Resetera's Top 101 Essential RPGs - Final Update. Top 101 up plus many extras.

kswiston · Jul 7, 2018

Welcome to the inaugural version of Resetera's Essential RPGs List! We are currently in the voting phase of this list and depend on ERA community support to deliver as strong an end-product as possible.

The Purpose of the Essential RPG Thread:

Ultimately, the Essential RPG thread is meant to be a tool to help people find great games that they might not have heard of previously, and to remind people of the classics they never got around to playing. It's not a secret that review aggregates like Metacritic or Opencritic do a poor job at assessing roleplaying games, ans mainstream review scores (and overall coverage) often correlate heavily with marketing budgets that most RPGs lack. Word of mouth consensus from Era and similar comunities can be better, but you have to do more digging, and most discussion tends to be about the big franchises. These voting threads are a great place to collect a diverse array of opinions from a large number of ERA members. From those who dabble in the genre, to those who have completed hundreds of titles in the past.

Format of the Essential RPG Thread:

PART 1 - The Vote: This thread will began with a voting phase where people will list and discuss the RPGs that they personally consider to be essential plays. You can check out the individual lists that were submitted for voting tomorrow. If you are have played dozens of RPGs and are looking for some hidden gems, the individual recommendations may be the most useful part of this thread!

PART 2 - The Aggregate List: Each of the top 100 games by voting points will receive a banner providing some basic information about the game, including its length, ballpark cost, and playstyle. In addition to the banner, we will include some information about key staff members, OST highlights, trivia, and some Era member quotes from the individual voting lists, explaining why you should play the title.

Explaining the 2018 Game Banner Components:

Aside from the title, rank, and artwork for each game, there are two major sections of the game banner:

The Information Box (including the 4 game mechanic icons): This box gives you extended information for each title at a glance.
The System Icons: These icons list every platform that the title has been available for. No distinction is made between ports and remakes, so you will have to do some research. Some additional notes: Systems supporting an officially emulated version of a classic game (PS Classics, Virtual Console, etc) are included in the platform list. Unofficial emulation is not. Ditto for backwards compatibility for physical games. For PC, I have Steam and GOG icons for titles that can be purchased on those systems. Icons are generally listed in the order of release.

MORE ABOUT THE INFORMATION BOX AND GAME MECHANICS ICONS

The info box is broken into two different components: 1) The Game Mechanics icons, and 2) The General Information panel. The Game Mechanics icons are meant to give you a rough idea of how each game plays. By referring to the icon legends below, you will be about to tell if a game is real-time or turn-based and how party control works. You will also get a rough idea of how much choice is present in each title.

Most of the information on the General Information panel is pretty straight-forward. However, since I am lumping together late ports, remasters, remakes, and expansion packs with the original version of a title, I thought that it would be useful to give some notes on how the title bar information was gathered/determined.

Developer/Publisher: The original developer and publisher are listed for each title. The current publisher may differ (as is the case for the Interplay titles). Ports, remakes, and remasters are also often handled by different companies than the original developer.

Release Date: The year that the game was first published in. Japanese titles with delayed western localizations are listed with their original Japanese release year. So Trails in the Sky FC is listed as a 2004 release (the year that the original PC version debuted), even though it first arrived in the west on PSP in 2011.

Cost: This gives you a rough idea of how much the cheapest (US when available) version of the game can be purchased for currently. In many cases, the cheapest version is a legacy digital release on Virtual Console, PSN, or GOG/Steam. However, I went with the typical Ebay price in the US for games that have never been released digitally. Newer games are listed under their digital/retail price or their used game price. Whichever was cheapest. Used prices were gathered from Gamestop and Amazon. In all cases, regular, non-sale prices are listed.

The 5 cost ratings are as follows:

Code:

1 Square    $19.99 USD or less
2 Squares    $20.00 - $39.99 USD
3 Squares    $40.00 - $59.99 USD
4 Squares    $60.00 - $79.99 USD
5 Squares    $80.00 USD or more

Please note that original physical versions of many of the older titles are quite expensive. While you can play Earthbound on Wii U for about $10, a cart version on SNES is closer to $200.

Completion Time: This is meant to give you a rough idea of the time investment each title requires. Times are based on typical completion times as listed on howlongtobeat.com. The upper end is NOT indicative of the time to 100% or Platinum a title. The lower end is NOT indicative of speed runs or a rushed playthrough. It is possible for you to take more or less time on a title than advertized!

Difficulty: Some people requested a measure of how hard each title is. Difficulty is a bit subjective, so I'm basing these values on reviews from enthusiast sites like RPGamer.com. Generally, titles are classified as Easy, Moderate (or medium if I run out of room!), or Hard. Games that let the user pick a difficulty are listed as User Defined. At least one title will give you the option of making boss fights less difficult if you die a few times. I listed those titles as Adaptable.

Resetera's Top 101 Essential RPGs

This year, participants cast over 7200 nomination votes for 663 individual titles. Below are the 101 titles that received the most points, according to the rules presented in the voting stage. If you are curious why we have 101 games instead of 100, we had three games with 31 points a piece from 99-101, and it felt like a shame to leave one off! With two exceptions, all of these titles had at least 20 recommendations, with the top game netting 175 recommendations.

101 - Parasite Eve

Key Staff Members - Takashi Tokita (D), Hironobu Sakaguchi (P), Tetsuya Nomura (A)

OST Composers - Yoko Shimomura

OST Highlights - Waiting for Something Awakens, Arise Within, Theme of Aya

Trivia: Nomura was designing another female character at the time he was working on Aya. Her final design was the result of him becoming confused and making a synthesis of the two designs.

Why Luminaire thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10399095/

With a haunting story, an intense and strategic battle system, and a chilling soundtrack backed against the hail of bullets and monstrous screams, Parasite Eve buries its way into your heart and spreads. Dodging fireballs and tentacles while emptying your clip into a flesh-rendered aberrant is an exciting and tense affair. Between touching stories that remind you of the importance of family and the fiendish creatures that wish to consume all you know, Parasite Eve blends two genres I never thought could work so well together.

100 - Dragon Quest IV

Key Staff Members - Koichi Nakamura (D), Yuji Horii (De), Akira Toriyama (A), Yukinobu Chiba (P)

OST Composers - Koichi Sugiyama

OST Highlights - Homeland, In a Town (Night), Gypsy's Dance

Trivia: In the original NES version, AI controlled the party members and Kiryl was infamous for casting instant death spells ineffectively, outside the player's control.

Why Beary thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10241313/

This game is a cozy warm blanket of a game. You play short stories that lead to a bigger picture in the end. So you start on a single continent of the world and play through your story and then you change your character and play through a different story before everyone meets up in the end. It's a great way to get to know your party members and to have a reference point for every part of the world. It's just a jolly adventure.

099 - Suikoden

Key Staff Members - Yoshitaka Murayama (D), Kazumi Kitsue (P), Junko Kawano (De)

OST Composers - Miki Higashino, Tappy Iwase, Hiroshi Tamawari, Hirofumi Taniguchi, Mayuko Kageshita

OST Highlights - Main Theme, Distant Mountain, Theme of a Moonlit Night

Trivia: Suikoden received a Japan-exclusive port to the Sega Saturn, which featured new content such as the ability to adopt and raise a cat who stays in Tir's room. Unfortunately, this content is still exclusive to the Saturn version and was not included in later re-releases or compilations.

Why Meowster thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10499080/

The one-on-one duels and the war battles are great and unique additions that really help make this game stand out. While it is a short game, it is interestingly endlessly replayable thanks to a safe but good script, fun and varied character designs, and beautiful sprite work.

098 - Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey

Key Staff Members - Eiji Ishida (D), Kazuma Kaneko (P), Shogo Isogai (W), Tatsuya Watanabe (W), Kazuyuki Yamai (W)

OST Composers - Shoji Meguro

OST Highlights - In the Master's Name, A Land Controlling Roads, The Tyrannical Hero

Trivia: Although often thought to have been originally conceived as Shin Megami Tensei IV before being made a spinoff, it was revealed in a recent interview with Retronauts to have been originally intended as a spinoff but judged to be worthy of being a mainline title as it came along in development. Despite this, the team decided not to make it a numbered entry.

Why Sp1 thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10204451/

This might be the most mature SMT game and a pinnacle hardcore dungeon crawler. Stranded in another dimension, in which human sin manifests, the series' dungeon crawling aspects receive a unique survival touch. The gameplay is as good as ever when it comes to advancing through giant mazes with your team of subordinated demons. SJ has a slightly altered battle system, which makes micro managing your party even more important for survival - which feels great and rewarding.

097 - Pillars of Eternity

Key Staff Members - Josh Sawyer (D), Brandon Adler (P), Bobby Null (De), Eric Fenstermaker (W), Carrie Patel (W), Olivia Veras (W)

OST Composers - Justin Bell

OST Highlights - Title Theme, Twin Elms, Combat D

Trivia: The "Disposition" system developed for Pillars of Eternity is based on the reputation system that would've been implemented in Baldur's Gate 3: The Black Hound - had the game not been canceled.

Why Tension Mask thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10656888/

The best modern CRPG. It remembers what was good about the old CRPGs but isn't afraid to modernize where appropriate as well. It's a great looking game with an interface that is a pleasure to use. The ambitious storyline is what really sets it apart from its contemporaries - even its own sequel!

096 - Mass Effect 3

Key Staff Members - Casey Hudson (D), Jesse Houston (P), Preston Watamaniuk (De)

OST Composers - Sascha Dikiciyan, Sam Hulick, Chris Lennertz, Clint Mansell, Cris Velasco

OST Highlights - An End Once and For All, I Was Lost Without You, Creation

Trivia: After an infamous Bioware forum thread debating what Tali's "sweat would smell like," the developers incorporated an answer into Tali's drunken dialogue. Her response? "It just smells like sweat! Why would you even ask that?"

Why Quinton thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10206692/

It's the culmination of the kind of space epic I'm always, always craving, with moments of gripping melancholy interlaced across a perilous fight for survival. Seeing the series' fan favorite races coming together in a united front after setting aside differences is almost as fun as helping to shape the climaxes of those respective differences, and watching Mass Effect's award-winning cast treat each and every conversation like it could be their last is heartrending in all the best ways.

095 - Shadowrun: Dragonfall

Key Staff Members - Jordan Weisman (De), Mike McCain (D), Rebecca Mayfield (P)

OST Composers - Jon Everist

OST Highlights - Dragonfall, Glory's Theme, Greed Zenith

Trivia: Microsoft owns the Shadowrun intellectual property. Jordan Weisman was able to negotiate use of the license for the Shadowrun Returns games; however, this use only extends to mobile devices and PCs, and thus it is legally impossible for Dragonfall - or any other Shadowrun Returns game - to receive a console port.

Why QFNS thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10153975/

Harebrained Schemes brings a cyberpunk world to life in this game. It is a turn based combat game with many different skill sets at play. You can be a hacker, a street samurai, a mage or something in-between and use your powers to save yourself and your crew on a wonderfully strange set of missions.

094 - Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald/Alpha Sapphire/Omega Ruby

Key Staff Members - Junichi Masuda (D), Ken Sugimori (A), Toshinobu Matsumiya (W)

OST Composers - Go Ichinose, Morizaku Aoki, Junichi Masuda

OST Highlights - Verdanturf Town, Vs. Elite Four, Route 113

Trivia: The population of Hoenn in 2002 was 598; in 2014 694.

Why Thores thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10617387/

Hoenn is my favorite region; I could be a trainer there forever. ORAS updated everything phenomenally, and did one of the greatest things in the franchise to date: Online Secret Bases. I make my own house, share it with my friends across the country, and have them fight my Pokemon team? If they had brought Battle Frontier back, and made the postgame as robust as Emerald's was, ORAS would have been the definitive game.

093 - Divinity: Original Sin

Key Staff Members - Swen Vincke (D), David Walgrave (P), Farhang Namdar (De)

OST Composers - Kirill Pokrovsky

OST Highlights - Original Sin, Dance of Death, Desert of Illusion

Trivia: The language of Nadia and Sebi's homeland is Esperanto, a real-world language created in 1887 that was intended to be a universal language shared between all humans (needless to say, it didn't pan out that way).

Why TheSaddestSort thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10660366/

The combat is great fun and makes excellent use of good positioning and the different elements. [...] Combat isn't all there is to Original Sin however. While the story is a bit goofy, the writing is solid enough ... to carry it. Most quests can be solved in different ways and out-of-the-box thinking is always encouraged.

092 - Dark Souls II

Key Staff Members - Tomohiro Shibuya (D), Yui Tanimura (D), Masanori Takeuchi (P), Naotoshi Zin (De)

OST Composers - Yuka Kitamura, Motoi Sakuraba

OST Highlights - Majula, Sir Alonne, Executioner's Chariot

Trivia: Dark Souls II suffered from a troubled development, and many elements of the original plot were cut. This included using a special pendulum to travel through time and speak with a child version of the Emerald Herald. The player would collect feathers for her, explaining the significance of the Aged Feather she gives the player later in the game.

Why bauzz thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10660774/

The more Coop-oriented nature of Dark Souls II, the presence of Bonfire Ascetics [to re-challenge bosses], and the ability to dual wield power stance weapons allowed this game to have its own unique merits and highlights among the esteemed Souls series. It is certainly a game worth experiencing for any Souls or Action RPG fan.

091 - Fallout

Key Staff Members - Feargus Urquhart (D), Timothy Cain (P), Leonard Boyarsky (A), Christopher Taylor (De)

OST Composers - Mark Morgan

OST Highlights - City of Lost Angels, Acolytes of a New God, Vats of Goo

Trivia: Originally intended to use GURPS, the game got the name Fallout when the GURPS license was lost.

Why neon_dream thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10667745/

From character creation to freedom of choice, Fallout is arguably still the best. Create a character with 1 intelligence and see how far you can talk your way through the world. But that's ok because you can just smash things. Or make a character with all the intelligence, charisma, and speech skills and never fight anything because that's how smooth you are. Or hell with it, just put a grenade in that guy's pocket and run away. Boom.

090 - Grandia

Key Staff Members - Yoichi Miyaji (P), Takeshi Miyaji (D)

OST Composers - Noriyuki Iwadare

OST Highlights - Theme of Grandia, Leen's Love Theme, Battle 3

Trivia: The title "Grandia" comes from a Formula One race car, and was chosen by the developers to reflect their focus on building a game that felt like a well-oiled machine with new and unique ideas that all meshed together into a cohesive whole.

Why sir_crocodile thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10143797/

Has an innovative battle system that actually had me looking forward to encounters, where you can interrupt enemy attacks. The feeling of judging turn order well and totally shutting out the enemy with well-timed counters is very fun. Overall story is a very fun tale of derring-do adventure with very likeable protagonists.

089 – Yakuza 0

Key Staff Members - Kazuki Hosokawa (D), Mitsuhiro Shimano (P), Masayoshi Yokoyama (W), Koji Yoshida (De)

OST Composers - Hidenori Shoji, Hideki Sakamoto

OST Highlights - Reign, Judgement, Two Dragons

Trivia: Recognizing new players wanted to revisit the previous games, Sega of America ordered a limited reprint of the first four games that could be ordered online. The "Yakuza Experience" website was also launched, which includes a digital comic, timeline and character database which will eventually bring players up to speed with the entire series.

Why galv thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10210902/

Yakuza 0 is an enjoyable ride from start to finish, packed solid with so much content, it could span several games. [...] Pure and simple, Yakuza 0 is a beat-em-up, set in ..an open-world that you'll start to love and remember, as each building becomes slowly memorable and lived in. And frankly speaking, comparing Yakuza 0 to any other game does it a disservice. There is nothing on the market that comes close.

088 - Bravely Default

Key Staff Members - Kensuke Nakahara (D), Tomoyo Asano (P)

OST Composers - Revo

OST Highlights - Prelude Moving Towards Hope, Beneath the Hollow Moon, That Person's Name Is

Trivia: The original version of Bravely Default was never localized outside Japan. Rather, the version of the game that western regions received was an updated re-release entitled Bravely Default: For the Sequel, which featured various enhancements that would be incorporated into Bravely Second.

Why flohen95 thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10158845/

In battle, you can use up turns in advance to dish out a lot of damage at once, making the character unable to act for a while, or you can accumulate turns beforehand to reduce the risk. It's always important to think about which character should wait or which should attack in advance, and it makes for interesting strategies.

087 – Shadow Hearts: Covenant

Key Staff Members - Matsuzo Machida (D/W), Takehiro Ishida (De), Miyako Kato (A), Takamasa Ohsawa (A)

OST Composers - Yoshitaka Hirota, Yasunori Mitsuda, Kenji Ito

OST Highlights - European Town ~ Town of Twilight, Impatiently Mood, Icaro

Trivia: The protagonist of the original Shadow Hearts, Yuri, was not intended to be the main character of the sequel. Original footage showed Covenant's antagonist, Nicolai, as the main character. Like Yuri, he was a harmonixer.

Why Cardinal Copia thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10600884/

The story takes place in Europe during World War I, following protagonist Yuri who is able to transform into various demons. Shadow Hearts borrows from Lovecraftian lore, and its mix of horror and bizarre comedy makes for a very interesting atmosphere. The best way to describe it would be to say it's unorthodox – but somehow this crazy mix just... works. [...] It's an experience you won't get anywhere else, that's for sure.

086 – Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor

Key Staff Members - Shinjiro Takata (D), Akiko Kotoh (De), Yoh Haduki (W)

OST Composers - Takami Asano

OST Highlights - Sunset, Deep Night, Pinch Battle

Trivia: All of the unseen competing bidders are characters from Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers and Digital Devil Story.

Why Eridani thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10458867/

It's essentially both one of the best SRPGs out there, while also not only being true to its SMT roots but improving them in some key aspects. The game manages to merge the SMT style press turn battles and demon fusion with SRPG gameplay incredibly well and have some of the best atmosphere in the SMT franchise.

kswiston · Jul 7, 2018

085 – Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together

Key Staff Members - Yasumi Matsuno (D), Hiroshi Minagawa (A), Akihiko Yoshida (A)

OST Composers - Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata

OST Highlights - Avilla Hanya, Notice of Death, White Storm

Trivia: The subtitle is a reference to the Queen song "Teo Torriatte" (Let Us Cling Together) from their album A Day at the Races. This is one of many references to Queen songs in the series, including Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen, which references "Ogre Battle" and "The March of the Black Queen".

Why re_chief thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10667063/

A truly superb turn-based strategy RPG for the PSP, lets an extras-lover like me have my cake and eat it too thanks to the time-traveling Chariot System, which allows you to rewind to consequential plot points in its massive, branching story and reconsider the choices you've made, opening up opportunities you might have missed entirely. [...] It's got a mature, expertly-translated story featuring radical revolutionaries, Machiavellian schemes, foes that become allies and allies that become foes, and, of course, dark magic and wicked monsters.

084 – Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals

Key Staff Members - Masahide Miyata (D, W), Ryu Kurugami (De), Tomonari Matsumoto (De), Samichi Sugiura (De), Akihiro Suzuki (P)

OST Composers - Yasunori Shiono

OST Highlights - Time of Judgment, Battle Theme 3, The Lost World

Trivia: Lufia 2 features an optional area called the Ancient Cave which is a full-fledged roguelike, complete with 99 randomly-generated floors and a unique set of loot that can only be used within the cave. Racing this area has proven to be a perennially popular activity amongst the speedrunning community.

Why Piston thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10162539/

It is one of the few RPGs that successfully introduced puzzle dungeons into the formula that could rival any Zelda game. The story is simplistic, yet satisfying with great characters and honestly surprising/touching moments. Then there is an amazing rogue-like snuck in for good measure called the Ancient Cave that I have sunk upwards of 100 hours in over my life.

083 – Octopath Traveler

Key Staff Members - Keisuke Miyauchi (D), Masashi Takahashi (P), Tomoya Asano (P), Kota Oosaki (De), Naoki Ikushima (A)

OST Composers - Yasunori Nishiki

OST Highlights - Olberic the Warrior, Sunlands, Decisive Battle II

Trivia: Olberic is the most popular character amongst the Square Enix staff involved on the project - partially because he was the first character developed for the game.

Why FiveSide thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10143207/

In its bold thematic ambitions, unique plot structure, dazzling presentation, and incredibly polished gameplay mechanics, Octopath Traveler both summarizes the strengths of the classical JRPG and provides an inspiring vision of new strengths to come. The recurring imagery of travelers winding their way through the countryside is fitting for a game that seems to stand at a crossroads for the genre, one foot in its past and one in its future; and here, in the present, is this singular, remarkable game, one that I have no doubt will endure as a modern classic.

082 - Tales of Vesperia

Key Staff Members - Yoshito Higuchi (D), Kōsuke Fujishima (A), Daigo Okumura (A), Takashi Hasegawa (W), Hideo Baba (W)

OST Composers - Motoi Sakuraba, Shinji Tamura

OST Highlights - Ring A Bell, Comfortable Journey, A Vow of Unity

Trivia: The PS3 version featured a new character, alongside new artes and costumes. The new character, Patty, is thought to have been cut early in production due to the three letter player character identifier, "PAT", being found in a places on the original 360 disc.

Why DeadMoonKing thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10426338/

This game has one of the best casts and stories in a JRPG I've ever played. I loved antihero Yuri and the gray morality he exhibited was such a refreshing change of pace from the typical cheerful and not too bright protagonists of most Japanese media. The rest of the cast was also wonderful (except Raven, alas, the ossan trope was just too strong) and combat was quick and fun.

081 - Final Fantasy V

Key Staff Members - Hironobu Sakaguchi (D), Yoshitaka Amano (A), Hiroyuki Ito (De), Yoshinori Kitase (W)

OST Composers - Nobuo Uematsu

OST Highlights - Ahead on our Way, Battle on the Big Bridge, Tenderness in the Air

Trivia: One of Exdeath's original character designs was that of an evil centaur, somewhat similar to a Behemoth. However, the developers ultimately settled on the "armored lord" design that we all know and love.

Why Aidan thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10280121/

Final Fantasy V is pure gameplay. The job system provides so much depth and variation to the game that, unlike it's follow-ups, each playthrough feels fresh and new. I recently played the SNES version for the first time (with the GBA translation), and it holds up wonderfully. What I initially wrote off as a goofy story revealed itself to be purposefully unintrusive, laying just enough groundwork for the brilliant game design.

080 – The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

Key Staff Members - Adam Badowski (D), Jędrzej Mróz (P), Sebastian Stępień (W), Konrad Tomaszkiewicz (W), Marcin Blacha (W)

OST Composers - Adam Skorupa, Krzysztof Wierzynkiewicz, Marcin Przybyłowicz

OST Highlights - Assassins of Kings, Blue Mountains, A Tavern on the Riverbank

Trivia: While the first Witcher game ran on a modified version of Bioware's Aurora Engine, CD Projekt Red developed a brand new engine for The Witcher 2 - referred to as the "REDengine" - and incorporated influences from Demon's Souls, Heavy Rain, and Batman: Arkham Asylum into the game's design.

Why Dazraell thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10608856/

The Witcher 2 is a prime example how a sequel should be made. It's bigger, better and even more ambitious. Assassins of Kings has a good story, a lot of suprising twists, interesting quests, memorable characters and looks gorgeous even in 2018.

079 - Tales of Symphonia

Key Staff Members - Yoshito Higuchi (D), Kiyoshi Nagai (D), Eiji Kikuchi (D), Kōsuke Fujishima (A), Takumi Miyajima (W)

OST Composers - Motoi Sakuraba, Shinji Tamura, Takeshi Arai

OST Highlights - Full Force, Untold Despair, Like A Glint Of Light

Trivia: Sheena Fujibayashi is actually the character's alias and not her real name. This is because the people of Mizuho view their real names as sacred information. Therefore, only a handful of people - such as immediate family members - are allowed to know a Mizuho villager's real name.

Why GroovySnake thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10535774/

Of course with it's own charm and style, it feels like a great mid-2000s anime series in adventure form. Great combat, great music, likable characters, intriguing story, I just loved it. Highly recommended.

078 – Golden Sun

Key Staff Members - Shugo Takahashi (D), Fumihide Aoki (A), Hiroyuki Takahashi (W)

OST Composers - Motoi Sakuraba

OST Highlights - The First Book, Isaac's Battle Theme, The Elemental Stars

Trivia: Golden Sun and its sequel, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, were originally intended to be a single massive RPG. However, the total game simply couldn't fit onto a GameBoy Advance cartridge, and it was thus divided in two and marketed as a game and its sequel.

Why Firemind thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10196373/

If classic turn-based JRPGs and The Legend of Zelda had a baby, Golden Sun would be that baby. It's such a wonderful marriage of game design ... great dungeon design, great class and summon system, great worldbuilding, great soundtrack, great optional content.

077 – Shin Megami Tensei IV

Key Staff Members - Kazuyuki Yamai (D), Shinji Yamamoto (W), Masayuki Doi (A), Kazuma Kaneko (Sce)

OST Composers - Ryota Kozuka, Toshiki Konishi

OST Highlights - Main Theme, Battle B2, Tokyo

Trivia: The script for the game provided by Kazuma Kaneko was reportedly large enough to fill more than a half dozen volumes of Japanese novels. Only the first half of it was adapted into the game.

Why KuwabaraTheMan thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10654457/

This was really the perfect modern Shin Megami Tensei game with a great soundtrack and some killer art direction. The moment where you first set foot in Tokyo is one of my favorite moments from any game I've ever played. The improvements made to the fusion system are a real godsend as well. The fusion search system removes a lot of the more tedious aspects of fusion while maintaining the fun of combining your demons together to create more powerful allies and cover weaknesses.

076 – Radiant Historia

Key Staff Members - Mitsuru Hirata (D), Satoshi Takayashiki (D), Hiroshi Konishi (A), Yoh Haduki (W), Souzou Tonami (W), Kazuhito Okayama (W)

OST Composers - Yoko Shimomura

OST Highlights - - HISTORIA -, An Earnest Desire of Grey, The Edge of Green

Trivia: A remake of Radiant Historia was originally in production for a different portable platform, the PlayStation Vita, but Hirata's commitment to Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE caused the project to be put on hold. When development on Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE was completed, development resumed. In the time that had passed, the 3DS's userbase had grown to a far larger size than the Vita, resulting in development being shifted to it instead.

Why Paltheos thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10661607/

You skip around in time in Radiant Historia in much smaller intervals than Chrono Trigger, cutting down the variety of different environments to explore, but the scope and intent of these jumps is much different. They're largely investigative and reflective of many, smaller choices that could be made to avoid The Bad End.

075 – Horizon: Zero Dawn

Key Staff Members - Mathijs de Jonge (D), Lambert Wolterbeek Muller (P), Jan-Bart van Beek (A), John Gonzalez (W), Ben McCaw (W)

OST Composers - Joris de Man, The Flight, Niels van der Leest, Jonathan Williams

OST Highlights - Aloy's Theme, Stormbird Battle, Meridian (Day)

Trivia: When Guerilla Games first pitched Horizon: Zero Dawn, they tabled it for a time due to its similarities to the recently announced Enslaved: Odyssey to the West - a post-apocalyptic adventure with a female protagonist sneaking past feral machines. After developing another pitch, which then ended up too similar to The Order: 1886, they returned to the original Horizon concept and began production on it.

Why Lonestar thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10648037/

A fantastic game that surprised me, with a deep historical backstory, beautiful music and graphics, and a deep action combat system. A potential sequel that investigates further stories from the past, and potentially into some of the fringe theories some have come up with involving cryptic plot points, is among my most anticipated game announcements.

074 – Secret of Mana

Key Staff Members - oichi Ishii (D), Hiromichi Tanaka (P), Hiroo Isono (A), Hiromichi Tanaka (W)

OST Composers - Hiroki Kikuta

OST Highlights - Fear of the Heavens, Into the Thick of It, Prophecy

Trivia: Secret of Mana was originally intended to be released for the SNES CD-ROM attachment. When Nintendo's hardware deal with Sony fell through, Squaresoft was forced to cut roughly 40% of the game's content to fit it on a SNES cartridge instead. This bad blood between Nintendo, Sony, and Squaresoft led directly to the creation of the PlayStation and Squaresoft's departure to Sony's platform.

