route for vote tallying, you'll want to make a note of certain games that have been called out under their Japanese, import or remake names (calling SMT: Nocturne as SMT: Lucifer's Call, for instance).

A couple people lumped-sum votes together for the Golden Sun and Xenosaga series which could impact whether certain titles make the Top 50.

You'll also need to bucket the various Pokemon version colors as needed. That's always fun.

It's only semi-automated. I basically extract all of the text from this thread and have a script that highlights key words so I can move through all the entries quickly. I still need to manually check everything to make sure that I am properly counting 3 point votes and Honorable mention votes (since everyone's list format is different), but it is way quicker than going through everything post by post. The only weakness to that method is that it's prone to miss title abbreviations like bg2. Sometimes I catch those, sometimes I don't. People were given fair warning in the rules though.

- Lucifer's Call will get picked up since SMT is one of my key words (along with Nocturne, Persona, Strange Journey, etc). I actually have a spreadsheet with the titles every game that received at least one vote in the thread, so nothing will be missed. In total, people voted for close to 350 titles.

- I will have to make judgement calls on the lumping. I like to include as many votes as I can in the aggregate list, but ultimately, if someone bent the rules by lumping titles together, they run the risk of having that vote thrown out. A couple of games (like Digital Devil Saga 1 + 2) are going to be lumped anyhow. The same thing would happen for Shining Force 3, but I don't think I saw votes for particular scenarios. For lists with no honorable mentions, I will probably just split the points (so each game gets 1 point). If they already have 15 games, or if the lumping was done in the HM section, I will probably throw the vote out. This happens every year though, so I am used to it

- Pokemon colours will be grouped as always. I'm not really sure what to do with Black/White vs Black 2/White 2 though. My gut says to group them since it was still the same generation.

 

[Neon_Icarus]

1) Dark Souls

2) Demon's Souls

I believe these two games are masterpieces of Dark Fantasy that need not be ashamed when compared to some of the best works of fiction in the genre, like the short stories of Lovecraft or Clark Ashton Smith. Of course, the games have hardly any actual &#8220;writing&#8221; in them (and the writing they actually have is merely &#8220;good&#8221, but storytelling in videogames is not just about prose or dialogue.

Now, the core stories in these two games are pretty good in all their simplicity, as long as you pay attention and bother to look under the surface a bit. However, it&#8217;s precisely because the games are designed to be games first, not big Hollywood movies with interactive elements, that they shine. No dialogue trees, QTE&#8217;s or scripted chase sequences, just immersion, the feeling of being there. This is what makes Demon&#8217;s/Dark Souls - and should make videogames in general - special.

I haven&#8217;t even mentioned the core game mechanics, boss design, art direction, music, level design. It&#8217;s all excellent. Best games of this generation.


3) Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

4) Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

People are always complaining about Fire Emblem being the same game over and over again. The thing is, FE - similar to some other classic Nintendo series like F-Zero - shines in its simplicity (while still containing plenty of hidden depth). Making the games more complicated, i.e. piling on new features and variables might make the games different, but not necessarily better.

Games like the Final Fantasy series can afford to have a new battle system with each new game, because none of them have ever had a really good, balanced battle system to begin with. In contrast, the game system in the Fire Emblem series has slowly evolved to its current, rock-solid form.

I believe Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn are the culminations of this intelligent (heh) conservatism.

Virtues of the series: Typical time wasting RPG stuff like grinding is only there if you abuse the system. The perma-death feature gives you a concrete feeling of risk-reward (similar to the Souls games above, in fact) that is absent in most modern games, forcing you to carefully consider your each move. The user interface is quick and painless, perfectly molded for game consoles (which is probably why IS didn&#8217;t bother to implement pointer controls for Radiant Dawn).

The stories can be a bit generic at times (or &#8220;classic fantasy&#8221; if you want to be nice), but the characters and the scenarios have just enough depth, just enough shades of gray among the clear black-and-white, to make them interesting. Plus, the character designs are &#8220;classy anime&#8221; rather than &#8220;trashy anime&#8221; (think Valkyria Chronicles vs. Valkyria Chronicles 2).

