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Resetera's Top 101 Essential RPGs - Final Update. Top 101 up plus many extras.
- Thread starter kswiston
- Start date
The 'hover-over keywords' glossary system was probably my favourite inclusion from Tyranny. It also makes sense since your character shouldn't have forgotten basically everything they learned in the first game.
I feel bad for not voting, had no idea the list would get such a detailed and nice layout. Nice effort there. Even though it doesn't matter anymore, my top 5 def. would've had Dark Souls, Demon's Souls, DQ VIII, FF IX and Undertale. Looking forward to the rest of the results.
Ultima is critically influential in the history of RPGs. The numerous "Ultima" references in the early Final Fantasy games are not a coincidence. They are absolutely references to the stature the Ultima series had at that time.
Ultima I and II were the prototype that spawned numerous PC RPG imitators at the time. Ultima III and IV expanded on the series base with sophisticated new mechanics and were heavily influential on the early FFs and DQs. Ultima V, VI and VII strongly forwarded large open interactive game worlds. Ultima Underworld was the prototype of first person RPGs that Elder Scrolls and others would follow, as well as the direct predecessor of both System Shock and Deus Ex, as well as a strong technical influence on John Carmack's creation of the Wolf/Doom engines.
One of the saddest turns in gaming history is the death of Origin Systems, the developers of Ultima, at the hands of Electronic Arts. EA meddled in and ruined Origin's work on the Ultima series. Then they shut down Origins as a development house. Then they buried the Ultima IP/series in the deepest darkest pit.
It's only through community education that the importance of the series is remembered. Hopefully that will continue, because you can't really understand the history of RPGs without knowing the history of Ultima. It's unfortunate that these games have a barrier of entry in archaic user interfaces.
In some cases, as with Ultima IV or Ultima VI, the NES/SNES ports are excellent and still very playable today.
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Yeah, I get what you mean. I tend to exhaust dialogue as well, whether it is in Morrowind, or in games like Dragon Age Inquisition or Skyrim. The advantage of Morrowind's system would be that you can skip responses you already heard more easily, as opposed to Inquistion/Skyrim where you have to press X several times and literally cut people off. The latter hurts immersion even more, actually, as you won't ever hear real life conversions play out like that.
That's the thing I guess. Modern RPGs try hard to make their worlds as immersive as possible, but conversations never sound the way they do in real life. Just a bit more variation in speech (for example a realistic amount of 'uhs', 'ahs', pauses and stutters) and length of dialogue would go a long way to fix that.
Hmmm... now that you mention it, I don't remember much of what happened in the middle section or the characters apart from Mercedes and not much about her either. Still I don't think it's that bad in the scale of RPG stories.
I thought about the third game which I loved but wouldn't rate highly as an RPG but completely forget the second which does.
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Lots of interesting western games in the recent update. Speaking of Ultima, that's a series I've always wanted to try but gotten a bit intimidated by the dated visuals and interfaces, I think I could deal with some console ports tho.
Oh god, that video takes me back.
Personally, I played some of Ultima VII with the thread I linked above. My playthrough faltered, however, and it is a game I mean to pick up again some day. I really enjoyed the NPCs and towns but under-committed to learning the game systems and that, combined with real life issues, led to the failure of the attempt. Some day, I just need to sit down and really learn a classic CRPG and get that ball rolling for myself.
I am very curious about Ultima IV in particular. The write-ups above make it sound quite interesting imo.
I am very curious about Ultima IV in particular. The write-ups above make it sound quite interesting imo.
With Fallout 2 and Original Sin 2 placed this low in the list so far, I guess that's all for CRPGs. What's left is Baldur's Gate 2, I guess?
The JRPG domination is totally expected, but still disappointing. I wish people would try to explore more stuff that's out of their bubbles.
The JRPG domination is totally expected, but still disappointing. I wish people would try to explore more stuff that's out of their bubbles.
I completely forgot about Undertale, I can see that doing fairly well.
Great to see Trails make the top 50; in hindsight, I probably should have given my vote for FC instead of SC, even though SC is the better game. I imagine the votes split between FC and SC meant that FC didn't rank as highly as it could have.
Still, JRPG fans need to play these games! Haven't played 3rd, Zero/Ao or Cold Steel yet, but the FC/SC duology was fantastic and I'm eager to experience more of this world.
Still, JRPG fans need to play these games! Haven't played 3rd, Zero/Ao or Cold Steel yet, but the FC/SC duology was fantastic and I'm eager to experience more of this world.
Interesting! What did you prefer about FC, out of interest? While still great, after finishing both games I felt FC was pretty much all setup for the huge payoffs in SC. SC also had better pacing IIRC, but I could be wrong about that as it's been quite a while since I finished FC.
Either way, both totally deserve to be on this list!
Yeah, those games will definitely make it, even though the only CRPG is Planescape.
But even if we count them all as WRPGs, that's gonna be like 4 out of 40.
:/
Considering how many impressions I read about it with people hating that game (like really hating it), that is indeed pretty impressive. Then again it feels to me like it is becoming more and more common to find very polar feelings about games these days.
As a big fan of both CRPGS and JRPGS I am content with the list overall. I think JRPGS are expected to be a bit loaded in the Top 40 given the audience here. My main question is how far Planescape is going to push. It is an incredibly game, and in sheer intelligence in another stratosphere compared to most games, but going against it is that it's a top-down CRPG, old, weird, "too much reading lol", all-around niche really.
Top 20 at best, I think. Probably won't crack top 10. Neither will Baldur's Gate 2. It'd be nice if they did but I'm just not seeing it, personally.