Why Lastbroadcast thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10654295/

The graphics, lore and story are all excellent, but two things still stand out about this game - the incredible 16bit musical score that still evokes feelings of awe and wonder, and the bulletproof gameplay that still feels playable and fresh to this day. I played it again only a few months ago and it still feels good 25 years later.

073 – The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC

Key Staff Members - Toshihiro Kondo (D), Masayuki Kato (P), Hisayoshi Takeiri (W)

OST Composers - Hayato Sonoda, Takahiro Unisuga, Ryo Takeshita

OST Highlights - Looking up at the Sky,The Dream Continues, The Merciless Savior

Trivia: Originally released on PC, the PSP port of Trails in the Sky SC featured a number of changes, including two extra permanent party members that weren't available in the original PC release, as well as extra voice acting recorded for the game. It was also one of the largest PSP games, being one of the few games to use two UMDs. These PSP enhancements were added back into the PC version for the western release.

Why Pellaidh thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10157724/

Trails in the Sky Second Chapter is, without a doubt, the best written fantasy JRPG I've ever played. [... It] is also one of the very few story based JRPGs that manages to actually present a challenge when it comes to the gameplay, with interesting boss battles that require good strategy, not grinding, to beat.

072 - Vagrant Story

Key Staff Members - Yasumi Matsuno (D/P/W), Hiroshi Minagawa (A)

OST Composers - Hitoshi Sakimoto

OST Highlights - Lea Monde Town Area, Truth, Ifrit

Trivia: The English language used in the US/UK version of this game is close to the one used by Shakespeare, and some characters have names taken from different tragedies by Shakespeare. Romeo Guildenstern, one of the game's main characters, is a combination of Romeo from "Romeo and Juliett", and Guildenstern from "Hamlet". Rosenkrantz is also a character from "Hamlet".

Why SatelliteOfLove thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10255046/

Lord Matsuno's magnum opus and one of Squaresoft's crown jewels from their glory days. Smith's rich but tasteful localization, Sakimoto's greatest OST, Akiyama's industry standard-setting choreography, and many many other's A Games brings a dark political tale and brilliantly envisioned mechanics together in one of the classiest games I've ever had the joy to play.

071 – Fire Emblem (GBA)

Key Staff Members - Taeko Kaneda (D), Kentarou Nishimura (D), Tohru Narihiro (P), Takehiro Izushi (P)

OST Composers - Yuka Tsujiyoko

OST Highlights - Together We Ride, Rise to the Challenge, Softly with Grace

Trivia: Originally intended to be made in seven months, it drastically overran this allotment chiefly because of the introduction of multiplayer.

Why Tamazoid thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10666887/

I will never forget the utter triumph I felt fully completing the main story of Fire Emblem for the first time as it proved the perfect culmination of my adventure. I truly fell in love with the characters and setting of this game, a feeling that I hope to experience whenever I embark on playing a RPG, though that feeling is rarely emulated.

070 – Paper Mario

Key Staff Members - Ryota Kawade (D), Shigeru Miyamoto (P), Naohiko Aoyama (A), Kumiko Takeda (W), Kaori Aoki (W)

OST Composers - Yuka Tsujiyoko, Taishi Senda

OST Highlights - Tubba Blubba, Shooting Star Summit, King of the Koopas

Trivia: Originally titled Super Mario RPG 2, there are many similarities between this game and its predecessor, such as the opening sequences with Bowser which end in a surprise and then the title card.

Why worstcasescenario thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10649492/

It checks all the boxes: it has a fun and engaging action-combat system, the badge system offers a fun amount of customization and strategy, and the game has that classic Nintendo charm cranked up to ten. This is my favourite RPG because it never stops with the endlessly inventive characters and settings. Absolutely iconic. Frankly, we don't talk about this wonderful game enough. Go play it.

069 - Kingdom Hearts

Key Staff Members - Tetsuya Nomura (D), Shinji Hashimoto (P), Yoshinori Kitase (P)

OST Composers - Yoko Shimomura

OST Highlights - Hollow Bastion, Hikari, Night of Fate

Trivia: The idea for this game came about when producer Shinji Hashimoto met with a Disney executive in an elevator; Square and Disney had previously worked in the same building in Japan.
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Why Vampire Chicken thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10654776/

Combining Disney with Final Fantasy was the perfect amalgamation of eastern and western influences that gave Kingdom Hearts a universal appeal and spawned an immensely popular franchise. There was just something so special about traveling to each of the Disney-inspired worlds and battling the heartless and infamous Disney villains in glorious real-time combat at a time when many JRPGs were still turn-based. [...] Seeing the friendship of Sora, Donald, and Goofy grow as they search for their lost friends and make some new ones along the way was a joy to watch develop. The charm of this game is simply unmatched.

068 – The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Key Staff Members - Todd Howard (EP), Ashley Cheng (SP), Ken Rolston (De)

OST Composers - Jeremy Soule

OST Highlights - Harvest Dawn, Reign of the Septims, Death Knell

Trivia: Among Patrick Stewart's few lines, some are adapted from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. He is a Shakespearean actor.

Why Meowster thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10499080/

There is a lot of freedom to Oblivion in the way that you make and shape your character - something I truly enjoyed. I played the game for hundreds of hours, trying new races and species, always managing to find new objects and locations. Who can dislike all of those terrible voices, abysmal artificial intelligence, and those faces only a mother could love?

067 - Final Fantasy XV

Key Staff Members - Hajime Tabata (D), Shinji Hashimoto (P), Saori Itamuro (W)

OST Composers - Yoko Shimomura

OST Highlights - Somnus, Valse di Fantastica, Omnis Lacrima

Trivia: One of Noctis' signature weapons is the peculiarly-named "Engine Blade." This name is a shout-out to a widespread fan nickname for the weapon, which made its very first appearance in the original Versus XIII debut trailer.

Why Valdei thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10550093/

The game is so far, my most played game this generation with 270+ hours and I don't regret a single second of it. For its many faults Final Fantasy XV won me over with its charming main cast, the road trip vibes, music, camping, cooking, taking tons of pictures, its world, and the ending.

066 – Terranigma

Key Staff Members - Tomoyoshi Miyazaki (D), Masaya Hashimoto (P), Kamui Fujiwara (A)

OST Composers - Miyoko Takaoka, Masanori Hikichi

OST Highlights - Underworld, Boss Fight, Evergreen

Trivia: Despite not releasing in North America, Nintendo of America did the English translation for Europe.

Why Fou-Lu thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10648800/

Terranigma is an action RPG with gameplay reminiscent of a classic Zelda title and a surprisingly deep philosophy blended into its narrative. You play as Ark, a boy from a mysterious village on an adventure to restore the Earth to its former glory--the Earth we know and live on. You must restore the continents first, but eventually various forms of life and even human culture as well! You meet interesting characters and experience both heartwarming and heartrending tales (not to mention a surprising amount of comedy!). This is elevated by some of the best graphics and animation on the SNES and a beautiful soundtrack. I'd like to make a point of mentioning that Ark wields a spear, which is a way cooler weapon than the goofy swords of so many other RPG heroes.

065 - Final Fantasy IV

Key Staff Members - Hironobu Sakaguchi (D), Takashi Tokita (De), Yoshitaka Amano (A)

OST Composers - Nobuo Uematsu

OST Highlights - Main Theme, Theme of Love, Fight 2

Trivia: Contrary to popular belief, Kingdom Hearts was not Squaresoft and Disney's first collaboration. That honor goes to a comic series Disney commissioned in 1991 based off of Final Fantasy IV, which unfortunately never materialized as a finished product.

Why shoryukens thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10660549/

Cecil's arc of going from gloomy dark knight to a paladin warrior of light is simple but very effective. The beginning moments of the game really allows the player to sympathize with Cecil's struggle as he fights to find inner peace between his desire to do good and loyalty to his kingdom.

064 – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Key Staff Members - Hidemaro Fujibayashi (D), Eiji Aonuma (P), Satoru Takizawa (A)

OST Composers - Manaka Kataoka, Yasuaki Iwata, Hajime Wakai

OST Highlights - Hyrule Castle (Outside), Divine Beast Vah Naboris Battle, Rito Village Music (Day)

Trivia: It has been speculated that the magical Satori Mountain, ruled by the reincarnation of a dead sage, is a homage to the late Satoru Iwata.

Why megalowho thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10645438/

The line of sight discovery mechanics are brilliant, heightening the feeling of exploration and immersion as you climb and float your way towards anything that looks remotely intriguing. My appreciation for the subdued storytelling and melancholy backdrop has also grown, a suitable tone for a fresh and inspired Hyrule that's both comfortingly familiar and free to play with the expectations that familiarity breeds.

kswiston · Jul 7, 2018

063 – Panzer Dragoon Saga

Key Staff Members - Yukio Futatsugi (D), Manabu Kusunoki (De), Katsumi Yokota (A)

OST Composers - Saori Kobayashi, Mariko Nanba

OST Highlights - Ecce Valde Generous Ale, Atolm Dragon, Village of the Seekers

Trivia: A new game file for Panzer Dragoon Saga can actually be started from an existing save file for Panzer Dragoon: Zwei. Creating a new game file in this manner adds several rare items and exclusive dialogue to the game.

Why Silvergun-Blue thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10642034/

An engrossing and compelling story set in one of the best realised worlds in gaming. To this day, the ending remains the single most emotional experience I've had with a video game. Incredibly original and slick battle system that fully takes advantage of the fact that you're on a dragon, every encounter is a joy.

062 – Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Key Staff Members - Masayuki Horiwawa (D), Tohru Narihiro (P), Hitoshi Yamagami (P), Taeko Kaneda (De), Ken Yokoyama (W), Senri Kita (A)

OST Composers - Yoshito Hirano, Saki Haruyama, Naoko Mitome, Atsushi Yoshida, Kanako Teramae

OST Highlights - Power Hungry Fool, Against the Black Knight, Bittersweet Victory

Trivia: Originally Ike was intended to be the son of a nobleman who had lost his territory and life to internal politics in what was to become the Begnion Empire in the final game.
Why milkyway thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10645352/

This game stands out as the best the series has to offer primarily because of the story, which strays from the series usual tropes and offers a non-royal protagonist who is just playing his part in uniting the country and various peoples against a common enemy. The Laguz were an interesting element for the game as well as the bonus XP. I also appreciate what the GC had to offer in terms of graphics, though it doesn't necessarily affect the game play much.

061 – Fire Emblem: Awakening

Key Staff Members - Kouhei Maeda (D), Genki Yokota (D), Tohru Narihiro (P), Hitoshis Yamagami (P), Kozaki Yusuke (A)

OST Composers - Hiroki Morishita, Rei Kondoh

OST Highlights - Id (Purpose), Don't Speak Her Name, Conquest

Trivia: In the Japanese language option, one voice actress does all the female avatar voice options as well as one of the male avatar voice options.

Why Chie Satonaka91 thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10661580/

I really enjoyed the story of this game, the time travel was done quite well. Chrom, Lissa, Lucina, and Robin had a good dynamic, in fact all the characters were enjoyable, I found myself constantly trying to fit my favorites into my active army. I thought the maps were pretty great. I liked how I could determine the second generations stats/abilities through pairing up the first generations abilities.

060 - Dark Souls III

Key Staff Members - Hidetaka Miyazaki (D), Shigeto Hirai (De), Takeshi Suzuki (Pr)

OST Composers - Yuka Kitamura, Motoi Sakuraba

OST Highlights - Main Menu Theme, Soul of Cinder, Lorian & Lothric

Trivia: Dark Souls III originally featured a mechanic in which the player could create their own bonfires by using the Coiled Sword item on enemy corpses. However, this mechanic was ultimately cut for unknown reasons.

Why Galv thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10210902/

A return to the roots of the series made for a very enjoyable game, filled with epic moments, gorgeous scenery and faster, tighter gameplay. [...] Beautiful level design, the Cathedral of the Deep being one of the standout levels in all of From Soft's games, to the boss design of the Nameless King and the Soul of Cinder, the latter of which I consider the best boss battle in the series. From delivered a masterpiece to close out the series, one of the best trilogies in gaming history.

059 – Xenoblade Chronicles X

Key Staff Members - Tetsuya Takahashi (D,W), Koh Kojima (D), Genki Yokota (D), Shingo Kawabata (P), Hitoshi Yamagami (P), Yuichiro Takeda (W)
OST Composers - Hiroyuki Sawano

OST Highlights - New LA, Black Tar, The Key We've Lost

Trivia: Xenoblade Chronicles X was originally intended to be set over many different planets before being scaled down to just a single world. Takahashi and Takeda actually crafted a much longer scenario than the original Xenoblade featuring a set main character, but as development progressed on they cut much of the original story and shifted to a blank slate protagonist. The original intended villain only appears as a minor cameo as a result.

Why SuperiorTrashTalk thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10204068/

Exploring is so rewarding and addictive - the level design is wonderfully done, every angle you turn the camera shows several points of interest to explore nearby and on the horizon...

the game does a great job at making it feel like a hostile, alien wilderness. All sorts of creatures roam the land from insects the size of your head, to dinosaur-like aliens with toenails as big as your whole character. .. And battling all of these creatures is so fun because of how deep and customizable the battle system is.

058 - Fallout 3

Key Staff Members - Todd Howard (D), Gavin Carter (P), Emil Pagliarulo (De)

OST Composers - Inon Zur

OST Highlights - Main Theme, Battle 2, I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire

Trivia: Originally Med-X was called morphine, but to obtain an MA15+ (instead or being refused classification) in Australia they had to make this small change, Bethesda then subsequently decided to use this edit for all worldwide editions, ironically this worked in the games lore as there was never any real world drugs within the series as they always had fictional names.

Why Quinton thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10206692/

From the mutant-infested suburbs to the orphanage at Little Lamplight, from the ruins of American glory found at a naval-carrier-turned-makeshift-city to the dirty water it rests upon, I cannot get this setting out of my head. Every step I took in that inaugural journey surprised me in some way, every place brought such character through its environmental storytelling, every raider dead made me feel like I'd made the world a slightly safer place.

057 - Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Key Staff Members - Jean-François Dugas (D), David Anfossi (P), Mary DeMarle (W)

OST Composers - Michael McCann

OST Highlights - Opening Credits, Police Station Combat, Ambush At Alice Pod Gardens

Trivia: Open Bionics, a Prosthetics company focused on creating low-cost prosthetics, has teamed up with Square Enix and Eidos Montreal to produce royalty free designs that anyone can use.

Why TheSaddestSort thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10660366/

With each new ability unlocked, the player gains access to new paths, can unlock new information, and is provided with different means to fulfill their objectives. If you can forgive the combat oriented and build specific bosses, this game will continue to entertain you through multiple playthroughs.

056 - Chrono Cross

Key Staff Members - Masato Kato (D), Hiromichi Tanaka (P)

OST Composers - Yasunori Mitsuda

OST Highlights - Time's Scar, Dream of the Shore Bordering Another World, Radical Dreamers ~ Unstealable Jewel

Trivia: Chrono Cross was first conceived as an expanded reimagining of Radical Dreamers, a Japan-exclusive visual novel that is technically the second entry in the Chrono series. Elements of Radical Dreamers can still be seen in some of the early-game scenario design, notably the infiltration of Viper Manor.

Why Fou-Lu thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10648800/

Playing Chrono Cross is immersing yourself in a gorgeous world full of interesting characters, places and events. Along the way you'll enjoy a unique turn-based battle system, well-balanced and paced by character levels that are based on the number of bosses you have defeated. [...] The soundtrack ties it all together with its haunting, beautiful and unforgettable tracks that are often considered some of the best the industry has to offer.

055 - NieR

Key Staff Members - Yoko Taro (D), Takuya Iwasaki (P), Yosuke Saito (P)

OST Composers - Keiichi Okabe, Kakeru Ishihama, Keigo Hoashi, Takafumi Nishimura

OST Highlights - Hills of Radiant Wind, The Dark Colossus Destroys All, Song of the Ancients ~ Devola

Trivia: According to Yoko Taro, the game's story was inspired by the events of 9/11.

Why Funyarinpa thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10662224/

I'm not sure if I can express what makes this game so special. It might be the intimate, loving story of a father trying to find a cure for his daughter's sickness.
It might be the sun-bleached overworld, the run-down locales, the glossy character models, it might be your companion Grimoire Weiss, a talking book with an attitude.
It might be the unique, perplexing music, which is sung in a language that might be what Gaelic or French might sound like after millennia.
NIER has my favorite soundtrack in perhaps any game, there isn't a single track that is not utterly perfect for what it's trying to convey.
In the end, NIER made me care, for reasons I still do not understand. And I think that is a precious thing.

054 – Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium

Key Staff Members - Rieko Kodama (D), Tohru Yoshida (D), Akinori Nishiyama (W)

OST Composers - Izuho Numata, Masaki Nakagaki

OST Highlights - Laughter, The End of the Millennium, Take Off! Landale

Trivia: Rika was originally intended to be Nei from Phantasy Star II

Why Novel Mike thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10606307/

I love Phantasy Star IV, It's story is so well told it makes you think you are at the end of the game multiple times before you finally arrive at the very end, its characters are very well developed, its setting is unique, its combat was way ahead of its time, and its general presentation while dated by today's standards was striking, unique, and was able to give the characters life like no other RPG of its era. It's the best 16 bit RPG most people have never played.

053 - Valkyrie Profile

Key Staff Members - Yoshiharu Gotanda (D), Yoshinori Yamagishi (P), Masaki Norimoto (De), You Yoshinari (A), Kou Yoshinari (A)

OST Composers - Motoi Sakuraba

OST Highlights - Fighting The Shadowy Gods, Distortions In The Void Of Despair, Behave Irrationally

Trivia: Lenneth has made numerous cameos in other tri-Ace games including Star Ocean and Radiata Stories. She is often an optional boss and exceptionally difficult.

Why Luminaire thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10399095/

While based in Norse mythology, tri-Ace has put their own spin on characters and events to tell a deep, dark, and desperate tale while creating a bloody history and thorough lore to dig into. Valkyrie Profile is a true gem that everyone should turn their gaze to. From the lovers of Souls who adore heartbreaking tales woven into the world to the flashy combat fans who love Final Fantasy and Star Ocean; there is something for everyone – even those who seek tear-shedding laments of innocence and nocturnes of madness found in The House in Fata Morgana.

052 - Diablo II

Key Staff Members - David Brevik (D), Mark Kern (P), Stieg Hedlund (W)

OST Composers - Matt Uelmen

OST Highlights - Wilderness, Tristram, Desert

Trivia: In the Battle.net chat interface of the game, there is a gem that can be toggled into a lit/unlit state, and clicking on it randomly results in the message "Perfect Game Activated." After many years of speculation, Blizzard revealed the function of the gem: it turns off and on and affects nothing else.

Why Azzanadra thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10658041/

Diablo II was the sort of game you could sink hundreds of hours into and still crave for more. It had a perfected gameplay loop, scafolded by years of support and excellent build variety- the hook of the Gothic horror aesthetic enhanced a simple game of numbers into a more interesting, and dare I say meaningful experience.

051 - Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Key Staff Members - Hideaki Itsuno (D), Hiroyuki Kobayashi (P)

OST Composers - Tadayoshi Makino, Rei Kondoh, Inon Zur, Masayoshi Ishi

OST Highlights - Into The Dangan, Destructive To All, Eternal Return

Trivia: There were supposed to be extra classes such as a Monk, extra races such as Beastmen and Elves, and even some characters had different designs according to the art book. However, Orcs and Elves are in Dragon's Dogma Online.

Why Guillaume Onyeaghala thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10614999/

What makes this game unique in my eyes is the combination of a smooth gameplay and great mechanics. The feeling of going from hunting giant monsters to exploring a new dark cave is so unique. Although the story is definitely not the strong point of the game, the dark arisen expansion offered a great amount of replayability to the game, and their iteration of the mystic knight is my favorite version of a "paladin"-esque class among all the RPG's I have played.

050 – Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

Key Staff Members - Chris Avellone (De), Chris Parker (P)

OST Composers - Mark Griskey

OST Highlights - The Sith Lords, Kreia, The Rebuilt Jedi Enclave

Trivia: Obsidian Entertainment was still in the process of organizing itself as a company when they began development of KOTOR 2 - for example, they didn't yet have an office. As a result, the developers set up shop in CEO Feargus Urquhart's attic, and there was one incident in which someone turned on the microwave, blew a fuse, and shut down every computer.

Why Xiaomi thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10533894/

When I think of what I want from a classic RPG, I think character customization, multiple paths to take, interesting mechanics, and a feeling that I am influencing the game world. The Sith Lords has all of these, including the ability to change the destinies of your companions. The story is surprising and unpredictable, too; I was blown away by some of the twists and turns.

049 – World of Warcraft

Key Staff Members - Rob Pardo (De), Jeff Kaplan (De), Tom Chilton (De)
OST Composers - Jason Hayes

OST Highlights - A Call to Arms, Invincible, Howling Fjord

Trivia: WoW was originally intended to have a dishonor system to discourage griefing against low level players, but it was taken out as it could in turn be used for griefing high level players.
Why Carthago Delenda Est thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10235559/

It's the best for its sense of community. There are few games that I feel like I will always, until my end of days, look back upon fondly. WoW offered something entirely different and unlike anything else. It is an experience locked in time that I can never, ever go back to, and perhaps that is part of what makes it so special. World of Warcraft is the best game I've ever played because of the people I played it with. No other game will ever top that.

048 - Dragon Quest V: The Hand of the Heavenly Bride

Key Staff Members - Yanabu Yamana (D), Yuji Horii (De), Akira Toriyama (A), Yukinobu Chida (P)

OST Composers - Koichi Sugiyama

OST Highlights - Tower of Death, Magic Carpet, Town

Trivia: One of the first western FAQs for the game explained that marrying Nera would lead to grave consequences. Though this was merely a joke, many western fans took this FAQ at face value, and an urban myth developed that marrying Nera in the original SFC version of the game would spawn a host of terrible results, including the death of Bianca's father and Bianca herself being forced to work as an impoverished barmaid.

Why EarthPainting thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10475533/

DQV stuck with me because it takes you on such a long journey. Your little man starts out young and by the end of the game you're married with kids. An RPG where you get a family is already rare by itself, but the adventure doesn't end there either. Your kids grow up and go on adventures as well. This passage of time makes this one feel so grand, yet so personal at the same time.

047 – Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Key Staff Members - Yoshihiko Maekawa (D), Chihiro Fujioka (D), Shigeru Miyamoto (P), Kensuke Tanabe (W)

OST Composers - Yoko Shimomura

OST Highlights - Beware the Forest's Mushrooms, Hello, Happy Kingdom!, Fight Against an Armed Boss

Trivia: Although in general Nintendo did not want weapons in the game, Miyamoto insisted on the hammer. Fujioka thought a hammer was perhaps more harmful than a sword but kept it in anyway.

Why TManPlays thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10430722/

Legend of the Seven Stars - The second RPG I ever played, and the first RPG I ever beat myself. Its unique battle system will keep you invested and paying attention, and it ended up being used and refined in a lot of games since. It was Mario's first foray into the RPG world and also really one of the first games to give Mario and other characters in the Mario universe some personality. Great humor as well, and it really set a high baseline for all the future Mario RPGs.

046 – Mother 3

Key Staff Members - Nobuyuki Inoue (D), Shinichi Kameoka (P), Kensuke Tanabe (P), Shigesato Itoi (W)

OST Composers - Shogo Sakai

OST Highlights - Love Theme, Mom's Hometown, Rock and Roll (Spicy)

Trivia: While Mother 3 initially began pre-production as a SNES game, it was soon moved to development on the N64 and somewhat extensively marketed as EarthBound 64. After falling into development hell, the game was quietly canceled, then rebooted from the ground up as a GameBoy Advance title.

Why Opa-Pa thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10663407/

Mother 3 is the most perfect closure to a series I've ever seen, with wonderful dialogue, music, and very fun and clever combat. The fantastic art direction and scenario writing make the most out of a relatively simple art style too and I think its cute, simple look is in part deliberately so in order to surprise with its bold, tragic (and heart-warming!) narrative. Mother 3 is about loss and depression, but also about growing up and getting back up despite overwhelming hardships.

045 – The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC

Key Staff Members - Toshihiro Kondo (D), Masayuki Kato (P), Hisayoshi Takeiri (W)

OST Composers - Hayato Sonoda, Wataru Ishibashi, Takahide Murayama

OST Highlights - Feelings Soar With the Wind, Silver Will, Hollow Light of the Sealed Land

Trivia: Originally Trails in the Sky was going to feature Joshua as the main character with Estelle playing the role that Joshua plays in the final game, but Toshihiro Kondo wanted the game to have a female protagonist, so their roles were swapped during development.

Why Ascheroth thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10515708/

The Trails games are slow and deliberately paced and spend unparalleled effort in worldbuilding and making the world alive by having well-written and interesting NPCs who have something new to say after every little story beat. Not only do you learn about the world they live in, but also about their lives and relations and many of them have entire character arcs that unfold in the background, sometimes even over multiple games. Estelle also happens to be among the best JRPG protagonist there is.

044 - Fallout 2

Key Staff Members - Tim Cain (D), Chris Avellone (D), Brian Fargo (P)

OST Composers - Mark Morgan

OST Highlights - My Chryslis Highwayman, Trader's Life, Dream Town

Trivia: Several locations were ultimately cut, including the Environmental Protection Agency - which Myron still alludes to in the final game. Several concepts related to this location were later repurposed for New Vegas' Old World Blues DLC.

Why Amzin thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10288860/

It represents the quintessential RPG elements to me: simple yet extensive character customization, dozens of legitimately different ways to "build" your character and succeed, and many more ways to try to succeed yet fail and have to adapt down the road. The writing is fantastic, the world is realized as fully as you could hope for, and so many options are available it's unlikely two people talking about the game for the first time would have anywhere near similar solutions to problems, or even necessarily find the same problems.

043 – Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines

Key Staff Members - Leonard Boyarsky (D), Jason Anderson (D), Thomas Decker (P), David Mullich (P)

OST Composers - Rik Schaffer

OST Highlights - Main Theme, The Asylum, Hollywood Theme

Trivia: Bloodlines was one of the first PC games to utilize Valve's Source Engine - in fact, it was ready to release before Valve's own flagship for the new engine, Half-Life 2.

Why His Majesty thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10667867/

Bloodlines oozes atmosphere. Wandering the streets of downtown LA, haunting soundtrack in the background, is an experience unlike any other. The world feels dark yet so alive which is expressed in the writing, the world and the visuals. It all comes together to create a beautiful, believable and ominous world. On top of all that, Bloodlines also excels in offering choice. For example, playing as a Malkavian completely changes how you will approach the game and offers you the chance to play as mentally insane schizophrenic with prophetic abilities. Playing as a Toreador for example will give you a more classic game experience.

kswiston · Jul 7, 2018

042 - Deus Ex

Key Staff Members - Warren Spector (D), Harvey Smith (De)

OST Composers - Alexander Brandon, Dan Gardopee, Michiel van den Bos

OST Highlights - UNATCO - Ambient, NYC Streets - Combat, The Illuminati

Trivia: The New York City skyline background is missing the Twin Towers. This was due to technical limitations, but the explanation the developers gave is that they were destroyed in a terrorist attack some time in the game's past.

Why thepit thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10309616/

You are JC Denton, a super-human nanotech-infused agent, with the initial objective of resolving a terrorist plot but it quickly morphs into a story that combines the best of near future sci-fi, technology, and conspiracy theory. All of this is combined with a game design that allows for multiple approaches to any situation, and properly accounts for the actions you take within the story. Choices matter, and their consequences are on your shoulders.

041 - Divinity: Original Sin 2

Key Staff Members - Swen Vincke (D), Octaaf Fieremans (P), Wanda Sonneman (De), Sarah Baylus (W)

OST Composers - Borislav Slavov

OST Highlights - Main Theme, The Battle for Divinity, The Queens High Seas

Trivia: Ifan Ben-Mezd's backstory originally included him being addicted to drudanae, and he had a unique talent locked to him that related to this addiction.

Why Durante thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10664945/

The combination of world interactivity and novel synergies between a large variety of positional effects with a solid action point/free movement base results in what might be the best turn-based battle system in any RPG ever. That alone already makes D:OS 2 an essential experience, and the marvelously integrated co-op and party conversation system adds on top of that.

