Resetera's Top 101 Essential RPGs - Final Update. Top 101 up plus many extras.

Thuddert · Aug 10, 2018

SantaC said:
I havent read the whole list, but if dark souls count as a rpg, symphony of the night should had as well.

There where definitely some voters for it, but not enough to make the list.

mindatlarge · Aug 10, 2018

Van Bur3n said:
New Vegas in the top 10 is good. No Fallout 2 at all and too many of these anime looking games is bad.

You have all failed. IGN actually managed to make a better list than ERA.

Anytime you poll a group of diverse people with different tastes you'll end up with a diverse list. Especially when you have something as varied and large as the genre of RPG. That's what makes this list so cool, it's unique to this site and the people that come to visit it. So of course it won't be your cookie cutter type of list.

texhnolyze · Aug 10, 2018

Mozendo · Aug 10, 2018

Y'all fucked up by having Persona 4 top 5, listing Zelda:BotW as an RPG, and having a Kotor 1 image for Kotor 2 (lol)
But at least thrashy Cosmic Star Heroine wasn't there .

Aters · Aug 10, 2018

Strings said:
Justice goddammit! At least it wasn't shafted quite as hard as a lot of Matsuno's output in terms of ranking (like the best SRPG of all time just chilling at 85...) :(

I did my part. That game is on PS, PSP, and you can play it on PSV. That's enough availability if you ask me. Very weird that its popularity never picks up, considering how popular FFT is, and TO is better in almost every way.

Agent Icebeezy · Aug 10, 2018

This is glorious and a triumph of community. Good job.

jack_package_200 · Aug 10, 2018

Top 2 were unsurprising

Taruranto · Aug 10, 2018

SantaC said:
I disagree. SoA(L) has always been a highly regarded rpg. I thought it would be top 15.

It isn't about quality. It's a single entry game released on less popular platforms that gets overshadowed by a lot of RPG. Getting in top 50 is actually quite an accomplishment, a lot of more popular games/series failed.

aerie · Aug 10, 2018

This is a really solid list, I do think Persona 4 and especially 5 are a tad too high, and I say that as a very big fan of the series, but overall, good taste Era.

Starlatine · Aug 10, 2018

crediting Inon Zur for the FNV soundtrack is weird. the best songs are the ones reused from older games and done by Mark Morgan

Cool to see it in the top 10 though, if Skyrim ranked higher i would lose all faith in Era

Radamammuth · Aug 10, 2018

C+f Valkyrie Profile ... good I don't have to murder anyone.
Personally I think it should be higher, but I can see the competition is brutal.

Novel Mike · Aug 10, 2018

Edit: messed this up the first time, my bad and sorry for double post >.<

Novel Mike · Aug 10, 2018

Alright everybody since the big list is finished I decided to write up a list of some personal recommendations. While I know everyone has been talking to death about the top 20 for awhile now I don't want the games farther down on the list to get completely ignored so heres some of my personal recommendations and including how they are available and what they generally cost!

How this is going to work is that I've picked out 10 games that ranked between 101-51, another 5 for 50-21, and 5 games OR SERIES that didn't rank at all! That said lets jump right in!

10 Games Ranked 101-51 That I think you should play (in order of appearance)

# 99 Suikoden

While the second game made it into the top 20 I don't think anyone should forget about the original game that in many ways sets up the second game including introducing several key characters that play a major role in the second game. If you are interested in the series, start here and not the second game even though its better.

Available For: PlayStation Store as a PSOne Classic for PS3/Vita/PSP 5.99$

#87 Shadow Hearts Coveant

I think you should play the original game (Shadow Hearts) as well so group that into this but Shadow Hearts is a really unique series set in the modern world in the early 1910's playing out largely in Europe and Asia with many dark fantasy elements and mythologizes. One of very few RPG's that has many horror elements within the game. It has a ton of interesting and crazy characters and the story if fantastic with real character development and is easily the most overlooked RPG series on the PS2.

Available For: Sadly both games have never been re-released outside of the PlayStation 2 system, you'll have to track down a used game if you want to play it legally. Each game is about 30$ used on Ebay.

#86 Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor

A rather unique take on the traditional SMT style set in Japan, a crazy disaster takes place and all of a sudden demons are invading the real world. You and your friends gain a special app on your phone that allows you to summon your own demons and you use them in a unique mix of a strategy RPG with a traditional turn based battle system. There are quite a few routes and endings adding a ton of replay-ability. The second game is also worth checking out for many of the same reasons and is basically a alternative take on the exact same setup just with different characters and events. Both are great.

Available for: The DS or a remake for the 3DS for around 23-30$ depending on which version you want. Those are new prices from amazon used could be lower.

#84 Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals

Lufia II is in my opinion the most overlooked RPG on the SNES. It blends great turn based combat with Zelda like puzzles in its dungeons but generally the puzzles are far better and more interesting then in LTTP with some that really require some thought to accomplish. It's got a fairly traditional heroes journey story but with some great characters and tons of replay-ability both with a new game plus mode and a special randomly generated 100 floor dungeons known at the ancient cave.

