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Resetera's Top 101 Essential RPGs - Final Update. Top 101 up plus many extras.
- Thread starter kswiston
- Start date
The answer is easy. Mass Effect was a really popular console game/series. KOTOR can be played on Xbox systems(+it's Star Wars as you stated)
The others are PC only besides Alpha Protocol.
Mass Effect and Mass Effect 3 should be swapped. ME1 was such a chore to play through. A lot of good ideas, but the execution was lacking. Mass Effect 2 was too much action and too little RPG, perhaps, but Mass Effect 3 was a perfect mix of the two. A shame about the story and the resulting fallout, which is probably a big reason why didn't rank higher.
I could never get into Final Fantasy Tactics (War of the Lions version). If there was a prize for the most pretentious game, FFT would surely win. I think Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together was a much better game. A shame FFT ranks 70 places higher.
I could never get into Final Fantasy Tactics (War of the Lions version). If there was a prize for the most pretentious game, FFT would surely win. I think Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together was a much better game. A shame FFT ranks 70 places higher.
COmpletely agree. ME3 is much better than the first one in every sense. ME2>ME3>ME
It's a shame that ME3 isn't appearing on the list but at least 2 will obviously do
Put a decimal point before 99999 so it's ever-so-slightly above 1, change Persona 4/5 to Persona 3, and you'll have an eerily accurate list going.
Nier Automata will hit number one because it is a MASTERPIECE that puts me in STRATOSPHERIC
It is O B J E C T I V E L Y the best moose riding experience in EXISTENCE OF ALL TIME
It will be remembered more than Chrono Triggera nd WItcher 3 PUT TOGETHER HAVE SOME MORE GIFS
FrontierGamer, is that you?
Edit: ah, I see you addressed this.
Well, your RPG definition is not a definition of RPGs from their merits but a definition to specifically encompass games you like (JRPGs) that you then impose on the broad genre of RPGs. And frankly I get quite sick of people here constantly trying to force their (very flawed) ideals on the genre. And I was trying to show you the absurdity of defining roleplaying with spending time in menus. But I am willing to admit that I got carried away with the JRPG bit. Calling them menu games was a bit crass. Although inspired by your definition. I should not have stooped so low. JRPGs are not menu games. They are adventure games. JRPGs main attribute is their focus on telling a particular story and putting some game aspects into it. Like old school adventures with their puzzles or modern "walking simulators" with their exploration and modern adventures like David Cage games and Until Dawn with their quick time events. All trying to tell a story with some game elements. At best JRPGs are thus hybrid adventure RPGs. But this strict adherence to a predetermined story does detract from them being "pure" RPGs. So they count as much as the other hybrids like action RPGs and strategy RPGs.
But I am not going around trying to gate the genre to exclude games I decided do not deserve to be on this list because they do not comply with my personal view on the genre. I do however correct people who try to redefine what roleplaying means. And JRPG fans are usually the worst offenders on this site. So I like to let them taste a bit of their own medicine and argue that logically JRPGs are not RPGs. But if you think you can make a real logical case for JRPGs, please.
And another point agains your menu based definition: I do not remember the extensive menus in Dungeons and Dragons, Vampire the Masquerade, Shadowrun, Pathfinder or Call of Cthulhu. But I do remember the roleplaying in these real roleplaying games.
tl;dr:
Menuing is not a staple of roleplaying games, roleplaying is. JRPGs are as much RPGs as action RPGs.
In all seriousness, I feel like Nier fans are probably less annoying post-Automata. Because we aren't just spamming "PLAY NIER" in every RPG thread
As a series, Mass Effect does sci-fi western RPG better than any one else. For games like Witcher 1 or MotB, there are other greater DnD-ish games to take that head space, not so for ME1. [edit: someone pointed out ME1 is on consoles, and that probably does play a big role too] ME1 and 2 also have an interesting split, where 1 did world-building and overall story better, and 2 fleshed out the team and polished the gameplay. 1 was as close to Star Trek as AAA RPGs ever got (especially in the light of ME:Andromeda's poor writing), whereas 2 felt like a "get the team together" action movie. Especially on a ballot about RPGs, ME1 doesn't get washed out by an all-around better package in 2 like some other series do.
Yeah there is really nothing else like Mass Effect, which is kinda the biggest reason Andromeda was so disappointing to me. Plenty of other space games exist, but very few with the same story focus, and it's a lot more traditional sci-fi than Star Wars ever gets. With no real competition it'll standout for decades to come.
I've always really enjoyed the narrative in Final Fantasy Tactics. In particular I love the framing device that the game uses, as the story being one told "from the annals of history" so to speak, because it introduces the possibility of either a deliberate or unintentional "unreliable narrator." I like to think that the sudden tone-shift in the final third of Tactics
Beyond that, the localization itself in the PSP version is absolutely top-notch and on a line-by-line basis I think it trounces most other games I've played, RPG or otherwise. But I had to read a lot of classical English texts, whether Middle English or Early Modern, in college so I'm naturally a sucker for that sort of thing.
