Just a quick note: my list is based on the games that left the biggest impression on me and which I personally enjoyed the most, not the ones I necessarily think are objectively the best. I also consciously made the decision not to include more than two games from a single series. Even approaching it from this angle was so hard and there were many games I love dearly which unfortunately didn't make the cut.
Highlight vote: Suikoden V
While Suikoden II is getting quite a few (very much deserved) mentions in people's rankings, it's its overlooked younger sibling I want to shine a light on.
That SV wasn't a huge success isn't exactly surprising; it was released towards the end of the PS2's life cycle, it followed up the distinctly lukewarm SIV (a game quite a few people credit with the dubious honour of practically killing the series) and, to be brutally frank, it looks like a game released five years earlier than it actually was. But don't let the simplistic graphics and pared-back presentation put you off, because this game is a criminally underappreciated gem which is one of the best JRPGs of its generation, and, in my opinion, the best in its own series.
Part of the reason I say this is because of its story. While the Suikoden games aren't exactly known for complex battle systems, high-end graphics or deep character customisation, where they excel is in their stories, stories that deftly intertwine political intrigue and more common JRPG tropes, and this is one of the best. You play as the Prince of the Queendom of Falena, a country recovering from an extended period of turmoil which included a failed uprising, border skirmishes and a bloody succession war which put paid to most of your parents' generation. Your mother, the queen, is a benevolent and temperate ruler, as well as a loving wife, sister and mother. But not all is well - the Sun Rune, the source of the country's prosperity and which the queen bears on her own person, appears to be driving her to flashes of rage, and more than one shadowy faction lurks on the sidelines waiting to take advantage of her increasing instability.
You spend the early part of the game fraternising with other members of the Royal Family and their personal guard, escorting your kid sister (the next in line to the throne) on diplomatic visits and preparing for a grand tournament to decide her future husband. While this first act of the game is rather sedate and lengthy - it's around 6-8 hours before the major plot events start to go down - the slow burn does a fantastic job of worldbuilding, introducing you to many characters - friend and foe alike - who'll play bigger roles in the story, and when shit does eventually hit the fan, it only has as much devastating impact as it does because of the attachment you've formed to these characters. From then on, the game fires on all cylinders, telling a twisting tale of war, conspiracy and betrayal which had me gripped to the very end. The plot touches on family ties, the plight of slaves and child assassins, genocide, and the struggles of people on both sides of the conflict attempting to live up to their parents' expectations and legacies. I've heard Suikoden called the Game of Thrones of JRPGs, and IMO there is no better example of this than SV.
Another point I want to praise is the huge presence of strong women characters in the game. As well as the game's setting being a matriarchy, a rarity in itself, your family and army are full of great female characters, many of whom are in positions of power and influence. Even though you're the Prince, you have no claim to the throne; your role is to build the army, spearhead the resistance and ultimately support a woman in her rule. This was beyond refreshing in 2006, where most JRPGs still featured the standard 2-3 female party members and even then had them playing very little role in the actual plot.
On release, some people criticised the game for taking too many cues from Suikoden II. And while I can agree that there may have been one too many callbacks, on the whole I'm content to view the game as a love letter to the series, a fitting and triumphant send-off before the spinoffs unceremoniously tossed away the world and lore that had been built upon for more than 10 years.
If you enjoyed any of the other Suikodens, you should play this. If you've never experienced the series, you should play this. If you're a fan of JRPGs with actual good stories, you should play this.
FULL POINT GAMES
Also known to its biggest fans as "the secret best Zelda game", Alundra isn't anywhere near as high-regarded as it should be, despite being an ARPG starring an elf with a sword.
You play as Alundra, a wanderer who finds himself washed up after a shipwreck and taken in by some kindly inhabitants of a nearby village. It soon transpires that some of the villagers are having unusually bad dreams and, as luck should have it, Alundra is a dreamwalker - one blessed with the power to enter people's dreams while they sleep. These are no ordinary nightmares, however, and before long it becomes apparent that something sinister is preying on the villagers' minds. Despite your best efforts, not everyone can be saved from their nightmares, and the game takes on an increasingly somber tone as more and more graves appear in the village cemetery.
As good as the story is, the meat of the game is its dungeons, and they don't disappoint - varied, lengthy, and full of fiendish puzzles which require a healthy mix of brainpower and skill. (Did I mention there's also some platforming involved?) Many of these dungeons take place inside dreams, allowing for some truly imaginative and creative elements - a personal favourite involves the shared dream of a pair of twins.
