Your favourite RPGs?

[nekunando]

I've just remembered I need to throw Shenmue into my list too.. particularly the first game

[Jonnas]

RPGs that I consider truly great are...

 

Skies of Arcadia: Genuinely interesting and engaging world, charismatic characters, a cheery and optimistic tone throughout the game, excellent music and a lot of world to explore. This is just the sort of game that gives you a lot of cool adventures while making you absolutely immersed in them.

 

Tales of Symphonia: An extensive plot that pretty much subverts and deconstructs quite a few clichés (such as the existence of a "Chosen One"), well written and developed characters and an immense amount of sidequests (most of which help on the "world building" side of things). And all of this is couple to a fun, addictive and rewarding battle system.

 

Golden Sun 1&2: This is basically one game that was too big for one cartridge. Weak characters and writing, but still has an interesting world. Their main strength is exploration, dungeons and sidequests, that are made interesting thanks to the Psynergy system. It's basically a Zelda in RPG form, really. The fact that battles are incredibly fast-paced and the music is amazing also help.

 

Pokémon Blue & Pokémon Silver: I don't have to say much here, do I? Red&Blue brought a great concept to the table that captured the heart of a generation. Gold&Silver introduced a lot of concepts that made the formula much deeper and engaging. These were social multiplayer games before online was a thing. They were so ahead of their time.

 

Final Fantasy VI: Don't you just love it when a game forgoes obvious conventions and actually goes for something new and more interesting? A game with several characters instead of one single main character can be considered that. In fact, the entire plot looks like it was written for a book. Great music, great plot, great characters, there's really not much else to be said about this masterpiece.

 

Final Fantasy IX: The ultimate "classic" Final Fantasy. Gorgeous music, quirky art style, quirky world, a great skill system (the best in the series, in my opinion), great sidequests (Chocobo Hot&Cold for the win) and a cohesive, well constructed plot with a central theme. What a game.

 

Chrono Trigger: It's pretty much perfect. The art style works, the soundtrack is pretty much universally acclaimed, it's easy to get into, everything from the battles to dialogue and exploration is fast, simple and direct, it has a fairly basic, but engaging plot (with a central theme too, no less) and it always gives you enough freedom to do what you want, whether it be running away from talking NPCs, to skipping chunks of the plot to fighting the final boss early.

 

Mother 3: It may be a quirky parody like its predecessors, but it's so much more. It's well written enough to be funny, emotional and subtle at the same time, but most of all, this is a game that knows to be a game. A lot of the plot and ambience is conveyed through quirks of gameplay, and it makes this so worthy of being called a masterpiece.

 

Paper Mario: The game that proves that RPGs don't need to follow most of the conventions that they do. It's quirky, well written, and has an amazing art style. Plus, the battle system is so engaging and versatile. Everything about this game is just inspiring.

 

Mario&Luigi: Superstar Saga: The same applies to this game, really, but with a bigger emphasis on the writing, battle system and exploration. The second game lacks on the writing and exploration department, but Bowser's Inside Story is also worthy of being mentioned here, even if only for the fascinating protagonist.

 

Fire Emblem GBA: I wasn't going to mention SRPGs, but whatever. Fire Emblem is just an amazing series, due to its accessible (yet challenging) gameplay, and well developed world and characters. This particular iteration does all of that well, with a big quest and a rather large amount of interesting support conversations.

 

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn: No support conversations, and it needs the previous game to understand the plot, but Tellius is just the best world in the series. Not to mention, the gameplay is Fire Emblem refined to near perfection, and there are plenty of interesting chapters in there.

 

Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume: The most obscure game I'm mentioning here, but it's a great example of a game that knows to be a game. It's simple and short, but so well executed. It has a morality system (and corresponding branching paths) that depend exclusively on gameplay decisions. Immoral decisions make you stronger and give you easier chapters, while the moral path just keeps on getting harder. It's the sort of game that deserves a few replays to be fully appreciated (and it's short enough for it, too).

 

 

Anyway, this thread just reminds me of a bunch of games that sound great, but I haven't played for one reason or the other.

 

Baldur's Gate II

Fire Emblem 4 (Genealogy of the Holy War)

Fire Emblem Awakening

Valkyrie Profile

Final Fantasy Tactics

Vagrant Story

Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door

Mass Effect Trilogy

Dragon Quest V

Dragon Quest VIII

Dragon Quest IX

Xenoblade

The Witcher 2

Persona series

Shin Megami Tensei series

The World Ends With You

Infinite Space

 

[Grazza]

1. Dragon Quest VIII (10/10)

I've said so much about this over the years. All I'll add today is that I've still not played anything as good, with as much charm or even as technically-impressive. What a shame. Everyone at Square-Enix should be made to play this whilst an audio tape repeats "This is how you do it! This is how you do it!" over and over again.