Available for: Sadly much like Shadow Hearts that I mentioned above the series never got re-released on newer hardware, why it never showed up on the virtual console I will never know. There was a remake for the game on the DS but that version of the game is completely different and basically just reuses the story of the original game to make a completely different game. It's not good at all. The SNES game is also rather rare now and goes for at least 80$ on ebay just for the cart. I will completely understand if you decide to pirate this but if you want to go the legal way well I hope your wallet is ready.

#82 Tales of Vesperia

The best Tales game in my opinion. Yuri the main character is really what makes this game stand out from the rest of the series. Tales protagonists are generally fairly predictable and obviously good natured where as Yuri is much more layered and complicated which makes him a much more interesting character to follow. The rest of the cast is also quite strong and the interactions between characters are some of the best in the entire series. You play Tales games for its characters and Vesperia has easily some of the best.

Available for: Currently only available on Xbox 360 but a remaster is coming out on all major consoles and PC this winter with content from the PS3 version of the game we never got. Wait for that version, it'll be 50$ at launch.

#78 Golden Sun

Golden Sun is a rather interesting RPG in that it has many elements from classical RPG's but generally uses them in unique ways. Such as the magic system in the game (Psi Energy) being used for a lot of puzzles and it does have a job system but is dependent on these unique creatures known as Djinn and what types you have equipped on your character and they also double as summons as well. It's a really fun game with some great music and the sequel is also really good.

Available For: It was released on the GBA originally but has made its way to the Wii U Virtual Console and both it and the sequel The Lost Ages are available for 7.99$ If you've got a Wii U I'd jump in.

#76 Radiant Historia

It comes off as a game thats a mix of Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. It deals with time travel but also has two versions of a timeline a 'standard history' and an 'alternate history' much like the parallel worlds of Chrono Cross and going back and forth through both is what ultimately leads you through the game. It's really interesting and also like Chrono Cross you get to see how characters can act very differently depending on what timeline you are in. It also has various bad endings and other interesting events. It's a really fun game with some good characters and a great concept. It's the best game to do time travel since CT.

Available For: It was originally a DS game but earlier this year had a remake for the 3DS which is currently available for around 40$ and includes some redesigned character art and new content.

#62 Fire Emblem Path of Radiance

A really fantastic Gamecube strategy RPG. It's a pretty traditional Fire Emblem game but was the first one we got on Consoles since the SNES. While the graphics aren't anything special it can be quite challenging with many interesting maps and characters. You can for the first time make your own weapons if you have the money for it which can be extremely helpful to certain characters that need a rather specific type of weapon to be useful. It's a great game and has a direct sequel on the Wii known as Radiant Dawn that has almost every single character return.

Available for: Sadly its just for the Gamecube and even used the price of the game has gone up tremendously going for more then 80$ on ebay. Maybe at some point Nintendo will re-release both this and RD but until then, get ready to dig deep if you want to play this classic!

#56 Chrono Cross

Despite being a direct sequel to Chrono Trigger you really are better thinking of this game as its own thing. It's an interesting game that gives you tons of playable characters to unlock and the two versions of the same world are really interesting to explore and seeing how various characters change between them is always interesting. Along with that its got some really amazing art design and graphics for its time. I think this game would generally be remembered better without the links it has to Chrono Trigger and the expectations that game would present. It's still absolutely worth playing just try to judge it on its own merits and not as a sequel to the #1 game we've had on this list for years.

Available for: Originally a PS1 game has been re-released as a PSOne Classic on the PSN for PS3/PSP/Vita and goes for 10$.

#54 Phantasy Star IV

As I said in my write up and the highlighted comment for this game... I love Phantasy Star IV. Almost everything about this game was way ahead of its time and while elements likely seem dated now if you think about what the Genesis could really do at the time its pretty easy to understand that this game really pushed the system to its very limits and is easily the best Genesis RPG. I think its just as good as Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger and if it had been on the SNES it would be just as popular, don't miss out on this amazing game.

Available for: It's in almost every single Genesis collection so it shouldn't be hard to find but if you want to play it on PC you can get it on steam for just 1$ yes just a single.freaking.dollar. BUY IT! PLAY IT! LOVE IT!

5 Games ranked 50-21 that I think you should play (in order of appearance)

#48 Dragon Quest V

I also think DQIV and VIII are great games but my personal favorite is V because its very different then other games in the series. You start off as a kid and grow up eventually getting married and having your own kids who also are playable. It's a really huge game with several big twists that really stay with you and although the game clearly wants you to go for a certain character to be your wife I like that its not entirely forced on you and you get more then one option (3 total in the DS version) its a fantastic game with a great storyline that tells its story over the course of a lifetime and thats not something really any other RPG on this list does to my knowledge.