Combat isn't anything special, but is serviceable, and Alundra's constantly expanding arsenal of tools and abilities means things always feel fresh. The game world is deceptively large, and although progression is almost entirely linear, it doesn't really feel like it due to the requirement to explore.
If you enjoy Zelda, you should definitely play this. Just...do yourself a favour and avoid the in-name-only sequel at all costs. In fact, better to pretend it was just a bad dream.
What can I say about this game that hasn't already been said? This is the gameplay and combat of Dark Souls, refined and distilled to its purest form. The inclusion of trick weapons makes up for the lack of ranged and magic options, and the rally system puts a different twist on the usual Souls combat formula of turtling behind a shield and avoiding hits at any cost. The city of Yharnam is a wonderful setting; Gothic, oppressive and sprawling, with danger lurking around every corner. The lore, as obtuse as ever but available for those who enjoy trying to piece it all together, is perhaps the most disturbing in the entire Soulsborne series and the story itself equally so, with the superb twist at the halfway point taking everything you thought you knew about the setting and turning it on its head.
Possibly the best exclusive on the PS4, and one of the best games ever.
Honestly, I was torn between the entire PS1 triumvirate in making this choice, as I love them almost equally, but my self-imposed restriction of not including more than 2 entries in a series meant that I could only choose one...the reason for which will become clearer just below.
With that in mind, I simply had to go with the game that had the most impact on me, and this was it. I remember watching a friend play through the first hour or so shortly after release and having my tiny SNES-and-Megadrive-playing mind completely blown by what consoles were now capable of; watching the iconic opening sequence, with the aerial panning shot slowly zooming in on the train then switching almost seamlessly from FMV to gameplay mode, I knew that RPGs would never be the same again - for better or worse. I finally got a copy of the game and a PS1 for my birthday the following spring, and my abiding memories of that seemingly endless summer are of 13 year old me sitting in a darkened room, fully engrossed in the exploits of Cloud, Tifa and co.
Combat isn't deep and complex, but is pacey and fun with a ton of options thanks to the unparalleled materia system. Add to this a classic Uematsu soundtrack, countless sidequests and hidden goodies - including optional party members - and it's easy to see why FFVII has endured for so long as a landmark game, both in its own series and in gaming as a whole.
Known to some as an overhyped, half-finished mess which also gave them herpes, and to others as a remarkable salvage-job of a game in development hell which may not have ever been an actual game to begin with.
I fall more towards the latter side, but despite its litany of flaws, I absolutely fell in love with it - Noctis is easily the best Final Fantasy protagonist ever (don't @ me with Lightning gifs, pls) and his progression from relatively immature prince to kingly badass was well portrayed. While not the most complex characters you'll ever meet, the Bros are all likeable and individual, and I well and truly bought into the steel-forged bond they shared by the end of the game. I found myself looking forward to making camp at the end of the day, seeing what new recipeeeehhhh Ignis would be cooking up, and looking through the photos Prompto had taken during the day's events. The trip and their relationship with each other both felt believable.
Could the story have been told more competently? Absolutely. Could the female characters have been treated better? Of course, and the treatment of Cindy by both camera and costume designer still makes me roll my eyes. Could the sidequests have been more interesting? Sure. But despite this, I was completely wrapped up in the game for the 90-ish hours I devoted to it, and I look forward to playing the whole thing again when the final batch of DLC is released.
One of the crowning glories of the Sega Saturn and the inarguable zenith of the Shining series before it descended into its current Tony Taka-fied state of living death. So huge and ambitious it had to be spread across three full games! Unfortunately, scenario 1 was the only one released in the West, with any references to a continuing story removed to the extent that many people wouldn't have even realised there were two other games they never got to play. Thankfully, fan translations of the remaining scenarios are now available, so everyone can now experience the entirety of this grand tale as originally intended.
The first two scenarios take place concurrently, with certain events in one scenario only becoming clear when you see them play out from another perspective. The third scenario picks up where the first two left off, leading to a grand climax involving all three armies which can only be described as epic. The story won't win any writing awards but is always interesting, with three distinct powers in play, as well as countless smaller factions on the periphery and constantly weaving in and out of the plot.
The battles themselves are great fun (if not the most challenging) and show great variety, with many of them having unique gimmicks or objectives beyond the standard "kill everything not on your side." Some actions in battles even have consequences in later scenarios.