 

2. Dragon Quest IX (9/10)

The reason this is here instead of DQ V is that VIII does what V does, but even better (for the most part). Considering it doesn't excel in graphics, music, story, tone or atmosphere; and that it's entirely without well-written characters in your party (after all, you create them), in many ways it's not a great Dragon Quest. However, it is a great experience in its own right and, going by how much we enjoyed it on this forum, oddly social. I don't want Dragon Quest to always be like IX, but I wouldn't mind if it was the template for a handheld sub-series.

 

3. Etrian Odyssey (9/10)

I might not have enjoyed this a great deal before I became used to character customisation in RPGs, but Etrian Odyssey remains the only game that has given me the feeling of going deeper and deeper into a labyrinth. Add to that amazing music, hand-drawn enemies and intense gameplay, and you have a winner. The tactics have to be so... precise, by the time you've completed the post-game, it gives you the feeling that you have totally mastered it.

[Blade]

Final Fantasy 7,8,9

Skies of Arcadia

Tales of Symphonia

Pokemon Gold/Silver

Xenoblade

Golden Sun

 

I would say these are probably the really decent RPGs that ive fully enjoyed.

 

To be honest ive not played tons of RPGs. I tend to get bored of them if they dont capture you straight away. Im tempted though to try Mass Effect 3 if I find it on the cheap. A mate of mine has got it and says its pretty decent.

[Oxigen_Waste]

Nah, I have zero interest in playing them, but thanks anyway.

 

Ah well... can't blame me for trying. ^^

 

Tales of Symphonia: This is more of a traditional RPG, but its saving graces are the real-time 3D combat and co-op.

 

Tales of Symphonia

 

Tales of Symphonia: An extensive plot that pretty much subverts and deconstructs quite a few clichés (such as the existence of a "Chosen One"), well written and developed characters and an immense amount of sidequests (most of which help on the "world building" side of things). And all of this is couple to a fun, addictive and rewarding battle system.

 

You boys need to check Vesperia out. There's a reason it's considered the best Tales game, it's Symphonia but bigger and better. Playing it right now, myself, will probably end up on my list if it keeps it up. And I do like Symphonia alot! Although my favourite NGC RPG has always been Baten Kaitos, for some reason. Really liked that game!

 

I've just remembered I need to throw Shenmue into my list too.. particularly the first game

 

Shenmue are RPGs? Huh... I guess they are! Fuck yeah, they need to be in my list as well. Although I preffer 2, I absolutely love them both. Gonna add them in.

[Hero-of-Time]

I never really fell in love with Symphonia like everyone else. I played FFX before I played Tales and found the story to be very, very similar. I'm planning on picking up the HD remake to give it another play through, but then FFXHD is due soon so I can see history repeating itself.

 

I played half of Vesperia but stopped playing it for some reason. No idea why though. It's still in my collection so I may revisit it at some point.

 

I tried playing Abyss twice. First was on the PS2 and the on the 3DS. Both times I didn't get very far into the game before shelving/selling it. I do love the opening to this game though. Bump of Chicken FTW!

 

Looking back clearly I have issues with the Tales series.

[Oxigen_Waste]

I never really fell in love with Symphonia like everyone else. I played FFX before I played Tales and found the story to be very, very similar. I'm planning on picking up the HD remake to give it another play through, but then FFXHD is due soon so I can see history repeating itself.

 

I played half of Vesperia but stopped playing it for some reason. No idea why though. It's still in my collection so I may revisit it at some point.

 

I tried playing Abyss twice. First was on the PS2 and the on the 3DS. Both times I didn't get very far into the game before shelving/selling it. I do love the opening to this game though. Bump of Chicken FTW!

 

Looking back clearly I have issues with the Tales series.

 

Yeah, the Tales series has never really clicked with me before either, having played Symphonia and Destiny. But I am having a great time with Vesperia right now. As far as non-portable JRPGs this gen go, I'd say the Wii has Xenoblade and Last Story, the PS3 has Ni No Kuni and Valkyria Chronivles (still haven't purchased or played these two) and even though I thought the 360 was doomed as far as JRPGs judging by Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon, I gotta say, it seems Vesperia might just redeem the platform. I had my doubts about it, but I truly am enjoying it... so far I agree with the consensus of it being the best Tales game, at least out of the 3 I played.