And finally, the game has some exceptional character work, particularly with Ramza and Delita who are wonderful foils and who both have nuanced characterization that allows for plenty of alternative character interpretation. And Delita is of course a fantastic tragic figure.
It's probably not in my top 5 FFs, but that's only because I'm not particularly a fan of SRPGs. In terms of its pure story it would certainly be in my top 3, possibly top 2. It was also a lot of fun breaking it in half with a solo Ramza arithmetician.
is really a way that those writing the history books hastily and clumsily scrubbed some key events and instead whitewashed them with a conventional "save the world" set of tropes that comes completely out of left field, possibly to intimate that Ramza died and therefore allow him to live in peace and without being constantly hounded by the government. That may sound like a stretch, but I don't think it's entirely a coincidence that some dubious things happen in the game's final third, and the game also employs a potential "unreliable narrator" trope. At any rate it's an interesting alternative to simply taking the game's recounting of the events at face value.
And finally, the game has some exceptional character work, particularly with Ramza and Delita who are wonderful foils and who both have nuanced characterization that allows for plenty of alternative character interpretation. And Delita is of course a fantastic tragic figure.
It's probably not in my top 5 FFs, but that's only because I'm not particularly a fan of SRPGs. In terms of its pure story it would certainly be in my top 3, possibly top 2. It was also a lot of fun breaking it in half with a solo Ramza arithmetician.
I just put it together quickly when I saw Phazon's post XD haha
As far as I'm concerned, most of the big JRPG's are genre hybrids and have been since the beginning. The big japanese studios which started the genre already had a history in VN's and adventure games, and took inspiration from early western RPG's like Ultima and Wizardry when experimenting with bringing RPG mechanics into their story driven games.
They are still RPG's though. This isn't intended as an insult to the genre (which wouldn't even make sense coming from me considering I generally like JRPG's and 2/3 of my list were JRPGs).
They are still RPG's though. This isn't intended as an insult to the genre (which wouldn't even make sense coming from me considering I generally like JRPG's and 2/3 of my list were JRPGs).
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ME3 is listed! Only at 96, though, so that about says it all, haha.
I'm not sure if ME2 is still in the race? I mean, I hope it is. I think it's a great game. I didn't want to buy it at first, seeing how ME1 was such a let-down. I bought it on a whim after seeing the great reviews and was completely blown away by it. Best impulse purchase I ever made.
Damn, I missed the most obvious explanation. Makes slightly more sense now.
I could very well be underestimating CT but I'd like to think that the huge amount of increased votes over previous years might knock it off its place although as I said I very much figured my list would be completely wrong XD
I believe at one time on a previous vote P4 was a single point away from Chrono Trigger.
ME2 always did well in these lists. Since even ME3 got in there's no chance ME2 missed out. People love that game so much more than ME3.
S2 @ 20 is crazy.
Crazy I tells you!
I guess it's becoming a forgotten gem.
Soon it will fall out of the top 25.
Crazy I tells you!
I guess it's becoming a forgotten gem.
Soon it will fall out of the top 25.
Don't worry man it's the highest it's been in years. Upward trajectory, top 10 soon!
We are very cool.
Mostly. There are some weirdos, but it also a very active community that has done all kinds of cool projects together.
No fanbase is cool yo
Maybe it's just people taking it personally when they get the first ending in either Nier and immediately run off to make a LTTP thread on how much it sucked, then get told they're nowhere near done
True.
I guess in the sense that the fanbase can be a bit overzealous and some people like to post ass pics and "become as gods" memes. Every fandom is annoying because of this though - a certainty that the thing they like is amazing, and a tendency towards in-jokes or content that's not enjoyable or understandable to others.
This is just what a fandom is, a group of people who think something is amazing and participate in the culture surrounding it.
A fandom doesn't turn annoying until it a) treats new members with hostility, and/or b) begins attacking other fandoms. And even then it's not clear-cut because it's not as though a "fandom" is some monolithic entity, it's just a group of people and in every sufficiently large group of people it is statistically guaranteed there will be bad apples.
Yeah we're cool. Except for the crossover into vaporwave/city pop shit
The fan translation and insanely awesome unofficial handbook are proof positive that the fanbase generally owns
I know, I was just saying every fandom is annoying to someone because of its very nature and in general fandom is lame. I say this as someone who spends a lot of time yelling "oh yes we stan!!! [pop star/video game/inanimate object] did that!!!!" at a variety of things.
So what is/was the deal with Frontier anyways? Just a meme factory for Final Fantasy XV?
On topic, I could make the case that Final Fantasy Tactics is the best Final Fantasy of all time. In fact, I often put it in its own category, the way I do for a select few games like Halo:CE/2 and Journey. Truly a spectacular masterpiece, and I'm not even being facetious :)
I think Xenoblade definitely suffered from vote-splitting; this is the first time it's fallen out of the top 10, isn't it?