So, in other words: Fire Emblem. Great series. Play it. And you can start with these two.

5) Baten Kaitos: Origins (3 points!) - Takes the strengths of the mediocre original (beautiful presentation, battle system) and fixes the rest (the story, characters). Positively brimming with charm.

6) Persona 3 - The battle system and the character interaction is ingeniously combined. Having the option to choose a female MC in the PSP version is much appreciated.

7) Last Story
- A beautifully simplified JRPG. Nostalgic and original at the same time.

8) Xenoblade Chronicles - Gloriously playable, if slightly bloated.

9) Vagrant Story - A masterpiece of atmosphere.

10) Chrono Trigger - A classic everyone has probably played by now. Just as playable and charming now as it was in 1995.

Honorable mentions.

1) Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne

2) Phantasy Star IV

3) Panzer Dragoon Saga

4) Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber

5) Final Fantasy VIII

 

[piratepwnsninja]

1. Ultima VII (3 pts) - My favorite RPG of all time. Allowed a level of freedom that, in my opinion, still hasn't been matched by any modern game. Want to break into the bank? Put a gunpowder keg on the outside wall and light it. Go in swords drawn. However you want to do it, you can pretty much do it in this game.

2. Secret of Mana - Multiplayer action RPG. My friend got a copy of it and after playing it, I immediately started begging my parents to get me one. Looking back, sure the UI is crazy, but I really enjoyed the combat and the story at the time I played it.

3. Final Fantasy VI - My favorite FF game, and one of the best stories in a FF game.

4. Planescape Torment - Still one of the best written games of all time. Sure, you have to read a lot, but it's well worth reading.

5. Final Fantasy IX - It's on the list because it produced one of my favorite gaming memories ever. 2 am, on the last boss. Been fighting for a few minutes and he is in his final form. He uses this ability that does random stuff to your party. Insta-killed three of my members and did the thing that drops your HP to 1 to Zidane. Activates Zidane's limit break. Limit break kills the boss. Was amazing.

 

[jorgeton]

1. FFVI - Timeless classic. Really elevated the genre.
2. Xenogears - Blew my mind as a kid and is still snatching wigs to this day.
3. SMT: Nocturne - Perfect synthesis of style and gameplay.
4. FFVIII - My favorite of the PS1 FF's. Cinematic and soulful, with great gameplay to back it up.
5. Phantasy Star IV - Love the early 90's anime vibe, the twisty plot, and the pure RPG gameplay.
6. Xenoblade - What I hope is the future of JRPG's. A vast, engrossing adventure that let's you explore and live in its world.
7. FFX - Great world building, excellent combat system, endearing characters. I remember thinking "this is one of the greatest games ever made" after sitting through the closing credits.
8. Digital Devil Saga Pt. 1 - Nocturne's more accessible sister game. I loved the mysterious nature of the plot (that gets over-explained in DDS2, sadly), the incorporation of Hindu mythology, the soundtrack, Argilla.
9. Fallout 3 - The V.A.T.S. system coupled with the bleak beauty of the D.C. wasteland really grabbed me. Many afternoons were lost in this game.
10. Demon's Souls - One of the most quietly revolutionary games this gen. The way it incorporates online, player agency, and atmosphere is truly incredible.

 

[TheSeks]

Persona 2 series so for the sake of formatting in voting:

1a) Persona 2: Innocent Sin
1b/2) Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
2) Parasite Eve
3) Parasite Eve 2/II
4) Persona 3: FES
5) Final Fantasy XII
6) Final Fantasy Tactics
7) The Elderscrolls 3: Morrowind (and it's expansions count under it right?)
8) Demon's Souls
9) Final Fantasy VIII
10/HM1) Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together

HM1/HM2) Disgaea 1

 

[Jhriad]

1. Final Fantasy 6
2. Planescape: Torment
3. Uncharted Waters: New Horizons
4. Lufia II: Rise of the Sinstrals
5. Baldur's Gate 2
6. Final Fantasy Tactics
7. Earthbound
8. Chrono Trigger
9. Might & Magic VI
10. Fallout: New Vegas

 

[Seanspeed]

Just in time.

