Bolivar
11-28-2011, 04:47 AM
No order yet:
1. Final Fantasy VII - the best RPG IMO, for its music, pacing, combat, art design, story, customization, and innovation. My last playthrough, first on the PSP PSOne classic, was great.
2. Dragon Quest V - the best 2D RPG I've ever played.
3. Tactics Ogre - maybe my favorite SRPG, because of the choices you can make and the consequences. Bout to play it again very soon.
4. Dragon Quest VIII - the full, complete 3D render of an NES game, without any compromises or concerns about "modern game design." A beautiful game.
5. Final Fantasy XII - I may have spent more time on this game than any other RPG and it's only 5 years old. Really hoping an HD remake gives you options with the camera controls (non-inverted) because that's all that's holding me back from going back to it yet again.
6. Chrono Trigger - it's on here maybe just because of its status in the RPG pantheon but I had a great time playing it and I don't think I've ever played another RPG quite like it. Although when you look at the games Sakaguchi and Horii produced under their stables, it's awesome to see how they brought what had already came before and why that game came out the way it did, and then it's awesome to see how they took the ideas from Chrono Trigger into FFVII and DQ VI.
7. Xenogears - I wouldn't put it into my favorites but I recognize it as one of the most important, a milestone title for the genre, and, what the hell, this post needs a little more diversity. I don't know a game that took story this far... gameplay obviously suffered and the soundtrack, while fantastic, isn't as strong as Square's elite titles. But this was a story vast in scope and I would definitely use some of its scenes as a reason why gaming has to be considered art.
8. Final Fantasy Tactics - Ogre has surpassed it for me, but I can't forget this game or deny it's simply one of the best titles from a creative perspective, even though the gameplay side got a little convoluted. I'll always remember how when I finally got it once the Greatest Hits line brought it back, popped the disc in my system... returned it b/c Sony/Square messed up the first shipment, exchanged it at the mall with my mom and got the official copy, took it home, popped it in, played the intro... I almost feel like I got high off the visuals, the music, the dialogue, the feel.
9. Final Fantasy X - I want to put IX, V or VIII here instead but I still think this is my favorite one after VII... it just flows a lot better...
10. Dragon Quest IV - the fact that this was an NES game is really impressive, IMO it was really important in the genre of RPGs...
10 is a lot! Especially for a company with two flagships which have been highly influential and revered... I'd like to see a top 5 thread in GG...
Jessweeee♪
11-28-2011, 08:25 PM
A lot of this is dominated by nostalgia.
1. FFX - My all around favorite Square game. Favorite soundtrack (tied with FFXIII), favorite story, and it's so much fun to play. My parents gave me this game for my fourteenth birthday along with a crapton of my favorite candy. I think this was my favorite video game related present ever. I didn't ask for it! They knew I liked video games and noticed I had two in the series already, FFVII and FFVIII, so they figured there were plenty of good choices. It was one of those rare moments where the non gamer knows exactly what the gamer wants. They weren't especially fond of this hobby of mine, so it was really nice. This was also a period in my life where video game time was precious, because I could only play on the weekends, and most of those weekends I was grounded from video games anyway! Any time I was playing a video game it was maaaagical.
2. FFXIII - This one just struck a cord with me. First of all, it was very pretty. Pretty music, pretty environments, pretty black magic, pretty pretty. It has my favorite cast, and it was my best experience going through a game for the first time. It wasn't quite as enjoyable the second time through, but that first run really packed a punch. I think it will always remain one of my favorites, though.
3. Threads of Fate - My first RPG and my first step away from games you could just play casually. I had to actually ask my dad if I could borrow the memory card he was using for Tomb Raider for this one! This was the first game I had any desire to "beat." Every other game I just played together with my younger brother or quit when it got past the mind numbingly easy part. (I would actually turn the Genesis off after I got past Emerald Hill Zone in Sonic 2.) It also showed me that games actually have pretty interesting stories, and it was more interesting than any other medium I experienced. Being ten years old, if it wasn't for kids, I could only really appreciate comedy. Dramas went over my head! But Threads of Fate was pretty kid-friendly while at the same time not being kiddy. I gave up on it after awhile though. I was stuck at the second dungeon and could not for the life of me figure out how to get out of it. I love Threads of Fate but that was the dumbest dungeon ever even if it did have nice music. So then I moved on to...