While other titans of the SRPG genre such as Final Fantasy Tactics and Valkyria Chronicles are deservedly getting a lot of love in this thread, the Shining Force games are what introduced me to the genre and I feel they deserve a lot more kudos than they usually get. Playing through the full Shining Force 3 saga takes a bit of work, but it's totally worth it.
So much has been written about this game by others that I can't write about it at any great length without running the risk of repeating previous posts. All you really need to know is that the game tells the story of two best friends torn apart by war and fate, and that it's held in such high regard for good reason.
As well as some lovely spritework and a touching soundtrack, the game offers much to the player. A gripping and involving story which is both sweeping and epic and deeply personal, and which miraculously manages to rise above its own spectacularly-bad localisation to hit every single one of the narrative and emotional beats it strives for. Base-building. Three different battle systems, including standard turn-based, strategy, and duels. An enormous cast of characters. The best minigame in JRPG history (yes, I'm talking about the cook-off, which has more intrigue and plot twists than the main story of some games).
If you put much value in JRPG stories and worldbuilding, seek this one out.
This may be a bold claim to make, but I honestly feel that this game would be placed on a pedestal alongside FFVI and Chrono Trigger had it reached a wider audience (i.e. North America) on its Western release in 1997. As it stands, it's one of the best games that'll appear in this thread and yet most people will have never played it.
You play as Ark, a carefree, lazy teenager living in a peaceful country village alongside his childhood best friend/love interest. Thanks to Ark's propensity for getting himself into trouble, a calamity soon befalls the village and it's your job to go out into the world and fix things. So far, so predictable, but these cliched beginnings are simply the start of a truly profound and thought-provoking adventure. It turns out that Ark's world is actually our underworld, i.e. the underside of the planet Earth, and he's given the task of venturing to the surface in order to resurrect all life on the planet. The Earth Ark finds is a barren world devoid of living things, and it's his job to restore life, starting with plants, then birds, than animals, and then finally humans. But what consequences may arise from him helping evolution along...?
As well as being a great action RPG, the game has a memorable cast of characters and a surprisingly effective story, culminating in one of the most moving, bittersweet endings you'll find anywhere in the medium.
I'm just going to preface this by saying that yes, you definitely DO need to play FC first. But of the two chapters, I'm picking this one as I feel it's slightly stronger due to it being able to hit the ground running, the world and cast already having been established.
The Trails games don't do anything particular exciting; they're old school JRPGs to a fault, but if you like that kind of thing - as I definitely do - they're among the best on offer. This is not the game to play if you have a short attention span or dislike reading, because it's very, very wordy. The very definition of a slow burn, the plot builds upon the groundwork laid in the first game, with the shadowy Society's influence becoming increasingly apparent. Much like its predecessor, the game is made up of several smaller arcs, each taking place in a different region. While they start small, each chapter ramps up to a satisfying conclusion, and when the plot is firing on all cylinders very few games can touch it. The game is still quite fresh in my mind and yet I know so many of these story beats, these twists, these characters, will all stay with me for quite some time.
The game that redefined what an open world RPG can be. For the longest time I resisted it, tired of people comparing every other game to it unfavourably. But when I finally did play it, I could see why. The quality of the writing is the best I've ever seen in a videogame, with both the main story and the sidequests raising the bar and keeping me fully immersed in the world right to the end. The world itself - gritty, unforgiving and almost relentlessly bleak - is a joy to explore, containing both the most stark and unsanitised depiction of war-torn lands I've ever seen in a game and also one of the largest, most realistic cities.
All in all, a triumph of the genre and a game so huge that I'll likely never play it again, but which will nevertheless be firmly wedged in my Top 10 for many years to come, if not forever.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS:
The deep, challenging combat would be enough for me to recommend this game alone. But throw into the mix a beautifully intricate, interconnected world, with each area having a distinct sense of place and atmosphere, a lore-heavy plot that requires the player to actually do some of the work themselves instead of spelling everything out, a great variety of character and weapon options, thrilling multiplayer which is seamlessly integrated into the single-player campaign and can be used to either help or hinder...there's a reason this game is widely hailed as a modern classic.
I spent my first dozen or so hours with the game oscillating between frustration and incredulity. "But...why do people love this game so much? It's so cheap! This difficulty isn't even fair!" I even considering putting the game down. But then one night, when my cat was recovering from surgery to remove a tumour and had to be kept company overnight to make sure she didn't pull out her stitches, I found myself firing up the game again. I spent the long hours of that night giving the game another chance and exploring every nook and hidden corner of Darkroot Garden while she slept peacefully by my side.