Available For: Originally for SNES this was remade for PS2 but would first come to the west on the DS and later ported to mobile. It's available on Mobile for 15$ new copies of the DS version still go for around 34$ on Amazon.

#47 Super Mario RPG

Out of all of the Mario RPG's the original is still my favorite. It has a charm that the Mario and Luigi and Paper Mario series don't have (they have their own charms though) which makes it feel like a fairly different experience then the other two series that would succeed it. The unique characters such as Mallow and Geno not to mention the Smithy Gang are all fun lighthearted characters to fit the very lighthearted story. I loved that you got to join up with Bowser and his attacks would generally involve him throwing a chain chomp or even Mario himself. It's a really genius game that I think still holds its own today be it with the rest of the Mario RPG family or even against other SNES greats.

Available For: Originally just the SNES it has been put on the Wii U Virtual console and is 8$ and is worth every penny.

#45 The Legend of Heroes Trails in the Sky First Chapter

The entire Legend of Heroes series is worth playing and this first story of Trails in the Sky is a great foundation on what was to come. Personally I think this is the weakest game in the series just because the games tend to get better with each new entry. Estelle is hands down one of the greatest main characters in any game ever and truly grows over the course of her adventure. The PC version of the game also includes a Turbo feature which helps speed up the slower pace of the game tremendously. Play this series, you will not regret it!

Available for: While originally a PSP game and playable on Vita you can also find it on PC which is the best version due to the turbo feature. In either case its 20$ and does go on sale on steam all of the time.

#38 Kingdom Hearts II

I think a lot of people have played this game but my question is... Have you played it on Critical? If you haven't played the game at all or at least not on Critical then let me tell you its a completely different experience and becomes one of the best action RPG's ever made with challenging combat that in almost all situations feels fair and some of the best bosses of all time. People love From Software games for the difficulty, challenge, and boss fights and I'm here to tell you that you can get a lot of that same aspects from this game as well when you put it on Critical.

Available for: It's been remastered for PS3 and PS4 in the 2.5 collection. The PS4 collection also comes with 1.5 as well. The PS3 version is available on amazon for 16$ with the PS4 version being 30$ This is a great time to replay these games before KH3 comes out or get into them before that game drops next year, don't miss out!

#23 Xenogears

This game is crazy for its time with a story that goes all out with a battle system that blends fighting game combos with action RPG elements... not to mention mechs, the game has mech combat as well and its great. If you haven't played Xenogears you seriously need to, its likely Squares most infamous game due to it not actually being properly finished with the second disk of the game completely changing the flow of the game so they could finish telling the rather epic story. That said it is still infinitely worth playing. You have not played a game like this before.

Available For: Original a PS1 game its been ported to the PS3 via the PSOne classics and is 10$ on the PSN for PS3, PSP, and Vita.

5 Games or Series that didn't make the list that I still think you should play

Trails of Cold Steel (series)

The Trails in the Sky games are great but rather outdated in terms of game mechanics and graphics. The Cold Steel games are much more up to date (well by up to date I mean PS3) and frankly easier to get into then the Sky games IMO because of the more modern aspects of the gameplay and the speed of the battle system. The first game gets some bad press for having characters that feel like walking anime tropes at the start but if you haven't played a Trails game know that they grow and become fully fleshed out characters over time even the super annoying ones.

The main thing I do want to establish though is that the first game has a purposefully slow build up which is entirely intentional, it may not be for everyone but the payoff is absolutely worth it. I should also mention that while we've only gotten the first two games in the US thus far there are two more sequels for the PS4 that we will hopefully get starting next year but nothings been announced as of yet. As someone who imported the third game let me just say... YOU SERIOUSLY WANT TO PLAY THIS SERIES! Cold Steel III (or Sen No Kiseki III) Is one of the best RPG's I have EVER played and the 4th game looks even better.

Available For: Cold Steel 1 and 2 are both available for PS3, Vita, and PC. There is also a port of both games for the PS4 but we don't know if that will be coming to the west, either way the PC version is the best with additional voice acting and bonus features like a turbo function. The PC version for both games is 40$ like the Sky games you do generally see the games go on sale for Steam quite often. It's not hard to find both games on the Vita for 30$+ new but the PS3 version of the original game seems to be out of print and the price is rising.

Shining Force (series)

The Shining Force series was pretty much my and many other introduction to the Strategy RPG genre back in the days of the Genesis. It's a fantastic series which has each game feel both similar to the others but drastically different at the same time. A part of that is the varying art style with the first game having a rather dark color palate while the second game was much brighter and colorful with the third game taking on a much more anime look to it. It's a fantastic series with some of the best designed battles in any Strategy RPG series ever and outside of a few older mechanics in the original game all the games hold up extremely well. If you like games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Fire Emblem, give these games a shot you will not be disappointed.

