What Are Your Ten Favorite RPG's/RPG Series?

[Kalisiin Kumaki]

Please tell us your favorite ten RPG's/RPG Series (in other words, don't list two different Final Fantasy games as two choices, list the series once...and then the games out to the side if you want.

I'll give an example of what I am looking for by posting my own list

1. Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest - Nintendo

Favorite in the series is tied between DQ 9 and DQ5. My reason for this is the endless replay value of DQ9...and the super-tight, emotionally-involving plot of DQ5. Plus, you could recruit monsters for the first time in DQ5, that was really cool. I like the original translation of DQ5...the one never released here in America, versus the DS remake, although that one was pretty good, too...but the local accents in the DS remake were a bit overbearing.

2. Super Hydlide - SEGA Genesis

This one was just plain fun...I really can't say too much else about it...what other game in the world do you know of where, in order to beat the final Boss, YOU HAVE TO JUMP INTO HIS MOUTH?!?!

3. Phantasy Star - SEGA
The original is 8-bit and the mazes in 3D, this game is undoubtedly the best 8 bit game ever...far better than any 8-bit game has a right to be! That said, my favorite in the series is still PS2. The other games were 16 bit and 32 bit. PS3 was a little disappointing in that it only offered 2 save slots, so it was not possible to save every possible outcome.

4. The Dark Spire - Nintendo
This was a good old-fashioned feeling dungeon-crawler. It really felt and looked oldschool, and you could even choose to take it down to a wireframe, to give it even more of that old-fashioned feel. Very much a strategy, thinking person's game with just enough action to keep you happy. Was originally turned on to the game by a review written by our own Strider, and was not disappointed!

5. The Guardian Legend - Nintendo
This one was quite a bit of fun...this one really had it all! Areas where you had to think and solve puzzles, and areas where you could just shoot 'em all up!

6. Final Fantasy - Nintendo
Special note here: This refers to the ORIGINAL Final Fantasy ONLY.

I have not enjoyed the remainder of the series. Originally, 2 and 3 were not released in the United States, and FF4 was released in the U.S. as FF2. This was one of the first RPG's I EVER "ragequit." I ragequit this one when I got nailed by the "Count" spell which I found totally unfair. Additionally, I found it unfair that the computer could whale on you in real-time, but YOU had to wait for a little blip before YOU could attack again....seems to me that if the computer is allowed to whale as much as it can, you should also be able to whale as fast as you can push the buttons.

7. Metroid - Nintendo
Special note: This also refers only to the original.

I really felt the sequels to this game were just anticlimactic. There just weren't enough hidden puzzles and stuff like in the first one...it transformed a bit from a thinking person's game to an action-person's game, and I prefer having to THINK.


8. Zelda - Mostly an action RPG, but required some amount of thought to get thru some of the puzzles and mazes.

9. Castlevania - Nintendo
More action than thinking...but I just really liked the theme, and it WAS fun!

10. Shadowgate - Nintendo
This one was fun, and required a lot of thought. It took me six months to beat it. The downside is...once you know the solution thru the game, then that's it.

[Warlock]

I don't know if I'd really count Metroid and TGL as RPGs, but oh well.

Ah, man, last time I did one of these things I ended up agonizing over it for hours, so I'm just going to hammer this one out as quickly as I possibly can. I'm just going to list this in no particular order.

1. Xenogears (PS1): If I were to play this one again for the first time today, I might find it derivative and overly wordy, but damn if I didn't think all that pseudomystical claptrap was the most profound thing ever when I was 17.

2. Final Fantasy (main series): By my estimation, Final Fantasy 6 was the high-water mark of the series, but most of the other games in the series are excellent as well. I'm a particularly big fan of 3, 4, and 9, and I don't see how anyone could really deny that 7 was one of the most influential games of the 32/64-bit era.

