If there's one thing our humble narrator loves, it's RPGs. Ever since I played Quest 64, and later Final Fantasy VII, I've been in love with the genre. So, why not write about them?
Special Mentions(Games that I'd need to replay in order to properly rank, since it's been far too long since I last played them
):
Chrono Trigger: It's a classic, and I've played it countless times, and scored a ton of endings... yet I was so young that I wouldn't know where to properly place it now!
Final Fantasy VI: Probably the most beloved Final Fantasy game behind VII, it deserves all the praise it gets and more.... Although I will admit that I never properly finished it, something I plan to change, eventually.
The Elder Scrolls 3 - Morrowind: Morrowind is amazing, it was my favorite game at the time of its
release actually. It was enormous, huge even, and the amount of freedom was staggering, and after playing for a while, you finally felt like a god among sheep. Problem being... I tried playing it again a few years ago, and I was a bit...
disenchanted with it.
Special-er Mentions(Because if I'd go beyond 10, these ones would follow
):
Seiken Densetsu 3: Easily my favorite SNES RPG. I loved the characters, loved how depending on which party you made, certain events would change, and how it would tie the stories of your three selected characters. And the branching job specializations?
I love this game. And it never, EVER received a proper localization, what I'd do to have one. Squeenix, get on it, dammit.
Tales of Graces F: I've followed the 'Tales of' series ever since Phantasia's fantranslation, and while I wouldn't call'em my favorite JRPGs ever, I've been entertained by them. Tales of Graces F is my favorite among the entire series, it delves into
themes no other 'Tales of' games dabbled, the fighting system was a blast, and for a port of a Wii game, it looks gorgeous.
The World Ends with You: Sure, the story is a rip off from Shibuya 15, and the 'Modern day Tokyo' setting was lifted straight from Shin Megami Tensei, although it took it in an
entirely different direction, but it's one of the most original JRPGs out there. The combat system made the most out of the system, without feeling gimmicky, and while the story feels lifted from Shibuya 15, hey, no other game had done it before, or since! Plus, I felt Neku's character evolution was fairly realistic, which I enjoyed seeing all the way through.
Lunar 2 - Eternal Blue Complete: Alright, so Lunar 1 is decent, but very dated. Lunar 2 improved so much upon Lunar 1, that while it does feel dated as well, it feels more of a 'classic dated' than 'annoying dated'. The story is fun and satisfying, every main character goes through their own story arc, they evolve, they change, they grow. The combat is challenging, but fun, and the presentation is adorable. Lunar 2 is great, amongst PS1 greatest.
Legend of Legaia: My two favorite genres are Fighting games and RPGs. Now, what would happen if you mixed them both? Legend of Legaia happens. Featuring one of my favorite fighting systems, Legend of Legaia is a blast to play, creating your own combos with special and super moves, the game rewards creativity... well, until you find the Mystic Artes(
Ultras), in which case you'll just want to try and score those! The story may not be all that interesting, some may even say that the main character is little more than a secondary character, but hey, this game makes grinding fun. And you
will have to grind.
Wild Arms 3: This one only barely didn't make it into the most favorites. The combat system is amazing, the story is great, the characters are appealing, there's a ton of challenging bonus bosses and the Western setting is very unique for the genre. Plus, Virginia kicks major butt.
The Real List(Because Lists are fun
):
Shin Megami Tensei III - Nocturne: At first I was a bit scared, I absolutely hate the 'mute hero' trope, and what I like the most about RPGs is
character development. But Nocturne managed to make the Demi-Fiend(The player character) matter, even if he never uttered a word. The entire world and premise of Nocturne is genius, and it's hard not to empathize with the supporting cast.
The Legend of Dragoon: When I played this one when I was younger, I absolutely hated it. But modern-day me? Absolutely loved it. For instance, I love characters with alternate transformations, and in this one, well, every character in the game can transform. And I love dragons. And they transform into Dragoons, which grants them dragonic armors. And they look
awesome. The Legend of Dragoon is a 4 disc epic, back when JRPGs used to be cool.
Orcs & Elves: When ID created the first person, turn based RPG 'Doom RPG', they struck gold. They went on to make Doom RPG 2, Orcs & Elves, Orcs & Elves 2 and Wolfenstein RPG using the very same engine... and they are all
amazing. Long story short, they are the perfect on-the go games, and I must've played over a dozen times each. But my favorite would be the enhanced DS port of Orcs & Elves 1. It looks amazing, it adds more areas, but is every bit as good as it was on mobile phones. And sure, the story isn't up to par with any other entry on this list, and Story does matter on an RPG, but as far as gameplay is concerned, it's hard to get any more addictive than this.