1. Final Fantasy VI - Timeless. Charming graphics. Large and fantastic cast of characters. The best music in any game ever. Great exploration. Just cant say enough about this game that I haven't a million times already. Favorite game of all-time, let alone favorite RPG.

2. Skyrim - I still continue to pop this in once in a while just to roam around and enjoy the surroundings. Such a beautiful, large world with near endless amounts of stuff to do in any way you want to. Never played a game before where I hit 100 hours of playtime so effortlessly.

3. Final Fantasy VII - Obligatory pick as a Final Fantasy lover. This game just has so much going for it. The setting and locations are awesome, the music is awesome, the characters are awesome, the story is actually interesting, the summons were epic, the customization was awesome, and there was lots of sidequests and numerous things to do aside from the main quest. Pretty much a masterpiece of an RPG along with Final Fantasy VI.

4. Xenoblade Chronicles - This one blew me away. The world is gorgeous and huge and fun to explore. There's near endless things to do. The combat is fairly unique and interesting. Another game where 100 hours got sucked away without me hardly realizing.

5. Dark Souls - I get the love for this now. I get the praise. Its possibly the most satisfying game I've ever played in terms of accomplishing things. The atmosphere is also incredibly dreary, which I love, and the enemy design is a class above anything I've ever played. What a game.

6. Secret of Mana - Its inhuman to not love this game. Endlessly charming, great music, and great to play with friends. A classic.

7. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - If you like RPG's, this game is awesome, but if you like RPG's AND Star Wars, then this game(and its sequel) is pretty much mandatory. The battle mechanics were admittedly a bit clumsy sometimes, but it was still fun and getting to customize your own lightsaber was just badass. I liked the whole choice-system in the game, but it was never a huge selling point for me.

8. Final Fantasy IX - Dont get me wrong, I LOVE FF8, but after two 'industrialized' Final Fantasies, it was really special for them to come back to their 'fantasy' roots for this one. And they switched up the art style, which I think worked great and was really refreshing. Although I cant say that this game really excels greatly in any one area, its just an all-round quality Final Fantasy game.

9. Mass Effect - Ya know, I think I had more fun playing Mass Effect 2, but they seriously stripped most of the RPG elements out of the game and I feel that the first is the only one that I can consider a proper RPG. And it was a great one at that. The setting was marvelous and the graphics, while laden with performance problems, were still incredibly gorgeous. It was a very atmospheric experience and the mix of shooting elements and RPG elements worked very well if you asked me. The game has its flaws, but its still a game that I think would be tragic to miss out on.

10. The World Ends With You - Super innovative, funky, unique, super in-depth, a story and characters that get better as you go along, a great difficulty system and very fun combat. One of the bigger 'Whoa, this game is awesome' sort of games that a lot of people probably overlook.

Honorable mentions:

11. Oblivion
12. Final Fantasy VIII
13. Fallout 3
14. Super Mario RPG
15. Final Fantasy X

There's some games I'd list higher, but I wanted some variety otherwise it'd be almost entirely full of Bethesda games and Final Fantasies. lol

 

[UberTag]

I believe FF8 has received roughly half of its ranking points this poll over the past 15 minutes.

Those 3 votes are also equate to the amount FFXIII & FFXIII-2 have received combined.

 

[kswiston]

Official voting period is closed! - Please read this full post

- If you posted your list before Post #400, you can no longer make any changes to the titles you have voted for. Thanks for participating!

- If you posted your list after Post #400, you can edit your list until I say so. It will take me a few hours to tally the first 4 pages (8 pages on 50 PPP), so I will let any new comers tidy up their posts until I am done. Afterwards I will count the remaining votes from Post #401 onwards.

- If you haven't posted yet, and you still want to participate, you can do so. Late voting will be open until I am done tallying the first 400 posts. After that, all votes will be final, and no additional lists will be counted towards the aggregate list.

