Would you beat FF VIII, Tactics Ogre, Xenogears, or Zelda: Ocarina of Time?

[Dragonsoul]

I'm beating Final Fantasy XII, Alundra 1, and Mass Effect this fall. It was just announced that Lost Odyssey won't come out in the Usa till February 2008. Between Mass Effect and Lost Odyssey, I'd like to beat an ultimate older rpg that I haven't beaten before.

There are four rpg teams that I follow. One is the main Final Fantasy team. One is the team of Yasumi Matsuno(Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy XII, etc). One is what I call the "cool team", for lack of a better phrase, which has made Xenogears, Chrono Cross, Xenosaga, and more. The fourth team is the team for The Legend of Zelda, including the Flagship developer who made some of the handheld titles.

Early next year in January I would like to beat a game from one of these four teams. For each of the teams, it should be the earliest game they have made that I haven't beaten, although if it's too old I may skip it. I plan to beat one of four games, although I am not yet sure which game/team it will be. I will form my own preference soon after researching them. I am curious as to the preferences of the forums. Here are my four options, which do you recommend that I beat between Mass Effect and Lost Odyssey?

Final Fantasy VIII
-I may skip FF 1-3, I already beat FF 4-7
Tactics Ogre
-I already beat Ogre Battle
Xenogears
-I already beat Chrono Trigger, I may skip Radical Dreamers
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
-I may skip Zelda 1-2, I already beat Zelda 3-4

[Ouch!]

Ocarina of Time, hands down. Don't worry about being lost on the continuity while playing OoT. Chronologically, it's the first game in generally accepted time line, so picking up there is easy enough (Zelda games all stand alone anyway).

FFVIII is a decent game. The plot, as far as I'm concerned, is atrocious, but the gameplay is pretty fun. I've not played the others.

[Karellen]

Yeah, Ocarina of Time blows all of those other games so far out of the water it's not even funny. Unless you don't really care about gameplay and only play games for their story, in which case Xenogears is pretty neat.

[Ramza Beoulve]

It isn't a RPG actually, but yeah, Ocarina of Time is better, and I LIKE FFVIII

[Karellen]

I didn't mean to imply it was. Edited for clarity though.

[o_O]

I liked Xenogears the best out of those, by far. Like, it would take at least five FFVIIIs to live up to Xenogears.

[PhoenixAsh]

I've only played Ocarina of Time and FFVIII... I love them both, but I'd recommend OoT. This is purely to introduce you to the 3D Zelda games, which is a very worthwhile endeavor Afterwards Majora's Mask is a very different experience, and in my opinion a respectable follow up.

That said, these were revolutionary games a LONG time ago. If you don't think they'll impress you, FFVIII is one of my favourate FFs, and in my opinion has some of the best replay value. That said, its a very love it or hate it game.

[Nifleheim7]

I haven't beaten any of them (i have only played FFVIII) but if i had to choose only one of them to play (and beat) i would have chosen FFVIII simply because it's a FF game and i want to beat them all eventually.
If FFVIII wasn't on that list i would have easily chosen OoT.

[Rostum]

Ocarina of Time; brilliant game.

[Breine]

Chronologically, it's the first game in generally accepted time line, so picking up there is easy enough (Zelda games all stand alone anyway).

I thought that The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap was the first game in the Zelda time line...


Anyway, as for the topic: I'd probably say Final Fantasy VIII.

[Slothy]

I'd probably say Xenogears myself, simply because I've never played it. In your case though, OoT is probably the better game, though I think it's overrated. Play it through once or twice, then never play it again.

[Madame Adequate]

FFVII or Xenogears. My vote was for the former.

[Vermachtnis]

Xenogears has nekkidness and Citan.

[Ouch!]

Chronologically, it's the first game in generally accepted time line, so picking up there is easy enough (Zelda games all stand alone anyway).

I thought that The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap was the first game in the Zelda time line...


Anyway, as for the topic: I'd probably say Final Fantasy VIII.

As I never played The Minish Cap, I wouldn't honestly know, but the timeline I saw after the release of Twilight Princess (finally showing the alternate timelines that spark from OoT) still had OoT at the beginning.

[KentaRawr!]

Chronologically, it's the first game in generally accepted time line, so picking up there is easy enough (Zelda games all stand alone anyway).

I thought that The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap was the first game in the Zelda time line...


Anyway, as for the topic: I'd probably say Final Fantasy VIII.

As I never played The Minish Cap, I wouldn't honestly know, but the timeline I saw after the release of Twilight Princess (finally showing the alternate timelines that spark from OoT) still had OoT at the beginning.

I'm fairly sure that the most recent game to be officially announced as first is Four Swords, the game that came with the re-release of A Link to the Past. However, Minish Cap generally does set itself up to be a precursor to Four Swords, so it is widely accepted as the first time-line wise.