Shin Megami Tensei - Digital Devil Saga part 1 and 2: Fun fact, the game doesn't use the Shin Megami Tensei moniker in Japan, instead opting for 'Devil Turner'. But I digress, Digital Devil Saga is amazing. The game is about warring clans on a desolate land, until a sort of 'Virus' breaks out that turns everyone into demons, and they must eat other demons. It's a very dark game, very original as well, and it runs on Nocturne's engine! The game is made up of two halves, while I would say that Part 1 is a little bit better, since I love the setting, part 2 has some very, very
poignant moments. The ending can be a bit freaky, but it's the journey that matters, not the end.
Dungeon Siege: Back in the day when Internet was more of a luxury than a commodity, news about games were a bit harder to come by, games could come out without you ever hearing about them. Dungeon Siege was such a game for me, I just saw a cover with a fire sword and I knew that I had to play it. As far as I'm concerned, Dungeon Siege is even better than Diablo 2. One of my favorite things about the game, that makes me prefer it over Dungeon Siege 2(Even though Dungeon Siege 2 is amazing on its
own right) is that you are always moving forward, enemies don't even respawn. It feels like an epic adventure, not unlike Half-Life 2. There are no 'cut-outs', just a one-way trip to the enemy's base. It feels grandiose. Then there's the little details, like the tons of different armor pieces that reflect on the character's model. And there's even a separate Multiplayer Campaign that ends on a huge Dragon boss fight. And then there's the Chicken Level, that rewards you with a Chicken Launcher.
I am not making that up.
Pokemon HeartGold: It's no secret that Generation 2 is my favorite Generation.
Scratch that, it's the best generation. Suffice to say, Heart Gold is everything that Pokemon Gold was, but
even better. There's not a single change that I'd undo, not a single addition that I'd take away. If I had gotten Heart Gold when I was a child, I think my mind would've exploded.
Borlderlands 2: If you'd told me that mixing a loot-based dungeon Crawler, like Diablo, with a first person shooter would've made for a great game, I'd have called you a fool. And had you entertained the idea that I would've loved said game, I'd have cut all ties with you. But lo and behold, Borderlands 2 turned out to be
almost everything I've ever wanted in a game. Now add proper melee weapons and combos, and I'll tattoo 'Borderlands' on my forehead.
Xenogears: This game does exactly what Legend of Legaia did, mixing fighting game elements, like different attacks, combos and specials, with RPG elements. But unlike Legend of Legaia, it has an amazing story to boot. Sadly, the second disc crams three discs worth of content into one, with a lot of stuff having gotten cut. It's very rushed, and the game suffers for it, putting a blemish on the phenomenal game that is Xenogears. And despite that, against all odds, it manages to be cohesive, if a bit hard to follow at times. At the time, it had one of the most thought-provoking stories on an RPG, and while it's not as 'WHOA' as it was back in the day, it's still a fun romp. By the by, the Xenosaga series is
terrible, but Xenoblade is a fantastic reboot of sorts!
Persona 4: Alright, so the way in which Atlus has, and is,
milking the series is downright
disgusting. But Persona 4, on its own, is still amazing. With a supporting cast that is both appealing and interesting, manage to feel very realistic at times, it's easy to empathize with the trials and tribulations even tertiary characters go through. The fact that it uses a revised version of Nocturne's combat system is a plus as well.
Final Fantasy VII: Some would call it dated, and I'd say it has aged like fine wine. Some would call into question the original sloppy translation, but I'd strike back claiming that it has been revised for subsequent releases. Some would say that it looks like crap now a days, and I'd say that it's still charming, and that
I can't play graphics.
There's something to be said for a game that started a trend, I'd call it the Street Fighter 2 of JRPGs, the Modern Warfare of JRPGs. The impact the game had on the industry is
undeniable. Many would go on to try to be Final Fantasy VII, to try to be the next Final Fantasy VII, but none managed.
There's something to be said for a game so old, with a story that has been dissected, told and spoiled all over the internet, and yet the plot twists still manage to shock and
awe.
There's something to be said for the materia system, so simple, so elegant and so functional.
There's something to be said about Final Fantasy VII...