I won't post any results until the late voting period is closed. I know some of you are following the votes yourselves. Please refrain from commenting on which game is going to land where until the late votes are done.

EDIT: I am also very pleased that we managed to break 200 participants. 2 more lists and we will pass the 2011 thread as well. Hopefully this means that we will have a well rounded top 100 with fewer ties than in the past couple of years!

 

[ubercheez]

Pretty excited to see how things shake out. I only have a vague idea of the most popular ones based on browsing the thread.

 

[Felix Lighter]

I was too reluctant to vote in previous years because I hadn't played enough RPGs to feel my opinion was worth counting but at this point I feel alright with it. I really enjoy reading this thread.

 

[Seanspeed]

Skyrim is gonna take a huge plunge compared to last year.

 

[BlackJace]

I think I saw Persona 4 the most. Well deserved.

 

[DimmuBurgerKing]

Finally finished my top 10, with a few honorable mentions.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=45427326&postcount=248

 

[ubercheez]

I think I saw Persona 4 the most. Well deserved.

I'd love to see it break up the Trigger/FF6 dynasty, but I don't think it's going to happen. Guessing #3.

 

[Felix Lighter]

Skyrim is gonna take a huge plunge compared to last year.

I probably should have had it on my list I play it still today and I'm able to make my own fun with mods and just random exploring but I still wish the game did a better job of giving me good reasons to explore and I didn't have to rely on my own imagination.

 

[UberTag]

Finally finished my top 10, with a few honorable mentions.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=45427326&postcount=248

I'm guessing your switch of Suikoden II up to 10th in place of BOF3 along with all of your honorary mentions won't count.
But at least we can read your thoughts and perspectives on your fave games.

I'd love to see it break up the Trigger/FF6 dynasty, but I don't think it's going to happen. Guessing #3.

My rough math has Persona 4 edging out FF6 to finish in 2nd. With Skyrim plunging all the way from 4th to the upper-20s. Yikes!
Diablo II also plunged as it was dragged down by the stink of Diablo III.

Ironically, FFXIII's bomb appears to have had the opposite effect on the Final Fantasy franchise as this year appears to be more FF top-heavy than normal.
(I think FFIX may have actually toppled FF7 for second on the FF leaderboard but I don't trust my math enough to lock that in.)

RISERS: Persona 4, Dark Souls, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy X, Pokémon Gold and Silver, Dragon Quest V, Dragon Age: Origins
DROPPERS: Skyrim, Diablo II, Demon's Souls, World of Warcraft, Skies of Arcadia, The Witcher, Pokémon Red and Blue

The Obsidian voting block was the most fascinating as they pumped up Alpha Protocol and Fallout: New Vegas early (they were in the Top 10 after the first week or so) and then their support promptly tailed off.

 

[Seanspeed]

I probably should have had it on my list I play it still today and I'm able to make my own fun with mods and just random exploring but I still wish the game did a better job of giving me good reasons to explore and I didn't have to rely on my own imagination.

Yea, I agree. I think the first 50-75 hours are probably the best, and then after that, it gets a little more stale and, "Gotta think of something to do". Which is probably why it was so high up last year and hardly on anybody's list this year. The honeymoon period is over with most players and they either have new wives or it clears room to remember how great their older ones were.

 

[Lumpy Onion]

Skyrim is gonna take a huge plunge compared to last year.

I really came close to listing it. But the most I have done is goofed off and explored for a bit and restarted way too many times. I honestly feel kinda bad I didn't, because even with little time invested I see one of the most amazingly well crafted worlds ever. Running it with max settings and mods takes me to a place I NEVER thought games would take me.

 

[TWILT]

This year's list should be interesting.

I think I saw Persona 4 the most. Well deserved.

Yeah, really happy the amount of love Persona 4 got. Deserves it.

 

[jorgeton]

I loved Skyrim, but I played the broken-ass PS3 version. I also feel it didn't add much to the Bethesda open world formula. It was essentially a prettier, more user friendly Oblivion.