040 – Valkyria Chronicles

Key Staff Members - Shuntaro Tanaka (D), Takaharu Terada (D), Ryutaro Nonaka (P)

OST Composers - Hitoshi Sakimoto

OST Highlights - Battle, Defensive Fight, Valkyria's Awakening

Trivia: The art book reveals that Darcsens were originally intended to be a race of cat people, and that the series in general would have much more fantastic elements, like the Empire possessing lizard cavalry and much greater prevalence of large superweapons. Edelweiss' original design looked more like the title tank Metal Slug.

Why sauce thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10236503/

Ever wonder what anime World War II would be like? Look no further. To be honest, my expectations were pretty low when I first heard the premise, but the story easily exceeded them. It alone could've kept me engaged, if the gameplay itself weren't so compelling. Keeping cover and trying to go undiscovered in enemy territory, or just going in guns blazing and hoping you don't die in the crossfire (and inevitably reloading because of course I don't want any of my units to be permadead). I kept telling myself, "just one more mission". It's a damn good game.

039 – Skies of Arcadia

Key Staff Members - Atsusi Seimiya (D), Shuntaro Tanaka (D), Rieko Kodama (P)

OST Composers - Yutaka Minobe, Tatsuyuki Maeda

OST Highlights - Main Theme, Battle Theme 1, Kingdom of Ixa'taka

Trivia: The Skies of Arcadia developers chose to use a more expressive "anime" art style in direct response to the more realistic style of recent JRPGs at the time, notably Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII.

Why tiesto thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10334962/

The scope of the game was, and still is, awesome. Really felt you were going on an adventure, taking part in the "age of exploration", if you will. Take to the skies on an airship, where you can recruit different crew members. Sure, elements may be cliche, but upon its release it was a breath of fresh air, and it proves that while I love my unorthodox battle and progression systems, I also love classic RPGs executed beautifully.

038 - Kingdom Hearts II

Key Staff Members - Tetsuya Nomura (D), Shinji Hashimoto (P), Yoshinori Kitase (P)

OST Composers - Yoko Shimomura

OST Highlights - Missing You, Fields of Honor, Floating in Bliss

Trivia: Tetsuya Nomura included the worlds of The Lion King (1994) and TRON (1982) because there were his favorite Disney films. The Lion King (1994) World was originally going to appear in the first Kingdom Hearts (2002) game, but was removed due to the gaming engine for that game not being able to properly handle controlling a four legged character, which Sora would have to become when he went to the World.
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Why PsychoNinja thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10583617/

[Kingdom Hearts] 2 is a game that has amazing production values, a wonderful and deep story, and characters I deeply care about. Pair that with an amazing battle system and you have yourself one of the all-time greats.

037 – The World Ends With You

Key Staff Members - Tatsuya Kando (D), Tomohiro Hasegawa (D), Tetsuro Hosokawa (D), Tetsuya Nomura (P), Shinji Hashimoto (P)

OST Composers - Takeharu Ishimoto

OST Highlights - Twister, Calling, Long Dream

Trivia: There is a European Spanish fan translation patch, complete with voice acting.

Why Stormbrewer thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10613668/

This game is one of the most creative, zany games I have ever played. The characters and plot are a little tropey, but the setting and world-building are fantastic. The systems for this game are extremely well developed, and I adore that you not only have an incredible amount of control in fine-tuning the difficulty of the encounters between difficulty settings/HP of your characters, but the fact that you can get unique rewards by taking on a greater challenge is genius. The combat system itself is so damn unique, and with the death of dual screens we'll probably see nothing of its kind again.

036 - Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

Key Staff Members - Akihiro Hino (D), Yuji Horii (De), Akira Toriyama (A)

OST Composers - Koichi Sugiyama

OST Highlights - To a Vast World, These Feelings, Defeat the Enemy

Trivia: The Hero's appearance at max tension, including temporarily losing his bandanna and gaining spiked hair, was added to the game's Western PS2 release as a shoutout to fans of Akira Toriyama's perennially popular Dragon Ball Z.

Why SheriffMcDuck thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10600699/

It's the first game that made me feel like I was on a journey, an actual epic quest to save my king and princess! The game has one of the most charming casts, and addictive/believable worlds I've ever seen in a fantasy rpg. Everything about the game just oozes thoughtfulness and has almost everything you could want from a video game, let alone rpg.

035 – The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

Key Staff Members - Todd Howard (D), Ken Rolston (De)

OST Composers - Jeremy Soule

OST Highlights - The Road Most Traveled, Peaceful Waters, Nerevar Rising

Trivia: Originally the blight was planned to spread and destroy cities and towns in its wake but this was scrapped as too ambitious.

Why PensivePen thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10598371/

What it lacks in gameplay prowess or mechanical refinement, it makes up for in the depth of its world and culture and freedom of exploration. The player is dropped into the strange Isle of Vvardenfell where they're set loose to begin wandering the alien continent. There they'll encounter the many characters and storylines that paint the picture of a slowly decaying society whose religion and traditionalism have led to a decline, coupled with the slow but steady influence of the outside world creeping upon them.

034 – Pokemon Red/Blue/Green/Yellow

Key Staff Members - Satoshi Tajiri (D), Tsunekazu Ishihara (Pr), Ken Sugimori (A)

OST Composers - Junichi Masuda

OST Highlights - Opening, Cycling Theme, Team Rocket Hideout

Trivia: Mew was originally included in the game as an internal prank but Taijiri revealed its existence to the public in order to foster a culture of rumors, and thus excitement, around the games.

Why Lastbroadcast thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10654295/

I was about 14 when this game first came out and for me and for most people at my school it was a daily obsession. A great story, an immersive and believable world, and a fun and interesting battle system. The character designs were whimsical and I greatly enjoyed the task of collecting all 150 pokemon and finding my favourite. I'm sure I was not the only one who wished that the world was real.

033 - Final Fantasy VIII

Key Staff Members - Yoshinori Kitase (D), Shinji Hashimoto (P), Hiroyuki Ito (De), Kazushige Nojima (W)

OST Composers - Nobuo Uematsu

OST Highlights - Liberi Fatali, Eyes on Me, Fisherman's Horizon

Trivia: Selphie will write about Squall on the Garden terminal and how she views him depends on player choices.

Why Wazzy thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10155491/

The game rewards you for exploring and taking time to talk to NPC's with changing dialogue expanding the history behind the games story. [...] The game blends realism and fantasy in a way that makes it easy to just relax in such a beautiful world. [...] The best aspects from VIII come from it's gorgeous world and character design and of course it's massive and fantastic soundtrack. Each town is memorable with it's own unique structure and mood. The music for each location creates a perfect setting. [...] VIII is an RPG that will not leave you bored. There is plenty to do and lot's of ways to play. There will be music setting the mood wherever you choose to go, dialogue to expand lore, quirky quests that have fun rewards and beautiful locations to explore.

032 - Demon's Souls

Key Staff Members - Hidetaka Miyazaki (D), Masanori Takeuchi (P), Takeshi Kajii (P)

OST Composers - Shunsuke Kida

OST Highlights - Maiden in Black, Maiden Astraea, Return to Slumber

Trivia: Sony initially desired an open-world medieval fantasy game to appeal to Elder Scrolls fans. After Hidetaka Miyazaki took over the troubled project and reimagined it as a level-based dungeon crawler, Sony executives were not impressed and declined to consider exclusivity for further Souls games.

Why UltimateTrainer thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10653932/

Demon's Souls plays with standard RPG encounters and makes them a tad more realistic which in turn makes the player think about how the world of Demon Souls works and slowly dives deep into the Souls universe. [...] The atmosphere is oppressive and dark, but in it's hopelessness, its amazingly satisfying to finally trudge past difficult areas in the game. [...] Demon's Souls stands the test of time with its innovations.

031 - Final Fantasy XII

Key Staff Members - Hiroyuki Ito (D), Yasumi Matsuno (W), Akitoshi Kawazu (P), Akihiko Yoshida (A)

OST Composers - Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata, Hayato Matsuo

OST Highlights - Royal City Rabanastre ~ Upper Ground, Esper Battle, Kiss Me Goodbye

Trivia: Penelo is composer Hitoshi Sakimoto's favorite character, and consequently is the only character other than Ashe to have a dedicated character theme.

Why jblanco thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10215174/

This game is ambitious. There's an incredible amount of side content, and not about grinding, but actual optional bosses, espers, side-quests, and even entire areas. This game is the holy grail for those who love systems. From Gambits (basic AI you can configure for your party members) to weirdly specific dmg formulas and enemy spawning mechanics. There's so much variety on how you can play this game that the metagame (is that the right word?) becomes really engaging by itself.

030 - Dragon Age: Origins

Key Staff Members - Dan Tudge (D), Mark Darrah (P), Brent Knowles (De), Mike Laidlaw (De), James Ohlen (De), David Gaider (W)

OST Composers - Inon Zur

OST Highlights - Dragon Age: Origins (Main Theme), Leliana's Song, The Party Camp

Trivia: The name of the game's world, Thedas, stands for THE Dragon Age Setting.

Why TokyoSlim thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10168674/

The world and lore in Dragon Age is really what hooked me. This is a world in which racism, classism, religion, and xenophobia co-exist in the same space as demons, pirates, spies, mages, witches, dragons, knights, bards, and etc. It was fascinating to me. Each play through gave me a slightly different perspective on the world, even though the quests and such were basically the same.

029 – Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Key Staff Members - Koh Kojima (D), Genki Yokota (D), Tetsuya Takahashi (W)

OST Composers - Yasunori Mitsuda, ACE, Kenji Hiramatsu, Manami Kiyota

OST Highlights - Kingdom of Tantal (Day), Counterattack, Gormott (Day)

Trivia: Several members of the English voice cast previously had roles on Thomas the Tank Engine.

Why Chalphy thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10243670/

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 builds off the of the framework established through both Xenoblade Chronicles, and Xenoblade Chronicles X before it. Featuring a rich cast of characters, and an intriguing story, XC2 is a work that keeps raising the stakes masterfully chapter after chapter. I also found the cutscene direction simply stunning, with dynamic battles and expressive characters throughout. Impressive post launch support for the game has also kept it exciting, with new additions, including new characters available both for free, and through paid DLC.

028 - Final Fantasy X

Key Staff Members - Yoshinori Kitase (P), Kuzushige Nojima (W), Tetsuya Nomura (A), Tetsuya Takahashi (A)

OST Composers - Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, Junya Nakano

OST Highlights - Zanarkand, Battle with Seymour, Suteki da ne

Trivia: Lulu's iconic dress - consisting of a vast number of belts - was designed specifically to challenge the character animators.

Why Stiltzkin thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10360564/

Overall, the characters are memorable, the villains and main plot are ludicrous and enjoyable, the world itself is presented beautifully, the soundtrack is wonderful, and the gameplay itself is absolutely stellar. [...] Final Fantasy X is available on basically everything so if you have a PC, PS3, PS4, or Vita, do yourself a favor and pick up one of the best JRPGs on the market.

027 – Undertale

Key Staff Members - Toby Fox (De/W), Temmie Chang (A)

OST Composers - Toby Fox

OST Highlights - Hopes and Dreams, Megalovania, Asgore

Trivia: The concept of playing the game without killing came to Fox through his work on the conversation system, trying to make what he wanted out of it, rather than as an original goal of the project.

Why Crayolan thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10656819/

Undertale sets up expectations for the player and goes out of its way to subvert them at every opportunity, while also turning those subversions into silly jokes that had me constantly laughing. Then I played through a second time and it surprised me all over again. Then I played through it a third time and I saw an entirely different side to the game. Each time I played through the game it managed to wow me and subvert my expectations in different ways, and each playthrough was more impressive than the last.

026 – Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Key Staff Members - Casey Hudson (D), James Ohlen (De), Drew Karpyshyn (W)

OST Composers - Jeremy Soule

OST Highlights - The Old Republic Theme, Bastila Shan's Theme, Dantooine

Trivia: An entire planet called Sleheyron and its accompanying Star Map was cut from the game during production. However, there is an ongoing fan mod that seeks to restore this planet to a playable state and integrate it into the base game.

Why Sabretooth thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10406634/

It's the classic Western RPG firing on all cylinders, offering player choice, dice roll combat, an adventurous story that's better than the actual Star Wars movies, and a party of memorable characters. If ever I had to recommend just one RPG to anyone, it would be this.

025 – Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

Key Staff Members - Ryota Kawade (D), Hironobu Suzuki (W)

OST Composers - Yoshito Hirano, Yuka Tsujiyoko, Saki Haruyama

OST Highlights - Shadow Queen Part 2, Rogueport, X-naut Fortress

Trivia: Goombella's tattle ability deactivates loading zones and also allows you to move for a short while before Goombella reports in, allowing you to access parts of the map you aren't supposed to see.

Why LinkMaster111 thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10258161/

The dialogue especially is a real treat, it's very witty and genuinely funny without being distracting. The excellent use of the paper aesthetic is a visual treat that also frequently impacts the gameplay. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is the epitome of the Mario RPGs, a fantastic meld of the humor and wit the various series are known for with surprisingly deep and engaging mechanics.

024 - Earthbound

Key Staff Members - Shigesato Itoi (D), Satoru Iwata (P)

OST Composers - Keiichi Suzuki, HIrokazu Tanaka

OST Highlights - Boy Meets Girl, Fourside, Runaway Five ~ The Daily Show

Trivia: During its long and troubled development, Earthbound existed in various states of bug-riddled disrepair until a single programmer essentially revamped the game's code from scratch and steered the project towards completion within six months. That programmer was none other than Satoru Iwata, former president of Nintendo.

Why Pirateluigi thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10647076/

Earthbound is a game about growing up. And like growing up, it's funny, scary, sad, and exciting all at once. It's hard to think of any game with a better cast of characters. They're weird but, filtered through the eyes of an adolescent boy, you can see the honesty in the depiction.
Earthbound also has two of the best features I've ever seen in an RPG: the rolling hp meter and instant KOs. I still can't believe that either feature hasn't become more common.

023 - Xenogears

Key Staff Members - Tetsuya Takahashi (D/W), Hiromichi Takanka (P), Masato Kato (W), Kaori Tanaka (Sce), Junya Ishigaki (De), Kunihiko Tanaka (A)
OST Composers - Yasunori Mitsuda

OST Highlights - Light in the Netherworld, Faraway Promise, Flight

Trivia: Richard Honeywood, who translated the game into English, indirectly convinced the developers to change the name of Deus in the Japanese version from Yahweh to Yabeh--he thought calling it Yahweh was dangerous, "yabeh-o."
Why duckroll thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10660878/

This year is the 20th anniversary of one of the most memorable JRPGs ever made, and arguably the first and only RPG to succesfully bring the new wave mecha anime tone from the 90s into videogame form as an original work that stands on its own. A stunning soundtrack, great designs all round, a rich world filled with history, lore, and solid characterization. Even 20 years later, it is no less as impressive as it was back then.

022 – Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne

Key Staff Members - Katsura Hashino (D), Kazuyuki Yamai (D), Kouji Okada (P), Eiji Ishida (De), Makoto Kitano (De), Kazuma Kaneko (A)

OST Composers - Shoji Meguro, Toshiko Tasaki, Kenichi Tsuchiya

OST Highlights - Title Loop 2, Beelzebub, Puzzle Boy

Trivia: Originally the intent was to have there be scenery in the sky, following the curvature of the vortex world, but this led to performance problems.

Why Lynx_7 thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10658432/

Few times have I been so completely engrossed in a game as I was when I played Nocturne for the first time. It was one of those playthroughs where everything just clicked: the lonely, somber, ethereal atmosphere lends an almost dreamlike feel to the experience, perfectly complemented by the minimalistic and thematically rich storytelling; the soundtrack is one of Meguro's finest work, ranging from low-key ambiance pieces to headbanging battle tracks and a few melancholic tunes; and finally, the battle system coupled with negotiations and fusions offers just enough versatility to be satisfying, strategic and challenging.

021 – Persona 3

Key Staff Members - Katsura Hashino (D), Kazuhisa Wada (De), Shigenori Soejima (A), Yuichiro Tanaka (W)
OST Composers - Shoji Meguro

OST Highlights - Mass Destruction, Burn My Dread, Time (P3P)

Trivia: The protagonist's iconic headphones and MP3 player are a real product - the Audio Technica ATH-EM7. Audio Technica even produced a special version of this model that featured the "P3" logo, which now commands very high prices.

Why PhazonBlonde thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10164060/

The story is much darker in tone than the games that came after it. Don't let the high-school anime trappings fool you; this is not an innocent game by any means. The cast struggles with real world teenage problems, from gang violence to sex and drug addiction. Persona 3 Portable allows you to pick the gender of the protagonist you play as. Playing as a girl allows you to pursue one (or more!) of the boys around you, a feature that's sadly lacking in most games with female protagonists. You can even pursue something with another one of the girls, Aigis.

kswiston · Jul 7, 2018

020 – Suikoden II

Key Staff Members -
Yoshitaka Murayama, (D), Fumi Ishikawa (De),
Junko Kawano (De)

OST Composers - Miki Higashino, Keiko Fukami

OST Highlights - Reminiscence, A Bustling Town, Gothic Neclord

Trivia: Badeaux, upon being recruited, cannot be found anywhere at the home base. While many believed that his absence was intended to add to his mystique, the answer is more mundane: there is a minor glitch that prevents him from appearing. He can be patched back into the game and is in fact rather talkative.

Why The Dink thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10652539/

The stories in the Suikoden games are the type I'd like to see more of. You're not fighting to save the world or fight an ancient god. There's magical powers and ancient forces sure, but those are just tools and backdrop for the major political forces at work in their world. [...] Compound onto that the 108 characters, fast-paced six-member battles, and great villains and you have one of the best RPGs ever.

019 – Xenoblade Chronicles

Key Staff Members - Koh Kojima (D), Genki Yokota (D), Tetsuya Takahashi (W), Shingo Kawabata (P), Takao Nakano (P)

OST Composers - Manami Kiyota, ACE+, Yoko Shimomura, Yasunori Mitsuda

OST Highlights - You Will Know Our Names, Gaur Plains, Satorl (Night)

Trivia: In order to figure out how to lay out the world, a model of the gods in their repose was constructed, using young staff members as a basis.

Why Griffith thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10194462/

Featuring larger-than-life expansive environments, an incredibly rich soundtrack and engrossing and epic story Xenoblade Chronicles was the game that set Monolith Soft at the throne of modern jRPGs. Xenoblade Chronicles surpassed expectations thanks to an incredible world that is jaw-dropping and an engrossing story that is easy to follow and holds much more depth than at first it may seem to have.

018 – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Key Staff Members - Todd Howard (D), Craig Lafferty (P), Ashley Cheng (P), Bruce Nesmith (De)

OST Composers - Jeremy Soule

OST Highlights - Dragonborn, The City Gates, One They Fear

Trivia: On the plains to the west of the city of Whiterun, the player can find a skeletal hand sticking out from one of the many scattered ponds holding a sword aloft, a reference to the legend of King Arthur and Excalibur.

Why Moose thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10160526/

The world design is second to none, while some like negative space in open worlds, I prefer the micro detail found within Bethesda's games. It gives dungeon crawling and overworld exploration a visceral feeling not found in any other game. The main plots I usually find serviceable, but the lore is ripe with fascinating cultures and places.

017 - Final Fantasy Tactics

Key Staff Members - Yasumi Matsuno (D), Hironobu Sakaguchi (P)

OST Composers - Hitoshi Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata

OST Highlights - Trisection, Antipyretic, Delita's Theme

Trivia: The original Japanese release of the game contained four "Zodiac Brave Story Sound Novels," which were minigames structured as "choose your own adventure" stories. These sound novels remain untranslated in all official Western localizations; however, the music tracks that accompany these sound novels are present in the PSP version's sound test.

Why Oatmeal-san thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10351791/

I love almost everything about this game: strategic combat, job system, FF items/mobs, music, story, dialogue, and surprise cameos from other games. The replayability is off the charts for a game like this, and it probably explains why I have put more hours into it than any other (non-MMO) game ever. Hundreds upon hundreds of hours over the years.

016 – Mass Effect

Key Staff Members - Casey Hudson (D), Preston Watamaniuk (De), Drew Karpyshyn (W)

OST Composers - Jack Wall, Sam Hulick, Richard Jacques, David Kates

OST Highlights - Mass Effect Theme, Uncharted Worlds, Vigil

Trivia: Mass Effect's technological aesthetics, particularly of the omni-tools and Alliance armor, were heavily influenced by Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The game's art director was a big fan of the movie's style.

Why Theodoricos thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10252026/

This title introduced me to my favorite fictional universe in gaming. I simply love its lore and setting - the mere inclusion of a highly detailed Codex with so much information about the world simply blew my mind. It also has a lovable character cast along with a great synth soundtrack. Its aesthetic is unparalleled and it was clearly influenced by some of the best science fiction literature and cinema.

015 – Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal/HG/SS

Key Staff Members - Satoshi Tajiri (D), Tsunekazu Ishihara (Pr), Ken Sugimori (A)

OST Composers - Junichi Masuda, Go Ichinose, Morizaku Aoki

OST Highlights - Route 42, Ecruteak City, Lance Battle Theme

Trivia: Before settling on the Kansai region, Game Freak intended to use the entirety of Japan as the basis for these games. This is seen in an old Gold demo that recently resurfaced.

Why ASaiyan thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10260048/

Nearly forty hours of content to explore, and damned if it isn't the best content in series history. The music is baller.You start a young kid in a small town. You get a magical monster from an old man and set off. You make a tour of the Pokémon League. You defeat an evil mafia. You unlock the legendary powers of the region itself. And finally, you climb a snowy, seemingly-unending mountaintop, and fight the greatest trainer in the world – the guy you played as in the previous game.

014 - Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

Key Staff Members - James Ohlen (D), Ben Smedstad (P)

OST Composers - Michael Hoenig

OST Highlights - Shadows of Amn (Main Theme), Dragon Battle Music, Romance 1

Trivia: Baldur's Gate II contains roughly 290 quests, and the developers required assistance from Black Isle Studios veterans to determine how to effectively playtest all of them.

Why McScroggz thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10202376/

BGII told a rich, dark and fascinating story filled with diverse characters. Choice was at the forefront of the game - where to go, who to talk to, what to do, how to approach combat; but at the core of everything was wonderful storytelling and a compelling, just perfectly over the top villain to bring the entire experience together. And from arranging your party in a specific formation to selecting which spells to bring to a dungeon and pausing the game to assess and manage the combat situation, all of it coalesced into a great gameplay experience that makes this game the quintessential cRPG.

013 – Planescape: Torment

Key Staff Members - Guido Henkel (P), Kenneth Lee (P), Chris Avellone (De)

OST Composers - Mark Morgan, Richard Band

OST Highlights - Main Theme, Annah's Theme, Fall From Grace Theme

Trivia: Pre-orders for Planescape: Torment came with a free novelization of the game. However, this infamous novel has very little in common with the plot of the game, and changed many of the characters to a degree that they were nearly unrecognizable.

Why Dannerz thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10290268/

Really mind blowing narrative design that puts you at the forefront of the story. The game is like a mirror to the player, reacting to their decisions and giving them things to think about when talking about it's core theme "What can change the nature of a man?". If the game doesn't change you, it will at least change the way you think about video game narratives, because it's that good.

012 – Mass Effect 2

Key Staff Members - Casey Hudson (D), Jesse Houston (P), Nathan Plewes (P)

OST Composers - Jack Wall, Jimmy Hinson, Sam Hulick, David Kates

OST Highlights - Suicide Mission, Upper Afterlife, Kasumi

Trivia: Michael Beattie, Mordin's voice actor, came up with the idea of sharply breathing between sentences. This verbal tic became one of the character's defining characteristics.

Why ThereAreFourNaan thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10587322/

The middle chapter in the Mass Effect trilogy is by far the strongest, when the game systems had dramatically improved, the rough edges had been smoothed off and the companion character writing was at Bioware's peak. The combat is very enjoyable (particularly on the 2nd highest difficulty), the companions are excellent, and it's a game I had no trouble coming back to time and time again. This game is the epitome of "it's the journey, not the destination", and I strongly recommend experiencing most everything the game contains, including most of the DLC.

011 - Final Fantasy IX

Key Staff Members - Hiroyuki Ito (D), Hironobu Sakaguchi (P), Shinji Hashimoto (P)

OST Composers - Nobuo Uematsu

OST Highlights - Melodies of Life, The Place I'll Return to Someday, The Dark Messenger

Trivia: Examining the fountain in Lindblum Castle results in the message "Looks like there's no place to put the medal here." This perplexing observation has no gameplay purpose, but is rather a shoutout to the fountain puzzle in Resident Evil 2.

Why Aleh thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10236918/

The art style is sublime, the locations are memorable, the music can convey an incredibly wide range of emotions, and the visuals absolutely hold up to this day. It is filled with content to the brim, and rewards exploration and curiosity. To this day it has one of the most unique systems I've ever seen in a game, called Active Time Events, that allow you to see what's going on with characters that aren't currently in your party, which further improves their characterization Without voice acting and with amazing writing, it feels like a book that has come to life.

010 - NieR: Automata

Key Staff Members - Yoko Taro (D), Eijiro Nishimura (P), Yosuke Saito (P)

OST Composers - Keiichi Okabe, Keigo Hoashi

OST Highlights - Weight of the World, Birth of a Wish, A Beautiful Song

Trivia: The lead designer, Yasuhisa Taura, is a fan of Nier, and in his free time he would think about what a Nier sequel would be like. When SE approached Platinum in hopes of working on a project together, he had a pitch for a Nier sequel ready.

Why JayWood2010 thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10150396/

In an era where you almost always know what to expect, with trailers, news, etc comes a title that takes your expectations and constantly twists them throughout every turn in this beautiful, weird, and crazy wild ride. [...] It's a game that constantly asks you to question what is going on, and you will only be rewarded once you dive deeper and deeper. Luckily we are curious creatures that constantly searches for answers. It's one of the best stories I have witnessed in video games in not only recent memory, but of all time.

009 - Fallout: New Vegas

Key Staff Members - Josh Sawyer (D), Mikey Dowling (P)

OST Composers - Inon Zur

OST Highlights - Main Title, Rubble of the Forgotten, Ain't That A Kick In The Head

Trivia: According to an interview with Obsidian CEO Feargus Urquhart, the game was originally pitched as "Fallout: Sin City" and there were plans on letting you choose to play as either a Ghoul or a Super Mutant, but engine limitations regarding weapons and armor led to the idea being scrapped.

Why Ocean Bones thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10148665/

My favorite RPG of all time. It truly allows you to play just about any Role you want. Dynamite chucking Madman? Check. Fast talking politician? Check. Gunslinger? Check. Awkward genius? Check. Punched Drunk moron? Check. Whatever character you want to play you can play.

008 - Bloodborne

Key Staff Members - Hidetaka Miyazaki (D), Masaaki Yamagiwa (P), Teruyuki Toriyama (P)

OST Composers - Tsuakasa Saitoh, Yuka Kitamura, Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Ryan Amon, Cris Velasco, and Michael Wandmacher

OST Highlights - Cleric Beast, Micolash Nightmare Host, Bloodborne

Trivia: The Messenger Lanterns weren't originally going to be lanterns. The early Project Beast trailer portrayed them as strange Archstone-like statues that the player had to plant spectral swords into to activate.

Why PensivePen thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10598371/

Bloodborne perfectly escalates from the player's ignorant first baby steps into its strange and frightening world, dropping hints and breadcrumbs along the way, all leading to the grand moment of revelation where the player's mind is blown as the scope of the universe expands to be far more vast than what they had ever suspected, becoming infinitely larger and more frightening in the process. It is not content to recycle the century old ideas of Lovecraft and other writers, but charts a bold new course for its genre with its own setting, themes and inhabitants.

007 - Dark Souls

Key Staff Members - Hidetaka Miyazaki (D), HIdataka Miyazaki (P), Daisuke Uchiyama (P), Kei Hirono (P)

OST Composers - Motoi Sakuraba

OST Highlights - Firelink Shrine, Ornstein & Smough, Gravelord Nito

Trivia: Quelaag originally had a rather long intro speech which ran from when you entered her domain to when you entered the fog gate for the boss battle. But Miyazaki felt that the script for it was of poor quality and that it took something from her character.