3. Final Fantasy Legend 2 (Game Boy): Although this game is often misunderstood, I honestly believe that it's one of the best games on the original Game Boy. It's very polished for what it is and even if it's relatively simple, the flexibility of the character creation system kept me coming back. (It's not actually a Final Fantasy game, which is why I list it separately from the above)

4. Final Fantasy Tactics (PS): Final Fantasy Tactics is really a standout game in a lot of ways- a very solid tactical RPG with pretty graphics, top-notch music, and a great storyline. I don't think calling it one of the best games on the PSX is an exaggeration.

5. Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land (PS2): A rare Atlus release and a first-gen PS2 game. I've talked about this game a lot in the past in other spaces, so I'll try to keep it to a minimum here: it's a really good RPG which combines the cosmetic aspects of the oldschool Wizardry games with a more humane new-school difficulty level and a solid storyline. Nobody's heard of it so I feel the need to talk about how awesome it is a lot.

6. Shadowrun (SNES): Another weird one I mention partially in hopes that people will hunt it down and play it. Shadowrun is a cyberpunk action-RPG which takes some cues from adventure games- there's a more involved conversation and puzzle-solving angle to the game than in many SNES games. It's worth a look- make sure you pick up the SNES version, as the Genesis version is a completely different animal.

7. Deus Ex (PC): A first-person-shooter turned action RPG, the near-future conspiracy-themed Deus Ex was a really amazing product for its' time, with a semi-branching path and multiple solutions to every problem. It is a first person shooter/stealth game at its' heart, but the RPG elements are pretty heavy as well.

8. Lufia 2 (SNES): This one seems to get a lot of attention in retrogamer communites, which I'm happy about. It's probably the best non-Square RPG on the SNES that was released in the English-speaking world; it's heavy on puzzles and has a lot of elements that just work. Unfortunately, the developers were never able to quite capture the same magic with any of the other games in the series, including the DS remake of this one.

9. Tactics Ogre: Knight of Lodis (GBA): The GBA iteration of the Tactics Ogre games, Knight of Lodis is- by my estimation- the overall best of the greater Final Fantasy Tactics/Tactics Ogre series. The tighter Tactics Ogre class system reduces the number of power characters and broken setups and the Tactics Ogre AI is more challenging, but they've thrown you some bones to make it a more fun game than the hard-as-nails SNES iteration of the series. There's a lot that I really like about it.

10. Valkyrie Profile (PSX): A weird, experimental game that's actually quite solid when you get into it- the combo-oriented action-RPG battle system and unusual structure of the game take some getting used to, but I definitely enjoyed it back in the day.


Some other games that I think are cool and want to mention are:
- Tales of Destiny 2 (PSX)
- Wild ARMs (PSX) (the original)
- Bahamut Lagoon (SNES)
- The Soul Blazer series (SNES)
- Odin Sphere (PS2)
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSX)
- Romancing SaGa 3 (SNES)

If we're counting Zelda, add in Link's Awakening, as well.

- HC

[shokushuko]

Ugh~ I'm no good at ordering favourites of mine... There is some rough disorder here

1. Rudora no Hihou [Treasure of the Rudra] (SNES)
Most people probably haven't heard of it. It's a Squaresoft game that was never released outside Japan. You can get a translated ROM patch though so you can still play through it and enjoy it. It had great story, music, and animated enemy sprites.

2. Chrono Trigger (SNES)
This is usually everyone's favourite SNES RPG. I loved the story and it was just fun to play.
Chrono Cross was less so. I haven't even gotten around to finishing the game. The story isn't too bad, but it just isn't all that fun to play.

3. Terranigma (SNES)
This was never a particularly exceptional title, but I absolutely loved it. It had flaws, and a lot of it was silly, but it had so many memorable quotes and scenes.
Since Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia/Time is supposed to be in the same 'series' I guess I'll mention here that I did kind of like them too.

4. Final Fantasy Series
I'm not really old school enough to truly enjoy the NES titles. The original was definitely a fun concept though. I do love 4 but I don't think I've ever actually finished it. 5 is enjoyable, but that I also never finished. 6 was probably the best one ever, it's story was great and it was fun to play. 7 seems a little over-rated to me, but I guess it was still a great game. I guess Sephiroth just didn't make a good enough villain. 8, lots of people dislike, but I actually really liked it. 9 is the highest I've played in the main series, I really liked this one too. It had some great characters.