4. FFVIII - My first Final Fantasy! This one makes me feel the most nostalgic. The soundtrack is nowhere near my favorite, but every time I stumble across a theme from the game I immediately want to play it again. It's like smelling a pumpkin pie scented candle; you immediately have to have some kind of pastry. Triple Triad was oodles of fun, exploiting the Junction system was fun, and Jumbo Cactuar and his mustache. This one was quite an adventure trying to finish. The first time around I still didn't really know how to properly play an RPG, being only an hour into my very first one ever. I just spammed GFs at everything. So of course I got stuck at the missile base. Before I could make the connection that a machine would be weak to Quezacotl's electricity attack, my brother and his friend broke the PS1. The TV fell on it. The PS1 and FFVIII were smashed to a million pieces. When I was thirteen my brother got a PS2 and a friend gave me his copy of FFVIII, so that spring break I took another crack at it. I got stuck at the end of disc two then accidentally overwrote my file. Then I got stuck at the end of disc three and accidentally overwrote my file again. The fourth time through it was summer break and I finally figured out how to properly exploit the junction system. I also figured out that I was supposed to draw GFs from bosses. Finally it was finished, just in time for me to get my copy of FFX!
5. The World Ends With You - There really isn't another game like this one out there. I don't usually mention TWEWY as one of my favorites very often, but of all the games I've played, I've put the third most hours in it. Second if you don't count leaving the PS2 on overnight for the Neglamuur trick in FFXII. (First is FFX if you were curious.)
6. FFXII - I didn't care for the plot much my first time through, but it was enough fun playing it that I went through again. I liked it a little more the second time. I liked it even more the third time! Not many games grow on me like that with subsequent playthroughs.
7. FFX-2 - FFX-2 does not get the love it deserves. The writing...is not the best in the series, but it is so much better than people give it credit for. It was nice seeing how Spira just popped without Sin around. Also it is the funnest in the series.
8. Kingdom Hearts II - I just really like KHII.
And that's all. There are plenty of others I really enjoyed, but none that need a special mention.
Wolf Kanno
12-31-2011, 07:30 AM
Geez, I must have missed something when I played DQIV, cause that game is pretty underwhelming if you ask me; notwithstanding Torneko's chapter was pretty mind blowing in terms of design. Anyway, in no particular order:
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Chrono Trigger: Probably the greatest game ever made, and the closest thing to a flawless game I've ever played. It combines the best elements of both Horii and Sakaguchi's design methods and the personal strengths of their series. It has a story that seems simple but turns rather complex, it has a very likable and endearing cast of characters who are well fleshed out. A great combat system that stresses utilizing the whole cast and rewarding the player with the awesome dual/triple techs system, it has the best OST for an RPG hands down, and its visuals have easily loved up to today's standards, I mean even the anime cutscenes added in later ports are not as awe inspiring as the actual in-game scenes and the original title opening is just amazing, starting with the simple clock ticking and then busting into the game's main theme Chrono Trigger while the player is barraged by awesome in-game set pieces and battle sequences showing off the games incredible graphics and gameplay. I don't think I've put as much time into any other game more than I did for Chrono Trigger. Also, smurf Aerith, I feel Crono's death is still one of the most shocking and underrated plot twists in RPGs. Really, this game is a masterpiece. The different timelines are distinct and refreshing, the worlds are huge, the game has easily the best OST Yasunori Mitsuda has ever composed.
CT's plot is also exceptional, it does have some logic hiccups from the time travel, but nothing serious enough to break away from the games story and themes. Lavos himself is an interesting and well thought out antagonist/eldritch abomination and the game does an excellent job of building him up as an unbeatable cosmic horror. The individual stories of each of the timelines are well done and very gripping, from the heroic war in 600 A.D., to the hopelessness of 2300 A.D. to the absolute wonder and mystery of 12,000 B.C. each world's story is satisfactory from beginning to end, and the supporting cast does an excellent job of immersing the player into the story. The introduction of New Game+ was revolutionary and its multiple endings make the game have more replay value than any other RPG I can think of. Even doing minor things in the game that are not required will have because some interesting changes in the games ending and story. CT's true joy is the sense of empowerment and freedom that is usually lacking in its Japanese brethren. Seriously, best game ever.
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Final Fantasy VI: The "Golden Era" of RPGs started with VI, there are few design set-up for RPGs between 1994-2001 that doesn't follow VI's design on some level, whether it's Chrono Trigger borrowing the games pacing and liner to open ended world set-up, or FFVII utilizing darker themes in the narrative and building its materia system off of the Esper/relic system. VI is where the old met the new, the old creators were being promoted to more important positions and people like Kitase, Nomura, Takahashi, and Saga were getting more prominent roles in the development team. It returned the series to a more character driven stories of FFII and IV, and perfected it with better understanding of the technology of the system to tell a story more visually, something the PSX generation will continue to perfect. It brought in several series staples like Limit Breaks, Ultima Weapons (the weapon and the monster), mechanics like utilizing different types of inputs like slot machines and SF motions to instigate skills, brought back complex customization that allows the player to control stats and abilities, it experimented with interactive gameplay elements in the actual story like the Opera or fishing mini-game, was the first FF where the players choices actually affected the story in a meaningful way by deciding the fates of a few characters lives and determine the order of some story events.