Available For: You can generally find the first two Shining Force games on any Sega Genesis collection and just like Phantasy Star IV which I mentioned above. Both SF1 and SF2 are on Steam for 1$ apiece. BUY THEM! PLAY THEM! LOVE THEM! Shining Force III is a lot more complicated. It's split into three parts known as Scenarios that tell one complete story, in the west we only ever got the first Scenario in English with the other two never leaving Japan. A fan translation of all three does exist but the games have never been re-released so the only way to play them is on a modded Saturn or using emulation. If you want to get the games the best way to go about it is to buy all three Scenarios in Japanese and apply the patch and play them on a modded Saturn or on an Emulator. They are absolutely worth playing despite the hassle but if you are new to the series, start with the super cheap options of SF1 and SF2 on Steam or otherwise.

Ar Tonelico (series) - Also including one of my favorite tracks from the game, seriously this music is amazing.

This series is harder to recommend because they generally have a lot of sexual references and innuendo for the sake of fan service so right now I'm saying if thats a hard no for you I completely understand and you can move on. If it's not... The Ar Tonelico games have a super interesting world with some great characters and very interesting ideas. The MC can dive into the minds of the various female leads and by learning more about them he can help them grow stronger and its done in generally a fairly silly and at times comedic way. The character interactions are great and both of the PS2 games that I've played have various different branching story arcs depending on which of the leading girls you want to focus on.

Theres some really interesting character development in these games but the real amazing thing in this series is the music. They created a language known as Hymmnos for the music in this game and it is just outstanding and something that just astounds me to this day. It mixes elements of Japanese, Latin and various other languages and creates something rather unique (although to be fair its still fairly based off of Japanese) If you are looking to play something a bit different then your normal JRPG I'd really recommend checking these games out.

Available For: Sadly never re-released. The First two games were on PS2 with a third releasing on PS3. I haven't played the third game yet. The First Two PS2 games are fairly expensive the first game goes for around 30$ and a lot more if you want it complete, Second game starts around 40 and also goes for a ton more if you want it complete. The third game is the cheapest generally starting around 20$.

Mega Man Battle Network (series)

While Megaman is popular for the action platformers his stent on the GBA also brought us 6 really charming and interesting RPGs. I should first say these were clearly designed for kids and directly aimed at the Pokemon crowd so if you are looking for some really deep or dark stories... you won't get that here. What you will get is a series of fun lighthearted adventures where you play as Lan in the real world and his Net Navi Mega Man in the Virtual World. It's pretty interesting to see the internet turned into a rather unique setting for an RPG but it works.

The combat in this game is great mixing both turn based and real time elements. Lan can send 'Chips' you collect throughout the game and put into a deck (like a card game) and Mega Man can use them for attacks, it starts off simple enough but the later parts of the games can get pretty brutal with the challenge and needing to execute sound strategies to survive but the boss battles are where the game really shines and whats nice is that you can refight almost every boss in the game and progressively fight harder versions of them. If you haven't played this series I highly recommend it, it gets over shadowed by the other Megaman series but Battle Network is absolutely fantastic.

Available for: Originally released on the GBA (although a set of games was on the DS as well) the series has been released for the Wii U virtual console. All 6 games are available for 8$ a piece. Also I should mention starting from the third game onward they did the Pokemon route of releasing two versions, you do not need to buy both as you can't trade Chips between the games.

Lost Odyssey

The real Final Fantasy XIII or at least thats really how it feels. This game is great with a really interesting concept of the main character and a few others being immortals who have lived for over a thousand years and have lost their memories with some really great character development and some honest to god best writing I've ever seen in any RPG ever with the 'Thousand Years of Dreams' sequences spread throughout the game. The combat is stellar with normal attacks having a timed button press like Shadow Hearts or Mario RPG and the game is really quite long. It's a game that I loved so much I didn't want to end so I did everything in the game up until the final dungeon and never finished it.

Available For: Xbox 360 and Xbox One BC. It's 25$ on the Microsoft Store. Absolutely worth it!

Sorry this is largely just a wall of text, I didn't want to clutter the screen with a ton of gifs or pictures or anything and put all of the details into quotes so its easier to skip over for those who aren't interested in reading all the details.

Vince_Jo1990 · Aug 10, 2018

Great list I think. Making a 100 best RPG will always be difficult and almost impossible.

Even though there are tons of RPGs I did not like, namely FFX, FFVIII, Kingdom hearts, etc. There a tons of surprised pick. My favorite is probably FFIX at 11th, such an amazing game.

Though I feel there are way too many recents games in the top 10 or even 20, they are still good game. Small nitpick for orders (like P3 > P4 imo), you cannot have a bad time with the top 10, for anyone wanting to discover RPGs or don't know what to play, pick something there, you have choices of Open World, Turn Base RPGS, Anime, Old School, etc.

Heck even make a roulette and pick 1 randomly!

Only another nitpick, I understand the term RPG is large, but I feel some of the entries are not RPGS, I love Yakuza, but I always considered them like a beat'em all. Nier Automata is more and Hack'n Slash a la DMC, etc. But eh...still good games! Cheers!

martincrimson87 · Aug 10, 2018

This was a great effort, very comprehensive list of JRPG's. Really liked the charts on each game as a quick summary of what each has to offer. Hoping for a top 101 WRPGS - CRPGS list now.