5. Seiken Densetsu Series
Secret of Mana was just fun. The story was pretty basic, but it had music and gameplay and it still felt pretty immersive. Seiken Densetsu 3 was just as good, but with more story. I played some of Sword of Mana, but never enough to finish it, but it's definitely still a good game.

6. Zelda Series
This is just... a great series. Highlights are Link to the Past since it was the first one I played and it just had depth that later isometric titles lack. Ocarina of Time is the centre of what the legend is all about, it's pretty much where the whole think starts. Majora's Mask is fun to play and had a lot of life to it. Wind Waker had a lot of tedious sailing and plenty of people criticised the graphics they used, but at it's heart it was also one of better games and was actually pretty dark. Twilight Princess seemed a little short, but what it gave was actually very good. I prefer the GameCube version since the Wii just mirrored the whole game for a petty reason. I just love Midna as a character anyway. I haven't played Skyward Sword yet. All the games are fun though.

7. Tales of Phantasia
It had a great story and the battle system was fun. It also had some voice acting. I've barely played Tales of Destiny or any of it's other sequels however, so I won't comment further.

8. Star Ocean
The first one for SNES just felt short, but what it did give was great. I suppose I just wanted more. The PSX sequel had a decent length though and was just as fun

9. Bahamut Lagoon
This was fun, and who doesn't want to see a game where the hero loses their love interest to someone else.

10. Morrowind
This probably belongs higher, but this game was really good. The locations were so unique and elaborate. Oblivion just seemed dull in comparison. Morrowind also had an engaging story.

I'm totally neglecting a lot of series but for the sake of now, this list will do

[Kalisiin Kumaki]

thanks for sharing, and welcome to the board shokushuko.

[shokushuko]

By the way... I think Final Fantasy 4 was supposed to have a hard difficulty. I think the GBA version toned down the difficulty, but the DS version brought the difficulty back. Can you tell us more about your experience with Final Fantasy, because from the anecdote you've provided so far, it sounds like you've rejected the whole series except the first because Final Fantasy 4 was too hard... Get past the difficulty, and it had a really great story. Have you played any others? And in general, what SNES games have you played and enjoyed?

I know I recommend Shin Megami Tensei series (SNES) and Persona series (PSX). They have the 3D Maze style gameplay, so you might like them. I mostly played Shin Megami Tensei 2 and I just like the life and atmosphere that the 3D Maze world had. I also played some of Persona 1, but I ended up neglecting it for other stuff. The obvious cheap attempt at Americanising the setting and characters was kind of annoying though.

[Kalisiin Kumaki]

Dec 26, 2011 14:39:08 GMT -5 @shokushuko said:

By the way... I think Final Fantasy 4 was supposed to have a hard difficulty. I think the GBA version toned down the difficulty, but the DS version brought the difficulty back. Can you tell us more about your experience with Final Fantasy, because from the anecdote you've provided so far, it sounds like you've rejected the whole series except the first because Final Fantasy 4 was too hard... Get past the difficulty, and it had a really great story. Have you played any others? And in general, what SNES games have you played and enjoyed?

I know I recommend Shin Megami Tensei series (SNES) and Persona series (PSX). They have the 3D Maze style gameplay, so you might like them. I mostly played Shin Megami Tensei 2 and I just like the life and atmosphere that the 3D Maze world had. I also played some of Persona 1, but I ended up neglecting it for other stuff. The obvious cheap attempt at Americanising the setting and characters was kind of annoying though.

I pretty much stopped at original NES. Never owned a Super NES or a PlayStation. I still own my original NES with a Game Genie...and my Sega Genesis.
I didn't get into games beyond that era primarily because of the expense of the consoles.

[Warlock]

Yeah, you might get into the SMT games- you should definitely give them a try.