Why Kieli thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10550618/

I cut my teeth on Tolkien and Arthurian mythology. I can scarcely imagine something cooler than elder dragons and archmages. At the same time, I also deeply appreciate minimalist storytelling championed by auteurs such as Ueda and bleak landscapes akin to those of Beksiński. Never would I have thought to combine all 3 elements into one creation and distill the mixture into a classic game design framework - no maps, no objectives, no dialogue wheel. It takes guts, pride, and strong vision to see such a game through to completion, let alone have it be any good.

006 – Persona 5

Key Staff Members - Katsura Hashino (D), Naoya Maeda (De), Shinji Yamamoto (Sce), Shigenori Soejima (A), Masayoshi Suto (A)

OST Composers - Shoji Meguro

OST Highlights - Rivers in the Desert, Life Will Change, Layer Cake

Trivia: Hifumi Togo was originally planned to be one of the Phantom Thieves and a playable party member.

Why OniluapL thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10259317/

Persona 5 is the most amazing experience I have with a JRPG. The audiovisual aspects require no explanation, they are absolutely incredible. The cast is great and their interactions with each other rings true, with many amazing scenes stuck in my mind since then. But it's the tone, the themes, the cohesion of it all that really stuck with me. It's a game that is focused on telling this story of rebellion and fighting back, and it shows. It shows in the art design, it shows in the UI, it shows in the dungeon design, it shows in the setting, and it shows in the narrative. Subtle it is not, definitely not, but it's impactful - or at the very least it was for me.

005 - Final Fantasy VII

Key Staff Members - Yoshinori Kitase (D), Hironobu Sakaguchi (P), Kazushige Nojima (W), Tetsuya Nomura (A)

OST Composers - Nobuo Uematsu

OST Highlights - Main Theme, One-Winged Angel, Tifa's Theme

Trivia: "Jenova" was originally conceived not as an alien entity, but rather as a hidden aspect of human consciousness and biology that was "awakened" through the use of Mako. Though this idea was ultimately cut from Final Fantasy VII, it was later incorporated into Parasite Eve as the function of mitochondria.

Why DeadMoonKing thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10426338

From the graphics, to the story to the music, there had never been a game in JRPGs this ambitious and I know for a fact it turned many, many people on to the genre. I don't think I'll ever forget the new feeling of starting a game in media res and the technology-based world was entirely fresh to me. The materia system is still innovative and fun and abundance of mini games ensures the player is never bored.

004 - Final Fantasy VI

Key Staff Members - Yoshinori Kitase (D), Hiroyuki Ito (D), Hironobu Sakaguchi (P)

OST Composers - Nobuo Uematsu

OST Highlights - Terra's Theme, Searching for Friends, Dancing Mad

Trivia: Of the characters he has drawn for Final Fantasy, Terra Branford is Yoshitaka Amano's favorite. Perhaps it's understandable, then, that Terra has more Amano concept art pieces than any other character in the franchise.

Why Xiaomi thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10533894/

This is the archetypical JRPG. You're going to be hard-pressed find a game with more influence or more timelessness than this one. It's loaded to the gills with classic music, art, characters, and skills. The narrative is engaging and surprising, the open-endedness is refreshing, and everything drips with the feeling of the golden age of JRPGs.

003 – The Witcher III: Wild Hunt

Key Staff Members - Konrad Tomaszkiewicz (D), Mateusz Kanik (D), Piotr Krzywonosiuk (P), Jedrzej Mroz (P)

OST Composers - Marcin Przybylowicz

OST Highlights - Steel For Humans, Hunt or Be Hunted, The Fields of Ard Skellig

Trivia: Ice-skating was a feature considered for the game but was cut from the project.

Why texhnolyze thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10162973/

At its heart, The Witcher 3 is an RPG and this is where it truly shines. Which means that you can see actions that you made previously influence the game environment and its people later on. Relationships also continue to be a key part of the lore, which becomes even more intriguing due to the gray world that Geralt lives in. Lines between good and evil are often blurred as you can be dealing with nice folks one minute then working with horrible people the next. It may be a world of magic and monsters, but there's a certain authenticity to it all. The cities are big enough that they actually feel like cities, while the wilderness is vast, sprawling and dangerous. It's an amazing and fully immersive world to roleplay in.

002 – Persona 4

Key Staff Members - Katsura Hashino (D), Susumu Nishizawa (D), Kazuhisa Wada (De), Shigenori Soejima (A)

OST Composers - Shoji Meguro, Atsushi Kitajoh, Ryota Kozuka

OST Highlights - Reach Out to the Truth, Heaven, Your Affection

Trivia: Unused text strings suggest that there would have been consequences for dating multiple girls, and that all of the girls' Social Links could potentially break or reverse as a result of this. (Un?)Fortunately, this feature was cut from the final game.

Why Funyarinpa thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10662224/

This is a game that perfectly meets- nay, often exceeds- its potential. Inaba morphs from a crushingly boring setting into a wonderland pulsating with life. Its cast goes from a bunch of annoying characters to people who I call lifelong companions. I started the game wondering how I'd spend my time (because nothing felt worthwhile) and I finished the game wondering how I'd spend my time (because each day was more precious than the last). I think that's the highest praise I can give to Persona 4 for what it was trying to do.

001 - Chrono Trigger

Key Staff Members - Takashi Tokita (D),Yoshinori Kitase (D), Akihiko Matsui (D), Kazuhiko Aoki (P)

OST Composers - Yasunori Mitsuda, Nobuo Uematsu

OST Highlights - Corridors of Time, Wind Scene, Battle with Magus

Trivia: It was Hironobu Sakaguchi who suggested to Yasunori Mitsuda to compose for the project. Mitsuda at the time had been working as a sound engineer and programmer with the company and was considering leaving over dissatisfaction with his pay and a desire to write music.

Why Aidan thinks that you should play this game: https://www.resetera.com/posts/10280121/

I liked the idea of a ragtag group of heroes, from all corners of time, banding together under a common cause. Recognizing cause and effect, and actively manipulating the flow of historical events to gain the power to defeat Lavos is exciting and unique. You always feel like there's endless possibility ahead of you. I love the way you return to familiar locations under new context, changing the way you perceive the world and its various characters. Thanks to beautiful sprites, inspired art direction, and Yasunori Mitsuda's genius soundtrack, it is peak 16-bit and, 20+ years later, still stands the test of time. Pun intended.

kswiston · Jul 7, 2018

2018 ESSENTIAL RPGS EXTRAS

This section will be updated with extra features, aside from the main list.

Most Highlighted Essential RPGs

Below is a list of all 59 games that received at least 2 highlight votes in voting stage of this thread.

Code:

The Witcher III: The Wild Hunt				23
Chrono Trigger						22
Persona 4						19
Final Fantasy VII					14
Suikoden II						14
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn			13
Final Fantasy VI					12
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne				11
Bloodborne						9
Persona 5						9
Final Fantasy VIII					8
Planescape: Torment					8
Fallout: New Vegas					7
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC		7
Xenogears						7
Dark Souls						6
Xenoblade Chronicles X					6
Deus Ex							5
Earthbound						5
Final Fantasy IX					5
Mass Effect						5
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door			5
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind			5
Xenoblade Chronicles					5
Xenoblade Chronicles 2					5
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King		4
Final Fantasy XV					4
Mother 3						4
Nier automata						4
Phantasy Star IV					4
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim				4
Valkyrie Profile					4
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter				3
Demon's Souls						3
Kingdom Hearts II					3
Panzer Dragoon Saga					3
Persona 3						3
Pokémon Red/Blue/Green/Yellow				3
Skies of Arcadia					3
Terranigma						3
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines			3
World of Warcraft					3
Anachronox						2
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean		2
Dark Souls III						2
Deus Ex: Human Revolution				2
Dragon Quest V						2
Etrian Odyssey V					2
Mass Effect 2						2
Octopath Traveler					2
Paper Mario						2
Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal				2
Pyre							2
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic			2
Sunless Sea						2
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC		2
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild			2
Ultima VII						2
Undertale						2

25 Runners Up to the Top 101

Below are the games that ranked 102-126 in the overall vote. We don't have the space to give each of these full spotlights like we did to the first 101 games above, but we still wanted to do something for the titles that were close to making the cut. Hence a simplified banner and Staff/OST info, but no trivia or user quotes. All games are presented in Alphabetical order, as the points differences are small, and there are many ties.

Runner Up – Alpha Protocol

Key Staff Members - Chris Parker (D), Ryan Rucinski (P), Chris Avellone (De), Raymond Holmes (De), Aaron Meyers (A)

OST Composers - Jason Graves, Rod Abernathy

OST Highlights - Your Weapon Is Choice, Main Theme, Mike Like Guns

Runner Up – Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean

Key Staff Members - Koshi Horibe (D), Mikitaka Kurasawa (P), Saiji Yakumo (De), Kenya Hirata (W), Masato Kato (W), Nakaba Higurashi (A)

OST Composers - Motoi Sakuraba

OST Highlights - Introduction Peak, Chaotic Dance, Addressing the Stars

Runner Up – Breath of Fire III

Key Staff Members - Makoto Ikehara (D), Hironobu Takeshita (P), Yukio Andoh (W), Tatsuya Yoshikawa (A)

OST Composers - Yoshino Aoki, Akari Kaida

OST Highlights - Without a Care, Donden, Dedicated to the Dragons ~Main Theme~

Runner Up – Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter

Key Staff Members - Makoto Ikehara (D), Hironobu Takeshita (P), Yukio Andoh (W), Tatsuya Yoshikawa (A)

OST Composers - Hitoshi Sakimoto

OST Highlights - Calling From a Distance, The Strong Enemy, Electrical Supply Building

Runner Up – Diablo 3

Key Staff Members - Jay Wilson (D), Alex Mayberry (P), Kevin Martens (De), David Adams (De), Chris Metzen (W), Christian Lichtner (A)

OST Composers - Russell Brower, Derek Duke, Edo Guidotti, Laurence Juber, Joseph Lawrence, Glenn Stafford

OST Highlights - And the Heavens Shall Tremble, Reaper of Souls, Abattoir

Runner Up – Dragon Age: Inquisition

Key Staff Members - Mike Laidlaw (D/De), Benoit Houle (D), Adriana Lopez (D), Mark Darrah (EP), David Gaider (W), Shane Hawco (A)

OST Composers - Trevor Morris

OST Highlights - Main Theme, Journey to Skyhold, Sera Was Never

Runner Up – Etrian Odyssey IV

Key Staff Members - Daisuke Kanada (D), Kenichi Takamori (W), Yuji Himukai (A)

OST Composers - Yuzo Koshiro

OST Highlights - Labyrinth I: Cerulean Woodlands, Battlefield - Storm, Unrest - The End of Raging Winds

Runner Up – Gothic II

Key Staff Members - Michael Rüve (D), Björn Pankratz (P/W), Michael Hoge (De/W), Mattias Filler (W), Stefan Kalveram (W), Horst Dworczak (A)

OST Composers - Kai Rosenkranz

OST Highlights - Title Theme, Lobard's Farm, New Isle World

Runner Up – Grandia II

Key Staff Members - Katsunori Saito (D), Takeshi Miyaji (P), Toshiyuki Uchida (P), Osamu Harada (De), Kei Shigema (W), Yuichi Hasegawa (W), YoushiKanoe (A)

OST Composers - Noriyuki Iwadare

OST Highlights - A Deus, Fight Version 3 ~ Middle Boss Battle, Memory of the Gods

Runner Up – Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

Key Staff Members - Tetsuya Nomura (D/A), Tai Yasue (D), Patrick Chen (P), Yoichi Yoshimoto (P), Daisuke Watanabe (W)

OST Composers - Yoko Shimomura

OST Highlights - Ventus, The Tumbling, Dark Impetus

Runner Up – Lost Odyssey

Key Staff Members - Daisuke Fukugawa (D), Takehiro Kaminagayoshi (P), Hironobu Sakaguchi (W/De), Kiyoshi Shigematsu (W), Takahiko Inoue (A)

OST Composers - Nobuo Uematsu

OST Highlights - Neverending Journey, Battle Theme, Demons Invasion

Runner Up – Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story

Key Staff Members - Hiroyuki Kubota (D/W), Toshiharu Izuno (P), Akira Otani (P), Yoshihiko Maekawa (P), Kouiche Fukuzawa (A)

OST Composers - Yoko Shimomura

OST Highlights - To a New Adventure!, Grasslands All the Way, Grand Finale

Runner Up – Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga

Key Staff Members - Yoshihiko Maekawa (D), Shigeru Miyamoto (P), Tetsuo Mizuno (P), Hiroyuki Kubota (W), Toshizo Morikawa (A)

OST Composers - Yoko Shimomura

OST Highlights - Preparing for Travelling, Come On!, Rookie and Popple

Runner Up – Ni No Kuni: The Wrath of the White Witch

Key Staff Members - Ken Motomura (D), Hiroyuki Watanabe (P), Akihiro Hino (W), Toshihiro Kuriaki (A)

OST Composers - Joe Hisaishi

OST Highlights - Main Theme, World Map, Al Mamoon ~ Court of the Cowlipha ~

Runner Up – Pokemon Black/White

Key Staff Members - Junichi Masuda (D), Toshinobu Matsumiya (W), Ken Sugimori (A)

OST Composers - Shota Kageyama, Go Ichinose, Hitomi Sato, Junichi Masuda, Minako Adachi

OST Highlights - Nuvema Town, N Decisive Battle, Emotion

Runner Up – Shining Force II

Key Staff Members - Shugo Takahashi (D), Yasuhiro Taguchi (D), Hiroyuki Takahashi (P), Fumio Iida (A)

OST Composers - Motoaki Takenouchi

OST Highlights - Prologue Theme, Town Theme, Battle 3

Runner Up – Shining Force III

Key Staff Members - Yasuhiro Taguchi (D), Hiroyuki Takahashi (P/De/W), Shugo Takahashi (De), Shin Yamanouchi (A), Hiroshi Kajiyama (A)

OST Composers - Motoi Sakuraba

OST Highlights - Scenario 1: Opening, Scenario 2: Opening, Scenario 3: Opening

Runner Up – South Park: The Stick of Truth

Key Staff Members - Chris Brion (D), Chris Parker (D), Zane Lyon (D), Matt Maclean (De), Eric Fenstermaker (W)

OST Composers - Jamie Dunlap

OST Highlights - Main Theme, Jimmy the Bard Boss Battle, Elven Kingdom

Runner Up – Star Ocean: The Second Story

Key Staff Members - Masaki Norimoto (D), Yoshinori Yamagishi (P), Minato Koio (A)

OST Composers - Motoi Sakuraba

OST Highlights - Opening, Stab the Sword of Justice, The Incarnation of Devil

Runner Up – Suikoden III

Key Staff Members - Yoshitaka Murayama (D), Keiichi Isobe (D), Noritada Matsukawa (P), Fumi Ishikawa (A)

OST Composers - Michiru Yamane, Takashi Yoshida, Masahiko Kimura

OST Highlights - Exceeding Love, Arctic Area, Blade

Runner Up – Suikoden V

Key Staff Members - Takahiro Sakiyama (D), Hidehito Okamoto (De), Kazuyoshi Tsugawa (W)

OST Composers - Norikazu Miura

OST Highlights - Distant Journey, Despair & Hope, The Godwin Family Castle ~ Stormfist Theme

Runner Up – The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

Key Staff Members - Takayuki Kusano (D), Toshihiro Kondo (P), Hisayoshi Takeiri (W)

OST Composers - Hayato Sonoda, Takahiro Unisuga, Saki Momiyama, Yukihiro Jindo, Toshiharu Okajima, Noriyuki Kamikura

OST Highlights - Prelude - Age of Upheaval, The Glint of Cold Steel, Exceed!

Runner Up – The Witcher

Key Staff Members - Jacek Brzeziński (D), Maciej Miąsik (P), Michał Kiciński (P), Michał Madej (De), Artur Ganszyniec (Sce), Adam Badowski (A)

OST Composers - Paweł Błaszczak, Adam Skorupa

OST Highlights - Dusk of a Northern Kingdom, Peaceful Moments, Last Battle

Runner Up – Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE

Key Staff Members - Mitsuru Hirata (D/De), Eiji Ishida (D), Kaori Ando (D), Shinjiro Takada (P), Hitoshi Yamagami (P), toi8 (A)

OST Composers - Yoshiaki Fujisawa, avex

OST Highlights - Reincarnation, Feel, Dream Catcher

Runner Up – Ys: The Oath in Felghana

Key Staff Members - Takayuki Kusano (D), Masayuki Kato (P)

OST Composers - Yukihiro Jindo, Hayato Sonoda, Wataru Ishibashi, Takahide Murayama

OST Highlights - A Premonition ~Styx~, The Boy Who Had Wings, The Strongest Foe

Top Series by Total Points

Below is a list of all RPG series are franchises that received at least 100 points, and had at least 3 titles that received votes. For each title, extra stats are provided, including average points per game, and percentage of points given to games that don't appear on the Top 101 list. Banner credit goes to Luminaire

Spreadsheet for The Top 200 Essential RPGs

We have put together a Google Spreadsheet that lists the top 200 most voted games in alphabetical order. This spreadsheet contains all of the info present in the banners and write-ups above (minus the trivial and user quotes). This will hopefully offer users even more suggestions, while not bogging people down with titles only had 1-2 votes (the 200th game still had 11 points). You can also sort the list by any criteria you wish if you are looking for something specific (say a short game, or one with a lot of narrative choice).

The Spreadsheet is here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TIQ79BMNM2BvbmgSf3B9MgM2mZVnVx8zHscQNQKpDKQ/edit?usp=sharing

A document explaining all of the columns and number codes here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RsZCb8hc_UfCGALP6E77WoH3n6GorexT4v9MuUIj7s8/edit?usp=sharing

Credits

This thread is being created with the help of many people in the Resetera RPG Community. If you would like to continue talking about RPGs, we encourage you to check out the community thread (click the banner):

The RPG Community is happy to discuss any type of RPG. If you are a discord user, there is a link to the associated community discord in that thread as well.

Thread Banner: Luminaire

Banner Design: The banner template was developed by me with a lot of input from Luminaire. Lumi and I created the individual banners. The Mechanics icons are a holdover from a previous incarnation of this threads. FiveSide , MoonFrog , werezompire , Quinton , Lynx_7 , Bumrush , and Thores contributed ideas for icon categories and aesthetics.

Game Information: Information for the banners and game write ups were largely completed by FiveSide, MoonFrog, KuwabaraTheMan , Luminaire, and Fou-Lu. Several people on the RPG ERA discord pitched in when we couldn't come up with a specific piece of info.Thanks to all of the thread participants for the individual quotes!

General Thread help: PhazonBlonde and MoonFrog reminded users to vote/complete their votes, and pointed out errors in the ballot section on many posts. Both of these tasks lead to increased participation and made it easier for me to tally results.

Raffle Prizes: Raffle prizes were contributed by several people, including myself, Luminaire, Thores, nivorae, Ouijaluigi, and some anonymous donors.

Vic_Viper · Jul 7, 2018

Love these threads! Really helps when looking for a new rpg to play that I might not know much about. Thank you Op, and everyone else involved for putting this together! I'll be thinking of my list today while at work!

sir_crocodile · Jul 7, 2018

is zelda/alundra etc considered an rpg? or only the ones with exp systems like zelda 2?

Falconbox · Jul 7, 2018

I'm very confused on how I'm supposed to format my post, so I'll wait to see what others do.

Nakenorm · Jul 7, 2018

Yeah a little bit confused, but then I'm tired and still a bit drunk. Will wait and see some examples and post later!

Deleted member 249 · Jul 7, 2018

Just one question- is a game like Breath of the Wild or the new God of War considered an RPG?

Master Chuuster · Jul 7, 2018

Phantom Thief said:
Just one question- does a game like Breath of the Wild or the new God of War considered an RPG?

Or Assassin's Creed Origins?

adj_noun · Jul 7, 2018

Everybody vote for Darklands this time, k?

Vic_Viper · Jul 7, 2018

Falconbox said:
I'm very confused on how I'm supposed to format my post, so I'll wait to see what others do.

Nakenorm said:
Yeah a little bit confused, but then I'm tired and still a bit drunk. Will wait and see some examples and post later!

Pretty sure it's just the same as the GOTY lists, but with a Top 10 Honorable mentions section

Fou-Lu · Jul 7, 2018

sir_crocodile said:
is zelda/alundra etc considered an rpg? or only the ones with exp systems like zelda 2?

Phantom Thief said:
Just one question- is a game like Breath of the Wild or the new God of War considered an RPG?

If you think something is an RPG you are generally welcome to vote for it. If enough people vote for something for it to get on the list then it's an essential RPG for this community. Just use common sense and your judgement.

With the right to veto obvious trolls of course.

kswiston · Jul 7, 2018

sir_crocodile said:
is zelda/alundra etc considered an rpg? or only the ones with exp systems like zelda 2?

Phantom Thief said:
Just one question- is a game like Breath of the Wild or the new God of War considered an RPG?

Master Chuuster said:
Or Assassin's Creed Origins?

Vote for what you like. Edge cases might not be considered to be RPGs by some, which will probably affect their placement, but that's not really the point. Alundra is typically considered an RPG. Zelda 2 is as well. The OoT style games are not considered RPGs by many, but they typically get some votes from those who disagree.

Punished Dan · Jul 7, 2018

Highlight Vote

I can't say anything different to whats already been said about this game but I will say my little bit anyway.
For me this game redefined a genre and challenged the notion of what a video game can be. They were not kidding when they said they took the concept of a Zelda back to the drawing board. For me it was totally unexpected and at the same time expected, that Nintendo of all developers could create a game that was so free from restraints. Unlike any Zelda game before it just tossed you into the world with some core mechanics from the get go and said right off you go.

I've played for dozens and dozens of hours and I'm still surprised by what I can discover. I find myself smiling at the little details countless times, the swaying grass, the beautiful lighting, the thematic and sparse music. It truly is a game for the ages and it will go down as a timeless classic, the kind of game you will show your children and grand children many years from now when this industry is very different to what it is today.

2

The first RPG I played. The game which started my love for the genre.
Some of my standout memories of Final Fantasy VII are not from the game itself, but speaking with a group of friends and school about the game as we all progressed through it. The game had been out for about 2 years before I got to high school, I'd played the game for 2 years prior to finding likeminded people to share my love of the game with. The locations we visited, the enemies we killed, the materia and the levels of our characters. The tactics for taking on Weapon. We must have played the game for the best part of a further 2-3 years on and off, even when Final Fantasy X released on the PS2 we'd still be talking about VII.

It's not a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination, the translation is rough as a bears and the graphics have not aged well but it's still an incredible game that I play through again every few years.

3

Maybe this choice is driven by nostalgia more than most but if so it's for a good reason.
I remember seeing the old Sugimori artwork for the next generation of Pokemon appear in various magazines, Pikablu being one of the first. I was hyped. Until this I had no idea a new Pokemon game was in the works, I was still happily playing Pokemon Blue for hours on end. First time I saw the game on sale I was on holiday in Spain, I was pining for it but had to wait.

Pokemon Silver (Gold too) improved on Red & Blue in every way. Richer graphics with colour! More Pokemon to catch, new mechanics, breeding and eggs, a whole new world to explore. The surprise at the end of the game was mind blowing and for me, it's the definitive Pokemon game. In any of those threads that pop up frequently which ask "where do I start with Pokemon" I will always recommend this game. It has a great balance, it's chock with content and it's not overwhelming with all the surplus mechanics they've added to the games down the years that in my eyes do not add that much to the experience.

4

For me this was the first RPG of this generation that I played and thought yep this game is fitting of the term "next gen".
The Witcher 3 has an unparalleled world, it's rich, diverse, the cities feel sprawling, the wilderness feels barren and dangerous, the people inhabiting it are weathered and experiencing it all is a real treat.
The music is some of the best I can remember in a long time, the haunting vocals on some of the tracks are mesmerising.
The step up in quality throughout the series was totally unexpected by myself, CDPR are a developer who mastered their craft with this series before moving on to something I hope is equally as compelling.

Sure the combat can be a bit janky, the side quests can be a bit samey but I can overlook all this because of the quality of the world and the stories the quests tell. It will have been said before, but The Bloody Baron quest is where the penny dropped for me and I knew i was playing something truly special.

I hope we return to this world one day in the future, it's just too good to be put to rest.

5

I was never much of a Souls fan, I gave Dark Souls a go but stopped playing a few hours in. Not because I didn't like the game as such, I just had other stuff to play.
When Bloodborne came on to PS+ I asked a group of guys from another forum (no not that place) should I give it my time and the answer was a resounding yes with lots of "GOTG" and "game of the forever" kinda talk. So I made my hunter and I stepped into Yharnam. I also played the DLC.

Bloodborne is one of my games of the generation, top 3 easily. The gameplay is challenging and sometimes even cruel, the art direction and music is stellar but what tops it all is the narrative. I won't spoil it, but man, it's incredible and one of my favourite ever narratives in any medium. The way it's told, the way you're fed little details that you weave together yourself is just plain clever, it leaves a little room for interpretation and this allows for some really great discussions on the game. I was left craving for more, I've consumed everything I possibly can from The Pale Blood Hunt to the various videos on YouTube that offer different perspectives on the lore.

I was kind of glad that Shadows Die Twice is not Bloodborne 2. The game is perfect as it is and I can't see a sequel adding much meaningful.

--VOTE INFO START—

<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>

<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
Final Fantasy VII
Pokemon Silver
The Witcher 3
Bloodborne
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy VIII
Suikoden II
Earthbound
Star Wars: Knights of The Old Republic
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>

<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Vagrant Story
Final Fantasy X
Breath of Fire IV
Jade Empire
Pokemon Blue
Bravely Default
Stardew Valley
Final Fantasy VI
Grandia
Mass Effect
</HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>

--VOTE INFO END--

Deleted member 419 · Jul 7, 2018

This post contains write-ups for my 10 essential RPGs (subdivided into 5 JRPGs and 5 WRPGs); the write-ups for the Honorable Mentions can be found here (i.e. a few posts down). I only moved the HM write-ups to a separate post because I hit the character limit here.

5 Essential JRPGs

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (Highlight)

The most essential RPG. One of the greatest games of all time, if not the greatest.

Nocturne's biggest strength is its thematic coherence. There are no extraneous systems in its gameplay, no unnecessary tropes in its narrative. It is a barren wasteland of competing philosophies, a post-apocalyptic fever dream exploring and implicating the most challenging questions of reality, morality, and self-determination. It is the perfection of the video-game narrative; restrained, suggestive, and concise, its curt dialogue offering only a tantalizing glimpse of the vast subtextual quandaries lurking beneath its surface. The familiar JRPG conventions of Japanese teenagers, world-ending monstrosities, chosen protagonists, and god-slaying warfare are effortlessly woven into an altogether unfamiliar tapestry, a role-playing game that eschews the good/evil dichotomy and instead challenges the player to think about the world not as the product of a antipodal moral system, but as the product of competing beliefs about the fundamental nature of existence.

What elevates Nocturne above many of its peers is the way it conveys these themes not only through its narrative proper, but through its gameplay systems and scenario design. The narrative itself explores the power (and danger) of determination, of the singular focus necessary to change the world. But Nocturne's brilliance lies in the way that its gameplay systems elegantly convey the same themes. The Press Turn system has no "balance" mechanics, but rather strengthens the strong, and weakens the weak; it rewards focus, punishes mistakes, and turns battles into merciless, strategic, and dangerous encounters. In this world of existential terror and spiritual warfare, there is no room for hesitation or half-heartedness; only pure, unadulterated determination will emerge victorious, and this insight is conveyed through a combat system that takes these abstract concepts and develops them into actual gameplay.

An entire book could be written about Nocturne. From beginning to end, it is an awe-inspiring, towering accomplishment; 60+ hours of sustained excellence, a dark, meditative allegory of the existential uncertainty that gnaws at the heart of the human condition. It is challenging both intellectually and mechanically, its fierce combat and twisted dungeons a meticulously designed accompaniment to a powerful story of death and rebirth.

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is the most essential JRPG ever made. Not because it is the most popular JRPG, nor the most critically-acclaimed, nor the most influential. It is because it is the best.

Earthbound (Mother 2)

What exactly is experience? In life, it's a vague collection of memories, skills, and knowledge. In RPGs, it's abstracted into a number that goes up after every battle.

