Which console had the best set of JRPGs?

[Wolf Kanno]

What it says on the tin.

[Loony BoB]

PlayStation. I haven't played all of these, but...

Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy Tactics
Various Final Fantasy Ports
Wild Arms
Wild Arms 2
Grandia
Alundra
Chrono Cross
Breath of Fire III
Breath of Fire IV
Xenogears
Persona
Persona 2
Legend of Legaia
Legend of Dragoon
Valkyrie Profile
Suikoden
Suikoden II
Star Ocean
Star Ocean II
Parasite Eve
Parasite Eve II
Tales of Destiny
Tales of Destiny 2
Saga Frontier
Tactics Ogre
Lunar
Lunar 2

The list goes on, is this even a discussion or just a thread to celebrate the RPGs of the PSX?

[Ayen]

Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Breath of Fire IV
Legend of Legaia
Legend of Dragoon

I agree with Loony BoB just on these games alone Next question?

[metagloria]

I'll throw my hat in for the PS2, actually:

Final Fantasy X, X-2, XII (three of the 5 best in the series)
Star Ocean 3 (best in the series)
Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2
Xenosaga Episodes I-III
Dragon Quest VIII
Rogue Galaxy (severely underrated game)

plus ones I haven't even played:
Persona 3 & 4
Tales of Destiny/Symphonia/Rebirth
Suikoden V
a bunch of .hacks
etc.

[VeloZer0]

Likewise, I can't even call it a contest, PS1 hands down. Even eliminating that the SNES is the only console that has anything that I would call "excellent".

[black orb]

>>> PS1..

[nirojan]

Yep. It's gotta be the PS1

[Skyblade]

The thread said "best" lineup. Not the largest. Certain titles on that list definitely don't qualify (such as the horrendous ports of the Final Fantasy series).

[Depression Moon]

I saw nothing wrong with those ports. My FFV copy didn't work, but that was about it. No glitches, no nada.

I feel as though I don't know enough about the SNES line up to speak on it as I didn't start to really get into RPGs until the PS1.

PS3 and Xbox will be dead last in this contest though.

[Bolivar]

SNES and PS2 are strong frontrunners but the original PlayStation was that special moment in time when developers still dreamed of what could be possible but finally got the tools to find out. That mix of inspiration and technology was the lightening in the bottle that you can't get back.

Games like Xenogears, Final Fantasy Tactics and FFVII exemplify that.

[Skyblade]

I saw nothing wrong with those ports. My FFV copy didn't work, but that was about it. No glitches, no nada.

Just an extra three hours of loading time for each game.

[Ayen]

I saw nothing wrong with those ports. My FFV copy didn't work, but that was about it. No glitches, no nada.

Just an extra three hours of loading time for each game.

You're exaggerating. I played Final Fantasy Anthologies and Origins, the loading times are nowhere near that long. I grew up with the NES and Sega Genesis where load time was unheard of and it still wasn't jarring when I sat down and played those ports.

[Raistlin]

PS1, easily, no remote contest. The only exception is if backwards compatibility counts, in which case the PS2 would then destroy the competition by that fact alone. The PS1-era was definitely the heyday of the JRPG, with what I consider to be the near-perfect balance of focusing on story, gameplay, and aesthetics: prioritizing them in basically that order.

[Skyblade]

I saw nothing wrong with those ports. My FFV copy didn't work, but that was about it. No glitches, no nada.

Just an extra three hours of loading time for each game.

You're exaggerating. I played Final Fantasy Anthologies and Origins, the loading times are nowhere near that long. I grew up with the NES and Sega Genesis where load time was unheard of and it still wasn't jarring when I sat down and played those ports.

Go play Chrono Trigger on the PS1. I'm serious. They didn't optimize the game at all for disc based media. Every time you entered the menu, the entire world was replaced with the menu screen (for cartridges, it made since to do this). The result is that just opening the menu to save, change equipment, heal, etcetera, added an extra ten seconds of black screen EVERY SINGLE TIME. All the ports share this issue to varying degrees. You may not sit on a screen that reads "loading", but there are huge, annoying loading times there regardless.

[Ayen]

I saw nothing wrong with those ports. My FFV copy didn't work, but that was about it. No glitches, no nada.

Just an extra three hours of loading time for each game.

You're exaggerating. I played Final Fantasy Anthologies and Origins, the loading times are nowhere near that long. I grew up with the NES and Sega Genesis where load time was unheard of and it still wasn't jarring when I sat down and played those ports.

Go play Chrono Trigger on the PS1. I'm serious. They didn't optimize the game at all for disc based media. Every time you entered the menu, the entire world was replaced with the menu screen (for cartridges, it made since to do this). The result is that just opening the menu to save, change equipment, heal, etcetera, added an extra ten seconds of black screen EVERY SINGLE TIME. All the ports share this issue to varying degrees. You may not sit on a screen that reads "loading", but there are huge, annoying loading times there regardless.

A port that wasn't even mentioned. Fair enough if its loading time was crap, but I fail to see how that knocks the PS One out of the running for best JRPGs. Especially if you're arguing quality over quantity. Take the ports away and the console still has a strong lineup.