Thores · Aug 10, 2018

StoveOven said:
I just wanted to pop in here and give a huge shout out to the people running this thread. I don't have a ton of experience with RPGs as a genre, so these threads are always a great resource for me to come in and decide what I want to try out next. The expanded list and huge increase in participation means that this year there's just that much more for me to dig through. So that thanks also goes out to anybody who bothered to write really thoughtful and insightful posts about why these games are worth checking out, because without those there wouldn't really be much for me to go off of. I know it might sometimes seem like those things are for nothing, but know that at least one person is reading them. Hopefully next time this list comes around I'll have more thoughts of my own to contribute, although right now I can't stress enough that people who like good RPGs should really check out Pyre. The game is on sale on PSN for $8 in the US right now too. There were multiple people other than myself who reccomended the game, and I'm going to quote some of their writeups (as well as my own) below in case you want to know why we love this game so much.

So yeah, in short, thanks to everyone involved in this thread and PLAY PYRE. Now it's time for me to jump into Final Fantasy VIII this weekend.

This guy knows what's up.

Malvingt2 · Aug 10, 2018

Decent list, not a fan of #1 spot.

Redfox088 · Aug 10, 2018

Strings said:
Went through the composers. Era's number one RPG composer is...

1. Nobuo Uematsu (8)
Final Fantasy V (81), Final Fantasy IV (65), Final Fantasy VIII (33), Final Fantasy X (28), Final Fantasy IX (11), Final Fantasy VII (5), Final Fantasy VI (4), Chrono Trigger (1).

Second place is a tie between two folks who pop up in the most random places!

2. Yoko Shimomura (7)
Parasite Eve (101), Radiant Historia (76), Kingdom Hearts (69), Final Fantasy XV (67), Super Mario RPG (47), Kingdom Hearts 2 (38), Xenoblade Chronicles (19).

2. Motoi Sakuraba (7)
Dark Souls 2 (92), Tales of Vesperia (82), Tales of Symphonia (79), Golden Sun (78), Dark Souls 3 (60), Valkyrie Profile (53), Dark Souls (7).

And third probably doesn't need an introduction!

3. Yasunori Mitsuda (6)
Shadow Hearts: Convenant (87), Chrono Cross (56), Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (29), Xenogears (23), Xenoblade Chronicles (19), Chrono Trigger (1).

And here's all of them in one photo!

Believe it or not, Sakuraba wasn't actually present here! I edited him in! Phroawr, photo-editing software sure is scary these days.

Here's a bunch of other notable composers and how they did too:

Hitoshi Sakimoto (5): Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (85), Vagrant Story (72), Valkyria Chronicles (40), Final Fantasy XII (31), Final Fantasy Tactics (17).

Shoji Meguro (5): Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (98), Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (22), Persona 3 (21), Persona 5 (6), Persona 4 (2).

Well, those were all Japanese folks!? Who are the most popular Western composers on the list?

Jeremy Soule (4): The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (68), The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (35), Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic (26), The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (18).

Inon Zur (4): Fallout 3 (58), Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen (51), Dragon Age: Origins (30), Fallout: New Vegas (9).

Hooray... Music! Composers! Loads of extremely talented people that I didn't mention! I'd link some of their coolest tracks, but FiveSide has already put together a pretty awesome playlist that you can check out.

damn I had Yoko winning it but seeing as most of the FF series chatted somewhere here I cannot say I'm surprised. I didn't even realize how many classics Sakuraba worked on tho. Maybe next year Yoko! Especially after KH3 drops.

Redfox088 · Aug 10, 2018

Did someone already compile the MVDs?

Ocean · Aug 10, 2018

First off:

Major props to the dudes behind the thread. What a titanic achievement, this might be the highest-effort thread I've seen. Congratulations.

As to the list itself: it's an extremely valuable resource I'll be using to discover games I've missed in the past.

I don't quite agree with the order on most titles, but at least #1 is the correct answer.

Once again, thanks for this. It's a shame so many of these things aren't available on PS4/XBO/NS. I don't have any old consoles anymore and a lot are stuck on them.

MoonFrog · Aug 10, 2018

I still need to get back to TitS. Only played FC, finishing it almost a year ago now.

Novel Mike said:
Ar Tonelico (series) - Also including one of my favorite tracks from the game, seriously this music is amazing.

For some reason, I always thought these were PSP games. A lot of what they do sounds quite intriguing but I've seen some of the conversations on youtube. Still, they hover at the edge of my "games-to-acquire" list.

