Best RPG ever??

chrono trigger probably, wow what a friggin game, 14 different endings and new game plus used hundreds of hours of my youth. I actually just bought the chronicle collection and chrono cross the other day and am going to play both through again.

As far as story goes, final fantasy tactics or chrono cross, both very adult intricate stories that doesnt take the player for an idiot. Also, I hated final fantasy 8, oh how I hated it.
 
Gonna have to say Final Fantasy 1. When that came out it was incredible. Still is actually :p

Notable games:
Morrowind
Dragon Warrior
Chrono Trigger

Could have been:
Gothic 3. :(
That game is amazing. If it only worked it would have been great.
 
Final Fantasy 7
I have to admit it broke my cherry in the world of RPGs and it became one of the best games I have ever played! I wasted so many weeks back in high school playing this game. Then beating it, then rerolling and maxing Cloud out and taking on Diamond and Ruby Weapon.

FFX offered so much it's hard not to love it.
 
For me it's Shining Force 2 on the Genesis. I've enjoyed all the SF games, and it had become, and still is, my favorite RPG series.
 
ugh, I can't believe people are mentioning JRPGS. I seriously spent so much time In Gothic and Gothic 2 it isn't funny. Plus the old ones like Daggerfall and Arena (morrowind and oblivion are awesome too).... Fallout and Fallout 2 were brilliant... I enjoyed the Bioware rpgs, BG1&2 KOTOR... I always hated JRPGS... retarded games they are.
 
Ultima 7, both parts. Took damned 5-10 minutes to load on a 386. Had to get crafty with smartdisk/ramdrive. I was so giddy when I found out I could make bread, etc.

Might and Magic III-V were all decent

Ultima Underworld (developed by Looking Glass, more advanced engine than Doom and came out the year before. It even supported true 3D levels, where you could have levels on top of each other, unlike Doom's engine limitations. Plus slopes. Really made the environment immersive)

Eye of the Beholder I & II (developed by Westwood no less)

Quest for Glory (Also known as Hero's quest), all of them pretty much. The mating of an Adventure game and RPG..

Those are my fondest off the top of my head.. and yes it means I'm old. But you young whippersnappers don't know the good games that started them all! ;)
 
at 1st i was like.....wow rpg sucks then i got introduced to FFX....then i played ff7...its hard to hate rpgs.....thank you squaresoft now SQUAREENIX
 
dat722 said:
at 1st i was like.....wow rpg sucks then i got introduced to FFX....then i played ff7...its hard to hate rpgs.....thank you squaresoft now SQUAREENIX
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Ditto that....before that was my Pokemon days...good times

to do a little bit of thread hijacking, anyone know if you need to equally level your party in FFXII? im getting into that game so i was wondering if i could just make one "super"party and beat the game that way
 
Cat1yst said:
Ditto that....before that was my Pokemon days...good times

to do a little bit of thread hijacking, anyone know if you need to equally level your party in FFXII? im getting into that game so i was wondering if i could just make one "super"party and beat the game that way
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lol ur right...before that was pokemon...so my 1st rpg was pokemon...sigh...the good ole days
 
Wow...Pokemon is the good 'ol days for some folks :)
If anything, the good 'ol days for me would have to be Zork and the like. For "real" RPG's where you were doing more than playing a text based DnD module, I think my early memories were of Dragon Quest on the NES and the Undermountain PC DnD games.
 
W A S T L A N D

Angela Deth...
Snake Vargas...
Hell Razor...

I've played through this game countless times. It's my absolute favorite.
 
easily
Ultima: stygian abyss /dos /windows
ultima:underworld /dos /windows
daggerfall /dos
final fantasy 2 and 3 and mystic quest /snes
secret of mana /snes
final fantasy 7 /psx
betrayal at krondor /dos /windows
and its unofficial sequal betrayal at antara which i still have in jewel case /windows

actually i spent some time recollecting most of the pc games and can play them in dosbox


as far as the best storylines ever ff2 - 7 ive played and beaten pretty much every ff cept 8 couldnt get into it. and it seems every single version has content from ff2 obviously th ominous CID, but alot of other references back to it
 
mikey976 said:
secret of mana
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Ditto, Secret of Mana had me playing for months. Even now I go back on it from time to time, for a SNES game it has some pretty nice graphics. To me the best RPG would have to be Terranigma, followed by Final Fantasy 4 7 10 12, and Secret of Mana. I'm just wishing they would come out with some decent RPG for 360 instead of these typical action games.
 