Earthbound's great central theme, even more so than Mother 1 and Mother 3, is how we go about accumulating experience. Earthbound retains the RPG mechanism of gaining XP and leveling up, but ties those mechanics to a narrative about the power of experience - of seeing the world, trying new things, and even looking inward and getting in touch with one's own soul. Ness only shakes his head "No!" when you move backwards, away from the camera, and away from everything that awaits you in Eagleland; the game is a celebration of pushing forward, of reveling in life and all the smiles and tears that come from it.

The game is brilliantly structured, and as with all truly exceptional video-game narratives, it paints in broad, suggestive strokes. Its general plot points and bizarre incidents bring to mind similar occurrences in our own lives. Its quirky characters are only a few degrees removed from our own friends, enemies, and neighbors. I honestly can't say what Dungeon Man is a metaphor for, but, in some peculiar way, I feel as though I've known people who were just like him. That feeling of bemused familiarity is the key to Earthbound's potency and insight.

And of course, there's the final boss. It is, simply put, the most powerful, emotional boss fight in gaming. It might even be appropriate to call it a spiritual experience.

Quirky but surprisingly dark, bizarre but surprisingly incisive, and set to one of the most rocking soundtracks I've ever heard - Earthbound is Shigesato Itoi's irreverent magnum opus, and edges out the stiff competition as the most essential RPG of the 16-bit era.

Suikoden II

Suikoden II's story is dialogue-focused and communicated in one of the most horrendous localizations on the PS1. It occasionally teeters on the line of well-worn genre conventions. Extremely well-executed, admittedly, but not a thought-provoking, mechanically fascinating work in the same way several of the other games populating this list are.

Why, then, is Suikoden II one of the most essential RPGs of all time? Because it's not always necessary to do things differently. Another perfectly viable option is to do things the same way as everybody else - only do it a lot better.

Suikoden II is the perfection of the conventional JRPG. It doesn't rely on fourth-wall hijinks or meta-commentary. There are no modernist, arthouse design elements; no obsessively tight, systems-driven gameplay. It doesn't necessarily implicate heady, philosophical concepts with the same panache that many of its peers do. Instead, it tells the tale of two young men pulled apart by the politics and unrest of the society in which they live. It tells the tale of a young revolutionary gathering a band of misfits and changing the world. And, seemingly against all odds, it succeeds in telling this story with devastating, incredible effectiveness.

The battle system doesn't do anything particularly revolutionary or remarkable, but is instead a rock-solid turn-based system that is simply a blast to play around with. The presentation, especially the beautiful sprite work, is also a joy to behold. And the music is absolutely stunning. By time you've seen Suikoden II through to the end, you will not be able to listen to "Reminiscence" without getting misty-eyed. I guarantee it.

When I think about many of my favorite RPGs, I often think about how they challenged me intellectually or mechanically. How they really pushed the envelope for what a video-game can do. But when I think of Suikoden II, I think of feelings. Not how this certain scene made me think about the medium of video-games, but instead how it made me connect with the characters.

I have never played an RPG with more heart than this game. It is undoubtedly one of the most essential RPGs ever made, and amongst conventional JRPGs it has no equal. It is the quintessential adventure, both a stunning tragedy and an absolute triumph.

Panzer Dragoon Saga

There has very rarely been such a mixture of quality and obscurity as with Panzer Dragoon Saga. Perhaps due to that obscurity, it remains a stunningly original work even two decades after it released; its post-apocalyptic world, like Nocturne, is dream-like and surreal, but it combines those elements with an atmosphere of post-industrial mysticism that has yet to be matched, or arguably even challenged.

Its real-time combat system is also entirely unique, and relies on positioning and cooldown-based actions in intense aerial skirmishes. Even its soundtrack, a bizarre but effective mix of tribal drums, exotic melodies, and electronic rhythms, has very few peers. In many ways, the game feels like it was somehow imported from the game industry of a different planet; it's hard to communicate just how foreign it feels.

While Saga's narrative begins with a relatively pedestrian setup, the world-building and atmosphere carry it until it evolves into something far greater. By time Saga reaches its finale, it is a different beast altogether; the formulaic revenge story has morphed into a stunningly complex sci-fi epic, one that even comments on the nature of video games and player agency in the style of EarthBound and Undertale. It boasts one of my favorite endings in an RPG, and perhaps the most thought-provoking ending I've ever seen in a video game.

Ridiculously unique, powerfully thought-provoking, and incredibly fun to play, Panzer Dragoon Saga is an underrated masterpiece and absolutely well-worth the hurdles of trying to track it down and play it.

Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter

Like Panzer Dragoon Saga, Dragon Quarter is uncompromisingly unique. It was so ahead of its time at release in 2002, that 15 years later it's arguably still ahead of its time. The game focuses on a series of overarching systems that interact with each other to form a canvas of rules operating in the background. And, in the web of interlocking mechanics it constructs and challenges you to navigate, is by far the most elegant systems-driven JRPG I've ever played.

Absolutely no mechanics are wasted; everything has been meticulously implemented, from the ground-up, to be a system playing off of all the others. Even setting aside the phenomenal soundtrack, memorable setting, and unique art direction, it is the gameplay systems themselves that lead to the incredible sense of immersion that the game offers.
The combat is incredibly strategic, dependent on positioning and manipulating traps and environmental hazards. There is an ominous countdown until the main character dies and the game ends (not a temporary game over - the playthrough literally ends), and this mechanic interacts with the limited saves and special abilities to form a complex web of risk/reward decisions. The narrative itself is even systems-driven, and unfolds differently depending on how many times you've viewed the cutscene. Hell, there is even a respectable risk/reward decision in choosing to restart the entire playthrough, as the lost progress is counterbalanced by certain things that you hold onto on a manual restart.

In many gameplay-driven games, the game gives me the tools I need to fight the enemies I face. In Dragon Quarter, more than any other RPG I've played, I feel like the only truly critical tool I have is my own brain, and behind the mask of enemy units, my true enemy is the game itself. Not in a frustrating or tedious way; but, rather, in a chess-like, challenging battle of wits, against a team of designers who engineered an enormous puzzle to ensnare me if I let my guard down. Sightseers and those looking for a relaxing, fun romp need not apply under any circumstances - Dragon Quarter is punishing, challenging, and preys on your poor decisions mercilessly. But the payoff for that intensity is one of the most thrilling and immersive experiences in all of gaming, and the absolute pinnacle of systems-driven gaming in the JRPG format.

As a bonus, the narrative itself is a fascinating, surprisingly well-executed thriller that reveals itself in tantalizing chunks. A brutal, powerful testament to game design, and one of the most memorable experiences in the medium. Second only to Nocturne in its elegance. Absolutely essential.

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5 Essential WRPGs

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Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is largely an exercise in destroying the simplified good/evil moral systems found in countless RPGs. It is only fitting that Ultima IV, the most essential WRPG, is also an exercise in developing a more complex moral system.

The difference between Nocturne and Ultima IV? Ultima IV came out in 1985. It is both the literal beginning of morality systems, and arguably the beginning of choice and consequence. Perhaps more importantly, it is still a standard for morality mechanics that, in many respects, has yet to be surpassed.

Other than an ambiguous satisfaction in knowing that you're playing arguably the most important PC game ever made, the experience of playing Ultima IV is one of realizing how underwhelming many story-driven WRPGs have become. In Ultima IV, there are no ultimate evils threatening the world; there are no binary conversation options, or Paragon/Renegade/etc. simplifications. Ultima IV is a game not mainly about combat, but rather about moral growth. The Avatar's quest is one to discover the Eight Virtues, not to discover a legendary sword or an ancient treasure.

It is the first, and still one of the best, games to challenge you to think about your own ethical and moral preconceptions. Like Nocturne and Earthbound, it is an abstraction and codification of an internal process, the one by which we form values, beliefs, and convictions. It takes those mechanisms and adapts them into a D&D-styled video-game, requiring you both to navigate imposing dungeons, and to cultivate your own sense of virtue and integrity.

Though obviously a product of its time, Ultima IV is the Battleship Potemkin of video-games: a manifesto of artistic value, the first foray into a realm beyond arcade games and D&D-inspired campaigns. For games that aspire to be more than pure entertainment, this is both the groundwork and the literal ground zero. The classic of all classics, and essential in this context is an understatement.

Planescape: Torment

Planescape's Sigil is easily one of the most well-realized settings in the entire medium. Colorful fountains of words literally spring from almost every object, every NPC, every line of dialogue. It is all the world-building potency of a good book, except accompanied by a phenomenal soundtrack rather than the occasional sound of you turning the page.

At Planescape's core is a grippingly personal story of loss, recovery, and redemption (or not...), of an immortal man searching for the fragments of himself, and discovering a new self along the way. The quality of the writing, both in terms of the plot and in terms of the dialogue and descriptors, arguably has no equal.

To this day, Planescape remains the only WRPG that really captures the feeling of sitting at a table, and watching a master DM-storyteller do his thing. With the lights low and the night going on, a few guys sit around him, and he carefully describes the city you've just entered. And if you close your eyes, you can see it. The grimy streets, the broken windows, the horse-drawn carriages sheltering the traveling nobility from the sweltering refuse of the stone streets. Planescape is that experience in video-game format; with nothing but words and some late 90s WRPG graphics, it conveys a haunting, evocative image of the Planes that seems to sprawl in front of you, immersing you in one of the most unique and interesting RPG settings out there.

Admittedly, Planescape stumbles a bit on its clunky combat, and some sequences in the final third could've used some balancing, but its flaws melt away in light of how much it gets so right. The storytelling gold standard both for RPGs, and for video-games as a whole.

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines

A manhole lifts, clanging to the side as a vampire scurries from the sewers into the shadows of a downtown Los Angeles alley. A nightclub pounds with the mesmorizing rhythm of electronica as supernatural beings dance in a circle, cult-like. Lone, desolate figures stumble down the grimy backstreets of Santa Monica, stalked by a sinister presence while crimson neon lights shine through the cold rain. A wistful guitar wafts endlessly through the air of Hollywood's streets in the witching hour, as the homeless congregate around garbage fires. A deathly still, long abandoned hotel of grand pomp and circumstance echoes with the sound of ghostly, unseen footsteps.

Despite all its mechanical complexity, virtually endless replayability, and dedication to meaningful choice and consequence, the real legend of Bloodlines lies in moments such as those described above. It is a game that gives you an incredible number of interesting things to do as a vampire stalking the streets of Los Angeles: conspiracies to uncover, areas to infiltrate, puzzles to piece together. Victims to feed upon (or not). But, ultimately, the quiet moments of atmospheric downtime are where the game hooks you and refuses to let go. Bloodlines is so confident in its tone, so careful in the construction of its setting, and so willing to let you explore this melancholic, seedy world at your own pace, that it often feels like a veritable recreation of a grungy urban underbelly in the late 90s/early 00s. One emerges from Bloodlines feeling almost like an anthropologist rather than a player; so real are these cultures, these vampiric clans, these political intrigues and supernatural folklores. It is a stunning achievement, and a testament to Troika's worldbuilding skill at the height of their powers.

Thankfully, such powerful accomplishments in atmosphere are matched by the roleplaying elements of the game as well. Bloodlines provides an abundance of possible builds, possible personalities, and possible backgrounds, ensuring both that the player can act exactly as they want, and that each of these actions is privy to an interesting set of dialogue and content that other characters might never even see. Like all good WRPGs, the game injects enough grey area into almost every conflict to make the player ask what they would do, rather than what they should do. It is very often unclear which side is in the right - or if any side is at all. Perhaps that is a question that need not even be asked; after all, as a vampire outcast, one's priority is simply to survive. Bloodlines gives you a lot of ways to do that, and challenges you to do so.

While the strain of the game's troubled development rears its head in a few ill-advised stretches of combat in the late-game, these hiccups do very little to detract from the totality of what Bloodlines accomplishes. It is unique in both concept and quality, a shining example of immersive role-playing in one of the most compelling settings the medium has ever seen. There may be other RPGs that are "better," but very, very few are as essential.

Divinity: Original Sin 2

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is Divinity: Original Sin, but better. D:OS struck the perfect balance of doling out consequences for your decisions, while simultaneously giving you the freedom to solve the problems those consequences create; D:OS2 accomplishes the same mind-bending feat, as if effortlessly, and throws even more toys into the metaphorical sandbox. Just like its predecessor, D:OS2's thoughtful design encourages the player to shift away from the min-maxing mentality, and back into the mentality of pure role-playing. The game doesn't necessarily require strict adherence to its own internal logic; instead, it encourages strict adherence to the character that you've created, and the kind of story you want that character to be in. That is the root of D&D, and a hugely commendable thing to accomplish in a WRPG. It was clear in D:OS that Larian understood this; but it is clear in D:OS2 that they have mastered it.

D:OS2's combat is arguably the best turn-based combat in all of RPGs, and almost certainly in WRPGs. It is utter chaos guided by improvisational strategy and marching to the drum of a methodical turn order. Every victory feels earned not because you won with the tools you were given, but because you figured out how to win with the tools you have. D:OS2's aggressive focus on that free-form, seat-of-your-pants problem solving is the core of one of the best and most satisfying combat systems ever devised.

D:OS2 also demonstrates an important maturation both in terms of plot construction and in terms of tone. By reigning in their more eccentric storytelling tendencies, Larian have effectively met in the middle between the utter dryness of lesser RPGs, and the occasionally puerile absurdity of the first D:OS, and crafted an atmosphere that maintains the proper decorum of epic fantasy while indulging in the occasional silliness that endears rather than exasperates. A significant factor in this achievement is the inclusion of a set of well-written, pre-built characters, virtually all of whom follow unique stories and engaging character arcs.

The first Original Sin was a banner WRPG from the last few years, and absolutely a modern classic. But it is a testament to D:OS2's quality that it surpasses that game in practically every significant metric. Indeed, there is a strong case to be made that, pound for pound, D:OS2 is the best WRPG ever made. Given those circumstances, its inclusion on a list of WRPG essentials is indisputable.

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Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

Obsidian's Black Isle heritage is on full display, as each of your main party members brings a little thematic nugget to the table, combining to form a fairly comprehensive exploration of the Force and the implications of absolutist moral positions in the context of social and political upheaval. Kreia, for my money, is the best-written character in any video-game.

Where KOTOR II really shines, though, is in its cast of villains. Each of the Sith Lords featured in the game play off of each other perfectly, offering some interesting insight into the way that the Dark Side both empowers and corrupts. The final Sith Lord's ultimate plan is the most interesting philosophical conundrum that has come out of the Star Wars franchise.

KOTOR II is the most compelling story to emerge from the Star Wars mega-franchise (and yes, I've read a ton of the EU books), and beyond its technical flaws and troubled development, it is a classic that stands toe to toe with the WRPGs of the late 90s.

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--VOTE INFO START—

<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>

<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
Earthbound
Suikoden 2
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatar
Planescape: Torment
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>

<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Final Fantasy 8
Octopath Traveler
Mother 3
Dark Souls
Ys: The Oath in Felghana
Dragon Quest 5
NieR: Automata
Terranigma
Age of Decadence
Chrono Cross
</HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>

--VOTE INFO END--

Vampire Chicken · Jul 7, 2018

Even though I'm far from an RPG enthusiast I would like to participate...but yeah it seems a tad confusing so I'll wait for some examples to come up.

Borowski · Jul 7, 2018

1- NieR: Automata

Outstanding achievement in storytelling and soundtrack. The icing on the cake is the over-the-top gameplay that mixes a bunch of different genres into an explosive package

2- Bloodborne

An intoxicating world filled with thrills and memorable bosses. The level-design is second to none and the art style is just striking.

Vela · Jul 7, 2018

--VOTE INFO START—

<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
Valkyrie Profile
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>

<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
Vampire: Bloodlines
Mass Effect 1
Dark Souls
Witcher 3
Planescape Torment
Fallout: New Vegas
Okami HD
Valkyria Chronicles
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>

<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Shadowrun: Dragonfall
Tactics Ogre
Persona 3 Portable
Final Fantasy Tactics
Baldur's Gate 2
Suikoden 2
Deus Ex
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
Resonance of Fate
Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic
</HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>

--VOTE INFO END--

Kickmaster Kim · Jul 7, 2018

Final Fantasy IX - My number one JRPG. This game showed me what video games are really capable of. Final Fantasy IX is a true blend of story, exploration, and music seamed into a simple, yet satisfying gameplay. It is a game that I revisit at least once every year, but it's been more like every two years lately. Not sure where I would have ended up if not for this title.

Undertale - This isn't my 2nd favorite. I have to play it at least a couple more times to determine that, but I do believe that Undertale is a JRPG that everyone should play. It's not too long and the game is wholly unique in its gameplay and it's story. I never expected to like it as much as I did and I think down the line it will end up in my favorite games of all time.

Earthbound - Another game I only played once on here, but this shit is good. I've heard people praise over the years and when I finally got to it, it's as good as people claim. My only fault with the game is the lack of sidequests. Like, there are 0.

Final Fantasy XII - The game may have faltered in its story, but it makes up for it in the battle system. XII has the best battle system of the series to me.

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Dragon Quest VIII - Journey of the Cursed King - My first DQ game was spectacular I got the game mostly for the XII demo, but the game itself was intriguing when I played a demo of it back in the day. It's been years since I've played VIII, but I do remember it being grand and splendid.

Pokemon Prism - It was hard for me to determine which Pokemon game someone should play, but if you've played a bunch of mainline games then I think it's essential that you play Prism. Prism takes the pokemon formula and improves on it by changing the level design in creative ways. You can directly control Pokemon on the field at certain points, there are Zelda-like segments, and a really trippy haunted house. The game also provides some challenge which official titles don't really offer. If you've think you've gotten bored of Pokemon try this and also Sage and Phoenix Rising whenever those get finished.

Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits - This is the only game in the series I've played, but it's pretty good shit; I can't lie. The game's story revolves around an ongoing conflict of humans vs deimos the monster-like people of this world. There are twists and turns and such. While the story is enjoyable I also quite enjoyed the combat system where you can freely run around the map and attack opponents. It's still turn based, but you have a set amount of distance you can move and your attacks also have ranges.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars: It's a funny game with Mario. I just wish it was harder.

Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door: This is just splendid.

Valkyrie Profile - The battle system is just off the hook.

I'll finish this later.

--VOTE INFO START—

<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
Final Fantasy IX
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>

<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
Undertale
Earthbound
Final Fantasy XII
Dragon Quest VIII
Pokemon Prism
Arc the Lad Twilight of the Spirits
Super Mario RPG
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Valkyrie Profile
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>

--VOTE INFO END--

Deleted member 419 · Jul 7, 2018

Honorable Mentions

These Honorable Mention write-ups are in a separate post due to hitting the character limit on my first post. This post does not include a ballot because the ballot was already included in that first post.

Octopath Traveler

Octopath Traveler is that rare game which sets out, from the beginning, to be greater than the sum of its parts. The notion of having eight shorter stories advance alongside one another may be an interesting concept, but at its core it is purely a structural decision - neither good nor bad, merely interesting. Octopath's greatest strengths lie not in that structure in and of itself, but in how the game utilizes that structure to weave an overarching narrative that is thematically focused, a narrative that does not subsume the individual stories but rather emerges organically as a shared experience developed, in different ways, by each of them.

Put another way: Octopath Traveler is a game that is anthropological. It is a study in different cultures, different stratas of society, and different individuals within those stratas, in which each of these separate elements feeds into a broader shared theme of the commonality of human experience. In the familiar structure of each chapter that accompanies the character vignettes, we see not just the plight of one character, but the plight of all the characters. As we explore this land, and visit each of the regions and towns (often several times over), we begin to understand not just that one region, but the world in which that region exists. The game's true merit lies not in the mere presence of these various regions, characters, and stories, but rather in the way that the game utilizes mechanical and narrative repetition, subtle but smart worldbuilding, and innovative structural concepts to show how similar these seemingly distinct experiences are to one another. And it is precisely in that similarity that the game conveys its central themes of common experience - or, put more loftily, the human condition at large.

The game offers the freedom to pursue eight stories, but it also suggests that we aren't exploring eight different stories, but rather one archetypal story told in eight different ways. Such narrative syncretism is apparent even from the brilliant title "Octopath Traveler." Note the singular, rather than plural, "traveler" - it is the player who is this "Octopath Traveler," an invisible anthropologist accompanying this band of characters, inhabiting each of them (the "Octopath") from time to time, and studying the ways in which they interact with the wonderfully vibrant world in which they roam. The player is the platonic traveler, if you will; one that wafts effortlessly to and fro across geographical, political, and economic lines to observe society at its most beautiful, its most sinister, its most hopeful and hopeless, its most peaceful and belligerent. And each time, this traveler takes a little piece of each experience with it. (One could even interpret this experience as the XP gained by each character in each battle, which makes the lack of party "XP share" more thematically palatable; after all, how can one truly experience something that one wasn't directly there to see, to feel, and to participate in?)

It is no coincidence that these thematic and structural ambitions are accompanied by the various innovative path actions, particularly Inquire/Scrutinize; the characters, and by extension the player, are intended to exist within this world, and not simply pass through it as a series of pit stops along the path of a mythic journey. Octopath Traveler is a game in which the NPC greeting the player at the entrance to the town is a migrant having a hard time adapting to life in a close-knit community; where guards and other armored men loafing around the tavern are mercenaries displaced by the end of war and the existential crisis that peace brings to a professional soldier. Plagues, wars, and various other calamities have caused numerous peoples to uproot in diasporas that lead them far and wide across the realm. All of these little worldbuilding details are intended to be uncovered, puzzle-like, in the player's gradual understanding of this world and its cultural heritage. Every path action develops this understanding, one NPC at a time; and the total effect is both thematically compelling and mechanically engaging.

Mechanical depth is, indeed, the excellent foundation upon which these themes and narratives are built. Octopath, far from a gameplay-lite storytelling experiment, boasts an incredibly polished and satisfying turn-based combat system that utilizes simple mechanics and concepts to add layers of nuance and strategy to each battle - both random encounters and bosses. The Boost and Break mechanics operate in a devilish synergy to provide an intuitive but unpredictable flow to combat, where strategy can be developed and executed with precision but enemies nevertheless have constant options for disrupting the player's combat loop and introducing a bit of entropy into the machine. Preparation itself is often half the battle, and the game's twist on the classical job system provides a fantastic framework within which to strive towards greater party synergy and combat domination - all within some sensible limitations, such as a one-character-per-secondary-job limit, that prevent the player from outright breaking the game.

In its bold thematic ambitions, unique plot structure, dazzling presentation, and incredibly polished gameplay mechanics, Octopath Traveler both summarizes the strengths of the classical JRPG and provides an inspiring vision of new strengths to come. The recurring imagery of travelers winding their way through the countryside is fitting for a game that seems to stand at a crossroads for the genre, one foot in its past and one in its future; and here, in the present, is this singular, remarkable game, one that I have no doubt will endure as a modern classic.

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Final Fantasy VIII

I completed the mainline Final Fantasy games in the following order: IV, VI, VII, V, VIII, I, II, IX, III, X, XIII, XII, XV.

Why bring this up? To show that there are no rose-tinted goggles on my face. I played Final Fantasy VIII roughly smack-dab in the middle, only a couple weeks after V and a couple days before FFI.

Yes - in many ways, Final Fantasy VIII is a mess. Its own gameplay systems often seem to be at odds with one another. Occasionally its own plot points even seem to be at odds with one another. The game can be stupidly easy or insufferably difficult, depending on factors that the average player might not entirely understand. Its characters can seem like a jumbled mess of contradictions.

But, in a way, it is precisely those characteristics that make Final Fantasy VIII such an incredible and interesting game. It is a smorgasbord of ideas, of concepts, of gameplay mechanics and narrative elements, all of which collide in unexpected ways. But the only reason all this chaos, this swirling mass of entropy and duct tape, doesn't implode on itself, is because those elements all orbit haphazardly around a rock-solid core.

Final Fantasy VIII, for all its idiosyncrasies, has the strongest themes in the series. The love story is one focus, but to call it merely a love story is reductive; it is a story, not just of teenage infatuation, but of love in its many forms. Of romantic love. Of fatherly love. Of self-love, and love for the world. Of love for your friends, and even for your enemies.

Running alongside these concepts is the other major theme: the nature of time. The various uses of time, that I won't specifically discuss due to spoilers, aren't just random parts of the narrative; they're important jumping off points for identifying how FFVIII explores the concept of time, both its joys and its sorrows, and how time alone can often make things right. Far from the bizarre scenes and sequences which it's well-known for, Final Fantasy VIII has a more grounded side, a strikingly consistent thematic core that informs even its most ridiculous eccentricities.

It's very likely that no one who loathes this game will ever get turned around on it. And, in reality, it's a very easy game to tear down, because it can seem like a jumbled mess on many levels. What pains me is that so few people seem to see the beauty that is inside that cacophony. Not every game needs to be Chrono Trigger, ripped and trimmed and polished to perfection. Final Fantasy VIII is bold, experimental, unedited, raw, and uncompromisingly strange. But I sincerely think that under that explosion of ideas, concepts, and mechanics, rests the strongest Final Fantasy in the series, and the landmark title that immortalized one of the genre's greatest developers at the height of its commercial success, cultural significance, and creative powers.

---

Mother 3

I tried to stay away from including multiple games from the same series, but Mother 3 is such a different beast than Earthbound, that it felt disingenuous to keep it off for that reason. One of the best-written games around, and also one of the most emotionally devastating. Those turned off by the free-wheeling nature of Earthbound's loose narrative might be better served trying this one. The story is much more concrete, and in many respects much more interesting. No crying until the end!

Vagrant Story

Perhaps Squaresoft's best game in terms of gameplay and presentation. Vagrant Story's narrative is legitimately one of the best, and one of the best conveyed, stories in the medium; a bizarre mix of low fantasy, graphic novel aesthetics, and noire atmosphere, its style is undeniable and its characters are fleshed-out and engaging. The combat system, while clunky in certain ways, is satisfying and skill-based, and the final boss is one of the most thrilling RPG encounters to this day. A stone-cold classic, and incredibly underrated.

Dark Souls

It's Dark Souls. You know what it is. Modern classic, despite imploding on itself after Anor Londo. What the first few areas of Dark Souls really succeed at is creating a sense of place. In film we'd say it had excellent mise en scene. It is the kind of game that is so well-designed and engaging that it can start to feel like a second home. Like a world that really exists, somewhere.

Ys: The Oath in Felghana

The Action-RPG in its purest form. Blazingly fast, brutally hard (at least on the higher difficulty levels), and absolutely badass. The only choice and consequence here is whether to play on Inferno or Nightmare. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Dragon Quest III

While Suikoden II is the quintessential JRPG, Dragon Quest III is the fundamental one. It is incredibly polished and incredibly sprawling given the era in which it released, and to this day is still one of the most satisfying adventures in JRPGs. The twist is mind-blowing and one of my all-time favorites. Still an essential worth playing to this day, and my favorite game on the NES/Famicom.

NieR: Automata

The miracle of 2017. Similar to Yuji Horii and Squaresoft's seminal work on Chrono Trigger, Yoko Taro and PlatinumGames' collaboration resulted in a momentous accomplishment, one in which their different skillsets perfectly complemented one another and resulted in a truly extraordinary game. While it doesn't entirely escape some of the various flaws and issues that plagued Taro's earlier work, the central tale of self-identity and sacrifice is fantastically conveyed. And, of course, Route E's ending is a moment for the ages. With Prey, and now Automata, I don't think it's too early to call it. These are essentials now, and they will be essentials for years to come.

Demon's Souls

I'm not breaking my implied "one per franchise" rule again with this entry - Demon's Souls is well and truly its own beast, differing from the Dark Souls series in a lot of critical ways, and I think that that is often overlooked when it's lumped under the same "Souls(Borne)" umbrella as the others. What DeS lacks in the polish that later games brought to the formula, it more than makes up for in its mechanics and encounter design. Many of the bosses are startlingly unique, with intriguing or aggressively experimental elements that unfortunately weren't replicated in later games. It is also the best-paced of the games in this style, a brief, strange odyssey through a dying kingdom. The Nexus is also the best hub in a video game.

Chrono Cross

Its art and music are unequaled. The combination alone makes it an essential game. The combat system and narrative, while both problematic in critical ways, ultimately carry the moment-to-moment gameplay. And despite the flaws with its plot, the narrative nevertheless explores some interesting concepts - and even ties into the first Chrono game in subtle and satisfying ways, as long as you keep an open-mind.