Inquisitive_Ghost · Aug 10, 2018

StoveOven said:
I just wanted to pop in here and give a huge shout out to the people running this thread. I don't have a ton of experience with RPGs as a genre, so these threads are always a great resource for me to come in and decide what I want to try out next. The expanded list and huge increase in participation means that this year there's just that much more for me to dig through. So that thanks also goes out to anybody who bothered to write really thoughtful and insightful posts about why these games are worth checking out, because without those there wouldn't really be much for me to go off of. I know it might sometimes seem like those things are for nothing, but know that at least one person is reading them. Hopefully next time this list comes around I'll have more thoughts of my own to contribute, although right now I can't stress enough that people who like good RPGs should really check out Pyre. The game is on sale on PSN for $8 in the US right now too. There were multiple people other than myself who reccomended the game, and I'm going to quote some of their writeups (as well as my own) below in case you want to know why we love this game so much.

Pyre Writeups:

So yeah, in short, thanks to everyone involved in this thread and PLAY PYRE. Now it's time for me to jump into Final Fantasy VIII this weekend.

I've looked at Pyre on GOG a few times and it's even bounced on and off my wishlist. You've convinced me to keep it there, especially with Pellaidh and OniluapL 's quotes about the writing (and comparing it to Sunless Sea in the former one).

Novel Mike · Aug 10, 2018

MoonFrog said:
I still need to get back to TitS. Only played FC, finishing it almost a year ago now.

For some reason, I always thought these were PSP games. A lot of what they do sounds quite intriguing but I've seen some of the conversations on youtube. Still, they hover at the edge of my "games-to-acquire" list.

The art style is something you'd generally see on PSP games but nope, always were on console as far as I'm aware. I randomly discovered the first game and then found out how hard it was to find so then I made sure to get the second and third when they came out. I absolutely loved the second one (much better battle system) but as I said, have yet to play the third one.

Glassboy · Aug 10, 2018

Strings said:
Went through the composers. Era's number one RPG composer is...

1. Nobuo Uematsu (8)
Final Fantasy V (81), Final Fantasy IV (65), Final Fantasy VIII (33), Final Fantasy X (28), Final Fantasy IX (11), Final Fantasy VII (5), Final Fantasy VI (4), Chrono Trigger (1).

Second place is a tie between two folks who pop up in the most random places!

2. Yoko Shimomura (7)
Parasite Eve (101), Radiant Historia (76), Kingdom Hearts (69), Final Fantasy XV (67), Super Mario RPG (47), Kingdom Hearts 2 (38), Xenoblade Chronicles (19).

2. Motoi Sakuraba (7)
Dark Souls 2 (92), Tales of Vesperia (82), Tales of Symphonia (79), Golden Sun (78), Dark Souls 3 (60), Valkyrie Profile (53), Dark Souls (7).

And third probably doesn't need an introduction!

3. Yasunori Mitsuda (6)
Shadow Hearts: Convenant (87), Chrono Cross (56), Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (29), Xenogears (23), Xenoblade Chronicles (19), Chrono Trigger (1).

And here's all of them in one photo!

Believe it or not, Sakuraba wasn't actually present here! I edited him in! Phroawr, photo-editing software sure is scary these days.

Here's a bunch of other notable composers and how they did too:

Hitoshi Sakimoto (5): Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (85), Vagrant Story (72), Valkyria Chronicles (40), Final Fantasy XII (31), Final Fantasy Tactics (17).

Shoji Meguro (5): Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (98), Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (22), Persona 3 (21), Persona 5 (6), Persona 4 (2).

Well, those were all Japanese folks!? Who are the most popular Western composers on the list?

Jeremy Soule (4): The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (68), The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (35), Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic (26), The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (18).

Inon Zur (4): Fallout 3 (58), Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen (51), Dragon Age: Origins (30), Fallout: New Vegas (9).

Hooray... Music! Composers! Loads of extremely talented people that I didn't mention! I'd link some of their coolest tracks, but FiveSide has already put together a pretty awesome playlist that you can check out.

My favorite composer won. FF7 is the soundtrack of my childhood and I think it is timeless. I get a little teary eyed listening to Aeris's Theme. Not because of what happens to her in the game necessarily, but how beautiful that song is and countless other tracks. JRPGs easily have the best video game soundtracks in my opinion.

Thanks for the hard work putting this thread together. Im going to have to reference it whenever I'm retired so I have time to play these classics :)

Deleted member 8860 · Aug 10, 2018

Jack Orion said:
Strongly disagree. Role playing does not mean 'role playing' the battles. Otherwise it wouldn't be called a role playing game because that's a hella awkward way to describe battling.

Role playing means playing a role. In JRPGs that's been interpreted more as experiencing a story, and in WRPGs it's more the character building. But either way it's the 'taking the role of a character' that sets apart RPGs from action games or other genres.

Battles are simply the metric for how well you're doing at the game.

Role-playing games grew out of tabletop tactical combat/war games like Chainmail (Warhammer 40K currently being the most prominent game in that field). The difference was that instead of playing the entire army/platoon/squadron, you'd focus on playing the role of a single character that grew and changed over a campaign of multiple battles (as recorded on a character sheet).

