-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
USgamer Top 25 RPGs of All Time (list started nearly a year ago)
- Thread starter Eolz
- Start date
What's really amazing to me is that Kat only played Chrono Trigger for the first time within the past year and was still blown away by it.
It earned that #1.
It earned that #1.
Kat did say in her semi-retrospective on making the list on the podcast that she felt like that one was a mistake and kind of regretted it, but also that she was worried there wasn't enough time since it released yet.
Last edited:
Once again the overrated Chrono Trigger surprises no one.
Also no Skies of Arcadia!
Damn my opinion receptors are feeling the need to make a complain about how I don't agree with the list and that..shit too late.
Sorry everybody
Also no Skies of Arcadia!
Damn my opinion receptors are feeling the need to make a complain about how I don't agree with the list and that..shit too late.
Sorry everybody
I think I remember them saying that they hadn't had enough distance from playing DOS2 to justify putting it on the list yet. I don't think Nadia or Kat have played Panzer Dragoon Saga, for obvious reasons.
Damn, there's a lot on that list I haven't played. I wish there was an easy, good way to play Chrono Trigger on modern platforms. Found myself eyeing a 3DS just to play the DS version.
Also this list just makes me all the more bummed that The Witcher 3 never clicked for me. Everything about it should lead to it being one of my favorites of all time, but I just always bounce off of it.
Also this list just makes me all the more bummed that The Witcher 3 never clicked for me. Everything about it should lead to it being one of my favorites of all time, but I just always bounce off of it.
Pretty good list. Baldur's Gate 2 deserves to be way higher than 10 imo.
Golden Sun got robbed too! Still my personal favorite JRPG 😄
Golden Sun got robbed too! Still my personal favorite JRPG 😄
Decided to see if I could come up with a Top 25 for myself:
Xenoblade Chronicles
Wild Arms XF
Breath of Fire III
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
Dragon Quest III
Dragon Quest XI
Persona 4 Golden
Persona 5
Tokyo Mirage Sessions
Lunar: Eternal Blue
Grandia
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy X
Chrono Trigger
Lufia 2
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Etrian Odyssey IV
Devil Survivor
Phantasy Star IV
Dark Souls
Bloodborne
Path of Exile
Dragon Age: Origins
Suikoden 2
Paladin's Quest
Top 5 would probably be Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, Persona 4 Golden, Dark Souls, Wild Arms XF, and Etrian Odyssey IV in no particular order. All games that I've replayed many times. And my nostalgia #1 pick is Lunar: Eternal Blue - that game really blew me away as a teenager.
Xenoblade Chronicles
Wild Arms XF
Breath of Fire III
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
Dragon Quest III
Dragon Quest XI
Persona 4 Golden
Persona 5
Tokyo Mirage Sessions
Lunar: Eternal Blue
Grandia
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy X
Chrono Trigger
Lufia 2
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Etrian Odyssey IV
Devil Survivor
Phantasy Star IV
Dark Souls
Bloodborne
Path of Exile
Dragon Age: Origins
Suikoden 2
Paladin's Quest
Top 5 would probably be Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, Persona 4 Golden, Dark Souls, Wild Arms XF, and Etrian Odyssey IV in no particular order. All games that I've replayed many times. And my nostalgia #1 pick is Lunar: Eternal Blue - that game really blew me away as a teenager.
Top 25:
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Star Ocean 2
Ooh shit, I didn't know they fixed it. I'll definitely be playing it after I get through the Legend of Heroes games then. Thanks for the heads up!
Golden Sun 1 & 2 are pretty good but I don't think they are good enough to crack a list like this.
The GBA RPG that has a shot to do it is Mother 3 (but it was never officially released outside Japan).
Both good games, but I like Wild Arms XF better than either. Wild Arms XF has more interesting classes than FFT, better balance & mission design than either, and there's no weird XP/LV system like in Tactics Ogre. Plus a hex-based grid. All 3 have excellent soundtracks.
One of their soft rules was only 1 representative from a series except in extraordinary circumstances, and generally speaking preference was given to titles that had a large impact on their respective series or the genre.
Why is that strange? The SNES/Genesis/PlayStation era was the best era for JRPGs.
I fought for Divinity: Original Sin 2, but Kat didn't want games from the past few years on the list. So no Persona 5, DOS2, DQ 11, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, etc.
I also wouldn't have done CT as #1, but it's not entirely my list.
Last edited:
I disagree (I think there are great games from every era but if I had to pick one, I'd go with PS2/Gamecube), but even if you have that opinion, 6 SNES games, 1 Genesis game, 1 PS1 game, 1 PS2 game, and 1 GBA game is awfully skewed. There's hardly any PS1 representation (just Suikoden 2 since TO was originally a SNES game). There are 50% more SNES games listed than JRPGs on every other system combined.