[Cube]

Im tempted though to try Mass Effect 3 if I find it on the cheap. A mate of mine has got it and says its pretty decent.

 

Mass Effect 3 is pointless without the previous games.

[Jonnas]

You boys need to check Vesperia out. There's a reason it's considered the best Tales game, it's Symphonia but bigger and better. Playing it right now, myself, will probably end up on my list if it keeps it up. And I do like Symphonia alot! Although my favourite NGC RPG has always been Baten Kaitos, for some reason. Really liked that game!

 

Oh yeah, Abyss and Vesperia are definitely on my list, even if the developers' attitude make their best to turn me off the series.

 

Baten Kaitos had good potential, and a great battle system, but much of it felt flat or incomplete. I'd love to try Origins someday, to see how much they improved on this potentially great formula.

[Hero-of-Time]

Yeah, the Tales series has never really clicked with me before either, having played Symphonia and Destiny. But I am having a great time with Vesperia right now. As far as non-portable JRPGs this gen go, I'd say the Wii has Xenoblade and Last Story, the PS3 has Ni No Kuni and Valkyria Chronivles (still haven't purchased or played these two) and even though I thought the 360 was doomed as far as JRPGs judging by Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon, I gotta say, it seems Vesperia might just redeem the platform. I had my doubts about it, but I truly am enjoying it... so far I agree with the consensus of it being the best Tales game, at least out of the 3 I played.

 

I totally forgot about Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. I loved both of those games and was so sad that we never got proper sequels for BD.

[Oxigen_Waste]

Baten Kaitos had good potential, and a great battle system, but much of it felt flat or incomplete. I'd love to try Origins someday, to see how much they improved on this potentially great formula.

 

I don't think they improved much, otherwise the game wouldn't have been as ignored as it was. BK isn't really that good at anything, it was just a fun little JRPG, much like Rogue Galaxy or Dark Cloud 2 or Lost Odyssey this gen. Completely unessential, but fun. Man... I sure did like Rogue Galaxy alot. It might be my favourite "just good" RPG.

 

I totally forgot about Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. I loved both of those games and was so sad that we never got proper sequels for BD.

 

Yeah, a good BD sequel could be awesome, that game had amazing potential!

[Blade]

Mass Effect 3 is pointless without the previous games.

 

Ive been told that there is a sufficient explanation of the previous games contained at the beginning of the third one. Do you not consider that to be the case?

[Happenstance]

You get enough information to understand whats going on but you lose so much of that universe and the characters that it almost ruins it. The whole point is that this is a character and universe that has been shaped by your actions (although maybe not enough by the end but thats another discussion). You get a few choices during the interactive comics provided but not nearly enough and it can mean missing out on key characters in the third game for no reason.

[Hero-of-Time]

I don't think they improved much, otherwise the game wouldn't have been as ignored as it was. BK isn't really that good at anything, it was just a fun little JRPG, much like Rogue Galaxy or Dark Cloud 2 or Lost Odyssey this gen. Completely unessential, but fun. Man... I sure did like Rogue Galaxy alot. It might be my favourite "just good" RPG.

 

I loved the look of Rogue Galaxy but I just couldn't get in to it. I loved the soundtrack though, especially the ending song Dreaming My Way Home. I tend to listen to a lot if JRPG soundtracks even if I havent played them.

[Oxigen_Waste]

Ive been told that there is a sufficient explanation of the previous games contained at the beginning of the third one. Do you not consider that to be the case?

 

What Happenstance said.

 

Try the first one. If you like it, keep going. Don't worry.

[Beast]

The Kingdom Hearts games are blatantly my favourite RPG games followed by all the Pokemon games, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XIII and Oblivion and Skyrim. Oblivion was a very weird one for me because there has never been a time where I've been so consumed in a game in my life. I must have done everything I could for that game! I didn't do it for Skyrim though but I do want the Legendary Edition of that game.

[Cube]

Ive been told that there is a sufficient explanation of the previous games contained at the beginning of the third one. Do you not consider that to be the case?

 

Apart from the choices, one of the best things about the games are the characters you interact with. Many moments in Mass Effect 3 lose their impact if you haven't gotten to know and love the characters.