It was the first to move away from high fantasy and move towards more darker fantasy sub-genres like steam punk. It also just had some awesome segments like defending Terra/Frozen Espers by splitting the party up, or creating the multi-party dungeon. It has quite possibly the best OST in the series, and despite the move to dark and gritty compared to FFV, VI emulates FFIV by inserting ample amounts of humor and charm to offset the darker elements and create a more endearing cast. Speaking of which, VI introduced hidden characters, and was able to give most of its huge cast of characters a decent amount of screen time and development. Really, the amount of fresh ideas, expansion of past ideas, and good balance really make FFVI one of the most exceptional entries in the series, and it helped spawn ideas that we can see in CT, VII, VIII, and even Xenogears.
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Xenogears: Dear god, what can I say about Xenogears besides that it destroyed my expectations for writing, characterization, and world development in gaming by raising the bar of what should be expected. There are many clever story ideas I love, but there are few RPGs that are as well written as Xenogears, and this game suffered a noticeable rush job and couldn't even tie up its loose ends, yet I still feel its a better story and writing than many modern games. It's funny that a game that can be summed up as "Kung-Fu Robots meets Evangelion" would work out so well. Fei is possibly one of the most complex and fascinating protagonist to star in a video game and the rest of the cast is just as intriguing in some cases. No game has ever tried to tackle so many "adult" issues. I don't mean blood and guts, I'm talking about social engineering, philosophy, religion, science, history, ethics, war, love, and the meaning of human existence. This is a heavy game but its incredibly rewarding. Its gameplay was also pretty clever by introducing an interactive combo system that games like Chrono Cross' battle system would be inspired from. I still feel that Bart and the Yggdrasil's first encounter with the Red Gear is one of the most awesome moments in gaming, and I feel that Fei and Elly's exploration of the life of Lacan and Sophia at the start of Disc 2 is one of the most well written and directed moments in gaming. There is a damn good reason Xenogears is a cult favorite.
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Vagrant Story: This is a weird title, a game that kind of defies genre and feels like what would happen if Matsuno made a Metal Gear game set in Ivalice. Vagrant Story is a fun dungeon crawler with an unusual but incredibly engaging battle system that utilizes proper timing with button presses to chain together powerful and devastating attacks. You get only minimal stat upgrades, and the bulk of your survival depends more on crafting powerful weapons with high affinity levels. The game is a true Matsuno title by both being fully capable of playing as a simple casual affair with little effort in the games crafting system or deep knowledge of its mechanics, or it can be played as a deeper min/max affair with hours spent trying to get rare weapons from bosses, crafting weapons and armor with perfect affinity in all areas and unlocking all the Break Arts and discover every room in the haunting city of Lea Monde. The story is exceptional, starting off as what appears to be a basic story of corruption and an evil cult, eventually succumbing into a psychological thriller for leading man Ashley Riot and snowballing into a giant political conspiracy where you're guessing who can you actually trust as the dark secrets of Sydney's past are revealed. Sydney is quite possibly one of the best antagonist to grace a video game. Not really evil, not really good, but someone you will be rooting for as much as the hero, and someone you seriously want to punch him in his smug face. A truly remarkable game and quite possibly one of Matsuno's best stories. There's a reason this game became only the third title to ever get a perfect score from Famitsu, back when that meant something.
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Seiken Denetsu 2 (Secret of Mana): It is still my favorite Mana game and the title responsible for getting me into RPGs to begin with. Granted it has not aged as well as as it's brethren but if I'm looking for a fun and magical adventure but don't feel like trekking through stuffy turn based combat or boring dungeon design, Secret of Mana hits all the sweet spots. The plot is a pretty simple, "boy finds magic sword, battles evil empire" with a bit of an environmental friendly message subtly thrown in and occasionally thrown in your face. The game is simple, hack n' slash Action RPG but with weapons used for exploring like Zelda, an amusing magic system, and the first three party console multiplayer game in existence, it dd bring some stuff to the genre back in the day. It has a gorgeous soundtrack, with the Ice Fields and Mana Tree being stand out hits. Thanatos is a great antagonist and his side story with Dyluk leads to the four in a row emotional whamming that is the end of the game, starting with getting to the Mana Tree and leading all the way to the game's bitter sweet ending. Sage Luc is still an asshole though...It's just a fun and simple game that comes across like a playable fairy tale, and if you can ever play three part co-op, it's something else.