RPGs have come into their own as a genre, just as first-person shooters are recognized as distinct from the third person action/shooting games that spawned them. But if you want to define the genre, it's important to understand the historical basis of the name.

SantaC said:
I havent read the whole list, but if dark souls count as a rpg, symphony of the night should had as well.

I voted for SotN. Probably wasn't boring and grindy enough to count as an RPG for most voters. At least Automata made it to the top ten, so there's one fun game there.

Kyuur · Aug 10, 2018

Pretty happy with the top 10. CT is a great pick for #1 and Persona 5, Dark Souls and Bloodborne all deserve spots. Skyrim probably deserves higher and I would probably rank Persona 4, both FFs and Nier lower.

Why is Crystal not included with Gold/Silver. :( It's superior.

KrigareN- · Aug 10, 2018

WTF. Why the abrupt end?

Feral · Aug 10, 2018

has anyone made a comparison to previous year's list, and how the positions of the games shifted, yet?

Crayolan · Aug 10, 2018

Kyuur said:
Pretty happy with the top 10. CT is a great pick for #1 and Persona 5, Dark Souls and Bloodborne all deserve spots. Skyrim probably deserves higher and I would probably rank Persona 4, both FFs and Nier lower.

Why is Crystal not included with Gold/Silver. :( It's superior.

I'm pretty sure Gold/Silver/Crystal/HeartGold/SoulSilver votes were all combined.

BorkBork · Aug 10, 2018

Everyone gushes about Chrono Trigger's staying power, but FFVI has to be one of the quieter GOAT-tier RPGs around, as if its place is set in stone. Almost a quarter of a century since release and still bringing it. Pretty remarkable stuff.

I relistened to a nearly two-hour Retronauts podcast devoted to the game a few weeks back; worth it if you're a fan.

Joltik · Aug 11, 2018

Worst thing about this list is that there are so many great games I want to play or revisit, but not enough time to try them all. :(

I guess I didn't help myself by just buying a RPG today that wasn't on the list, but is considered a great game by many people on this board. Oh well.

Echizen · Aug 11, 2018

Thanks to everyone who put this together, voted, and continued discussing the games in this thread. Following the list reveals and the discussion here has been a lot of fun, and this has already been super helpful for me as I just finished Octopath Traveler and was thinking about what to play between that and Dragon Quest XI (narrowed it down to a few games on this list now). It's put a lot of series on my radar that I only had a vague interest in before in general like Shining Force and Phantasy Star. I don't know if I'll do a multi-game run through either series, but I'm a lot more likely to try out Shining Force II and Phantasy Star IV in the near future at least. So yeah, thanks again, and I'm sure I'll come back to this thread a lot over the next year (and of course I'm looking forward to the extra features that are lined up too!).

Niks · Aug 11, 2018

Grandia coming in at 90 and Trails in the sky at 45 is a travesty. Lists are a mistake.

Feral · Aug 11, 2018

AuthenticM said:
I just noticed that Seiken Densetsu 3 isn't on the list... and yet FFXV is.

lol

just about no one here has played that one
their loss, it's one of the 16bit era JRPGs that's actually still fun to play to this day

Opa-Pa · Aug 11, 2018

Come to think of it, both CT and FF6 have received re-releases in recent years but haven't suffered in popularity at all. Maybe the shittier the re-release the less they're affected :p

Novel Mike · Aug 11, 2018

Ryoma said:
Thanks to everyone who put this together, voted, and continued discussing the games in this thread. Following the list reveals and the discussion here has been a lot of fun, and this has already been super helpful for me as I just finished Octopath Traveler and was thinking about what to play between that and Dragon Quest XI (narrowed it down to a few games on this list now). It's put a lot of series on my radar that I only had a vague interest in before in general like Shining Force and Phantasy Star. I don't know if I'll do a multi-game run through either series, but I'm a lot more likely to try out Shining Force II and Phantasy Star IV in the near future at least. So yeah, thanks again, and I'm sure I'll come back to this thread a lot over the next year (and of course I'm looking forward to the extra features that are lined up too!).

Mission complete!

Luminaire · Aug 11, 2018

Radamammuth said:
C+f Valkyrie Profile ... good I don't have to murder anyone.
Personally I think it should be higher, but I can see the competition is brutal.

You're on my good side now.

Cyclonesweep · Aug 11, 2018

Wait, did Lost Odyssey not chart??

Bernd Lauert · Aug 11, 2018

Man, people on this forum really love their JRPGs. Not hating btw, I played and enjoyed a fair amount of them myself. But I like WRPGs better.

Echizen · Aug 11, 2018

Novel Mike said:
Mission complete!

Hahah yeah, your posts were really helpful for getting a better understanding of those two series. That's why I hope people understand that even if a game they really love and want more people to play didn't rank as high as they would have liked, being on this list at all is still pretty great a good opportunity to tell more people about it.

Deleted member 419 · Aug 11, 2018

About an hour into New Vegas so far. 3-4 hours into The World Ends With You.