I'm going to put in my 2 cents:

1 - Final Fantasy 3 - I had thought it was just nostalgia for a while, but I've played through the game 4 times, which is a record for me. The story and the way you actually care about the characters (poor confused Terra, Poor F-ed up Celes), the plot twists, the entire games world, the free form 2nd half, the easter eggs. I bought a DS just so I could play this game when it came out for GBA. A very slick presentation with the technology they had.

2 - Balder's Gate - Both one and two are great game, though I think I prefer the characters in two better. In fact, I just reinstalled and started playing them again about a week ago. No other story can compare, though some times the blocks of text can be a little much. It's like I'm playing a novel, and a good one at that. Only downside is that it loses a bit of it's luster with repeat playings, because you know the end of the story.

3 - KOTOR - I've played each of these games through to completion twice. I like that you really get a sense of your character's power as you develop from a bumbling wannabe to an unstoppable Jedi. No other game makes you feel more like someone that's just plain special, powerful, and just in a different class, than these games.
 
For PC - KOTOR - it was perfect balance of enjoyable story, enemy killing and character development.
 
Nate_MachV said:
ugh, I can't believe people are mentioning JRPGS. I seriously spent so much time In Gothic and Gothic 2 it isn't funny. Plus the old ones like Daggerfall and Arena (morrowind and oblivion are awesome too).... Fallout and Fallout 2 were brilliant... I enjoyed the Bioware rpgs, BG1&2 KOTOR... I always hated JRPGS... retarded games they are.
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And I can't believe people are actually mentioning CRPGs, I've played through most of the "great" ones and not a single one of them left the kind of impression that some of the better JRPGs have. KotOR's storyline was so forgettable that, indeed, I can't remember it at all. And I don't think BG1 or 2 even had one?

Different tastes, next time remember other people's opinions are just as valid to them as yours are to you. :rolleyes:
 
As should you, I only stated my opinion. I personally don't call a rail story line based game with leveling an RPG. I apologize for my overlooking your opinion.

Please forgive me for my transgressions against your beloved JRPGS :S
 
In terms of depth and ability to pull you in to the world, id say the Elder Scrolls are doing a damn good job of making RPGs (the newer two in particular).
 
And Im not sure if youre counting MMORPGs, but Everquest (totally outdated nowadays) was a great experience for me.
 
Ahh, EQ. Only two games have ever literally made my jaw drop in amazement upon playing them for the first time. The original Doom and EverQuest. I really tried to role play in EQ when I first started, so it began as a great RPG. Unfortunately, few other players actually role played at all, so I became a loot whore like everyone else after about a month...and lasting for another 4 years.
 
Gotta love the comments on good 'ol Final Fantasy 8. Most fans of the series either loved or hated that one. I hated the gameplay with a passion (draining SUCKED), but I honestly like the setting to that one the most from the series. The architecture, the political feel of the world, and even the story were really kind of cool. Too bad the characters were flat and boring and the game was filled with things you could permanently miss if you didn't have a game guide permanently open.
I look back and the plot, cities, and just the general feel of that game stand out to me more than the others...yet at the time it was my least favorite one. I think I still have a 100% savegame from that one somewhere I might have to revisit.
 
Daggah said:
And I can't believe people are actually mentioning CRPGs, I've played through most of the "great" ones and not a single one of them left the kind of impression that some of the better JRPGs have. KotOR's storyline was so forgettable that, indeed, I can't remember it at all. And I don't think BG1 or 2 even had one?

Different tastes, next time remember other people's opinions are just as valid to them as yours are to you. :rolleyes:
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Wow I dont know even what to say. RPGs should be about gameplay, not glorified cutscenes played off as 'story'. Watching pre-rendered crap for 20 minutes before I can actualy do something is not fun, thats what movies are for. I want to make the story with my actions which should have real consequences, not go on a linear and completerly mindless ride watching hours of CGI with metrosexual pre-teen characters yapping about this and than, its so cheesy I'd rather watch nsync videos honestly. Fallout 1 alone had more gameplay than all the jap crap combined. Like the Interplay logo said, it was "For gamers, by gamers." Japanese rpgs (they shouldnt even be called that honestly, there is no gameplay at all) are their equivalent of american 90s bubble gum pop music, all style no substance. But like you said, different tastes. If you were bored by Kotor (a console game btw, really good gameplay with decent story, but not as good as say Planescape Torment) then real rpgs aren't for you. Some people just need their hand held and dont really want to do to much thinking. Thats why western games flop in Japan, everyone thinks they are too hard.
 