As far as FF4 goes, if I recall correctly, there's an original (Japanese) version, the American version, and the "easy type" version. The Japanese version had a lot of stuff that was cut from the American version- some characters had extra commands, there were a lot of additional consumable items, etc. Easy Type was a 'simplified' version with reduced difficulty. Easy Type was only released in Japan... I'm not sure which version the subsequent remakes were based on, but I believe that it's based on the original. Judging from the nature of your complaints about the game, though, Kalisiin, I don't think that you'd like any of the other versions more. It may be worth playing around with the settings, though- I know there are ways to control the speed of the ATB and set it to 'pause' when one of your characters is active.

Having played both the US and a fanslation of the original, I have to say that a lot of the stuff that got cut was probably dead wood to begin with- back in the day, there were lots of rumors about stuff that was supposedly in the Japanese version that turned out not to be true.

- HC

[Warlock]

Dec 26, 2011 17:03:27 GMT -5 Kalisiin Kumaki said:

I didn't get into games beyond that era primarily because of the expense of the consoles.

I'm not sure I want to be this guy, but weren't you bragging about owning like six DSes and four Dingoos a couple threads back?

- HC

[Kalisiin Kumaki]

Dec 27, 2011 18:05:22 GMT -5 Warlock said:

Dec 26, 2011 17:03:27 GMT -5 Kalisiin Kumaki said:

I didn't get into games beyond that era primarily because of the expense of the consoles.

I'm not sure I want to be this guy, but weren't you bragging about owning like six DSes and four Dingoos a couple threads back?

- HC

Yes. and I have them to insure I always have a backup if one breaks and can't be fixed.

I have them...
BECAUSE THESE SYSTEMS CAN BE MADE TO PLAY GAMES I LIKE.


The consoles, like Playstation, etc...were all too expensive for me to want to buy them for the one or two titles on them that I might like.

I have the DS Lites and Dingoos and the DSiXL's...because I have them modded to play the games I like. And I fear the day they will quit making or repairing them.

Two of my DS Lites are never used, still in the original box. Two of the Dingoos are in the same state...except that I flashed them to run Dingux...and them put them back in their boxes.

I have them as backups so that if my working ones ever mess up...I can still play the games I love.

Okay...so maybe it's a bit of overkill...but I want to be sure I have working copies of these games for as long as I live.

Like I said...a tech Luddite of sorts.

[franko]

I'm not sure if I even have TEN favorite...but I'll give it a go...

1) Baldur's Gate series (1 & 2) - for the PC (I can now play them both on my Pandora)...if I'm forced to choose 1 game, then I give BG1 the slightest of nods here.

2) Dragon Age:Origins (Dragon Age 2 sucked eggs, IMO) - for the PC

3) Neverwinter Nights 2 (Hordes of the Underdark being the best IMO) - for the PC

4) GTA 3:San Andreas (the biggest open-world that I've seen in any game) - a true explorer's paradise - for the PC

5) Castle Wolfenstein (a teenage favorite of mine) - for the Atari 800

6) Doom series (more a FPS than a RPG to be honest, unless you REALLY have a bizarre imagination) - for the PC

7) Castelvania - for the GameBoy

8)

9)

10)

-------- obviously I need to think more on this topic or play more RPGs ---------

[Kalisiin Kumaki]

LOL, it's okay, and welcome here. Maybe here you will learn of games you ad not heard of before, try them out, and then you can fill out your list!

Welcome!

[franko]

Thank you. Okay, now I see an avatar, but appears to be the same one that "Githzerai" uses, only larger? Weird...

[Kalisiin Kumaki]

That was because I borrowed his avatar, and plugged it into yours to shhow you how to do it...then sent you a PM on the Pandora Board to show you it worked, and to have you replace the URL with YOUR avatar's URL.

[franko]

^ Okie doke. Seems a bit blurry, but it'll do - thanks.

[wolfmanstarrk]

I'd say my top ten RPGs are:

1. Dragon Quest Series

2. Chrono Trigger

3. Final Fantasy Series

4. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest

5. Pokemon Series

6. Zelda Series

7. Dragon Age Series

8. Assassin's Creed Series

9. Fable Series (though II and III are bugged at points >.>)

10. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Though the Main Plot was a little dull I LOVED the side stuff)