 

[offtopic]

Looks like I'm a bit late but maybe under the wire...

1. Dark Souls
2. World of Warcraft
3. Planescape Torment
4. Diablo 2
5. Knights of the Old Republic
6. System Shock 2
7. Ultima II
8. Everquest
9. Skyrim
10. Nier

 

[kswiston]

Late Voting will close at 6pm EST

I am about a third of the way through the tallying, but have to run some errands. If you have yet to post your list, and still want to contribute to the aggregate list, you have the next 3 hours to do so.

Do not change your votes if you have already participated prior to this post.

 

[crazyjah2003]

Quick and dirty since I must.

1-FFX- Epic Tale of Love and Chaos; still unmatched by anything I've seen since. The world is truely magical; and the way they deal with death... It is extremely underated in my opinion...

2-The Last Story- The gameplay is very good. I love how the setting is quite small but very packed, best game I played this year.

3-Kingdom Hearts 1

4-Chrono Cross: I got my parents and uncles into the music without them knowing the source; I loved the battle system and the character recruiting...

5-Parasite Eve 2

6-Symphony of the Night- I played and Loved Bloodlines on Genesis a lot; I was speechless at the upgrade we got... best surprise I've ever had on a direct sequel. If it doesn't count as RPG enough, I'd have Fallout 3 at # 10

7-Chrono Trigger

8-Dragon Quest IX

9-Pokemon Gold and Silver- I played the Neo SoulSilver Romhack with all Pokemon catch-able and higher difficulty and different line up for all trainers, Gym leaders and Elites... it was amazing... the Pokemon Modding scene is very respectable.

10a-Dark Cloud 2--

10b-Fallout 3


One of my rules was to only putting games which I've finished, and I also like some games with light RPG elements; So I have some honorable mentions:

11-Megaman Legends 1 and 2 !! Not RPG enough to make the list, but superb games.
12- Kingdoms of Amalur. I enjoyed and played this for a lot longer than most thanks to some amazing difficulty modding...
13-FFXII. Hated the game because of my love for X; I expected cool fiction like they did with Sin... Then I got to the first hunt and couldn't put the game down from then on.
14-Mario RPG Snes.... One of the most underrated games on GAF
15-ANY Castlevania on handheld- Never reached the Glory of Symphony of the Night, but consistently amazing RPGs.

 

[crazyjah2003]

Persona 2 series so for the sake of formatting in voting:

1a) Persona 2: Innocent Sin
1b/2) Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
2) Parasite Eve
3) Parasite Eve 2/II
4) Persona 3: FES
5) Final Fantasy XII
6) Final Fantasy Tactics
7) The Elderscrolls 3: Morrowind (and it's expansions count under it right?)
8) Demon's Souls
9) Final Fantasy VIII
10/HM1) Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together

HM1/HM2) Disgaea 1

Glad to see Parasite Eve getting some love.

 

[terrisus]

you're the first i encounter who liked this game.. the battle system is a total unknow for me ..why the heck does lakes kill you when you encouter an ennemy or an ally ?
yes regular "lakes".

How the heck does this game works ?

Dunno, it's pretty random. Granted, you can work around a lot of stuff, but there's so much BS going on.

Like Constellations attacking in the middle of the night, random tombstones turning into Panther heads that shoot lasers, and Dragons falling from the sky, breaking your hard-earned equipment.

Also, lakes kill you since your guys can't swim and armor is heavy.

It's an interesting play, but I sure wouldn't recommend it nor call it essential.

Hey, glad to get some thoughts on all of that stuff I tossed together.

Yeah, basically the deal with lakes was, you sunk while you were standing in them, and if you sunk too far, you drowned. The problem was, of course, if you appeared and were waiting for something (to kill an enemy, a character to talk, whatever), you would be sinking while you were doing that. And trying to walk through a lake was a pain as well, since you would keep appearing every couple of steps, and have to retreat again to go a few more steps.