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Dragon Quest III: I knew one of the DQ games had to be on this list, it was going to be a toss up between DQIII, DQV, and DQVII but I decided to give it to DQIII because it's not often I feel the NES entry is on the same level as some of its later brethren. DQIII might be my favorite entry partly because its the glorious conclusion (or beginning) to the beloved Loto/Roto Arc. DQIII was a huge title for its time, introducing the ability to change Job Classes in the middle of the game, and throughout. It introduced the day and night cycle which is something even modern games try to tout as innovated new features for their own games. It introduced the Immigrant town, and it had two hug worlds to explore and plenty of plot twists to deal with. If you get the chance to play the remake on GBC or Super Famicom, then you also get to gain an extra level of customization with the personality system. The game is filled with several secrets, like the Jester being the key to the strongest job, the world map and locations of the first world are based on the real world and have subtle references to the capital city the in-game towns represent. The second world being an awesome plot twist and if you are playing the remakes, you get to go to Zenith Castle and fight the Divine Dragon for wishes. Changing classes allowed you to gain a level of customization that was unseen in RPGs at the time. Often we forget how influential DQ is because of the time lapse of their releases outside of Japan but to put it into perspective, DQIII added all of these features and was released only three months after Phantasy Star and Final Fantasy 1. Its a surprise those games went on to start franchises. It's just a fun game with pretty good customization, tons of secret and a clever plot that connects it to the first three games.
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The World Ends With You: I honestly didn't think I was going to like this game, and I had serious issues getting into at first cause Neku is a jerk, yet I played this game obsessively and nearly failed a semester cause I was playing it over studying... Many times, game designers like to talk about how a game was specifically built for the console it was on, but usually this involves just power output and aduio/visual nonsense. TWEWY is a game that is synonimous with the DS. It can't exist on any hardware and this title pretty much sold the more gimmicky elements of the little handheld for me. The game utilizes both screens in battle and allow you to play two different characters simultaneously, using the touch screen for ones, and button commands for the other. It's jarring at first but you get use to it pretty soon and it creates a very mentally challenging gameplay. The touch screen abilities require you to use all of its features, slashing with the stylus, for physical blows, squiggling on it to cast fire spells, shaking the DS to perform Quake, blowing on it for powerful wind attacks, tapping, drawing, even just closing the DS and putting it sleep mode has effects. It introduced other introducing elements like the ability to adjust levels to get rarer drops from enemies or simple challenge, your equipment can be affected by wandering into specific clique areas of Shibuya while wearing inappropiate clothes so you had to be conscious of the areas you were in and its clothes (like wearing high fashion garb in the gamer district, or skater garb in the punk music part of town) even your pins/skills can be affected. Pins, which give Neku his skills would evolve as you battle enemies but Pins gained three types of XP, one type from battling, one type from mingling with other players DS, or even by not playing for a certain amount of time. Where this gets interesting is that Pins evolve based on the dominant type of XP and so some pins will never show off their hidden potential unless you experimented with XP types to see what you can get. The game is just a one of a kind offer of gameplay experimentation and really touched based with different type of gamers who may just want to grind their way to godhood, just play socially, or even just be casual people who pick it up once a week. I never played a game that was this flexible for the players style.