Notable Mentions(Because they lack something, some oomph, but yet are noteworthy in some regard
):
Chrono Cross: It was, for a while, my favorite game of all time. There's a reason my I made my E-Mail address after it! I replayed it a while ago, and.... it's not a bad game, not at all, but the PS1 has so many other RPGs, so much better RPGs, that this one just feels a bit unremarkable.
Parasite Eve: While I wanted to play this one for the longest time, I wasn't expecting to fall in love with it. The fighting system is very similar to Quest 64, which I actually enjoyed, the story and setting were pretty original, even by today's standards, and Aya Brea was a great character. Buuut.... the RPG elements are very few, it feels more like an action game than an RPG!
Quest 64: The very first RPG I've ever played, I loved it then and I love it today. Turns out the Internet hates it! A couple of years ago I tried to give it another go, to see if I was so wrong... I played about 3 hours straight, turns out I love this little bastard. So, leveling up can be a bit tedious, I'll grant you that, but the combat system is fairly original and entertaining, you gotta give it that!
Wild Arms 2: So, Wild Arms 2 is
REALLY good, and I do mean,
REALLY good, buuuuuuuuuut everything this game does, Wild Arms 3 does better. Really, that's it's only shortcoming. Ingenious puzzles, which WA3 does better. An excellent combat system, which WA3 does better. A highly original setting, that WA3 got better.
Okage - Shadow King: So, Okage is fairly mundane as far as RPGs go, dated as well... but it's incredibly original and appealing. The story is hilarious, and it has a ton of genius little moments that are so subtle that you may not even notice them and consider them flaws, and explaining them would be entering
spoilerific territory. It's a quirky little RPG, that's way more style than substance, but when your style is so unique, it's easy to ignore it's bigger flaws.
Kingdoms of Amalur - Reckoning: So the game is anything but original. The settings is your very generic dwarves and elves magical medieval setting, the art direction feels like a WoW wannabe, and the story is nothing to write home about, not that I'm calling it bad... but they got the combat right. Most western RPGs tend to be great in stories, but lame in combat, KoA is the other way around. A forgettable story with a few good moments, but a fantastic combat system. It feels very dynamic, partly with how agile your hero is, and how you can switch weapons on the fly! It's a shame the developer went bankrupt, and we were left without a sequel.
Disgaea - Hour of Darkness: For a while, it was my favorite game at its time(It's a bit of a recurring theme, c'mon, kids change their minds all the time!), it was funny and deceptively deep! As the series went on, it would go on to get more and more ridiculous, and them being SRPGs with hours upon hours of content, and me having shorter and shorter periods of free time.. I kinda fell off the Disgaea train.
Tales of Phantasia: I still remember the first time I played this game, I was blown away by the real-time combat system, and how good the story was. The... 'spicy' fan translation also helped make the game more appealing for a growing teen! Eventually we got a GBA localization, which was, sadly, very bad, but in spite of it, I clocked over 50 hours on the bastard. It's a great game, and while it has been left in the dust by subsequent games in the series, it still has a place in my heart.
Darksiders 2: Darksiders 1 is one of my favorite games of all time, and while I feel it's superior, as a whole, to its sequel, Darksiders 2 did some things I really, really liked. Namely, adding RPG elements. If there's one thing I'd hold against the game, is that at times it feels too much like Kingdoms of Amalur, a more badass Kingdoms of Amalur, but very similar non the less.
Arcanum - Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura: This game has my favorite setting for a game ever, mixing steampunk with medieval fantasy elements, like orcs and magic. This is a very old isometric RPG, that luckily isn't as dated as, say, the Tower of Elemental Evil, so it's still easy to play without much hassle.
Fable: Many called it 'disappointing', I called it great. The difference being that I knew better than to fall for Molyneux's hype. I loved Fable, the combat was simple, yet entertaining and watching your character grow and changed depending on you played was a neat touch as well, although growing older was not much fun(Particularly when you could be older than your mother if you sidequested a lot before rescuing her!), so, protip: Don't do the 'Fountain of Youth' quest until you are very, very old.
X-Men - Next Dimension might not be the most polished Fighter on the block, nor the prettiest, nor the deepest.... but it's a fun little game with a few bright ideas and a good execution.
What's sad about Tales of Hearts is that it's not a bad game per se, it simply is a victim of unoriginality. Anything this game does, other 'Tales of' do better, so while it might be a good Vita game.... it's a rather uninspired installment of the Tales of series.