I'll be completely honest, and say that, while in general I don't cheat or use codes or anything with games, I probably spent as much time playing this game with a Game Genie attached as playing it on its own. And while that's certainly not a perfect solution to a game which certainly has some flaws, it does make things as far as the battle system and such easier so that one can concentrate on the other areas of the game. Other than that, just spend a bunch of time inside of castles grinding on repeatable enemies, visit some shops for some decent equipment, and hope for those magical wandering merchants.

While it's not necessarily "essential" (as this list is), to me it's at least worth an honorable mention (where I put it). As I said, it certainly has its issues, but there's still some very special things in this game which I'm glad to have experienced. And, those constellation monsters and graveyard panther heads, while practically impossible, just further add to the feeling of the game.

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

I'll work on my reasons later if I can - but I want to get in before the deadline! Kept putting it off - stupid me.

1. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Bioware) - 3pts, please
2. Final Fantasy IX/9 (Squaresoft)
3. Phantasy Star Online Eps I&II (SEGA)
4. The Witcher 2 (CDProjecktRed)
5. Mass Effect 3 (Bioware)
6. Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow (GameFreak/Nintendo)
7. Xenoblade (Monolith)
8. Shenmue (SEGA)
9. Kingdom Hearts (Squaresoft)
10. Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (Snowblind/Interplay)

 

[UberTag]

There may be a game or two possibly bounced from the Top 50 due to the bonus 6-hour voting window that's going to be robbed.

A nice consolation prize would be to expand the upper tier of the leaderboard to include those games even if you have to stretch beyond the 50. Unless they get buried super-deep or something but that seems unlikely.

On a completely unrelated note, I have Trails in the Sky coming in with 29 points courtesy of 3-point votes from deddonpachi and myself, 2-point votes from saveweyard, Vlodril, Adam Prime, ranmafan, Verelios, Yuterald, KuwabaraTheMan, Bassmastergeneral (the guy made a display of his favorite RPG vote list and snapped a photo... how can anyone NOT love that kind of dedication) and zerokoolpsx... AND 1-point ranked honorary mention votes from CrazyArcadia, Khold, Coxy, ULTROS! and R_thanatos.

Not that I'm keeping score or anything... <cough>

 

[Thores]

Aw I procrastinated too long on this, ended up not making images, and even slept through the initial deadline. Oh well:

1. Mother 3
Charming, hilarious
and when I got to the end
I cried a little

2. Persona 4
Intriguing story
One of the best casts ever
Kanji most of all

3. Chrono Trigger
I know, big surprise
but credit's due where it's due
Chrono is timeless

4. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Whimsy is unmatched
Story and characters too
Miyamoto why!?

5. Pokemon HeartGold
I love Pokemon
Great remakes, the best postgame
Gen 5's great too though

6. Xenoblade Chronicles
Got lost in sidequests
It is this generation's
best JRPG

7. Valkyria Chronicles
Beautiful, touching
The great combat and soundtrack
Franchise deserved more

8. Live A Live
Seven characters
fall into one destiny
Underrated gem

9. Earthbound
Mother 3 is better
but

Spoiler

playable epilogues

are my fucking jam

10. Contact
Though flawed, I'll admit
Overall experience:
Unprecedented

Honorable Mentions
1. The World Ends With You
2. Final Fantasy IX
3. Final Fantasy X
4. Dragon Quest V
5. Lost Odyssey

 

[Necrovex]

There's going to be a game or two possibly bounced from the Top 50 due to the bonus 6-hour voting window that's going to be robbed.

A nice consolation prize would be to expand the upper tier of the leaderboard to include those games even if you have to stretch beyond the 50. Unless they get buried super-deep or something but that seems unlikely.

I know, man! Xenosaga III is going to be completely robbed!

 

[UberTag]

I know, man! Xenosaga III is going to be completely robbed!

As much as I love Xenosaga Episode III (even gave it an honorable mention vote - I need to get around to replaying the trilogy sometime soon so it's fresh), I have it on the outside of the Top 50 by a healthy margin.
Your Akane avatar is amazing, btw.