The story is also really good, I hated Neku originally cause he was basically a douchey loner type who was kind of being an unreasonable jerk to his poor partner Shiki, once the real gravity of their situation opens up and the final events of Day 7 unfold, Neku really begins to transform and the real mystery starts to unfold for a game that seems pretty straightforward at first. Part of warming up to Neku comes from Joshua who is basically a bigger asshole than Neku (though far more charming) and later the conflict with Beat begins to change things. The games whole cast is pretty damn fun an awesome though some people like Beat and Neku take longer to really grow on you, the biggest show stealer is easily Sho Minamimoto. The man is a great antagonist and funny as hell. The game even has Secret Reports that can be unlocked after the game is beat, involving playing through a semi-new game+ mode and doing special tasks you were unaware of at the time, the reports themselves are funny extra stories, similar to the secret reports from Duodecim Dissidia. Overall, it was a fantastic game, one of the two best games released by Squenix from 2001-2010. Before I go, I just have to say that this game has a fantastic soundtrack if you like J-Pop, J-Rock and techno, it even has a feature that lets you cycle through the music. My favorite track is easily Deja Vu (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_ym7LUD_gs&list=FLqDAV5Y6wfOtgQ7lyOICx-g&index=108&feature=plpp_video)
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Final Fantasy XII: A game that restored a lot of my faith in the franchise back in 2006. (now brought back to abysmal confidence with XIII...) FFXII was a game created by my favorite designer at Squenix at the time and the man who made two other entries on this list. FFXII is an interesting game that held onto the spirit of the FF franchise and harkened back to the 16/32 bit days of actually trying to create a new direction for for the genre. It blended elements of MMOs, old school RPG design, and even football, to create a unique game within the franchise. Matsuno's team took great steps to transform Ivalice into a living breathing world, large metropolis filled with people to talk to, real scale deserts, mountains, forests and ruins to explore. A world filled with history and descriptions for every place and every foul creature you slayed. There were very few games before that gave you this much info without expanding into sequels or Design Bibles. The game took X-2's ATB, made it faster added a semi-3rd dimension through the ability to move around the battle field and choose to engage enemies you saw on the filed. The game lifted FFTactics equipment system and utilized it with a heavily modified Sphere Grid system to create a pseudo-job class system with your party unlocking abilites and the ability to wear equipment. Armor was split into different types to recreate light weight classes like Monks and Thieves, mage classes, and Knight classes. Weapons changed how your character fought based on critical hit rates, combo rates, magic affinity, and even what stats your character has, which is all directly lifted from FFTactics. The level of customization in this game is pretty staggering. It also introduced the Gambit System which allowed the player to set up the party with player design A.I. scripts. You could make the party be completely self-sufficient from the player or only set them up to do minor things like buff/debuff or heal. It's a very flexible system and creates new ways to really play the game on many different levels, especially when combined with its customization system. The Gambit system, itself makes dealing with A.I. companions in other RPG games far more frustrating considering how much control it really gave the player.
The world and story are intriguing, with a cast of characters that present a story in a more theater style (well the VA cast are mostly stage actors, so it's expected) instead of the over-the-top Hollywood style of previous entries, which presents a more subtle and often more realistic emotional take on the characters. It's quite refreshing after years of high emotional high octane drama and angst previous games had gives, and it works well with the games more political story of fallen nations and global war. Sure it still has its cosmic horror beings, but the real drama and tale is in the human conflicts.The story has some pacing issues but overall, while I'm replaying through it again, I still find the story and characters to be exceptional, with a cast that feels more like human beings than simple RPG archetypes. It's tale feels like more things are a t stake and its nice to see a band of heroes that at least toy with the idea of getting their hands dirty, or doesn't try to justify miscreant behavior as some virtue. Lady Ashe became the greatest female heroine in FF history the moment she suggested using the all powerful magic McGuffin as a weapon against the Archadian Empire. Cecil would be appalled at such an idea, Terra would faint, and Cloud would give some speech about not lowering themselves to the bad guys level, but Ashe actually says what many of us have always thought when presented with such a scenario. For that, I applaud her, and I applaud FFXII.
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Final Fantasy Tactics: When someone asks me when gaming began to seriously enter the realm of mature storytelling, I point them to FFTactics. Which is amusing because the game is still filled with your generic RPG/fantasy scenarios: saving a princess, fighting an evil world power, collecting magical artifacts that the villains want, and battling some power demon for the fate of the world. It's amusing how much of this kind of goes over your head as you sink your teeth into a powerful political story with human drama in the form of the games two leading men, Ramza and Delita. Both taking different paths to fight against a corrupt society that oppresses the many for the few. A few that designate themselves as important through arbitrary elements like blood, and family name. One man loses almost everything but remains true to his values, while the other gains almost everything at the cost of his own soul. It's a powerful story that really brings out some interesting discussions that are far more intellectually engaging than deciding who would win in a fight, or which villain has a better motive. Just ask bringing up the topic of whether Delita is a bad guy or if Ramza is actually a good hero will drum up some interesting remarks from fellow players.
The gameplay brought FF to the SRPG genre and Matsuno's team took FFV's beloved Job class system and built easily the best version of it to date in the offline franchise. Main jobs, sub jobs, reaction commands, support skills, movement skills; all combined with a robust equipment and stat gaining system that makes this game a min/max players dream come true. The customization if incredibly engaging if not a bit intimidating once you dive down the rabbit hole, so to speak. The SRPG style maintains the familiarity of classic turn based RPGs and the stage designs offer soem intriguing elements to battle as you have to deal with timing attacks, AoE spells, and nearly impassable terrain to battle through as well as the monsters and soldiers you fight. The gameplay is as deep and engaging as the story that goes with it.
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I don't have a tenth entry just yet, I can't decide and that's why my list has taken so long. to post but I figure I should post something so here it is.
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