I was going to go the other direction. This is one of the worst "best of" lists I've seen for the genre.
i'm on board with this. This is a "I can tell exactly how old the author is" list by how overrepresented the SNES is. The PS1/2 had some EXTREMELY strong JRPGs. Final Fantasy 5 being on the list and Digital Devil Saga and Nocturne being TOTALLY ABSENT really tells you all you need to know here.
And yes people- Chrono Trigger is the most overrated RPG of all time.
persona 4 is a weird choice to me, because p3(p) tells a better, stronger. and an incredibly thematically cohesive story, while p5 mechanically blows the others out of the water. p4g was my introduction to persona, but the farther i get from it the lower i rate it.
dos2 getting excluded feels like a snub. it's one of the best rpgs made, no question, and the dos blurb even mentions that it's better. if final fantasy can get two entries, i don't see why dos can't either--each dos game is, imo, genre-defining.
and honestly, mass effect feels out of place on this list. aside from establishing the cinematic rpg/dialogue wheel, it's not very remarkable at all; it is a game of failed ambitions, with a legacy that basically killed mainstream rpgs for a decade. it represents everything wrong with the modern pitch for 'an rpg'.
absolutely love seeing tactics ogre getting some love, though. it must return. its immense scope and grand storylines (that are a small part of a much bigger wold) are something i'd love to see more of in an rpg. it is gritty fantasy done right.
:p
dos2 getting excluded feels like a snub. it's one of the best rpgs made, no question, and the dos blurb even mentions that it's better. if final fantasy can get two entries, i don't see why dos can't either--each dos game is, imo, genre-defining.
and honestly, mass effect feels out of place on this list. aside from establishing the cinematic rpg/dialogue wheel, it's not very remarkable at all; it is a game of failed ambitions, with a legacy that basically killed mainstream rpgs for a decade. it represents everything wrong with the modern pitch for 'an rpg'.
absolutely love seeing tactics ogre getting some love, though. it must return. its immense scope and grand storylines (that are a small part of a much bigger wold) are something i'd love to see more of in an rpg. it is gritty fantasy done right.
these ais are getting out of control
:p
Dragon Quarter is a GOAT, nice to see it getting mentioned. Easily one of the best Capcom games ever made and from a purely mechanical perspective it is probably my favorite JRPG ever.
I agree. I think what it comes down to is a lot of people just really enjoy P4's more "feel-good" narrative and characters, especially in comparison to P5. IMO neither game has super great writing but mechanically 5 is a far better game.
I think this is a great list and I really enjoyed listening to all of their ruminations on the podcast to put it together. I really appreciate that they tried really hard to keep focused on a single representative per franchise (FF5/6 notwithstanding) but the result is a list that is far more diverse and thorough than a lot of other comparable rankings.
Hmm.. I hereby declare this a shit list.
-No Skies of Arcadia
-No Panzer Dragoon Saga
-Has the audacity to have Mass Effect 1 instead of 2.
-The Witcher 3 is better than Suikoden 2 confirmed.
-Total misrepresentation of the ps1 era; no Final Fantasy Tactics or Xenogears.
-Persona 5 is better than 4 in almost every way....
-No Skies of Arcadia
-No Panzer Dragoon Saga
-Has the audacity to have Mass Effect 1 instead of 2.
-The Witcher 3 is better than Suikoden 2 confirmed.
-Total misrepresentation of the ps1 era; no Final Fantasy Tactics or Xenogears.
-Persona 5 is better than 4 in almost every way....
It definitely would not have been my list, and I'd like to say I'm more inclined to your list but you don't have FF7 either. Any list without FF7 I know doesn't represent my taste, so I didn't take it too seriously. And you're right, having only one PlayStation 1 game is a joke in and of itself.
I think the reason why P4G frequently tops these lists is:
1 - Favorite cast (subjective)
2 - Lacks the major drawbacks of 3 (huge boring tower, fatigue system, no direct party control or fusion inheritance)
3 - Isn't as long as 5 (which seriously drags in the last stretch, although they all do)
4 - Portable and the portable version has minimal compromises (unlike P3P which has major tech downgrades)
P4G currently narrowly edges out 5 for me so if they do an enhanced version of 5 on a portable system, 5 will take the crown in my book.
That's a good list with some solid variety.
I'm happy to see some Tokyo Mirage Sessions love. Definitely an RPG that would rate pretty highly for me.
I loved Xenogears at the time, but have you tried to play it recently? It's a mess. Slow pacing (that text speed), barely interactive for huge stretches, and completely unbalanced. At least the soundtrack is still amazing.
I don't care how rare and expensive it is now, if you haven't played Panzer Dragoon Saga, don't publish an all-time RPGs list. A major game site should at least have one copy they can lend to each employee. Lack of wider experience of gaming history is why we have the same safe biased lists over and over again.