 

[Finalow]

guess my list will be the same as the one from last year.
also P4 and Skyrim, maybe even top 5? Lol. (not surprised, just laughing)

 

[ubercheez]

As much as I love Xenosaga Episode III (even gave it an honorable mention vote - I need to get around to replaying the trilogy sometime soon so it's fresh), I have it on the outside of the Top 50 by a healthy margin.
Your Akane avatar is amazing, btw.

That makes me sad, but I guess it really just goes to show how overlooked it was.

 

[Beckx]

Oh, I've left this too long. Have to get my votes under the wire.

1. Phantasy Star (SMS). The game that hooked me on JRPG and sci-fantasy genres.

2. Phantasy Star II (Genesis/MD). A wonderful follow up to the first.

3. Starflight (PC). God, what a game. Build your own starship and explore the galaxy. One of the inspirations for the Mass Effect series.

4. Final Fantasy VI (SNES). My favorite FF, the game that exemplifies everything great about the series. Also, body slamming a train.

5. Baldur's Gate II (PC). Perfected the formula; introduced the romance mechanic that people see as a Bioware staple.

6. Mass Effect 1 (360). Technical flaws aside, the game is epic in scope and gave me an amazing sense of wonder.

7. Dark Souls (multi). Brutal. Deep. But more accessible than Demon's.

8. Demon's Souls (PS3). What to say that hasn't been said? Tevis Thompson gave it the highest compliment when saying it reminded him of the original Zelda.

9. Persona 3. I was so late to the party on this game, and so glad I made it. Akihiko is one of my all time favorite characters.

10. Parasite Eve. A rare treat: a modern horror RPG.



Honorable Mentions:

1. Baldur's Gate I. Brought us the Infinity engine and a great implementation of the D&D ruleset.

2. Final Fantasy VII - I did (and do) love the game, but many of the things I don't like about FF games since had their origin here. The last FF I actually completed.

3. Valkyria Chronicles. tactical strategy and RPG goodness with a delightful aesthetic.

4. KotOR I. Most fully realized implementation of the Star Wars universe, I think.

5. Skyrim. Oh, I'll get grief, but the joy of just starting up Skyrim and getting lost for hours...

 

[Necrovex]

As much as I love Xenosaga Episode III (even gave it an honorable mention vote - I need to get around to replaying the trilogy sometime soon so it's fresh), I have it on the outside of the Top 50 by a healthy margin.
Your Akane avatar is amazing, btw.

I like to remain in my delightful delusion that Xenosaga III has a chance to enter the top 50.

I wish I could remember the Gaffer who made my Akane all cute and festive.

 

[kswiston]

THE VOTING PHASE IS OVER

No lists past this point will be counted towards the final tally.

 

[UberTag]

RISERS: Persona 4, Dark Souls, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy X, Pokémon Gold and Silver, Dragon Quest V, Dragon Age: Origins
DROPPERS: Skyrim, Diablo II, Demon's Souls, World of Warcraft, Skies of Arcadia, The Witcher, Pokémon Red and Blue

The Obsidian voting block was the most fascinating as they pumped up Alpha Protocol and Fallout: New Vegas early (they were in the Top 10 after the first week or so) and then their support promptly tailed off.

I need to add one more RISER title that I neglected to mention earlier but is probably the biggest riser of them all compared to last year where it didn't just miss the Top 50 but outright missed the Top 100.

And I believe it's in the Top 50 this year as a very pleasant surprise... one I didn't even vote for but definitely qualifies as an ESSENTIAL RPG given a very unique GAF annual tradition that no other game (RPG or otherwise) can claim.

That RPG is none other than...

 

[hydrophilic attack]

Aw I procrastinated too long on this, ended up not making images, and even slept through the initial deadline. Oh well

Wow, your descriptions are awesome!

Spoiler

Haikus! <3

 

[R_thanatos]

Hey, glad to get some thoughts on all of that stuff I tossed together.