Aters · Jul 7, 2018

Thank you for your hard work. RPG is ERA's favorite genre. I'm sure this will be a worthwhile list. I love how Trails in the Sky ends up in the 12 games featured in the thread title. So light weight next to games like Chrono Trigger, Skyrim and Dark Souls lol.

Final Fantasy IX is, IMO, the quintessential JRPG experience. I'm sure other people can write better paragraphs about this game. I just want to add that this game is the last hurrah of classic JRPG era. It came out at the same time PS left the market, and the advent of full 3D and voice acting took away the charm of JRPGs. FFIX, oddly, feels more cinematic than modern games with crazy graphic, thanks to clever camera movements. It's also more expressive without voice acting because you can read characters' mind.

Final Fantasy VI is 16-bit perfection. The story is sincere and poignant; the characters are memorable; the visual and sound are top of its time. But what truly makes FFVI stand out, is its exploration into cinematic presentation. The opening and the opera scene ushered a new era of videogame story telling. It's fresh, moving but not excessive or manipulating.

Nobody knew they wanted Vagrant Story. It was entirely unique and showed a strong sense of directing. Yasumi Matsuno, the auteur, commands every tile of texture, every source of lightning, every line, every track and every box to form a cohesive interactive experience. We need another Vagrant Story.

Valkyria Profile and Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir are similar in many ways. They both borrow setting from Norse mythology, and they both use 2D side scrolling. What they both truly excel at, however, is that they both create a decaying world slowly but surely coming to its end. Not many RPGs are as moody as these two.

Dragon Quest V, VII, IV are my top three DQ games. V has an epic story and fun monster collection system. VII has the best vignettes and robust job system. IV has great pacing and innovative structure. All of them are full of heart and soul. I don't know how to sell Dragon Quest games to more people, because I don't understand how people can play these games and not instantly recognize their high quality by themselves.

Persona 5 is different from P3 and P4 in that it not only tells a story, but also forms a narrative and conveys a message. What the message actually is is less important than the fact that the game makes such attempt at all. The hand crafted dungeons and demon negotiation greatly improve the gameplay experience. The co-op skills tie the previously disjointed adventure and dungeon crawler systems together.

People know Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War for its story, but it is the gameplay mechanics introduced by this game that make it still relevant to the series to this day. Marriage and breeding system, weapons that don't break, support system, carry system, all of them make this title the most innovative game in the franchise.

Legend of Hero: Ao no Kiseki (Trails of Blue) and its prequel Zero no Kiseki opened my eyes for JRPG. Most JRPGs grow bigger as you play them. You constantly visit new places, meet new people, and finally you reach the destination of your journey. The Crossbell duology, however, grows deeper. It's the same place throughout the game, but your knowledge of it increases. The city Corssbell is the main character, and you slowly reveal its darkest secrets. Places you pass by every day will become battlefield, normal people you know will show their true color, and in the mean while, the city and the citizens get to know you better as well.

Rune Factory 3 is my second homeland. Every time I boot up this game, I feel warm, welcomed, and even loved. It does not rush you for anything. You can mind your own crops all year, or you can slay (send them home, if you will) some monsters like a true JRPG protagonist. When you get tired, your wife will (literally) throw you a hotpot (or junk depends on who you marry). You can easily lose hundreds of hours in this game. But whatever you do, remember one thing: Karin best girl!

How I miss old Game Freak! Pokemon Emerald is the prime example of a series that is not hindered by its own success, of a developer that makes an extra mile just because, and of a game that is rich and fun.

I have finished all four (yes, there're only four of them) Valkyria Chronicles games. Valkyria Chronicles 3 remains the best. The story is set in a darker tone, and remains coherent. The characters are decently fleshed out. The gameplay and level design are incredible. Getting all the achievements in the game is not a chore, but a fun journey that is rewarding in itself.

Final Fantasy XII was what I thought all future RPGs should play like. Big and detailed open areas to explore, automated battle system that takes away the repetitiveness, on point voice acting, and a more sober tone. Instead I got either hallways or empty fields, button smashing combat, poor VA and anime tropes. History took the wrong turn.

--VOTE INFO START—

<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
Final Fantasy IX
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>

<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
Final Fantasy VI
Vagrant Story
Valkyria Profile
Dragon Quest V
Bloodborne
Persona 5
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
Dragon Quest VII
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>

<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Final Fantasy Tactics
Legend of Hero: Ao no Kiseki
Final Fantasy VII
Rune Factory 3
Final Fantasy XII
Valkyrie Chronicles 3
Pokemon Emerald
Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir
Dragon Quest IV
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
</HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>

--VOTE INFO END--

It is time like this that make me realize how much I'm lacking in RPG education. Still have so much to go.

MoonFrog · Jul 7, 2018

Full Points

1. Chrono Trigger - Chrono Trigger is the epitome of the quintessential JRPG in my opinion. The blood of Dragon Quest is strong in it: Its sweeping time-traveling narrative, beyond just capturing the imagination itself, provides a great overarching structure for and the opportunity for great variety among its vignettes. The pacing is quick, yet the stories feel complete. The time-traveling layers the exploration of the world, which, with the pacing, allows for simple, satisfying, and quick progress on the individual layers of the map. Chrono Trigger's cast and, importantly, that cast in player action is incredibly endearing. It is colorful and varied with iconic art. The kernels of their stories capture the imagination—Frog and Magus particularly capture mine—and the stories of the various layers of the world satisfyingly feed into the characters. Their ability sets are simple, full of personality, and distinct from each other and the battle system allows for satisfying synergy between them. Chrono Trigger is satisfying and fun to play and this is synergistic with the strength of its cast to great effect. Aesthetically, Chrono Trigger is immensely satisfying to me. It is close to Dragon Quest in key respects, e.g. obviously the Toriyama art but also, for example the gurgling humanity given to the monster hordes, but also is more conceptually united on its various layers. Moreover, Mitsuda and Uematsu are my favorite composers in classic gaming and Chrono Trigger's score is definitely a key reason why I feel this way.

2. Fire Emblem Path of Radiance - I've played Path of Radiance countless times. I love the dedication with which it approaches a very simple, cliche Fire Emblem story about reclaiming and liberating your home from an evil king who is in communion with demonic forces. The attention given to the world, the war effort, and the central cast is a series high for Fire Emblem. Ike is the greatest lord in Fire Emblem history, distinct from the others and better characterized. The supporting cast around him is also extremely strong; Soren in particular stands out to me. As for the scenario: fleeing Crimea, courting Begnion, and then the campaign to reconquer Crimea were all competently told with respect to the movement of armies, political maneuvering, social and personal drama. It isn't fiendishly complicated or anything, it is just plain competent, well thought-out, and well-executed. There are also standout events, e.g. the duel between Ike and the Black Knight, which is epic service to Ike and his personal story that is one of the most successfully dramatic moments in the whole series. Generally, the map design is strong and I also enjoy the closer-to-life scale of the maps.

3. Dragon Quest IV - Dragon Quest IV's core narrative innovation is a chapter structure to put the player in the perspective of the various core characters, each in turn. By adapting the perspective of a series of characters that would usually be only seen from the perspective of the protagonist, the player adopts their aims, their situations, and their journeys, which is a clever and fulfilling way to establish them as characters, give them a purpose and stake in the overarching story, and connect them to the player with limited text. It also allows for great variety in scenarios, as, for example, the game takes on the perspective of Torneko Taloon, a merchant, a character type usually relegated to a bit role. Moreover, the chapter structure provides a clever means to fill out the world map and elevate the local stories through making them the core stories of their respective chapters, playing to Dragon Quest's strength in telling localized stories. In the final chapter, Dragon Quest IV presents a melodramatic—albeit understated—rendition of the classic Dragon Quest hero's tale as the chosen few save humankind from an apocalypse born of its own sins. This is, again, a narrative technique that serves to flesh out the cast of characters, in this case the antagonist, whose sympathetic evil deeds lead to his own self-destruction, fulfilling a tragedy. As to the gameplay, Dragon Quest IV is a well-balanced, satisfying RPG with great party play. The characters are distinct in both abilities and narrative content and the battles are well-tuned to their abilities. As with Chrono Trigger, this results in a delightful synergy.

4. Dragon Quest V - Dragon Quest V tells a generational story spanning three generations of a family as it rises to face its dark fate, falls to it, and, ultimately, rises again to overcome it. The story is tightly conveyed and constructed with a series of parallels, creating the sense of impending fate to the tragedies as well as reinforcing the restoration of the heroic arcs. Fates are closely echoed across generations. Losses in one tragic arc are directly answered by the restorations of the heroic arcs. The children are, in both cases, although on different terms, the salvation of their parents. Dragon Quest V is also the story of the life of its protagonist, showing his childhood, coming of age, and adulthood and the tales it tells fit each of these portions of his life, starting with the whimsical adventures of his child, proceeding through his trials of manhood, and ending with stories of family, the thematic heart of the narrative. As to that thematic heart, Dragon Quest V is a story of love and yearning for each other against the will of the dark lord who sees in them the seeds of his bane, the legendary hero. Fittingly, there are periods of lonesomeness and periods of togetherness, both accentuated by party chat, a way to reach out to the protagonist's companions when he has them. Dragon Quest V disconnects the protagonist and the hero, structurally subordinating the hero narrative to the family narrative, using the former as the means of final resolution to the latter. In doing so, it revolutionizes what and who Dragon Quest can be about, much like Dragon Quest IV before it. Dragon Quest V is also ruthlessly paced and to the point, with almost every adventure building into the overarching narrative quite directly. This is somewhat odd for the series, which traditionally has its strength in its episodic and localized storytelling, but plays to the strength the game has in its central narrative. As to gameplay, I feel the monster taming element is somewhat of a mixed bag, with mechanical promise left somewhat unrealized. It also is overridden, in my opinion, by the family cast, when you have them, but at the same time underlies the ability of the game, mentioned above, to perform that switch between periods of lonesomeness and togetherness.

5. Shin Megami Tensei II - The core premise and setting are strong and well realized. Shin Megami Tensei II presents a Tokyo sometime after the neutral ending of Shin Megami Tensei where the law faction has "won" and struggles to achieve the Millennium Kingdom in Tokyo. The narrative shows you their world from multiple perspectives as you progress from a brawler in the slums to a temple knight to a wanderer of the underworld and revolutionary. It focuses on the extreme vision of the Messians and their tenuous grasp on the world, which gives rise to their corruption—their twisted efforts to force their salvation—and the human costs of these efforts. Moreover, this all plays into a perverse false-but-true rendition of the "chosen one" story prevalent in RPG, as the protagonist is the fruit of their corruption and his fellow travelers are its victims. There is a burden of guilt and false destiny discharged in fulfilling an "alternate" hero's destiny. This presents a strong idea of the Shin Megami Tensei "law" faction. Firstly, it presents the attempts at salvation as being a seed of exclusion and deletion of wide swathes of humankind. Secondly, it presents the controlling will as overbearing and unable or unwilling to allow human freedom, seeing it as a threat to its ends. Thirdly, it presents setting oneself up as the controlling will as an act of supreme arrogance and jealousy. Taking these things together, it presents pursuing "law" as resulting in hypocrisy as it creates and tramples on weak masses in its effort to create a peaceful paradise for said weak masses. This hypocrisy is further underlined by the final story arc, dealing with horrifically violent jealousy. Like Shin Megami Tensei before it, the game is quite epic and full of larger-than-life events that are largely fully realized. I think the narrative suffers somewhat after the temple knight arc as the focus becomes much looser but as it comes to the penultimate climax in the center building it all really comes together beautifully. I also think the game takes somewhat too long to get from said climax to the end but it goes to the right places and is quite satisfying in that regard.

6. Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne - Nocturne is a reset of mainline Shin Megami Tensei, being an alternate Shin Megami Tensei rather than a continuation from Shin Megami Tensei II. It is, however, a unique retread of the basic story of Shin Megami Tensei with a different apocalypse, a unique atmosphere, and a reset of the faction system despite retaining the premise that those close to you will diverge in their ambitions as they all try to make a new world to replace the broken remains of the old world. Nocturne has a more surreal vision of post-apocalyptic Tokyo that complements the traditional madness of Shin Megami Tensei factions well. The world is the inside of a sphere; there are only a select few humans; the rules of the world are completely divorced from ours; the manikins are misshapen and have that twitch; the visual and audio direction is surrealist; etc. Those around you seemingly lose their minds becoming mirrors to the demented dreamscape they inhabit and their terrifyingly maddened leaps do not seem tenuous at all but rather horrifyingly natural. Beyond this, Nocturne is a gameplay revolution as well. Press Turn is immensely rewarding and engaging, as is raising demons. Like other Shin Megami Tensei games, the early game is replete with thrilling boss battles, even if the tension tapers off by the end-game.

7. Persona 5 – Aesthetically, Persona 5 is rock-solid with an amazing score, fantastic character portraits, and superb artistic design. This bleeds into the whole experience creating a seductive game environment and making the game experience engaging and viscerally satisfying. Moreover, there is great synergy between the aesthetic, the core premise, and the gameplay. The characters look like phantom thieves, the environments are classic heist sites, and the characters play like phantom thieves, such as with the stealth system. Narratively, Persona 5 has its strengths and its failings. The basic pulpy premise—a group of teens bans together to forcibly make the furiously corrupt repent and admit their evil before turning on the complacency of the masses, which sustains this cancer—is cathartic and satisfying in Trump's America. This is, however, undercut by, say, casual homophobia, which, while less prevalent than in Persona 4, isn't something Persona 5 even flirts with addressing, as Persona 4 does, even if it pulls back from actually doing such. Similarly, the game goes from exploring Ann's struggles with objectification and casting her in a mature light to reveling in her objectification. These are sour, hypocritical notes. Moreover, I think Akechi fails to live up to his promise of actually presenting an alternate moral view on the questionable activity of "stealing hearts," and, in pulling back like this, not only does Akechi fail to be a good character, but it is made clear the game is being soft on the main cast and the mask is displaced somewhat, reminding the player that pulp is inherently masturbatory. As to gameplay, Persona 5 is a great dungeon crawler and clearly the best in this regard among the Hashino Personas. The dungeons are meaty and the resource management game, which interacts with the simulation, is engaging. The combat is dynamic and exciting, with better party play than previous entries thanks to, for example, the return of demon conversation and the baton pass system. It is preserved against an inherent fast decay by quick recycling of enemy sets. Moreover, the characters are distinct and, thanks to the social simulation, easy to get invested in. As to that social simulation, I feel Persona 5 has some very strong characters and some misses, but is generally the most even game among the Hashino Persona across the social link characters. I don't think Tokyo is as well-realized as Inaba and Persona 5 comes across as somewhat over the high school setting, but it is still quite strong. Ultimately, I think Persona 5 is a super-stylish, mostly enjoyable, despite some clear areas of disappointment, pulpy romp with an engaging cast brought to bear in a satisfying Megami Tensei dungeon crawler. I think it is a great last hurrah for Hashino Persona. (Makoto also has a special waifu-shaped place in my heart :P.)

8. Persona 4 - Pop soundtrack; 'anime' high school simulation; small town murder mystery; dungeon-crawling JRPG. Only the latter two things were obviously appealing to me, yet…with Persona 4, the pop soundtrack completely stole my heart and I'm not at all ashamed to admit it. So did the high school simulation despite all the horrible moments replete with unaddressed homophobia, conveniently out-sourced-to-the-real-victim fat-hatred, and over-the-top perversion. Inaba was immensely appealing to me, having grown up in a small town, and the cast felt 'real'--rather mundane and relate-able, to be honest--underneath the 'anime' exterior. The Dojimas and the friend group sucked me in. I romanced a teenage idol. I defeated an evil fog machine and its creator. And I had a really good time: it was a game that looked like it'd be just style over substance--it is incredibly stylish--but it had a heart.

9. Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War - This game has strong narrative ambitions and fully executes a generational story complete with the tragedy of the first generation and the triumph of the second generation. The game is also ambitious with its maps, attempting to illustrate full military campaigns through having a series of objectives on each map as well as a series of narrative events. It works to tie what would normally be disparate events on disparate maps in a Fire Emblem together and show, not tell, the flow of the war. It does have its drawbacks--such as when you lose countless turns to crossing a mountain range--but it is a bold and exciting idea that is mostly well executed.

10. Shin Megami Tensei – Shin Megami Tensei has a sweeping narrative and an intriguing setting, both of which are fully realized: it takes Tokyo through three apocalypses, depicting how the people and city weather them, bring them about, and seek for a new apocalypse and a new birth. All of this is brought close to the protagonist through the stories of his friends and how they come to different conclusions and thus ultimately come into conflict. Shin Megami Tensei is the epitome of its series, with most games therein reimagining, twisting, and retelling its core ideas. Shin Megami Tensei is the quintessential Shin Megami Tensei experience and an all-time classic.

Hononorable Mentions (alphabetical)

Dragon Quest VII - Dragon Quest VII is the epitome of the series-of-vignettes structure, for which Dragon Quest is known. The overarching narrative is obscured in mystery and it leaves the world itself left in a mysterious state. It is this second mystery that primarily ties the vignettes together rather than the former: Dragon Quest VII is driven by exploration before a hero's narrative. That exploration is, in turn, structured such as to fit and be exploitable by a sequence of vignettes, with both the self-contained islands and the time traveling. As to the vignettes themselves, they offer Dragon Quest the opportunity to tell stories other than hero's tales about people other than heroes and their lands. Augmented by the time traveling in Dragon Quest VII, this allows for stories that have different shapes and conclusions from those easily fitting a transient RPG protagonist. Dragon Quest VII is replete with well-crafted and relatively unique stories for the genre, including ones that interact with, inform, and complete each other. The core cast is perhaps too occluded for large swathes of the game and there are pacing issues, particularly surrounding the class system.

Dragon Quest VIII - Dragon Quest VIII translated SNES/PSX-era JRPG into the PS2 era and it started my love of Dragon Quest. It has been supplanted by earlier Dragon Quests in my estimations as I've worked my way through the rest of the series, but between the PS2 and 3DS releases, it has been both the start and the end of that initial journey through the series. And it is great. The production values it managed to achieve while still retaining a classic JRPG structure captured my imagination and my heart. The strong central vignettes surrounding the main cast and the great presentation of those characters kept me greatly invested in my party and our adventures. I also just loved the 'classic' feel of it all, from the fairy tale love story between the guardsman and the princess and the curse that turned her into a horse and the king into a goblin, to the cute and goofy monsters and the quaint menu-driven nature of the game. I loved the largely unquestioned position of religiosity in the game (even if the church was excoriated), the castles and castle-towns, and the wide green feels. It just all spoke to me as a warm, comfortable, 'classic' tale.

Etrian Odyssey IV – Etrian Odyssey IV is a great dungeon crawler with engaging character growth and development and great party-play in battles. The mapping conceit of the franchise is also, simply put, a wonderful thing.

Final Fantasy VII - After Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, this was the first RPG, and one of the first games, that I played to completion. I played it over the course of three or four years and it had captured my imagination long before I beat it and that is the foundation of my continued obsession with JRPGs. Final Fantasy VII has a unique vision, a strange isolate between Final Fantasy VI's steampunk and the more "preppy" modern fantasy aesthetic that dominates post Final Fantasy VIII Final Fantasy: Final Fantasy VII presents a facsimile of the post-World War II war, focused on triumphant corporate greed running rampant over the people of the world and the environment. It focuses on the poor, the oppressed, the disgruntled, and the disenfranchised beaten down like the earth itself. It has a modern steam-punk aesthetic, with a strong emphasis on "punk." The intensity of this aesthetic is uneven across the game, but at its heights it is quite strong. The melodrama around Sephiroth and Cloud has its incredibly iconic moments, such as the burning of Nibelheim and the fall of Sephiroth, but I'm personally unsure of certain of the core twists. Final Fantasy VII's soundtrack is probably that which I've listened to the most and to this day it enchants me.

Final Fantasy X - This game was not the next generation JRPG I wanted--that would be Dragon Quest VIII--but it was incredibly good at doing what it did. Final Fantasy had been on the arc towards greater world-building throughout the life of the original PlayStation, starting with the fully realized Midgar and going through the attempts to build cohesive worlds with various distinct polities in Final Fantasy VIII and IX. Final Fantasy X was the epitome of that trend. Spira, its customs and cultures, and, in particular, the summoner's pilgrimage were well-thought out, situated, and developed. It was a game that had a concise story with a very purposeful journey in a small world and it achieved its vision wonderfully. It wasn't the translation of the wide-open maps and far-ranging adventures of SNES and PSX JRPGs into PS2 production values that I wanted, but it convinced me of the viability of its alternate vision.

Final Fantasy Tactics - The game that made me fall in love with the SRPG genre as a child. I never beat it, but I played it multiple times, reaching the final levels once. Final Fantasy Tactics' core strength is its world, full to the brim with corruption and betrayal, which takes various shapes, some of them personal. It is also fun to use the full array of Final Fantasy classes in a strategy setting. Ultimately, I prefer the simplicity and the character-oriented approach of Fire Emblem, but the approach here works too and I would love a Fire Emblem-style game with a Matsuno story.

Super Mario RPG – I got to the boss of this game as a child and have never actually beaten it but it was one of the first RPGs I played and I was overjoyed to interact with the Mushroom Kingdom on this level. The action-prompt combat is great. The sound design and music are great. As are the visuals. Recruitable Bowser is beyond great.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind - This was my first open-world game and my most magical uniquely open-world experience. Perhaps it is because I didn't play the game well but my character was an itinerant Argonian struggling to survive (by repeatedly stealing glass weapons from one particular barrel :P) and make his way through the richly detailed and deadly island of Vvardenfell. Moreover, I was an Argonian reincarnation of a Dark Elf hero :P. Oblivion improved quality of life seemingly at the expense of a beating heart. I like that game (a lot) but its world-building and story were of much weaker stuff than Morrowind had.

Xenogears - This game is mauled by its unfinished state but the scope and the ambition of the title as well as the mecha-fantasy setting are superb and what it does manage to fully achieve is as well. Phenomenal soundtrack.

Ys I&II – These games—two halves to one whole—are extremely well-paced and keep your character constantly in the action and constantly gaining levels, equipment, and abilities. The "bump" combat is ingenuous in its simplicity, focusing in on the key element of any action game: movement. The bosses of the first game are, in particular, great showpieces of just what can be done with only movement. The leveling curve is better in the second game and a more varied environment, but I prefer the bosses of the first game and the "switch" in the game with the Dharm tower. The music is also a highlight of these games and fits the action.

--VOTE INFO START—

<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
Dragon Quest IV
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>

<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
Chrono Trigger
Fire Emblem Path of Radiance
Dragon Quest V
Shin Megami Tensei II
Persona 5
Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne
Persona 4
Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War
Shin Megami Tesnei
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>

<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Dragon Quest VII
Dragon Quest VIII
Etrian Odyssey IV
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy X
FInal Fantasy Tactics
Super Mario RPG
The Elder Scrolls III Morrowind
Xenogears
Ys I & II
</HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>

--VOTE INFO END--

Filipus · Jul 7, 2018

Really excited for this. There is a long list of RPGs I still have to try and reading people's opinions on why they are great always pumps me up.

My only dislike for these lists is that nostalgia many times surpasses quality. Some games just don't hold up in terms of mechanics. But I'm a culpit too so.. o well.

More_Badass · Jul 7, 2018

What is the line for "RPG" here? Can Deus Ex or System Shock 2 or Prey (ie immersive sims) be considered? What about STALKER? Or roguelikes like Dwarf Fortress or NetHack?

Apenheul · Jul 7, 2018

--VOTE INFO START—

<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
Xenoblade Chronicles
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>

<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
The World Ends With You
Dark Souls
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Etrian Odyssey IV
Chrono Trigger
Radiant Historia
Planescape Torment
Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>

<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Super Mario RPG
Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Final Fantasy Tactics
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey
Persona 4 Golden
Skies of Arcadia Legends
</HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>

--VOTE INFO END--

1. Xenoblade Chronicles

This game came out at a time when handhelds had well overtaken consoles as go-to systems for RPGs. I think there were a couple of seconds of gameplay in some Wii demo-reel and was called Monado and I personally thought it looked quite bad. It wasn't until a poster named Bebpo posted impressions of the Japanese version, he said it had a huge amount of content and a huge world to explore, but I remained sceptical. Bebpo posted more and more impressions, each one looking better than the previous, so when it was announced for a European release I was excited to try it. Even though expectations were high I think Xenoblade Chronicles easily met or exceeded them; the world building, vast maps to explore, music, customizability and huge amount of quests left a great impression on me. Maybe XC2 is a tad better than this game all in all, but just like with BotW there is only one time you can discover such a new franchise for the first time.

2. The World Ends With You

I'm personally not a big Square-Enix fan, never was in fact, however I always kept an eye on their releases because I felt that at least they were willing to shake up their core franchises. But remember that around this time SE was mostly just porting older games to handhelds, and their new released spin-offs were quite mediocre most of the time. However, TWEWY is probably one of the most unique games SE has ever created and not only presented a fresh take on the JRPG genre but also took great risks in the area of controls. In TWEWY you had to control two characters at once, one of the top screen using buttons and one on the bottom screen using the stylus, which took a little while getting used to but worked so well. A fun little detail is that I visit Tokyo for work quite often and that I learned a couple of things about the city through this game. Now I'm really looking forward to the Final Remix version that's coming out later this year on Switch.

3. Dark Souls

I picked Dark Souls instead of Bloodborne or Dark Souls 3 because I think it still has the best world building and level design out of all recent From Software games. Even after almost 7 years I still discover new things in this game, I still connect pieces of lore and still like to try different builds. For me it rivals Ocarina of Time in how gameplay and narrative can feel so 'deep' and there's a sense of culture that is rarely experienced in video games. It's also my most repurchased game and I'm looking forward to playing this on the go when the Switch version eventually releases.

4. Xenoblade Chronicles X

Just like many of my favorite games XBX is on one hand incredibly flawed yet on the other hand so insanely good in key areas that I can easily overlook those flaws and appreciate that which XBX does best: exploration and Skell customization. Out of all Xenoblade games X does exploration best, not only is the world incredibly large and varied but there are also a lot of hidden places to discover. The feeling when you get the flight module for your Skell..

5. Shin Megami Tensei IV

Probably my favorite SMT related game because it nails the atmosphere (with humanity pulling back underground in apocalyptic Tokyo's metro stations), has the second best battle system in the series (IMO), moderate difficulty, and great places to explore. It took me 62 hours to finish the game with a neutral ending.

6. Etrian Odyssey IV

I had already played a couple of EO games before but it wasn't until IV that the series really started to click with me. For the longest time I was always insecure about my build choices, until I didn't strive to create the most optimal party from the get-go anymore and just started experimenting. If I made a mistake by allocating skill points into a redundant skill I'd just rest the characters, or even retire them to create a new build from scratch. I guess this game taught me to find the fun in exploration and experimentation again, rather than trying to finish a game as fast as possible in order to move on to the next game. So now I love the Etrian Odyssey series.

Kickmaster Kim · Jul 7, 2018

I wish I got to play Breath of the Wild and more Castlevania games before this thread was made. I also have never played a Strategy-RPG and have never played a WRPG either.

Luminaire · Jul 7, 2018

More_Badass said:
What is the line for "RPG" here? Can Deus Ex or System Shock 2 or Prey (ie immersive sims) be considered? What about STALKER?

5. All sub-genres of RPGs are eligible for voting.
Votes can be for any RPG released on any system (or PC) at any point in time prior to the time you post your list. This list does not make any distinction between WRPGs and JRPGs, and you can vote for either on your list. You are also free to vote for traditional turn-based RPGs, action RPGs, strategy/tactical RPGs, and other hybrid games. I am not going to make the call on what is or isn't an RPG unless you are making outrageous choices like Super Mario Odyssey or FIFA 2018. Some people consider games like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Heroes of Might and Magic 3 to fit under the RPG umbrella, while others don't. You make the call. If your opinion is unique, the game simply won't appear on the final list.

Deus Ex made last years list on the other site. Not sure about SS2. But if you consider something to have have strong enough elements to be considered an rpg, but all means vote for it!

sir_crocodile · Jul 7, 2018

1) Breath of Fire 3
BOF3 has one of my favourite video game stories ever. Whenever I replay it I find myself amazed at how well crafted the plot and characters were, even while if you look at the plot on a sheet it has all the hallmarks of generic fantasy.