And suddenly, the game just clicked with me. I realised I had fallen in love with Lordran and the strange beauty of its decaying former grandeur, without even knowing. I was enjoying learning the the intricacies of the combat system, even the many, many deaths, which I now recognised to be a form of learning rather than the spiteful roadblocks I'd previously regarded them as. I wanted to continue to grow, to explore this fading world, to see everything it had to offer. To truly "git good". I never looked back.
Maybe I'm biased as I was already heavily invested in the lore of Thedas, but I feel DA:I gets a completely unfair level of hate from people who still haven't got over the fact that the game isn't simply Origins 2. While I acknowledge the game has numerous flaws, there's still a lot to like here. It has the strongest cast in all the Dragon Age games. Huge, expansive areas with a variety of terrain and location type. Combat is fast, fun and just the right level of challenge. The story and companions are well-written and engaging, as is par for the course in Bioware games.
Aside from combat and exploring you can indulge in gathering, crafting, even sitting in judgement of criminals as leader of the Inquisition. The sheer variety of stuff to do means you'll very rarely get bored unless you stay in the same area for too long or force yourself to do many of the wholly unnecessary sidequests, many of which amount to box-ticking busywork with very little payoff. Stick to the main story (and the optional content you actually want to engage with) and the chances are you'll have a good time with the game.
The Fable series is perhaps best known for its half-empty promises ("You can plant an acorn and watch it grow into a tree!") and for frequently falling short of its limitless potential. But I choose to remember it for its unique charm, whimsical setting (halfway between typical fantasy and 18th century England) and sheer variety of things to do and see in the game world.
No two playthroughs of Fable II are ever the same. The choices you make can affect the world in fairly significant ways - for instance, a fairly innocuous decision made in childhood determines whether one of the main towns in the game winds up as an affluent neighbourhood or a deprived slum. These changes are frequently cosmetic, but several quests and rare items only become available if you choose wisely when making earlier decisions, so beware. NPC interactions are frequently amusing and can lead to unexpected outcomes.
I also want to give kudos to the game for being one of the first to allow same-sex relationships and even marriage, regardless of how shallow NPC relationships in the game are.
Even though it's frequently flippant and silly, the game also aims to be earnest at times, and somehow succeeds in hitting these more serious moments - I completely bought into the story of little Sparrow and Rose, and was sad when my adventures in Albion came to an end. If the rumoured reboot does indeed occur, I hope it manages to retain even a fraction of the unique Fable charm the original series had in spades.
Not a perfect game by any means, but it's fun, atmospheric and has an interesting - if not the most well-told - story which asks questions about life, death, heightened evolution and the duality of good and evil. Not bad for a niche action RPG released in the mid-Nineties.
The protagonist, Will, heads off on an expedition to the Tower of Babel, hoping to find answers around the disappearance and presumed death of his father several years before. The ensuing events find him travelling across the globe with a motley supporting cast including a spoiled princess, a group of childhood friends, a mysterious pig, and...a girl who can transfigure herself into a dandelion. Along the way, they encounter vampires, ancient Incas, hired assassins, the slave trade, and all manner of weird and wonderful things in between. The entire journey is imbued with a certain sense of strangeness, like everything is slightly "off", from character relationships to the speed at which the game flits from exploring one long-lost civilisation to another. This could well be due to the poor translation, but it gives the game a unique character and actually fits in well with the overall mysterious nature of Will's journey. The Moon Tribe still creep me out to this day, and the game's soundtrack often evokes a mysterious atmosphere that gives the dungeons - mostly based on real-world ruins and historical sites - a tremendous sense of place and ambience.
Oblivion is janky, glitchy, and highly unpolished in parts. The combat system was subpar even at release, with most enemy encounters consisting of two opponents hacking weightlessly at one another until one of them fell down dead. I know all this, and yet I still look back on the game incredibly fondly. I couldn't tell you anything that happened in the plot, aside from Patrick Stewart dying in a sewer, but I firmly believe that in a game like this, the story that really matters is in the experience the player creates for themselves.