Mass Effect over Mass Effect 2 shows a profund lack of understanding of what makes an RPG or/and a defective definition of the genre. KoTOR and BG2 are too low I think.
Besides that I'm ok with the list.
Besides that I'm ok with the list.
y'know, yeah those are good points.
i was thinking about how boring i found p4's dungeons to be while exploring (similar to tartarus), while forgetting how well they tie into the story. i can agree its setup and pacing gives p4 a unique edge.
i take it back!
Panzer Dragoon Saga is really an acquired taste since it's so different. Even at the time, it was ugly (despite the cool art style) as the game desperately tries to eke out more power from the Saturn than the system had to offer. And the combat, though original and fun at first, doesn't have enough depth to carry a 20 hour long game. Even on the same system, I think Grandia is the better game.
A remake of Panzer Dragoon Saga could potentially be the best thing ever though. :)
Sure it does. FO3 was never great to begin with lol.
I would put OS2 and FO2 over their OGs myself.
Pretty good list. Idk what Nethack is though.
Again...on board with this.
Mass Effect 2 is interesting, but as an RPG? Dragon Age: Origins (especially if we include Awakenings) COMPLETELY MURDERS IT. It's not even close as "the best Bioware RPG."
Haven't read the article, but I assume the Persona 4 present is Golden on the Vita. That being the case, the entire SMT catalogue on PS2 not getting a mention at all is just bizarre. Nocturne and DDS1 and DDS2 are just...breathtaking games.
Vagrant Story goes unmentioned? but why? The game was revolutionary, and had it not been held back by the hardware it would have been the GOAT.
Final Fantasy 5 is among the weakest in the series and has no business being here. Even 6 is questionable, given the later entries that surpassed it. If you're really itching to recognize the job system, FFXII: TZA right now is the gold standard for that series- and the localization, lore, and world building are completely, utterly, and totally unsurpassed by any FF before or since.
None of the souls games getting a mention is bizarre. Demon's Souls at least should get the nod for revolutionizing the genre. "Souls-like" starts there. Nethack is interesting and all but there are better ways to try to show your nerd street cred.
Dragon Quest hasn't been relevant in the west since DQ1. For a publication named USGAMER, the genuflecting towards that series is bizarre. That series skates by on nostalgia and toriyama artwork and little else. Valkyria Chronicles is more deserving of the spot, honestly.
Alpha Protocol because fuck you that's why
Also, great to see a list that actually justify their picks instead of just saying 20 words about each pick.
definitely agree with this. it's one of the best "big list" setups out there.
Forget about popularity. There are a lot of amazing Dragon Quest games. DQ3 & 4 are still a lot of fun even today despite being NES games which is more than you can say of much games of that era. DQ5 & 6 are some of the best SNES RPGs around. DQ7, okay, that's a bit of an odd one out, but hey, at least it's crazy long. DQ8 frequently tops PS2 Best RPG lists, just like DQ9 frequently tops best DS RPG lists. And DQ11 is a fantastic recent entry, although to get the most out of it, you need to ramp up the difficulty modifiers.
no Trails in the Sky 3rd or an any Etrian Odyssey? Trash list.
(Making lists of something as broad as "RPGs" is an impossible task haha)
(Making lists of something as broad as "RPGs" is an impossible task haha)
Last edited:
we're talking the 25 best RPGs of all time- and as this is USGAMER i assume the perspective is a western one.
Are there good dragon quest games? yeah, sure. I finished both Dragon Warrior III and IV. At release. I like them just fine. They aren't "best of all time" material though, not by far and that's being generous.
Later entries are skating by on nostalgia enjoyed by the japanese market and routinely fail to make much of an impact in the west for that reason. I like DQ8, I own DQ8...it has no business on a list with planescape:torment, SMT:Nocturne, FFXII:TZA, Suikoden 2, Demon's Souls, Fallout NV, or Witcher 3.
Those games were revolutionary takes that took console RPGs to new heights. DQ wallows in the past and is extremely shameless about it.
no disagreement here. Mass Effect from a gameplay perspective didn't really do a lot that was interesting. From a ROLE PLAYING perspective, DA: Origins is so far past it I have no idea why mass Effect is here. If Mass Effect is here for dialogue tree nonsense, then we need to recognize the best implementation of that particular mechanic, and that's not Mass Effect OR DA: Origins. It's Alpha Protocol.
Yeah, the GAMEPLAY on that one could be and probably would be crazy broken by anyone remotely paying attention to the game- but a TIMED character specific and region specific alignment system? be a saint in the middle east and a sinner in paris with no one the wiser? And the writing in that thing was off the charts. i have no idea how Obsidian pulled that off but I'm ecstatic they did. had it been placed in the middle ages or in space maybe more people would have given it a shot.
Last edited: