The defining RPG for every Era

[Del Murder]

8-bit era (mid to late 80s): Probably Dragon Quest. It came free to many people who subscribed to Nintendo Power and was the first RPG for many people. It was also the inspiration for both its own series as well as FF and many others.

16-bit era (late 80s to early 90s): Chrono Trigger. I'm not sure how much it influenced the genre but it's arguably the best RPG ever made in any era.

PS1 era (mid 90s): Final Fantasy VII. I don't think this one needs explanation.

PS2 era (early 2000s): World of Warcraft. Not even a PS2 game but that's just how I describe the era. Anyway, clearly the most popular MMORPG of all time and a clear influence on both MMOs and single player games released after.

PS3 era (late 2000s): Mass Effect. I think this was the biggest influence on the western action/RPG/shooter hybrid which now most popular RPGs fall under this category. Also built on character interaction and story choice that was pioneered in other games but really popularized in this series.

PS4 era (2010s): At this point I would have to say Breath of the Wild. I mean, at what point are we going to consider Zelda an RPG? I could see a finer line in the past when action and RPG were more distinct but it's really blurred now. BotW seems to be the magnum opus of this series that finally takes it to the next level. However Witcher III and Persona 5 (return of the JRPG?) are strong contenders.

I'm sure there is an Elder Scrolls or Fallout game that goes in there somewhere but I could never get into those.

[Spuuky]

I get the lack of appreciation of the impact of games like Ultima and even Baldur's Gate, because they're really old and a lot of people both haven't played them and weren't around to understand the concept of the time they came out in. I have a harder time understanding people who leave out (based on sheer impact on the industry) FF7, WoW, and Oblivion. The question really is just where you place the dividing lines on eras.

[Wolf Kanno]

I get the lack of appreciation of the impact of games like Ultima and even Baldur's Gate, because they're really old and a lot of people both haven't played them and weren't around to understand the concept of the time they came out in. I have a harder time understanding people who leave out (based on sheer impact on the industry) FF7, WoW, and Oblivion. The question really is just where you place the dividing lines on eras.

I did say "which game for you defined the generation". So this is entirely subjective. I can agree that VII was a a watershed moment in popularizing the medium but I honestly didn't care for the game, even at the time of release, so it's difficult for me to subjectively say it defined the era for me because it was just a 16-bit era game with better graphics and budget. Xenogears was a game that made me feel "this is the new era".

If you want to make the list feel more historically objective, that is perfectly fine, but you're also more than welcome to define it by your own subjective tastes which will likely ignore the more obvious answers.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

Nes era: Final Fantasy II if I could have played it back then in English probably. Didn't really play rpgs until the ps1 outside of Pokémon though.

Snes era: would Pokémon count in this era? I'd say Pokémon Crystal if so. Otherwise, Chrono Trigger.

Ps1 era: Final fantasy viii. It was my first final fantasy and first rpg besides Pokémon. Got me into the genre.

PS2: Xenosaga

PS3 era: Xenoblade Chronicles

[Sephiroth]

Snes era: would Pokémon count in this era? I'd say Pokémon Crystal if so. Otherwise, Chrono Trigger.

Pokémon Crystal came out way later except you just mean because of the graphic style.

[Scotty_ffgamer]

I honestly cant remember when Crystal came out in terms of other systems. I thought Gameboy Color was during Snes era but I guess even Pokémon Red came out after the PS1. That's what happens when I try to do this just based on memory.

[Wolf Kanno]

Honestly, era is pretty subjective. I went with standard console generation, but even that doesn't fit neatly into handhelds or PC.

[Sephiroth]

Pokémon Crystal came out in Japan in 2000 and in the West in 2001.

[Laddy]

NES Era - JRPG: Final Fantasy / WRPG: Ultima IV
SNES Era - JRPG: Chrono Trigger / WRPG: Might & Magic: World of Xeen
PS1 Era - JRPG: Final Fantasy VII / WRPG: Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
PS2 Era - JRPG: Persona 4/ WRPG: Baldur's Gate II (these games are 8 years apart lol)
PS3 Era - JRPG: Xenoblade Chronicles / WRPG: Fallout: New Vegas
PS4 Era - JRPG: Breath of the Wild / WRPG: Bloodborne

[Ffamran mied Bunansa]

For me personally?

3rd Gen - Final Fantasy
4th Gen - Breath of Fire II or Phantasy Star IV
5th Gen - Final Fantasy VII
6th Gen - Dark Cloud or Phantasy Star Online
7th Gen - Xenoblade Chronicles
8th Gen - TBA

[Skyblade]

Y'know, I want to shift things up a bit, by looking at the handheld eras.

GameBoy: Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue. No real competition here.

GameBoy Advance: Golden Sun. One of the best (and most underrated) games of all time.

Nintendo DS: The World Ends With You. While the mechanics were incredibly overcomplicated for my taste, the game itself is brilliant, and a fantastic RPG that many remember very fondly.

Nintendo 3DS: Bravely Default. Oh my gosh, Square remembered how to make traditional RPGs. YAY!

[Depression Moon]

I still want to play Bravely Default.

[Wolf Kanno]

Y'know, I want to shift things up a bit, by looking at the handheld eras.

GameBoy: Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue. No real competition here.

GameBoy Advance: Golden Sun. One of the best (and most underrated) games of all time.

Nintendo DS: The World Ends With You. While the mechanics were incredibly overcomplicated for my taste, the game itself is brilliant, and a fantastic RPG that many remember very fondly.

Nintendo 3DS: Bravely Default. Oh my gosh, Square remembered how to make traditional RPGs. YAY!

While I don't feel as strongly about Golden Sun, I could honestly go with this list.

[Del Murder]

I think Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is the defining RPG for the GBA since it showed that that subgenre could really work well on handheld.