As long as I live, I'll never forget emerging from the dank sewers and being greeted with that lakeside vista, the promise of an enormous world laid out before me. So, so many other moments have stayed with me. Being chased halfway across Cyrodiil by guards after stealing a piece of fruit. The Dark Brotherhood questline, with its escalating suspicion and paranoia. Potato-faced NPCs and their "Hello." "Goodbye." conversations. Contriving new and elaborate ways of killing the Adoring Fan. Stumbling across a random Ayleid ruin and the thrill of venturing deeper inside knowing I was underpowered and short on resources. Watching the sun set over the coast outside Anvil while Jeremy Soule's majestic OST swelled and then waned with the onset of dusk.
Skyrim was enjoyable, no doubt about it. But it was no Oblivion.
Possibly the most stylish game ever created. While I prefer the cast and more rural setting of P4, the quality of life improvements, jazz-inspired soundtrack and inclusion of the best mascot character in the series (fight me) mean that P5 just edges it in my personal rankings. While I have some serious issues around certain aspects of the writing (the treatment of LGBT characters and Ann, the inclusion of certain romance options in spite of the theme of adults in positions of authority abusing their power) I really enjoyed the story of a group of disenfranchised teens uniting to forcibly change the hearts of wrongdoers in society. The combat is possibly the most fun it's ever been in the series, the social links (called Confidants in this version) are far better integrated into the plot and now have tangible effects, and the whole Phantom Thief aesthetic lends the game a unique sense of flair. Plus, the dungeons are now all hand-crafted instead of being randomly-generated corridors!
The predecessor to Shining Force 3, STHA is a first-person dungeon-crawler, a genre I'm not too fond of. But it's full to bursting with that very specific Shining charm and spirit, featuring a well-rounded cast of characters and one of Motoi Sakuraba's finest works. A game like this lives or dies on the strength of its dungeons, and these don't disappoint - atmospheric, lengthy, scattered with puzzles and each with individual character, they include a haunted mansion, a shrine that manipulates gravity and a subterranean lake which must be traversed by riding on the backs of giant turtles. Exploration is frequently interrupted by monster encounters, and even these are full of character - enemies will charge at you from ahead, dart into view from the sides, burrow from beneath the ground, or jump down at you from the ceiling. The fairy system - you collect hidden elementals around the world which can give you an advantage at the start of a battle, providing your reflexes are quick enough - adds another layer of complexity and interactivity. One of the heroes of Shining Force 3 even appears in the game, albeit as a small child who has no idea of the destiny he faces.
I have never played a Harvest Moon game, but I'm reliably informed that Stardew Valley does everything they do, except better. The fact that the entire game, including graphics and music, was created by one guy is mindblowing to me given the absurd amount of content available.
While the gameplay loop of farm maintenance is the core of the game, there's so much else to occupy your time, including festivals, interior design, building relationships with villagers (many of whom have surprisingly hidden depths) and even some light dungeon crawling. Despite the array of options, the game never feels bloated or overwhelming, and you can take the pace as rigidly or as leisurely as you like. Building my perfect farm honestly helped me a lot during a particularly stressful personal time when I needed to occupy my mind as much as possible, and I'd recommend it to anyone, not just as a stress-reliever but as a charming and undemanding reminder of the simpler things in life.
This game doesn't reinvent the wheel - in many ways, it's a perfect example of a game that stubbornly dug in its heels when its bigger contemporaries were striving to push the envelope in all manner of ways. But its relative simplicity ends up being its greatest strength, along with the great setting - typical JRPG fantasy fused with the Wild West, with a sprinkling of sci-fi for good measure.
I do have some quibbles - the fugly 3D in-battle graphics clash horribly with the 2D style of the rest of the game, and whoever decided on that font was clearly having a bad day at the office - but the game is full of charm, the world of Filgaia is fun to explore, and it ultimately kickstarted a series I'm very fond of, mediocre fourth entry notwithstanding. If you're in the market for a classic JRPG with a twist, you could do a lot worse.
Nothing much needs to be said here. You go on a quest to obtain a magic sword and rescue a princess...and once you accomplish this, the game really starts. I can't possibly count the hours I whiled way on this game as a child, and not one of them was wasted. Probably my favourite Zelda game thus far (though I haven't played BotW yet, so my list may look a little different next year).
--VOTE INFO START—
<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
Suikoden V
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
Alundra
Bloodborne
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy XV
Shining Force 3
Suikoden II
Terranigma
Trails in the Sky: SC
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Dark Souls
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Fable 2
Illusion of Time (aka Illusion of Gaia)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Persona 5
Shining the Holy Ark
Stardew Valley
Wild ARMs
The Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past
</HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
--VOTE INFO END--