Yeah, basically the deal with lakes was, you sunk while you were standing in them, and if you sunk too far, you drowned. The problem was, of course, if you appeared and were waiting for something (to kill an enemy, a character to talk, whatever), you would be sinking while you were doing that. And trying to walk through a lake was a pain as well, since you would keep appearing every couple of steps, and have to retreat again to go a few more steps.

I'll be completely honest, and say that, while in general I don't cheat or use codes or anything with games, I probably spent as much time playing this game with a Game Genie attached as playing it on its own. And while that's certainly not a perfect solution to a game which certainly has some flaws, it does make things as far as the battle system and such easier so that one can concentrate on the other areas of the game. Other than that, just spend a bunch of time inside of castles grinding on repeatable enemies, visit some shops for some decent equipment, and hope for those magical wandering merchants.

While it's not necessarily "essential" (as this list is), to me it's at least worth an honorable mention (where I put it). As I said, it certainly has its issues, but there's still some very special things in this game which I'm glad to have experienced. And, those constellation monsters and graveyard panther heads, while practically impossible, just further add to the feeling of the game.

i see ..even with a game genie , i fail to see the appeal of this game .. Sure it was a technical marvel it was released but now ?
Thanks to remind me that i'd forgotten the insane difficulty too

 

[kswiston]

I'm still working on the tallies, but here are the top 10 Final Fantasy titles by points:

1) Final Fantasy 6 - 137
2) Final Fantasy 9 - 75
3) Final Fantasy 7 - 72
4) Final Fantasy Tactics - 68
5) Final Fantasy 12 - 65
6) Final Fantasy 10 - 64
7) Final Fantasy 5 - 33
8) Final Fantasy 4 - 27
9) Final Fantasy 8 - 20
10) Final Fantasy 11 - 6 (tie)
10) Final Fantasy Tactics A2 - 6 (tie)

This is the first time that Final Fantasy 7 wasn't #2 in the series.

Also, as a couple of people have mentioned, this is the first year that Final Fantasy VI was not #2 on the overall list. Persona 4 edged it out by a small margin.

 

[kayos90]

I'm still working on the tallies, but here are the top 10 Final Fantasy titles by points:

1) Final Fantasy 6 - 137
2) Final Fantasy 9 - 75
3) Final Fantasy 7 - 72
4) Final Fantasy Tactics - 68
5) Final Fantasy 12 - 65
6) Final Fantasy 10 - 64
7) Final Fantasy 5 - 33
8) Final Fantasy 4 - 27
9) Final Fantasy 8 - 20
10) Final Fantasy 11 - 6 (tie)
10) Final Fantasy Tactics A2 - 6 (tie)

This is the first time that Final Fantasy 7 wasn't #2 in the series.

Also, as a couple of people have mentioned, this is the first year that Final Fantasy VI was not #2 on the overall list. Persona 4 edged it out by a small margin.

That's a lot of FF6. Ugh

 

[massoluk]

YES! Finally FF7 conceded to the 2 superior Final Fantasy.

 

[Xilium]

That's a lot of FF6. Ugh

FF6 will always be the top FF here on GAF. I'm actually surprised it took this long for FF9 to edge out FF7.

 

[kayos90]

I never understood how FF6 gets soooooo much love. I'm not saying its a bad game but it's more like its chosen out of nostalgia. Idk.... Maybe it's just me...

 

[Dark Octave]

I'm not going to disqualify people for minor stuff. If someone stuck two games in a single slot (e.g. Mass Effect 1 + 2), I'll just make a judgement call. We're not voting for a political office or anything

There were a few people whose posts have some major problems though:

Participants who only listed 1-3 games (instead of the 5 game minimum):
NeoZylom
Luchashaq
Kai3345
KSai


Lists that will need to be disqualified altogether in their current form:
- Dark Octave: A brain dump of ~20 games with no separation between regular votes and HMs
- isual: Most entries were for entire series.


That was all that I noticed on a quick pass through.

Oh wow. Totally forgot to get back to my list. Will revise today.