21 replies to this topic

[Dawnlight]

What's the BEST RPG Series?

[Deathbringer]

Final Fantasy was very original for it's time and most of those wouldn't exist if it weren't for Final Fantasy.

[Moonbread]

I can't really decide. While I do like RPGs, they do kinda get boring after a while, to me. I'd say it's a tie between Final Fantasy and Lufia.

[Mitchfork]

Final Fantasy. Beyond a doubt. Final Fantasy is to RPGs what George Washington is to America.

[soundlyParanoid]

Quick question? Where's the Mother series on this list? It's such a shame that so many people ignored Earthbound/Mother 2 when it was released in the U.S....

[CastChaos]

Final Fantasy beyond the mountain of doubt. FFVI and VII provided me such a feeling like few other games (aLttP, UltimaIX, UltimaVII, etc.). The Final Fantasy was the second RPG in video game history, but it was the one that put down the base of RPGs. My VG magazine compares all RPGs to FF and mentions FF even in those months in which no any RPG comes. I liked FFIV for the most part, too (plus great story) and I kinda liked the other parts I played (8, 9, 10).

[Red Phazon]

I haven't played all the ones on the list, but Chrono Trigger was one of my favorites.

[Deepfreeze]

psssh. Chrono Trigger, no contest. despite the fact that it wasn't a series (unless you include chrono cross, but last time i checked that didn't have "trigger" in the title)

I've never been a big ff fan (and ff1 sucked, so though it may have been an early trendsetting rpg, i can't give it my vote based on that, nor do i want to). golden sun was awesome, probably the best for the gba, but it still pales in comparison to ct.

lufia has always been good (though i'm probably the only person i know who ever played, let alone enjoyed, lufia 4), but i always thought the encounters were lacking. i did like the puzzles, though, and i'd call them lufia's strong point. i never beat lufia 1 or 2, because the sd card that had my savestates on them (i'd guess about halfway through each of them) got stolen. which sucked. a lot. (back up your saves, kiddies)

red and blue (and, i guess, yellow) and maybe silver/gold/crystal were the only good pokemon games. even silver/gold/crystal didn't add much new. after that it just got boring. so it's hard to say they made a good series.

tales and dragon quest i've never played (though i've been trying to get around to at least buying tales of symphonia, but for lack of money), and breath of fire was at least lackluster compared to its snes cousins, though i've never played a more recent incarnation.

[Mitchfork]

lufia has always been good (though i'm probably the only person i know who ever played, let alone enjoyed, lufia 4), but i always thought the encounters were lacking. i did like the puzzles, though, and i'd call them lufia's strong point. i never beat lufia 1 or 2, because the sd card that had my savestates on them (i'd guess about halfway through each of them) got stolen. which sucked. a lot. (back up your saves, kiddies)

Moonwhisper played Lufia 4.

[randy]

A very original rpg that im sure most of you have never played or even heard of is Inindo: Way of the Ninja for the snes. This game freakin rocks and not to mention has quite a few unique things to do besides the main story including working for Daiymos as spies, sabatores, and even help them fight wars as a general. You can recurit almost anyone you run accross into your party. There are two different ways to battle and both actually incorperate tactics besides your standard attack, def, spell, run that most rpgs use. The story is unique compared to most rpgs as its some what based on real events that took place in Japan (even to the point that time actually flows and keeps track of what month, day and year it is), you play as an Iga ninja training to defeat and get revenage against Odu Nobunaga and his huge army.

[Moonbread]

Moonwhisper played Lufia 4.

I played all the Lufias, thank you very much.

Edit:... I missed the quoted part... I really didn't read it Yeah, I actually enjoyed Ruins of Lore... I dunno, maybe people didn't give it much of a chance to get into the actual storyline

Edited by Moonwhisper, 21 June 2007 - 11:21 PM.

[Sharon Daniel]

I'm the only one who voted for Pokemon so far...

I almost voted for Tales, but then I remembered that I really only liked Symphonia.

[link3505]

Golden Sun, no doubt. Final Fantasy may be the "godfather" of the RPG gerne, but Golden Sun surpasses it in so many ways. Mainly because it has a continuous storyline...

[Peteo]

Pokemon without a doubt. None of the Pokemon games are as good as FF5 and FF6, but as a series Pokemon is better than Final Fantasy IMO. The only good Final Fantasy games are the old ones.

[Linkus]

Hmm...I don't know except each series has its own faults. Care if I point them out?

Final Fantasy:Ah yes, the"the story of these people's adventure will end in this game" series. Of course, FFX wasn't that way, nor is it one of the best FF games. Also the production of memorable characters(and their personalities) are starting to fade really fast. You know why? Because they could become ridiculously powerful. Random fighting also gets tedious(FFIV made it a little fun, while FFXII decimated it). It's aging, and fast.

Tales: Quirks, anyone? As we all know, the Japanese version of any Tales game will always be more satirical, making purist gamers yearn for the real, unabridged dialouge. But I digress. I say to the translators come out of it and don't do such things, and make it sound like a 40-hour episode of Seinfeld.(Sorry, I had to say it. )

Star Ocean: For those who can't stand Tales' quirky dialouge(but still contains a slight amount of mature content), and have that future feel to it. I say stop going toward the future and go back to the old "Undeveloped Planet" method(which is the setting of the original Star Ocean); I say Sci-fi with a good dose of fantasy is always a nice and broad mix to mess around with.

Pokemon:Animals fight in a pseudo-present setting. Collect 'em all! Alright, but when it comes to training and leveling all of them, the measure of such responsibility is ridiculous. I say limit Pokemon storage to 4 boxes and let the trainer catch, train, and release wisely.

Dragon Quest:The ripoff of a ripoff--Final Fantasy "borrowed" the battle system and stats from Dragon Quest, even though DQ set the real standard, but is mainly out of the spotlight because it's still stuck on such old RPG standards.

Lufia: No random fights in dungeons, towers, and shrines. Yay! For once, you knew where your enemies were. But non-linearity and backtracking was very weak; backtracking was easy via Warp, since you were heading usually to a town/village anyways.

Golden Sun:This series is still young, but the story is actually open-ended at both sides. Why exactly did Psyenergy have to be sealed, even though the world was in chaos? Who(of the young group) sealed the Lighthouses? Did Alex survive, and if he did, what will be his final fate? Will Sheba find her real parents? Many questions to be answered on this series.

Chrono Trigger:This is a toughie. Maybe there could've been more time control on this one... like stopping Zeal from falling into complete ruin. That would've been awesome, to see the result of 1000 AD from that. Or actually being able to go to the domes in 1999 AD after defeating Lavos.

Breath of Fire:I'm currently playing this series, and make note, this is not something for beginning RPGers. Battles are tough in the beginning and yes, there are dragons. However, it's not that hard if you keep a large supply of Roasts by your side(by hunting) and have four party members. Mainly people like the BoF characters and enemies, but that's it.

Also a few other (somewhat) RPG series not mentioned:
Ogre Battle--more tactical, but it has that RPG feel
Fire Emblem--same as Ogre Battle
Seiken Dentensu(or Secret of Mana)--It's more action-based, but it's still a RPG
Phantasy Star
Grandia
Ys