^ I dunno about our games being too hard. Some of the Japanese action games (Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry 3) and some older shooters were virtually blacklisted over here for being too hard, too.
I think it's just what different cultures want. As nice as it is to say "we're all the same" - it's still not 100% true. There are plenty of cultural differences that probably lead to our games doing poorly over there and many of their games to be laughed at before they're even considered for porting to the western world.
 
Well true i was generalizing, Ninja Gaiden Black is the hardest game I have ever played. Maybe I should have said complex. Even the hardest Japanese games are relatively simple in concept. Seems to me the japanese prefer RPGs which offer a semi-movie experience where they get to watch CGI manga and hit a couple buttons once in a while to cast some spells, and then watch more CGI (maybe its cause their actual movies suck). The story is completely linear, and the gameplay shallow at best. No character creation, no dialogue choices, no persistent world (you are practically in a corridor from start to finish), combat is a joke even for a 6 yr old, no consequences to actions, no multiple solutions to problems (in western rpgs you can fight, you can hack or sneak, you can hire someone to do it for you, or talk your way out of it), the list goes on. Then you compare that to something like Planescape Torment where you can play the game three or four times and have a completely different experience and never finish a single quest the same way, japanese 'rgps' dont even compare I'm sorry.
 
Daggah said:
And I can't believe people are actually mentioning CRPGs, I've played through most of the "great" ones and not a single one of them left the kind of impression that some of the better JRPGs have. KotOR's storyline was so forgettable that, indeed, I can't remember it at all. And I don't think BG1 or 2 even had one?
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BG2's storyline is good, I really liked it actually. But What I like most about BG2 though is Jon Irenicus, hes probably my favorite villian from any RPG. And he's voiced by David Warner, and its just a treat to play through.
 
I think he only said that because of the way the other guy reacted.
 
Well it was an exaggeration in response to Nate_MachV's overzealous post, sure, but BG2 really did have a forgettable storyline IMHO.
 
A few RPGs not to miss:

Genesis: Phantasy Star 4, Shining Force II
SNES: Chrono Trigger, Earthbound
PSX: FF7, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy Tactics (more TBS than RPG, but still, AMAZING storyline)
DreamCast: Grandia2
PC: The Witcher, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment

And just as a side note, Chrono Trigger has the BEST music of any game I've ever played. Find the soundtrack, and check out some of the remixes at OCRemix. FF7 comes in at a close second.
 
Domingo said:
^ I dunno about our games being too hard. Some of the Japanese action games (Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry 3) and some older shooters were virtually blacklisted over here for being too hard, too.
I think it's just what different cultures want. As nice as it is to say "we're all the same" - it's still not 100% true. There are plenty of cultural differences that probably lead to our games doing poorly over there and many of their games to be laughed at before they're even considered for porting to the western world.
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This is a weird subject, but the older CRPG's are much more complex and difficult than their Japanese equivalants. Heck, Wizardry IV in Japan isn't the same Wizardry IV in the USA, and part of that is due to the difficulty level. (If you think DMC3 & NG Black are hard and cheap, wait until you try Wizardry IV. Who says RPGs can't be difficult). And arcade games like Haunted Castle are significantly more difficult than the Japanese versions (Haunted Castle being one of my top 3 most difficult video games ever. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the most difficult, if Wizardry IV is a 4, and HC is a 10, DMC3 on DMD mode is a 2). Yet other games like Final Fantasy IV were watered down or not sent over to America the first time around because they were considered too difficult for American audiences.

As I've mentioned previous times, I honestly don't think there is a distinction between JRPG's and Western RPG's. Because in the end, the gameplay, etc of the JRPG's is a simplified mixture of Ultima and Wizardry. The main difference being that Western RPG's have evolved in gameplay since 1983, whereas JRPG's have just added better graphics, sound, and cutscenes.
 
MrCoffee said:
And just as a side note, Chrono Trigger has the BEST music of any game I've ever played.
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yeah CT has very good music, i've played a lot of RPGs and after a while the music gets annoying, but that didn't happen in CT. :)
 
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