I'm committed to not having a Wall of Shame next time :p haha

Luminaire · Aug 11, 2018

Cyclonesweep said:
Wait, did Lost Odyssey not chart??

It did not.

You will see it as a runner up when we post those.

Artdayne · Aug 11, 2018

Bernd Lauert said:
Man, people on this forum really love their JRPGs. Not hating btw, I played and enjoyed a fair amount of them myself. But I like WRPGs better.

I get what you're saying but I would say it's just a big blind spot for RPGs released exclusively on the computer. The western RPGs that were listed that are multiplatform did pretty well.

Deleted member 8860 · Aug 11, 2018

FiveSide said:
What kind of RPG are you looking for? I could give you a recommendation my dude, plenty of amazing RPGs didn't make the top 101 (in fact we'll be seeing some of them whenever the runner ups get posted)

I like games with interesting/interactive narratives/atmospheres, clean and gamepad-friendly UIs, fun combat, speedy traversal, not first person perspective, and minimal grinding/looting/crafting (overall short length is a positive as well).

Nier Automata really checks all the boxes. Chrono Trigger, Mass Effect 1/2, PM: The Thousand Year Door, and CV: Symphony of the Night come close, too.

(I also enjoy games where I can min-max a party and put it though a challenging gauntlet of varied battles, but that set of games (more sRPGish) is distinct from the set described above.)

silva1991 · Aug 11, 2018

Opa-Pa said:
Come to think of it, both CT and FF6 have received re-releases in recent years but haven't suffered in popularity at all. Maybe the shittier the re-release the less they're affected :p

This just seems like an Era myth to me. the highly regarded games will continue to be so. Some go higher and some go lower just because different people are voting this year.

Feral · Aug 11, 2018

you'd be allowed to think that Kingdom Hearts is like a pre-OoT title by the way you are constantly fighting the controls, and how super basic and tiny the levels are, not to mention how it makes you constantly run through each room to find the right one to progress the story. The game released the same year as Metroid Prime. I'm at the second Ursula fight now and the companions die instantly to the target-locked lightning bolts time and time again and she has three health bars and I'm really just done with it

Deleted member 17210 · Aug 11, 2018

A random recommendation for people wanting a unique sort of WRPG you won't find on a list like this: Elvira: Mistress of the Dark and its sequel Jaws of Cerberus (on old computer formats; I recommend the Amiga versions).

These are focused on puzzles like many point and click adventure games but they do have RPG-style combat and leveling. What they really excel at is atmosphere.

MoonFrog · Aug 11, 2018

Ryoma said:
That's why I hope people understand that even if a game they really love and want more people to play didn't rank as high as they would have liked, being on this list at all is still pretty great a good opportunity to tell more people about it.

Importantly, Shining didn't even rank in this case. This is the thread operating as intended, using the ballots, the list, and the crowd the list gathers to highlight recommendations of all sorts.

I encourage every one who comes in here ready to say "X isn't on the list, screw this" to instead pitch X to people.

I also encourage people to remember the first 15 pages exist.

Edit: Also, the above is a great thing to do.

large_gourd · Aug 11, 2018

Artdayne said:
I get what you're saying but I would say it's just a big blind spot for RPGs released exclusively on the computer. The western RPGs that were listed that are multiplatform did pretty well.

That's the thing about a list of 100 RPGs - you'll get the most popular ones, but not necessarily the best - or even if the best are all there, probably not in the 'right' order - if that exists, which is impossible to say.

Everyone who likes RPGs has played at least a few FF games, so they're just naturally gonna end up high on the list because with a greater pool of players, the ones who loved them will be higher unless they just straight up stink - which none of them really do. Obscure or forgotten games - which isn't an indication of quality, really - just aren't gonna rank or if they do they will rank lower than they would if people had actually played them - no shining force games, as the example people are mentioning most frequently.

There's also the thing where when you ask 'vote for your favourite rpgs' - you're going to have less people vote for games like Deus Ex because it doesn't jump to mind when you think of the RPG genre, even though it basically is one, it's a very different sort from the majority of games on this list.

Then you've also gotta consider that 'RPG' is such a vast genre that you are getting people voting for things for ENTIRELY different reasons - a Deus Ex fan could easily despise or be utterly bored by Persona 5, and the inverse - because they really have next to nothing in common. So there's nothing about it that says 'if you like RPGs, here are 100 you'll enjoy'.

I enjoyed following the list, though. Lots of work went into making it a fun topic to follow.

TRUE ORDER · Aug 11, 2018

Nice to see FF VI, Chrono Trigger and Bloodborne making the top 10.

A little sad about no Xenosaga or Valkyrie Profile being on the list (maybe I missed it lol)

Resetera's Top 101 Essential RPGs - Final Update. Top 101 up plus many extras.

wonky

533.489 paid youtubers cant be wrong

Cranky Ghost Pokemon

User requested account closure

One Winged Slayer

User requested account closure

User requested account closure

User-requested account closure

Alt-Account