I am guessing since the list is called essentials people (such as myself) voted for FC since it is essential to start the series with FC. My favourite Trails game so far is 3rd, but I voted FC because you can't play 3rd without FC and SC.
Are you sure it made top 100? Considering Xenoblade X is already out in the ranking. I'd guess from the two Wii U JRPGs X would be higher.
I like TMS#FE, for what it is worth. I think it has interesting combat, great boss design, and a good compromise in terms of field content and "I want to get into the dungeon!"
Don't like the Fire Emblem crossover, the pop aesthetic and narrative is too saccharine but I grew fond of some of the characters, particularly in using them.
Don't like the Fire Emblem crossover, the pop aesthetic and narrative is too saccharine but I grew fond of some of the characters, particularly in using them.
I agree. However it's always used in an one way street. CRPG and WRPG fans could also try out JRPG's and SRPG's. There's always something there for someone when you got a lot to choose from.
I'm not saying it's a lock but every single year the CRPG voting bloc has managed to get Planescape: Torment or Baldur's Gate II in the top 10.
That's true. But when we're talking about resetera list, our list, I think people should try to embrace the not so popular ones. In resetera's case, it's C/WRPGs.
This is going back a bit but the Master System actually had a great port of Ultima IV that all you console aficionados might want to take advantage of. IMO it's a bit more accessible in terms of UI and presentation than the PC version, and of course it's built around a controller instead of KB+M.
Also I said this previously ITT but just to reiterate very important information - the PC version is indeed freeware on GOG and you can get it up and running within minutes :)
The last two updates knocked out 3 of my full-point CRPG votes (the 4th is Ultima IV which will be MIA, the 5th is Planescape which I'm hoping will hit top 15), and overall I'm happy that they all made the top 50. If only barely in KOTOR 2's case haha.
When I look at the the JRPGs I love vs. the CRPGs I love, it occurs to me that I tend to prefer JRPGs that have strong gameplay mechanics and potentially use those mechanics to enhance their storytelling; and on the other hand, my preference in CRPGs is largely in the worldbuilding and writing.
I've also noticed that my tastes skew more on the darker side in terms of tone and atmosphere. I'd consider Suikoden II and EarthBound the "lighter" fare on my main ballot, despite the fact that both of those cover very dark subject matter at times (Mass death and political infighting in Suikoden II and, well, existential terror in EarthBound). On the other hand virtually everything else is pretty bleak: Nocturne, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Dragon Quarter on the JRPG side, as well as the CRPGs I mentioned above.
Maybe the moral of the story is that my RPG tastes need to lighten up a bit haha. I suppose if I'd included one "fun and adventurous" game on my main list, it indeed would've been Chrono Trigger.
Also I said this previously ITT but just to reiterate very important information - the PC version is indeed freeware on GOG and you can get it up and running within minutes :)
The last two updates knocked out 3 of my full-point CRPG votes (the 4th is Ultima IV which will be MIA, the 5th is Planescape which I'm hoping will hit top 15), and overall I'm happy that they all made the top 50. If only barely in KOTOR 2's case haha.
When I look at the the JRPGs I love vs. the CRPGs I love, it occurs to me that I tend to prefer JRPGs that have strong gameplay mechanics and potentially use those mechanics to enhance their storytelling; and on the other hand, my preference in CRPGs is largely in the worldbuilding and writing.
I've also noticed that my tastes skew more on the darker side in terms of tone and atmosphere. I'd consider Suikoden II and EarthBound the "lighter" fare on my main ballot, despite the fact that both of those cover very dark subject matter at times (Mass death and political infighting in Suikoden II and, well, existential terror in EarthBound). On the other hand virtually everything else is pretty bleak: Nocturne, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Dragon Quarter on the JRPG side, as well as the CRPGs I mentioned above.
Maybe the moral of the story is that my RPG tastes need to lighten up a bit haha. I suppose if I'd included one "fun and adventurous" game on my main list, it indeed would've been Chrono Trigger.
It is weird to see people take extreme positions on things, but that's the internet for the most part.
I think this list of games are all good games and shows that they are all good enough to have many people vote for them.
So I finished Automata for the first time just now(endings A-E) and ehhh I don't get the hype. It's decent and all, but I expected a lot more. I honestly can't say I enjoy playing it gameplay-wise. It just feels like a significantly worse and more repetitive version of the Platinum action games we've been playing for years + the overused shoot em up bits. It does get a bit better once you have all of your chip slots available though.
Also, there's certainly a few great thematic moments, but that's not enough to make it a great game to me when it's lacking in so many other areas(environments, combat, sidequests, enemy variety and design, bosses, route B, etc.) I know it's probably going to be top 10 on the list though.
Also, there's certainly a few great thematic moments, but that's not enough to make it a great game to me when it's lacking in so many other areas(environments, combat, sidequests, enemy variety and design, bosses, route B, etc.) I know it's probably going to be top 10 on the list though.
How am I just finding out we were doing this again!? This was my favorite thread on the old site! Looking forward to the final results.
Agreed. I said something similar earlier in the thread. But a lot of people like it, so it must do something for some.
TMS is an excellent modern depiction of fire emblem. The only regret is following a fire emblem plot that has been overdone. That and no way of skipping chains in later parts of the game.
Not as slick as persona 5, but the anime cutscenes were a lot better. Characters in this game actually have fun.
Not as slick as persona 5, but the anime cutscenes were a lot better. Characters in this game actually have fun.
still no Final Fantasy VIII, you can't say a game is objectively bad. But both are objectively superior to FF VIII
Mod Edit: removed animated gif
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this last update killed some of my votes that I wish I would've given my top votes
- Divinity Original Sin 2
- Trails in the Sky First Chapter