 

It's why the Citadel DLC was the perfect end to the series - it was all about having fun with all of these great characters (it's also why the Omega DLC felt so dull, as it didn't have the characters).

 

Mass Effect 3 is still a great action game with brilliant gameplay, but it's so much more with the background of the other two.

[Shorty]

Borderlands? Cmon. Skill tree != RPG.

[Oxigen_Waste]

Borderlands (9/10). I've not played enough of Borderlands 2 to give it a rating. My first bad gaming purchase in a very long time.

 

Regardless of wether or not it is an RPG, this is a first for me. I've never heard of anyone preffering the first one before. So much so that I had decided to skip it and eventually go straight to 2. What did you like about 1 that you didn't like about 2? I've never played either, btw...

[Cube]

What did you like about 1 that you didn't like about 2? I've never played either, btw...

 

I was unemployed. So were the friends I was playing with. With 2, it was a pain to find the time that aligned with other people's time.

 

It was a bad purchase because of the time issue, not because of the game itself.

[daftada]

RPGs are probably my favourite games nowadays. Been some crackers on Nintendo consoles over the past few years, and I've slowly been catching up on some old classics while the Wii U is a bit quieter.

 

1) Xenoblade Chronicles - Not just my favourite RPG but my favourite game ever. 130 hours of the best gaming experience I've ever had. Sublime story, wonderful characters, possibly the best soundtrack of all-time, and a really engaging battle system. I can't wait for X on Wii U.

 

2) Tales of Symphonia - Symphonia wasn't my first tales game (had a jap version of Phantasi I muddled through) but it is easily my favourite in the series and until Xenoblade came along it was my fave game. Lloyd was such a great lead and the epic story had me gripped till the end. I only bought this as a stop-gap till Pikmin 2 came along but it changed my gaming tastes forever. I'd never really been into RPGs before this came along then became obsessed with the genre. Really sad to see the HD remix isn't coming to WIi U.

 

3) Knights of the Old Republic - The game that persuaded me to get an Xbox. Star Wars plus Bioware, what's not to like?

 

4) Dragon Quest 8 - The pinnacle of a series I'm slowly catching up with. The British acting and memorable soundtrack capped off a great story and characters. The battle system was simple but that actually made it all the more enjoyable for me for some reason.

 

5) Chrono Trigger - I missed the SNES one but played the DS version to death. Truly amazing and well ahead of its time.

 

6) Final Fantasy 7 - I skipped the PS1, but this game has made me regret turning my nose at what I passed off as a linear movie. Picked it up on PS2 and got to the end of disc one before my sis erased my memory card for her harvest moon save file. Am determined to finish this one day.

 

7) Star Ocean Till the end of time - Once I finished Symphonia I searched for similar games and ended up getting this soon after. Very wierd plot and amazing end-game twist. The soundtrack is worth the price of entry on its own too. Shame SO Last Hope was pants.

 

8) Baten Kaitos - Very, very wierd but strangely gripping setting and story. Again, Motoi Sakuraba's soundtrack made this such a relaxing pleasure to play through. The card battle system was great too. Hope we get a sequel one day.

 

9) Paper Mario - Definitely one of the finer N64 games out there. The first Paper Mario stands out as the best in a great series, very closely followed by Bowser's Inside Story.

 

10) Mass Effect series - Building on the KOTOR system and conjuring up a completely new universe to play in, Bioware really pulled out all the stops on this series, even if they did scale back a lot of the content they wanted to make.

 

Honourable mentions

 

Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World - actually not as bad as people think, once you get through the awful first couple of hours. Later dungeons look incredible, and the relationship between Emil and Marta is really well written. Tenebrae is one of my fave Tales characters too.

 

Skyrim - I got bored of Oblivion but this was better in every single way. Totally gripping for all of the 100+ hours I spent on it. WOuld have loved to see this on Wii U.

 

Dragon Quest 9 - A bit of a departure from the traditional DQ game but was still incredibly fun.

 

Fragile - I really wanted to add this to the list but I'm not sure if it strictly counts as an RPG. This is the most atmospheric game I've ever played and one of the only ones to make me shed a tear. The soundtrack is haunting, the characters endearing and the eerie world is unnerving and beautiful at the same time.

[Cube]

Star Wars plus Bioware, what's not to like?

 

Star Wars: The Old Republic

[MoogleViper]

People are classing Shenmue as an RPG? I wouldn't. More of an adventure game.

 

Or to use it's proper genre, F.R.E.E - Free Radical Eyes Entertainment.