Its biggest strength is really having well written characters who are easy to like, and the animators really helped with some absolutely charming animations (in battle, idle and special case) for them. The battle animation with Ryu timidly waving his sword with his eyes closed changing to a new animation when he has to protect Nina was particularly well thought out, and subtly implemented.

The game doesn't make any big deal about this, it just happens in battles that come after this event. A small thing, but Breath Of Fire III excels at doing these kinds of things, and this - as well as the nature of the story - really fleshes out the characters, and kept me interested in a game with... rather horrible random encounter rates and a rather questionable design decision (desert of death).

Then there's Rei, who starts off as a seemingly devil-may-care orphaned teenager who is barely making ends meet stealing bits and bobs. When he finds the main character of BOF3 being attacked by wolves, he rescues him and pretty much adopts him, much like he did with his friend Teepo. Later in the game the three are broken up, all assuming the others dead. When the main character eventually finds Rei again, it turns out Rei has been targeting the organisation who attacked them. Rei is only just keeping it together at this point, his usual happy go lucky act barely shielding the despair within, and finds it the height of irony that the main character killed the people chiefly responsible years earlier, and his actions were in vain - there's once again a great special-case animation used here for this. He's a fantastic character in a fantastic game, and he's my fave rpg character ever.

Even the bad guys are great, like Balio & Sunder, evil unicorns who endlessly chase the protagonist in the early part of the game to sell him off. Another little touch is used to flesh them out - a creepy horse bray of a laugh that plays in their cutscenes, one of the very rare voice samples to play outside of battle, but beautifully used.

And all of this happens with the backdrop of a superb Jazz influenced BGM by Yoshino Aoki & Akari Kaida that is my favourite JRPG BGM ever.

2) Shining Force 3

I love this because it hits every point I want from an SPRG:

-fun story
-all characters are "story" based with no custom characters, which for me makes them far more relatable
-level ups that make sense and don't rely on garbage RNG ( Garosh sadly excepted)
-great classes and weapons, with the same character playing differently depending on which weapon type you assign them
-the battles system itself is well made with different weapon vulnerabilities, terrain advantage, a friendship system, cool looking specials, great cutoffs to one on one 3d battles.
-some great battle scenarios. I worked so long to save every refugee in the train junction battle in S1.
-explorable towns
-fun secrets
-tombs. I love these, they're almost like a minigame with even more strategy - you have a decision to make as to whether to split some characters off to get the treasure, which makes the main fight more satisfying as you have to make an assessment as to who you can spare for however long the tomb takes to clear without losing the level. And you have to work out whether those characters can even catch the thieves to make them spit it out(your characters cannot unlock the treasure chests so you must wait for the thieves to get them first), AND that they won't kill them before they drop every item (thieves will drop one item per attack, even if a killing blow is launched).

And this doesn't even get into the cool ways in which the three scenarios work together, as different decisions in earlier games will result in changes in later scenarios, and parts of the games take place at the same time, letting you see the same situation from a different point of view (I was shocked the first time I saw Synbios chatting away!). Kinda obvious as my highest SRPG pick, but I consider this the greatest SRPG ever. Three games connected together to tell a grand story, with saves migratable between the three. The most fun I've ever had in an srpg - the perfect blend of a great story and a great battle system.

3) Panzer Dragoon Saga
Fully voiced Saturn game - even the npc's! - with an amazing battle system, which sees you with simply two characters - edge and his dragon - throughout the entire game. Battles are never boring though, as you constantly shift position to attempt to keep advantage. Often the areas that do the most damage to the enemies are also those that they can execute their most powerful attacks from, giving a great risk/reward feeling. I often wonder whether this or Grandia has the best JRPG battle system ever conceived.

4) Chrono Trigger
Great story, incredible music (At the End of Time is the greatest gaming BGM ever, Yasunori Mitsuda is a genius), a fun battle system that takes enemy position into account when attacking, and best of all, one of the first - and easily the best - New Game+, which lets you complete the game in lots of different ways. Does so many innovative things RPG's for the past twenty years could have done with aping but for some bizarre reason it hardly ever happens, though at least on-screen enemies is starting to become a thing now.

5) Grandia
Has an innovative battle system that actually had me looking forward to encounters, where you can interrupt enemy attacks. The feeling of judging turn order well and totally shutting out the enemy with well timed counters is very fun. Overall story is a very fun tale of derring-do adventure with very likeable protagonists.

6) Dragon Quest V
DQV has the best JRPG story ever. Play this. Preferably on PS2 (fan translation available).

7) Vandal Hearts
super fun srpg with big, chunky, sprites full of blood and super quick battles due to the exaggerated rock/paper/scissors weapon types, which makes tactics all the more important. It's fantastic how battles can go very wrong very quickly with one bad turn.

It also has the most innovative battles scenarios of any SRPG I have ever played. One fight may have you on a train where the carriages break off every turn with anyone on them dying, forcing you to not turtle. The next may have zombie villagers you are not allowed to hurt as they are being controlled...but who attack you, and thanks to all physical attacks being cancelled, means your character is guaranteed to auto kill the villager, making you have to think long and hard about character placement to avoid this.

8) Story of Thor (aka Beyond Oasis)
Not only is this a great action RPG, for me it is also the best mega drive game ever. It's very weird to play an RPG with such an arcadey feel, with the main character having various moves you can pull off almost like a fighting game. The Elemental abilities are well realised for both fighting and puzzle solving, and the dungeons and enemies very fun to battle through.

9) Half Minute Hero
Story of Thor may have an arcadey feel, but HMH actually feels like an answer to the question "what if we made an RPG that played like an arcade game". Each level is a battle to defeat the demon king with 30 seconds on the clock, with various methods of lengthening that (though not forever). Incredibly imaginative game, and was my personal game of the generation for the PS3/X360/Wii/DS/PSP generation.

--VOTE INFO START—

<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
Breath of Fire 3
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>

<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
Shining Force 3 Scenario 1-3
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Chrono Trigger
Grandia
Dragon Quest V
Vandal Hearts
Story of Thor (aka Beyond Oasis)
Half Minute Hero
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>

--VOTE INFO END--

Deleted member 419 · Jul 7, 2018

Looking forward to reading the write-ups this year, always one of my favorite threads!

MoonFrog What were the changes from last go-around?

sir_crocodile I was about to mention that the ballot should be separate from the body text but I see you've already edited it! Great write-ups.

MoonFrog · Jul 7, 2018

FiveSide said:
Looking forward to reading the write-ups this year, always one of my favorite threads!

MoonFrog What were the changes from last go-around?

sir_crocodile I was about to mention that the ballot should be separate from the body text but I see you've already edited it! Great write-ups.

Not too many. The big changes are the addition of Shin Megami Tensei and Shin Megami Tensei II, which put some pressure on my honorable mentions. Also, DQIV and V moved up in my top 10, but the order of the top 10 isn't too important :P.

Other than that, I ended up rewriting most of them. Really, I need to replay Chrono Trigger again at this point. I've played it and FE PoR many times but not in several years so it is going off memory of why they were special to me rather than fresh appreciation.

As to the honorable mentions, well, I was working on them up until I noticed this thread and just sort of went with what I had :P. That's where there are two casualties. Iirc they are Final Fantasy VI and Fire Emblem Binding Blade. IDK. I was pretty sure the top 10 and a couple past that had to make the list but then I had a bunch more floating around that I wanted to make the list but not all of which could fit.

I was caught between a) games that were/are important to me, b) games I don't think will get many points but should get them, and c) how to deal with multiplying representatives of certain franchises. All of this seasoned by mostly not having played these games for a while, often-times a long while.

As to a), I think of games like KotOR, which were huge for me at a certain point but which I don't think about very much anymore and don't really "connect" to any of the games I am thinking about currently. Another example would be something like Oblivion, into which I put a lot of time and from which I got a lot but...at the end of the day my experience with Morrowind was more magical even if (or perhaps because, in part) it was shorter and I played it less proficiently. DQVIII is another title that I feel it is weird to leave off but was thinking might not make it (especially considering b).

As to b), well, it sort of goes with c), after a certain point do I ignore repeating franchises to give a point to a more starved game/franchise. I'll perhaps do this to some extent.

As to c), the way I go about playing RPGs brings about a lot of repeating franchises and honestly I don't want to leave them off just for that reason even if it probably gets a little boring and looks incredibly narrow. It just happens my playing experience is pretty narrow, at the end of the day, and I can't really run from that and be honest :P.

...

What'd you change in yours?

Edit: I see at least Vampire and D:OS2 are probably new :).

Deleted member 3208 · Jul 7, 2018

--VOTE INFO START—

<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
Final Fantasy VI
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>

<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
Persona 3 Portable
Baldur's Gate 2
Mass Effect
Final Fantasy V
Witcher 3
Fallout New Vegas
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II
Etrian Odyssey III
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Chrono Trigger
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>

<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Radiant Historia
Trails in the Sky
Persona 4
Undertale
Dark Souls 3
Shadowrun Dragonfall
Dragon Age Origins
Muramasa The Demon Blade
Disgaea 4
Tales of Berseria
</HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>

--VOTE INFO END--

Let's start with Final Fantasy VI

I have to admit that I played for the first time FFVI in PC instead of SNES or GBA. Still, despite the obvious graphical issues of this port, I loved the game thanks to its story, characters and their development. Of course, we also have Kefka which is an excellent villain and one of the few who actually accomplish their goal. While the party is big and there are many characters, most of them get their own arc and development, which is something I'm always looking for in RPGs. And thankfully, their stories are interesting and you actually care for them. The soundtrack is also awesome, with some great pieces like The Decisive Battle, Terra's theme or Dancing Mad. It is still a masterpiece. Oh, and don't forget you can supplex a train.

From the Full Point games

Persona 3 Portable: while I played FES and liked it, Portable changed the status of Persona 3 from great to awesome and it was all thanks to the Female Protagonist. While the Male Protagonist route was good, it had some bad social links which were fixed in the FeMC route. Now you could interact more with the male characters of your party and, wow, it really helped develop them more. Junpei actually becomes your bro, you can learn that Shinji has a hidden side that he doesn't like to show, Yukari is more likeable and Fuuka actually learns to cook. And let's not forget that Shinji made a dinner for all the members of SEES. Somehow, I feel that they were a better group and real friends when the FeMC was the leader instead of the MC. Ignoring the social links, Portable also fixed some issues FES had like not being able to control your other party members (I didn't mind that though) and added music exclusive to the FeMC route.That said, Wiping all Out is good, but Mass Destruction will always be my favorite battle theme. Danger Zone is also legit, and the opening is awesome too. But overall, I love Persona 3 since you could relate with the party members. Junpei was insecure at first and disliked the protagonist before accepting him/her was a better leader than him. His development as a character is great. Or Yukari too. Or Aigis, learning how be more human. So far, neither Persona 4 or 5 has topped Persona 3 in that regard.
Lastly, another reason I loved Portable was because of the FeMC. Yes, like the MC, she is a silent protagonist, but the reply options showed she was more open and more friendly to her teammates. Plus, considering how dark the story can get, the FeMC reply options still have some hopeful tone in them, unlike the MC.

Final Fantasy V: this game doesn't excel in story, but gameplay wise, it is awesome. And while the story isn't extraordinary, it is simple and entertaining. Plus the party members are all likeable, like our idiot ~~Butz~~ Bartz, our pirate captain Faris or the amnesiac old man Garuz. And let's not forget the turtle and our beloved rival, Gilgamesh. But the important aspect of FFV is the Jobs system. As you progress with the story, you unlock more and more jobs, each with their own set of skills and abilities. Unless you are dead set in using the same jobs, each time you replay the game will be different thanks to this. The jobs system also open different strategies you can use for finish the game. If it had a good story and more character development, it could have gotten my highlight vote, but still, I hold it in high regard to give it Full Points. And let's not forget the soundtrack, which has some good pieces like Clash on the Big Bridge, The Decisive Battle, The Fierce Battle.

Etrian Odyssey III: not much to be said about this. Like any dungeon crawler, story isn't the most important aspect. That said, it is actually quite interesting while you travel through the labyrinth. But for me, what holds this game in high regard are the unconventional classes (Prince/Princess as a healer for example), the introduction of dual classes, the different endings giving you more replay value and the boat missions. Dungeons are well designed with good placed traps, FOEs are still as dangerous as ever and the soundtrack is still superb. Boss theme, First Stratum, Fifth Stratum, and of course, End of the Raging Waves. This last track is so awesome it has been remixed for EO4, 5 and Mystery Dungeon.

Baldur's Gate II: my favorite WRPG of all times. The first Baldur's Gate was great, but BG2 manages to not only top it, but be one of the most well regarded CRPG of all times. For me, this will always be Bioware Magnum Opus and for good reason: the game is big and the quality never drops. You have an awesome villain with Jon Irenicus with such an awesome voice, strongholds for each class, a memorable cast of characters and interesting quest lines. And the main story is also superb. Thankfully, Throne of Bhaal keeps the quality and gives a proper ending to Main Character story.

Mass Effect: another excellent RPG from Bioware. Mass Effect has the weakest gameplay mechanics of the entire trilogy, but storywise, neither ME2 nor 3 managed to top it. You are thrown into that mysterious galaxy in which there are machines that are a threat to the civilization, that traitorous Turian, your ship and many planets to explore. Sadly, it lacked the polish that the two sequels had, but it doesn't detract from the experience. If anyone wants to play a sci fi game with a tight, interesting story, good character interaction or simply wants to explore the galaxy with a spaceship, Mass Effect is your game.

From the honorable games:

Radiant Historia: a hidden gem from Atlus. Indeed, Radiant Historia is a game that might not excel in gameplay but the story, characters and time travel mechanics make up for it. Stocke is an excellent main character that is never hit by the idiot ball which affects many games. Not only that, the other party members bring something interesting to the game like Rosche, Stocke's friend, Aht or Princess Eruca. Overall, this game is a must for anyone who loves RPGs.

Undertale: it was quite a surprise back when it was released how Undertale subverted many of the RPG tropes. I really wish I could say more, but it may ruin the surprise for anyone who hasn't played this game. Despite that, I can say the soundtrack is excellent and one of the best I have listened. Toby Fox did a great job by composing it and using leitmotif in many tracks of the soundtrack.

Shadowrun Dragonfall: cyberpunk is one of my favorite genres and Shadowrun did an excellent job in capturing that feel. While Returns was disappointing, the developers understood the main flaws of the original and fixed many of them here. One of the mechanics I loved about Dragonfall is that your skills play an important role in this game; there is one mission, for example, that you can avoid all combat as long as you pass the skill check and pick the right choices. Another aspect that they fixed were the party members; your crew is extremely important and if you take the time to interact with them, know them and help them, they will unlock more skills that can help you in the missions.

Trails in the Sky: this title is so underrated that if it wasn't by reading threads about this game in the other forum, I wouldn't have known it existed. Which is a shame, because Falcom did a great jobs with Trails in the Sky. Trails in the Sky as a game has some issues, like it slow combat system, but Estelle makes up for it. She is so cheerful, impulsive and endearing that anyone will root for her. On top of that, we have good and varied members like Joshua, who has a mysterious past, Agathe, a reckless fellow Bracer, Olivier, an troubadour who loves to annoy other people, Kloe, and many others. But what I like the most about Trails in the Sky is that it develops the background of the entire world, its conflicts and the many nations that exist in the world.
Also Trails in the Sky (and I'm talking about the three games of the Liberl arc), has excellent soundtracks. Some of its great pieces areSilver Will, The Fate of the Fairies or Determination of Fight.

Disgaea 4: these games aren't meant to be taken seriously, but Disgaea 4 actually develops a good story with one of the most likeable main casts in the franchise. Valvatorez, our resident vampire, is quite an intriguing main character. He is quite noble despite being a demon, is funny thanks to his sardine obsession and has an interesting storyline. Other characters that got my attention were Vulcanus and Emizel. Despite its focus on the story, NIS didn't forget the humour. The next episode previews, Axel being the butt monkey of the game, Valvatorez obsession with sardines, Fuka's denial that she is dead and a prinny, the game has personality. The gameplay continues being to grind like always until you can get OP characters, but NIS gave you incentives to level up with many challenges. Overall, Disgaea 4 is my favorite game of the entire bunch. And again, let's not forget the soundtrack with pieces like Sparkling, House of Peers, Make the Hell.

Master Chuuster · Jul 7, 2018

<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
Mass Effect 2
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>

<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
Breath of the Wild
Mass Effect 3
God of War (2018)
The Witcher 3
Persona 5
Persona 4
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Pokemon Gold/Silver
Final Fantasy 4
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>

<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Skyrim
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest
Pokemon OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire
Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Final Fantasy 15
Persona 3
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Pokemon Red/Blue
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
</HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>

The Unsent · Jul 7, 2018

--VOTE INFO START—

<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>

<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy VII
Paper Mario
Xenoblade Chronicles
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Tales of Symphonia
Chrono Trigger
Ni No Kuni, Wrath of the White Witch
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>

--VOTE INFO END--

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, The world themes are greatly diverse, the paper abilities and crystal powers are creative, the characters and story are hilarious.

Final Fantasy IX, The greatest Final Fantasy, there's a wonderful fairy tale theme, the cities like Lindblum are very impressive and it charming cartoony art style that is still enjoyable today.

Final Fantasy VII, The lifestream story is very sweet and the battles are fast paced, the game is overall very cinemacitc and filled with great set pieces.

Paper Mario, A superb game, with some great humour, a good foundation for the more eccentric sequel.

Xenoblade Chronicles, The sequels got a bit too chaotic, and the bionis and mechonis remain the most interesting of the settings. Also the music and British voice acting are awesome

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The game is overwhelming, it blows my mind thinking of how big Velen and 6 Skellige islands felt. Some of the sidequests can be unpredictable, like the cheese dungeon and what opponents you're eventually face in boxing. I don't think Wicther 3's dark medieval will ever be done as well, it feel like a Godfather moment.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, The best Star Wars blockbuster since EMB, some of the characters like HK 47 and Canderous (RIP John Cygan) were very memorable. Some of the dark side choices were hilarious. Some of the locations like Korriban and Manaan felt so alien and interesting to explore.

Tales of Symphonia, Some of Lloyd's moves like tempest feel so fun to use on the 2D battle plane. The dungeons feel a bit like Zelda with their puzzles. The two worlds make the game feel massive.

Chrono Trigger, Indeed it's a brilliant game, so full of varied worlds and a cool, seamless battle system, that I can forgive that instead of proper towns you mostly just click a house on the world map.

Ni No Kuni, Wrath of the White Witch, the art style is wonderful, the broken heart theme is sweet, the battle system feels like a nice offshoot from Pokemon, and the music overall makes it feel majestic.

Mattakuevan · Jul 7, 2018

Alright, here's mine.

FULL POINTS
Bloodborne – A common sight in the top position, and with good reason. The combat is so expertly executed that I've had issues playing other games with action-oriented gameplay since. The art direction, level design, and overall focus is sublime and worth it for everyone to experience.

Chrono Trigger - One of the more consistently above-average JRPGs out there. While it doesn't reach the highs of many others on this list it definitely has some of the best pacing. Its a lean, well designed adventure that doesn't overstay its welcome. An easy recommendation for someone's first RPG.

Demon's Souls - The atmosphere was unparalleled until Bloodborne came out. Still fantastic even now. I played this back after coming off of the disappointment that was FF13. At that point, I was so blindsided by one of my favorite series going downhill I questioned if I even wanted to play games anymore. A friend recommended Demon's Souls and the rest is history.

Final Fantasy 6 - This was my first real RPG, and even after all this time it still stands out. It set my standards pretty high for what a game should be and it is considered to be one of the defining games of the SNES era by most.

Final Fantasy 9 - My personal favorite final fantasy. It ranks as the quintessential fantasy adventure with its only flaw being the tediously slow battle system (which was fixed in the PC/PS4 release).

NieR Automata – At the risk of sounding over dramatic I honestly think its one of the most important gaming experiences I've had. The final ending (E) was one of the more powerful things I've seen in gaming and unlike its prequel, it was actually fun to play.

Persona 4 - Some of the more "real" characters I've seen in a game. While not necessarily a stunner plot-wise, its a wonderful experience with fantastic writing and dialogue between the characters.

Persona 5 - The pinnacle of the series gameplay-wise. I had a few problems with some of the content and character motivations, but its easily the most polished game Megaten has ever put out.

Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne - Nocturne represents a close-call for me. The first time I played Nocturne was post-P3. As such I was uninterested and decided the game "sucked" due to it being nothing like P3. Around 2 years later (and having played through the other PS2 SMT games) I picked it back up to give it another try. I was hooked. Nocturne demanded a certain mindset and mood from me, but it was all worth it. Few RPGs on my list can provide the pure RPG experience that Nocturne does. While Chrono Trigger provides a perfect view of what RPGs probably should be narratively/pacing-wise, Nocturne provides the opposite spectrum where pure gameplay supersedes all else. I'd recommend it, but with some hesitation due to its a-typical focus.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - I love this more than the M&L games or the Paper Mario games. It's probably nostalgia, but I absolutely adore the look and feel of everything.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
Dark Souls – With the remaster behind me I can still say that this is a classic. Wonderful gameplay and level design. Its influence over the industry is titanic: everyone knows what this is whether they want to or not.

Deus Ex Human Revolution - Fantastic game with a fantastic setting. Stealth RPGs are a rare thing so this stands out. OG is better than the directors cut imo due to the look-and-feel of everything + bug fixes.

Disgaea 5 - Best game in the series. Its a bit of an aquired taste, but if you actually like grinding there's no series that's more rewarding.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 - This game was a total surprise like its predecessor (which just narrowly didn't make this list), probably has the best turn-based battle system I've played with one small exception (armor/magic armor is bleh).

NieR - A clunky, cheesy, wonderfully deep and powerful narrative with an amazing soundtrack to get lost in. It isn't for everyone, but I love it. Playthrough A is interesting for the most part, but B-D left me wanting more.

Shadowrun (SNES) - While clunky, I feel that this game captures the 'feeling' of Shadowrun better than the newer games. Super fun, quick, and dripping with cyberpunk aesthetic.

Undertale - This was easily my GotY 2015. Fantastic writing, fantastic soundtrack, and one of the few legitimately touching games I've played in a long time.

Valkyria Chronicles - Easily my favorite SRPG. It's such a fun and hassle-free take on the genre. Can't wait for VC4.

Witcher 3 - Easily the best open world game I've played, a fantastic conclusion(?) to Geralt's story after having read the novels.

Xenoblade Chronicles - Few games I've played has handled world building with the same care as Xenoblade. Memorable characters, music, and the setting make for a modern classic.

--VOTE INFO START—

<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
Bloodborne
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>

<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
Chrono Trigger
Demon's Souls
Final Fantasy 6
Final Fantasy 9
NieR Automata
Persona 4
Persona 5
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>

<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Dark Souls
Deus Ex Human Revolution
Disgaea 5
Divinity: Original Sin 2
NieR
Shadowrun (SNES)
Undertale
Valkyria Chronicles
Witcher 3
Xenoblade Chronicles
</HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>

--VOTE INFO END--

Deleted member 419 · Jul 7, 2018

MoonFrog I have a similar problem with deciding on HMs. I actually ended up keeping my HMs the same despite floating around some other options. The way you feel about KOTOR is how I am with games like Brave Fencer Musashi, Parasite Eve, Valkyrie Profile. I haven't played these games in like ten years, and some of them I played significant amounts of but didn't beat. I'm kind of cautious of putting something like that on one of these lists, especially since space is so limited.

I tried to limit myself to one entry per franchise, at least on the main 10, and yea it's very difficult. You have these series like SMT, FF, and especially DQ where, even at the very top, there are minute differences in quality and it can seem disingenuous to close out the rest of these awesome games because one of them is slightly better. The reason I still try to keep it to 1 per franchise though is because I think it's implied to check out the other games that are well-received in that franchise anyway. For instance, if someone loved DQ5, I think it's implied that they'd go and check out the other DQs and do some research about which ones are fan favorites, etc.

Speaking of DQ, I still am waffling really hard on putting in DQ3 instead of 4 or 5, for the exact same reasons as last time. They're all so close in quality that I'm a bit inclined to just go with the overall fan favorite (i.e. DQ5). But on the other hand, I'd like to see DQ3 have a bit of awareness as well. It's a remarkably epic game given its age, and the core gameplay is still engaging. The only thing it lacks compared to DQ4 and DQ5 are the scenario/structural experiments, but even in that regard it has the connection to the first DQ game which is executed very well.

On a completely different note, another issue I had with changing the HMs was that some of the possible changes were games like Yakuza 0 and Hollow Knight, and I didn't end up having enough time to figure out if I actually consider those RPGs or not.

On mine, yea Bloodlines and D:OS2 are new. D:OS2 was a shoe-in for replacing D:OS, and Bloodlines I played recently for the RPG club and really got blindsided by how good it was. It also represents for the more horror-focused RPGs, which are terribly lacking on my list otherwise. No changes to the HMs, but they only have paragraph write-ups so, hmm, might end up swapping a couple of them out. Still mulling it over.

Psychonaut · Jul 7, 2018

--VOTE INFO START—

<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
Persona 4: Golden
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>

<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
Persona 5
Mass Effect 2
Mega Man Battle Network 3
Pokemon Black/White
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Fallout 3
Bloodborne
Kingdom Hearts 2
Chrono Trigger
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>

<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
The Yahwg
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Bioshock
Fire Emblem: Awakening
XCOM 2
</HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>

--VOTE INFO END--

1. Persona 4: Golden - For most of my list, I paid mind to what I liked rather than what I viewed as strictly "essential," but this choice is an exception. While I prefer the sequel, Persona 5 simply does not feel as essential as P4G. This game is beloved, and for very good reason. The music is fantastic, the battle system is satisfying, and the characters are among the most memorable I've ever seen in a game. The story is light-hearted despite the grim nature of its core premise, and that is a very appealing concoction. The life sim slice of the game forces players to make hard choices in terms of how they spend their time, and this is where the divergence in player experience comes from. Golden specifically introduces numerous quality of life improvements not found in the standard editions, and these tweaks frankly make it impossible for me to return to earlier releases in the series. I loved this game so much that I waited a whole year before beating the final boss because I just wasn't ready for it to end.

2. Persona 5 - Take everything I said about Persona 4, and make it better. P5 streamlines the battle system, fleshes out the social sim, rids us of procedurally-generated dungeons in favor of interesting hand-crafted palaces, and somehow tops one of the greatest soundtracks of all time. While the wider cast is an improvement over P4, the party characters are a bit weaker, and it suffers as a result. The somber tone and attitude of this game prove to be its greatest flaw, as it makes it less accessible than its predecessor.

3. Mass Effect 2 - This game got the correct balance between RPG and third-person action. If the Mass Effect series were the Goldilocks story, Mass Effect 2 is the baby bear--just right. This game has a great story and great characters, all supported by a fascinating world.

4. Mega Man Battle Network 3 - I don't know if this is actually the best or if I just have nostalgia for it because it was the first game I played in the series, but fan consensus pretty much always dictates that Battle Network 3 is the king of the castle. I can't honestly disagree. The exploration and battle systems are fantastic.

5. Pokemon Black/White - This is pick meant to represent the Pokemon series as a whole, but I honestly think it might be the most essential game in the series. Though it is by no means my favorite Pokemon game, Black has the deeper stats and mechanics that earlier games in the series lack. It is also free of silly gimmicks like Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves. The thing which makes it essential, however, is the fact that the regional Pokedex is restricted to all-new Pokemon until the story's completion, making it feel fresh and new in a way the series hadn't felt since its inception.

6. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance - I love light tactics/strategy games, but I tried to keep them out of the list unless I felt they really earned the RPG mantle. This one absolutely does. Jobs, classes, levels, quests, a hard-as-hell final battle-- this game has it all. I'm prepping a replay as we speak.

7. Fallout 3 - I absolutely hated this game the first time I played it. I love linear games and it was too damn big. Once I set aside dozens of hours, it finally stuck. SPECIAL is probably my favorite stat/customization system ever in an RPG. The rest of the bevy of stat options really let you specialize in a way that I appreciate. This is true of most Fallout, but this was also the first one that I thought was fun to play.

8. Bloodborne - I'm not as in love with Bloodborne as the rest of the world, but it is damn good. I strongly dislike the Souls series, but this game was far more fresh and accessible than any of its kin. That is what makes it essential.