I'm also a bit shocked at how highly Nier: Automata is going to place. I definitely enjoyed the game, but I really did not expect it to be top-10/15 material. As someone who hasn't really minded any of the placements so far, this is surprisingly the one that gets to me a bit -- maybe because the Soulsborne games are the only action-RPGs which I'm happy with placing above Kingdom Hearts II.
I'm also a bit shocked at how highly Nier: Automata is going to place. I definitely enjoyed the game, but I really did not expect it to be top-10/15 material. As someone who hasn't really minded any of the placements so far, this is surprisingly the one that gets to me a bit -- maybe because the Soulsborne games are the only action-RPGs which I'm happy with placing above Kingdom Hearts II.
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I also did not realize the Nier: Automata was, for so many people, an all-time action RPG. I just totally misjudged how highly people thought of it.
I expected it this time around, but ngl it did shock me last year when Nier beat Bloodborne. I was baffled, but I hadn't played the whole game at that point. It's even more perplexing in retrospect now that I have
I can't necessarily speak for other fans of Automata but the underlying action-RPG combat mechanics are not the reason I voted for it, it was instead the narrative, the themes it broached, and the way in which it developed those themes through a combination of conventional storytelling but also storytelling methods unique to video games such as gameplay mechanics and encounter design.
Then of course there's the soundtrack which is something I personally attach great weight to.
Yea Tactics is great. Very high-quality story as I discussed a bit above. It perplexes me that I just don't connect with the combat though, in Tactics or in most other SRPGs. I like chess irl and used to play both the Mechwarrior and Heroclix miniatures games too. But something about translating that experience into a video game just doesn't gel with me.
Then of course there's the soundtrack which is something I personally attach great weight to.
They were a bit overzealous about FFXV lol. But immaculate taste in identifying good songs on XV's soundtrack!
Yea Tactics is great. Very high-quality story as I discussed a bit above. It perplexes me that I just don't connect with the combat though, in Tactics or in most other SRPGs. I like chess irl and used to play both the Mechwarrior and Heroclix miniatures games too. But something about translating that experience into a video game just doesn't gel with me.
Suikoden 2 with the rightful top 20 place.
FFT deserved to be this high and probably even higher.
Xenoblade is a great game overall and deserves a place on the list even if only for music and environments alone, but I don't know if I agree that it's top 20 material.
Couldn't get into Mass Effect at all and wish it had switched spots with Dragon Age, but I'll live.
Definitely, as it's better in almost every way. Do try and play the PAL version if you can, as the US version has a few weird bugs (for example, some war battles and parts of the ending play in complete silence due to music bugs that were inexplicably never fixed).
I'd also recommend pushing through the first game so you get the full effect when playing the sequel (the original is only like 15 hours long).
Here's hoping that once more people play S2 and see how great it is they also play the other games in the series which are arguably just as deserving of votes!
Yes, I might still be a little bit salty that my personal favourite didn't end up ranking at all. Possibly. Just a tad.
FFT deserved to be this high and probably even higher.
Xenoblade is a great game overall and deserves a place on the list even if only for music and environments alone, but I don't know if I agree that it's top 20 material.
Couldn't get into Mass Effect at all and wish it had switched spots with Dragon Age, but I'll live.
Definitely, as it's better in almost every way. Do try and play the PAL version if you can, as the US version has a few weird bugs (for example, some war battles and parts of the ending play in complete silence due to music bugs that were inexplicably never fixed).
I'd also recommend pushing through the first game so you get the full effect when playing the sequel (the original is only like 15 hours long).
Here's hoping that once more people play S2 and see how great it is they also play the other games in the series which are arguably just as deserving of votes!
Yes, I might still be a little bit salty that my personal favourite didn't end up ranking at all. Possibly. Just a tad.
The become as Gods memes are pretty great. The ass pic memes? Not so much :/ I hate how that's become such a defining characteristic in some people's minds. I'll start talking to a friend about Nier Automata and hear "oh, that game the butts?" -_-;
The combat in Automata is theoretically very good and you can pull off some really cool stuff, but the game has really shitty balancing and encounter design that does not invite you to explore its depth. It's far, far too easy on "Normal" and you can get by with the bare minimum. I still consider it an amazing game simply because of the narrative and music.
Nier Automata is a flawed masterpiece and was, therefore, my #2 GOTY. (Trails in the Sky the 3rd was my GOTY, that game is an actual flawless masterpiece).
I consider Nier Automata my joint GOTY with Breath of the Wild. That's how highly I think of it. It might have plenty of flaws, but it does some things (dynamic soundtrack, narrative depth) so well.
I also second all the points above about the combat, sadly. Great combat system but unfortunately wasted by a game with a broken levelling system and enemies which never require you to do more than dodge spam.
I also second all the points above about the combat, sadly. Great combat system but unfortunately wasted by a game with a broken levelling system and enemies which never require you to do more than dodge spam.