9. Kingdom Hearts II - KH has its highs and (very low) lows. This is the best it has ever been.

10. Chrono Trigger - Nobody has to explain why Chrono Trigger is on their list. It's only this low because I've never actually beaten it.

This will be brief. This is where my list gets extremely Western, and even more tactical. There's also stuff that doesn't fall neatly into the "RPG" class, and as such felt uncomfortable putting in the "real" list.

The Yahwg - Some good ol' multiplayer roleplaying! Just as Gygax intended! Fun, simple, and charming.
Dragon Age: Inquisition - I love romances in RPGs, and this game does it best. I will always remember Inquisition for the lovely times it let me spend with Sera.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - Another game I haven't beaten yet, but it is exceptionally well executed from what I have played. It feels timeless.
South Park: The Stick of Truth - This one was a surprise when it came out. I'm not in love with it, but it's pretty good.
Bioshock - Here we are. I wanted to put this in my full points section, but while I love it and it is essential as a video game, it is not as essential as an RPG. The role-playing is light but it's why I was hooked.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution - The other immersive sim. Cyberpunk is good. Hacking into people's computers to read their emails about donuts or whatever is even better. I played the role of the nosiest asshole in Detroit.
Fire Emblem: Awakening - For me, like many, this was my series introduction. It's great. Yay, tactical RPGs!
XCOM 2 - I anticipate people bristling at seeing this listed as an RPG. It's a top-tier tactics game and you are given more than enough tools to do some role-playing.

Bosh · Jul 7, 2018

Top 5 Essential

Persona 4 (Golden) Highlight

Let me start off by saying I think Persona 5 is a better game. Why highlight Persona 4 then? I don't normally "feel" sad emotions from games, but when the end credits played for Persona 4 I felt incredibly sad to know I would have to leave the world, its characters and story there. I wanted to continue on, visiting each character and continuing on day by day on the calendar. If you can, play the Golden version over the PS2 version as it adds a character and extra content.

Persona 5

Its bigger, and its better in almost aspect. Some will argue they like the group better in 4 but I think the shift in group interactions was a needed change as it helped tell a different story than 4. The addition of more characters lets the player carve out a bigger path than previously. All of the games mechanics are refined, the art style and animations are incredible and I loved the story/characters. Another game I was sad to see end, but Persona 4 helped me learn to cope with that previously.

Bloodborne

I don't like replaying games. I beat them once and move on. I beat Bloodborne seven times straight, that is an achievementin its own regard.. Its one of the most satisfying games to play. The world tells a story with little words that keeps the player searching for more.

Pokemon Silver

I always want a sequal to take what made the previous game great but make it bigger and better. Thats what Pokemon Silver did, two big worlds, ton of new Pokemon and holding the charm and appeal from Gen 1 while introducing something new for the player in Gen 2.

Fallout 3

I remember playing this for the first time and completely blown away. The world was huge, with access to explore almost anything and everything. Having seen DC before it was also interesting to see a fully realized world destroyed. It brought full meaning of the consequences we can face from harsh actions. Out of Fallout 3, New Vegas and Fallout 4, Fallout 3 was the one I always felt like I needed to be a good character and rebuild the world into a better place. The game also features some incredible locations that I will not mention so you can explore them on your own :)

Final Fantasy VI

This game must of been incredible in 1994 because playing it for the first time in 2018 left me speechless when the end credits rolled. Its pacing and characters work to perfection with a great story and world to play off of. Also it has one of the most incredible scenes I have seen with pixel art.

--VOTE INFO START—

<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
Persona 4
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>

<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
Persona 5
Bloodborne
Monster Hunter World
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy XV
Dragon's Crown
Fallout 3
Pokemon Silver
Stardew Valley
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>

<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
Diablo 3
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Final Fantasy VII
Persona 3
Fallout 4
Nier Automata
Demon Souls 3
Odin Sphere
Demon Souls 3
</HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>

--VOTE INFO END--

MoonFrog · Jul 7, 2018

FiveSide said:
I tried to limit myself to one entry per franchise, at least on the main 10, and yea it's very difficult. You have these series like SMT, FF, and especially DQ where, even at the very top, there are minute differences in quality and it can seem disingenuous to close out the rest of these awesome games because one of them is slightly better. The reason I still try to keep it to 1 per franchise though is because I think it's implied to check out the other games that are well-received in that franchise anyway. For instance, if someone loved DQ5, I think it's implied that they'd go and check out the other DQs and do some research about which ones are fan favorites, etc.

Yeah, I run into this issue because, at the end of the day, I've played some RPG series fairly deep but haven't played enough unattached games or series to fend off the deep wells.

I think, ideally, the more RPGs I played, the broader my vote would get and the less franchise repeat I'd have, but the way my experience runs...it doesn't work out that way and I kind of do feel a pang of shame when my list is full of franchise repeat :P. IDK. I think it is a balancing act.

On the other hand, it is kind of a nightmare considering making a ballot when I have played a broader base of games: a lot of great games wouldn't make the cut.

I also think the bolded is true.

FiveSide said:
I have a similar problem with deciding on HMs. I actually ended up keeping my HMs the same despite floating around some other options. The way you feel about KOTOR is how I am with games like Brave Fencer Musashi, Parasite Eve, Valkyrie Profile. I haven't played these games in like ten years, and some of them I played significant amounts of but didn't beat. I'm kind of cautious of putting something like that on one of these lists, especially since space is so limited.

Yeah. It is definitely an issue and it sort of gets at what "essential" is. Sometimes I'm trying to make quality claims. Sometimes I'm trying to make claims about RPGs that shape what I think an RPG is and should be. I'm always talking about what I like and I'm always talking about games that are important to me.

These sorts of games we are talking about seem pretty important and I can sort of talk to how and why but I'm also divorced from the moment, in which they were important. Yet I'm left thinking "they helped make me the RPG consumer I am and maybe I just don't understand how they shaped my views and tastes that much."

And I think this also goes back to DQIII: that game really does lay down the fundamentals as sort of the complete statement the original DQ trilogy was working towards.

Lynx_7 · Jul 7, 2018

FiveSide said:
Speaking of DQ, I still am waffling really hard on putting in DQ3 instead of 4 or 5, for the exact same reasons as last time. They're all so close in quality that I'm a bit inclined to just go with the overall fan favorite (i.e. DQ5). But on the other hand, I'd like to see DQ3 have a bit of awareness as well. It's a remarkably epic game given its age, and the core gameplay is still engaging. The only thing it lacks compared to DQ4 and DQ5 are the scenario/structural experiments, but even in that regard it has the connection to the first DQ game which is executed very well.

On a completely different note, another issue I had with changing the HMs was that some of the possible changes were games like Yakuza 0 and Hollow Knight, and I didn't end up having enough time to figure out if I actually consider those RPGs or not.

Stand your ground, DQ III deserves the love! :P

Yakuza is kinda hard to categorize, but I personally include it in the same nebulous "Action Adventure" umbrella as the Zelda games so I probably won't include it in my list. Which is a shame because I've just realized how little I actually played since the last list and Yakuza 0 would've been a nice addition. Guess that's what happens when I waste so much time replaying old favorites lol
I'll at least try to rewrite some of my analysis.

SatelliteOfLove · Jul 7, 2018

Oh, we're truncating the list. Aight, we can make this happen.

Deleted member 4037 · Jul 7, 2018

--VOTE INFO START—

<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
Persona 5
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>

<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
Persona 3
Persona 4
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Bloodborne
Final Fantasy VII
Shin Megami Tensei IV
The World Ends with You
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>

<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Final Fantasy XIII
Mass Effect 2
Nier Automata
Fable 2
Kingdom Hearts 2
Final Fantasy IV
Rogue Galaxy
Fire Emblem: Awakening
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Dark Souls 3
</HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>

--VOTE INFO END--

Persona 5

Persona 5 is probably now my favorite game ever made, I had high hopes going into the long awaited follow up, but it met those and even exceeded them. The cast is full of likable characters including what is probably my favorite silent protagonist of all time, due to the game striking the perfect balance between giving him a personality, but not enough that it interferes with the immersion of placing yourself in their shoes. The game builds upon the formula brilliantly, giving more weight than ever to social links, especially for characters outside of the main party, new dungeons that are hand crafted instead of randomly generated, giving more to do outside of dungeon crawling, and side quests. The new style it has also makes it one of the most beautiful games ever, it just oozes style in every aspect and the soundtrack is on par with the other entries in the series making it a real marvel. In times where I find it hard to sit down and play for a long while, Persona 5 had me glued for my 100+ hrs playthrough and still had me wanting more once the credits rolled.

Persona 3

This game was a turning point for me, never before had I been so captivated to do everything in a game. The style that this game created is one of the most interesting systems in games imho and I think the characters still hold up with one of the best endings ever in gaming. While there are some things that have been improved upon in the later games, I feel the game still holds up incredibly well due to its story, characters, systems, and music, Aigis being one of the best characters in gaming for me.

Persona 4

While Persona 3 and 5 are incredible games, they never achieve the same sense of cohesion as Persona 4's cast does. The main strength of the game is the close feel, from its smaller town and its abundance of moments between the party members, the hangouts are the best in the series and really made me fall in love with the cast. It improves upon the formula in Persona 3 and has a great mystery that is best enjoyed going blind due to the hard hitting moments that really come from it.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

While there are issues in the way blades are acquired, the dynamic between a driver and a blade is the driving force in the game. The stories of these characters are what kept me engaged for the 60 hrs playthrough, it has such a large scale, but it still feels so personal. The world building is fantastic and gave a great sense of exploration, the sub stories as well make this worth while with heart to hearts or blade specific quests.

Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne

This game feels light on the things that make persona the amazing series that it is for me, but this game has an amazing atmosphere and the press turn system is fantastic. The world it creates feel mysterious in ways that very few can where it feels like you are working against a strange new world where demons have domain.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Has a great blend of action with role playing elements, the game is an interesting take on a cyberpunk world and was very willing to allow you to tackle the problems in a multitude of different ways. Its biggest strength is that freedom which allows the game to have interesting consequences for the choices that you make.

Bloodborne

The Gothic style makes the atmosphere tense as a random enemy could be lurking around any corner, waiting to sucker punch you. Bloodborne rewards the player for being aggressive and this makes the gameplay much faster in pace than Dark Souls was, allowing it to drop the shield for guns to perform crits and trick weapons that are fun to experiment with to augment your gameplay.

Final Fantasy VII

A huge game, the iconic characters and gritty tone of the game where huge at release and was a turning point for the genre, what more is there really to say. Its going to make the list, there really isnt a question there.

Shin Megami Tensei IV

SMT4 offers a much clearer story and characters that give more weight to your decisions. Going in blind, I was very interested in how the world functioned and wondered what path was truly the right one. The morality of this game was often clouded and kept me interested throughout

The World Ends with You

Unique battle system, awesome soundtrack, amazing characters, interesting story, its a wonder its taken this long to get the game back in the spotlight. The game wasnt afraid to pull any punches and made the character development all the worth while, really a diamond in the rough.

Zen Hero · Jul 7, 2018

Etrian Odyssey V
Etrian Odyssey V is pure gameplay, and that gameplay is so perfectly balanced. The game has so many systems in play, whether it be the turn-based battle mechanics, raising a balanced team of characters, dungeon mapping, solving dungeon puzzles, gathering materials, forging weapons, or completing side quests… Yet the systems all work so well in harmony with each other. Everything is balanced, everything feels important, and everything is fun. You can tell this is the 7th game in the series -- the developers have been honing this formula for a long time, and in Etrian Odyssey V they truly perfected it.

The Etrian Odyssey series has a reputation for being difficult, but Etrian Odyssey V is actually a very player friendly game. The punishment for failure is never too high, as checkpoints are frequent and you get to keep your map after you die (your most valuable asset!). Plus, there are multiple difficulty options to choose from, which you can switch between at any time. It's still a difficult game, but it's not mean or unfair, which is why I think it's fun.

People might be turned off from Etrian Odyssey due to its lack of story, but personally, I love this part of the series. I'm a pretty creative person, and I love creating my own characters, thinking up their backstories, and imagining how they interact with each other and the world. Plus, there's something appealing to me about the raw simplicity of the adventure. It's just you vs. the labyrinth, and the lack of plot actually makes the labyrinth feel more mysterious to me, as I try to imagine what it means and why it's there.

Finally, one thing I'd like to highlight about Etrian Odyssey is how welcoming and chill the world is. Other similar games, such as the Shin Megami Tensei series, tend to go for dark and intense atmospheres. That's fine for people who like that sort of thing, but for me, I like how peaceful and friendly Etrian Odyssey's world is. It's a good counter-balance to how difficult the game can get.

Bravely Default
This game would have the greatest turn-based battle system of all time, if its sequel hadn't shown it up on that front. But what's here is still incredible. The deep customizability of the job system is really great, as is strongly rewards player creativity. When you come across a difficult boss in this game, you don't grind; instead, you instead you get creative and spend some time thinking about how to rearrange your jobs and abilities to win. I should also mention that the game must be played on hard mode for the best experience, as this will force you to push the battle system to its limits and come up with truly crazy strategies.

What works best of all about this game, though, is how heavily is prioritizes player convenience. You can turn-off random encounters, increase battle speeds, freely respec your characters, save different party configurations for easy access, and more. Many RPGs I've played can get bogged down by grindy mechanics or things that just waste the player's time, but Bravely Default doesn't do that.

Bravely Default's story isn't the best, but one thing I like about it is that each of the four main characters is essential to the core plot. It avoids the trap that many RPGs fall into where some of the party members are barely relevant.

Also this game has incredible music.

Bravely Second
The sequel to Bravely Default, and somehow they made the battle system even better in this game, making it far and away the greatest turn-based battle system of all time. Unfortunately, the story and music are a big step down from Bravely Default. Overall, it's still definitely worth playing.

Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir
Does this count as an RPG? Well, it's a side-scrolling action game with RPG elements, so I'm counting it.

I think most people know this game for its graphics, and for sure, they are beautiful. But the reason this game is special to me is actually its story, which is also incredibly beautiful. You through the story with five different characters, and each one sees their own perspective on it. Although there isn't a lot of text in the game (compared to a more traditional JRPG), they're very economical with the storytelling, so you actually get very rich characterization and development without the filler. This story includes three love plots, and two of them are easily my favorite love stories in gaming.

The World Ends With You
They went all in on creating a striking, authentic cultural experience here. The graphics, the music, the story, the world, and the hip gameplay all contribute to creating something with a strong, unique identity.

Mother 3
Its tagline says it best, "Strange, Funny, and Heartrending".

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
Everything in this game is just fun. Whether you're exploring the island, fighting bosses, going through dungeons, or engaging in side activities like raids and hunts, everything feels fun, never grindy or a waste of time. Another thing I loved about this game is how it handles mysteries. The plot of the game is that you're stranded on a cursed island with a bunch of strangers, and I was so invested in learning the secrets of the island and meeting the other castaways. It's the little things, like the fact that the second half of the world is blocked off to you by a mountain, so for the first half of the game you're constantly wondering what is on the other side. The moments that this and other mysteries are revealed to you are so good.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2
This game grew on me a lot. After my initial ~80 hour playthrough of the game, I liked it a lot, but wouldn't say I loved it. However, I spent a ton of time cleaning up side quests in the post game, doing New Game+, and taking on the DLC challenge mode and I slowly grew to love the game more and more. I think I've played it for over 300 hours now. There are a few things that make this game work. The battle system, while honestly kind of bizarre and not like anything I've played before, is really fun the more you learn it and delve into trying to optimize it. It really shines in the challenge battle mode where you're forced to push it to its limits and adapt to different circumstances.

I also think the story, while at first blush might seem a little generic, hides a lot of subtler emotional depth that is uncommon in JRPGs.

It's a weird, kind of off-putting game at first, but give it a chance to experience its depth and I think it's incredible.

Persona 4
I debated between Persona 4 and 5 for this list, but eventually went with 4. For me, although 5 was more fun to play in the moment due to having much better dungeons and convenience systems, 4 left a bigger lasting impact on me due to its story and characters. The story is smaller scale than 5's, but you get much more attached to the characters personally, given the way that the dungeons are about them and learning their hidden feelings. Another thing I liked about the game is how it well it communicates its main story theme, which could be summed up as: "You must relentlessly pursue the truth, do not get fooled by how media can cloud and distort facts." This is communicated in the story of course, but it's also really well communicated in the gameplay. If the player is lazy and accepts convenient falsehoods, they will get the bad ending, whereas only a player who tirelessly pursues the truth will reach the true ending. This is one of the only games where I actually like alternate endings and feel that they add a lot to the game.

Xenoblade Chronicles
This is an honorable mention because I didn't actually play this game myself; I just watched a 100% Let's Play on YouTube. But from what I saw it looked incredible. The core plot is so interesting, and some of the plot twists and revelations are among my favorite in gaming. I really wish I can play this game, and I'll definitely pick it up if gets brought to a system I own.

--VOTE INFO START—

<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
Etrian Odyssey V
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>

<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
Bravely Default
Bravely Second
Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir
The World Ends With You
Mother 3
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Persona 4
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>

<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Xenoblade Chronicles
</HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>

--VOTE INFO END--

JayWood2010 · Jul 7, 2018

Dont have time to make a list, but will be back.

tiebreaker · Jul 7, 2018

<Highlight> Suikoden II [PS1] - This is the GOAT video game. Everything just hits the right note for me. A staple of the series is castle building, where you find 108 stars of destiny and recruit them to support you on your war against the highland army. They will either fight alongside you in battle, or improve the quality of life in the castle. From building a bath house to cooking. Have I mentioned that I love cooking competition mini game? JRPG usually have multiple layer of systems like crafting, deep skill system, etc, but you wont find these in Suikoden II. Its streamlined. There is no abundant of weapons to find as each character has their own unique weapons, which can be upgraded to stronger ones. Magic, or rune, acts like an equipment which you can move around between characters if you want. You can also combine two runes in battle to produce a stronger spell, which is neat. Suikoden II doesnt have a complex battle system, but its snappy and fun to play around with as you have over half of the 108 stars of destiny to choose from. The leveling system also makes every character viable without grinding too much. Regarding story, Suikoden II is telling a story of a war torn land, where you as the hero, will save the day. Simple enough, but the story progresses in interesting ways with twists and turns along the way. The one thing I love the most in Suikoden II is the characters, especially the trio of Riou, Jowy, and Nanami. I dont want to spoil anything, but they are the best. The game also holds up very well. The sprites are still great to look at, plus the top notch animations, and excellent soundtracks throughout the game make Suikoden II a timeless classic.

Ni No Kuni [PS3] - Why you should play it? Aside from the stupidly gorgeous Ghibli artstyle,. the game does almost everything right in terms of traditional JRPG. Distinct locations, interesting combat mechanic, great soundtracks, memorable characters, and giving you a sense of adventure. The game is a throwback to the old JRPG, like, seriously, there is nothing more throwback than traversing the overworld using boat and dragon. Presentation wise, its excellent across the board. Id like to praise the VA work in this game, especially of the fairies. They are really well done. Ni No Kuni also make great use of sound effects. Anyway, I pretty much fell in love with the game in the first hour, even before I arrived at the other world. Ni No Kuni is magical.

Final Fantasy IX [PS1/PS4/PC] - Its the best Final Fantasy game. It has the best soundtracks, the best moggles, the best group dynamic and development. Moreover, I just prefer the high fantasy setting compared to the two previous games. Lindblum is one of the if not the most beautiful town in JRPG history. Coinciding with the release of the PS4 port, people who havent played this masterpiece yet should play it, like right now. I might make a RTTP for this game next year.

Valykria Chronicles [PS3/PS4/PC/Switch] - Its one of the finest strategy RPG around. Unlike in many games of the same genre you can almost always stick with the true and tested strategy of sticking together and chipping enemies one by one, in Valkyria Chronicles, you are encouraged to mobilize your units. There is an emphasize in movement. Units will have different strengths and weaknesses, like Scout, who is adept at traversing the map but isnt very good at killing things, or Mechanic, who specialized in disarming landmines, giving out supplies, and repairing tanks. Yes, there is tank in this game. A good one if I may say so. Its like Fire Emblem in a way that its a strategy RPG game with permanent death. But its very lenient in that regard. You have like 5 turns to retrieve your injured comrades before they die. One feature that I like and I think many should take inspiration from, is the leveling system. You get experience points based on how well you do in battles. These points will then be invested to level up units of your choice. Not individually, but as a group. It means, losing a unit isnt as painful as in other strategy RPG games.

Legend of Mana [PS1] - I think when you first see to check out the game, the first thing on your mind is how beautiful the art style is. But art style is not all that Legend of Mana has. Its a wonderful game full of things to do, from monster breeding to creating your own golem. Combat is fun and it encourages you to experiment with different play styles. The biggest different I think, why people hate it, is the non-linear progression of the story. Every time you finish a quest, you will get an artifact that will open up new area, and progress the story. The problem is, you dont know which quest will actually progress the story, or just a plain side quests. I dont have a problem with this, as I enjoyed most of them anyway. My favourite thing in the game is the home area. It feels very homey. You have a cactus who always writes a journal for you, you have a workshop where you do all your alchemy and smithing stuffs, and you have a giant talking tree on your backyard. Lastly, Yoko Shimomura composed the soundtracks for this game,

Star Ocean: the Second Story [PS1/PSP] - One of the stand out JRPG in a generation full of them. Firstly, you can choose your MC, either Claude or Rena. You will then play the game from the perspective of your chosen MC and it will take you on an adventure of a galactic proportion. Combat is an enjoyable real time combat system. In addition, because most characters play differently, you rarely get bored of the combat. It also has extensive skill and crafting system. The only downside is the unskipable magic animation. I lost count how many times Ive watched that southern cross animation. Oh, and mini games! There is colosseum, pickpocket, bunny race, and the excellent cooking competition. I love cooking in my JRPGs. If anyone is worried that they have missed the boat, sweat not, the graphic still holds up, and soundtracks are probably Sakuraba's best works.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky [PSP/PC] - Its an old school JRPG with modern ergonomics. there was no moment in the game where I feel it should have been like this or like that. There is no limited inventory, you can take multiple quests, retry battle if you die,you can save anywhere, and no random encounter. I also find the combat to be one of the better turn based systems around. The game game has been lauded to have superb writing, and I agree. The dialouges flow really well. Not only the core casts, NPCs also have tons of dialouges that change after an event. It made the world feel alive. I can wholeheartedly recommend to Trails in the Sky to anyone looking for an RPG with likeable characters, great world building, and an enjoyable turn based combat.

Persona 5 [PS3/PS4] - This game builds upon the previous games on the franchise. The casts arent as strong as Persona 4, but everything else is a step up. The biggest addition is probably the use of demons instead of shadows, and as a SMT fan, I really appreciate it. Another big addition is the change from the corridor dungeon design as now the dungeons are actually fun to go through. For peeps who never played a SMT game before, the game has a great loop of going to dungeons to catch demons, fusing them to create stronger demons, and back to dungeon crawling to catch more demons. Added to that, the skills and relationships you build outside of the dungeons will also help you on your dungeon crawling. It always feels like you are progressing. Borrowing a sentence from EZA, Persona 5 is dopamine in a video game form.

Xenoblade Chronicles X [Wii U] - For me, easily the best Xenoblade game. It really nailed the feeling of being stranded on an alien planet. Go out there and explore to survive!! The world is very interesting to roam around and there is a lot of things to do, like hidden spots, warp points, unique monsters, and side quests. The sidequests are better than the other Xenoblade games. Many sidequests are connected and centred around the main hub that you start to get familiar with the denizens of new LA. Those two nopons on the screenshot above are my favourite nopons in the series. The game needs improvements in QoL for sure, but if you can look past that, you will find a gem here.

NieR [PS3/360] - NieR as a series finally got its deserved recognition after the release of Automata, but NieR on PS3 will always have a place in my heart. NieR is very uneven in a sense that the combat is not good, graphic is nothing to write home about and the sidequests are just busy works without tangible rewards. But the story and soundtracks made up for all those.. in a big way. At one point in the game It came to me, that Ive been playing a JRPG as an old man, travelling with a talking book, a foul mouthed scantily dressed lady, and an Emil. Thats gaming at its finest.

<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
Suikoden II
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>

<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
Final Fantasy IX
Star Ocean: the Second Story
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Persona 5
Valkyria Chronicles
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC
NieR
Legend of Mana
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>

<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Chrono Cross
Tales of Eternia
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Front Mission 3
Final Fantasy Tactics
Persona 4
Valkyria Profile
Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2
Final Fantasy VII
</HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>

--VOTE INFO END--

My list hasn't really changed much. I'll probably just paste some from the old thread later.

Half of my list is from Square Enix.......

Thordawgg · Jul 7, 2018

<HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>
The Witcher 3
</HIGHLIGHT VOTE– 4 points>

<FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>
Super Mario RPG
Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale
Breath of the Wild
Chrono Trigger
Secret of Mana
Pokemon Gold/Silver
Mount & Blade: Warband
Fire Emblem Awakening
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Tales of Symphonia
</FULL POINT GAMES – 2 points>

<HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>
Mass Effect
Southpark The Stick of Truth
Pokemon OmegaRuby/AlphaSapphire
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
The Witcher 2
Pokemon Red/Blue
Persona 4
Mario Golf (GBC)
Mario Tennis (GBC)
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
</HONORABLE MENTIONS – 1 point>

MoonFrog · Jul 7, 2018

Pickles said:
Etrian Odyssey V
Etrian Odyssey V is pure gameplay, and that gameplay is so perfectly balanced. The game has so many systems in play, whether it be the turn-based battle mechanics, raising a balanced team of characters, dungeon mapping, solving dungeon puzzles, gathering materials, forging weapons, or completing side quests… Yet the systems all work so well in harmony with each other. Everything is balanced, everything feels important, and everything is fun. You can tell this is the 7th game in the series -- the developers have been honing this formula for a long time, and in Etrian Odyssey V they truly perfected it.

The Etrian Odyssey series has a reputation for being difficult, but Etrian Odyssey V is actually a very player friendly game. The punishment for failure is never too high, as checkpoints are frequent and you get to keep your map after you die (your most valuable asset!). Plus, there are multiple difficulty options to choose from, which you can switch between at any time. It's still a difficult game, but it's not mean or unfair, which is why I think it's fun.

People might be turned off from Etrian Odyssey due to its lack of story, but personally, I love this part of the series. I'm a pretty creative person, and I love creating my own characters, thinking up their backstories, and imagining how they interact with each other and the world. Plus, there's something appealing to me about the raw simplicity of the adventure. It's just you vs. the labyrinth, and the lack of plot actually makes the labyrinth feel more mysterious to me, as I try to imagine what it means and why it's there.

Finally, one thing I'd like to highlight about Etrian Odyssey is how welcoming and chill the world is. Other similar games, such as the Shin Megami Tensei series, tend to go for dark and intense atmospheres. That's fine for people who like that sort of thing, but for me, I like how peaceful and friendly Etrian Odyssey's world is. It's a good counter-balance to how difficult the game can get.

I definitely have to get back to this game. I put it down for Mario Odyssey last year. I was on the strata after the mummy.

I really loved my time with Etrian Odyssey IV, such great party-play. I really liked what the dancer class brought in that game in particular. I didn't build as memorable a party in V or didn't manage to get as much out of them, but I was still having a lot of fun.

Really curious what they do with this franchise as they leave 3DS behind. Hope something Etrian Odyssey-like exists in the future or that they find a solution to the map making.

...

Aigis: Perhaps you already played them, but going along your lines of thinking: the early SMTs are also clearer than Nocturne but definitely have much sparser text than SMTIV (so the characterization is terse). They have human companions that travel with you, like in IV and also directly join your party. They also don't have Press Turn, which might be turn-offs perhaps, but they are great games. I think the original is available on mobile? The second one isn't officially localized though.

Strange Journey is more like four in terms of text but has a pretty unique setting for SMT. It also doesn't have Press Turn. And it is also great.

Lynx_7 said:
I waste so much time replaying old favorites lol

Time with old favorites isn't wasted :).

Monorojo · Jul 7, 2018

I love that we are finally doing this! It's been about a year coming iirc.

Resetera's Top 101 Essential RPGs - Final Update. Top 101 up plus many extras.

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