Silverspoon's Sunday Discussion Topic #11: What is your favorite RPG game series and why should we play it?

[SilverspoonGaming | 336]

For me, a non RPG player, only because I suck at them and dont understand them, I do love the Shining Force series.  Somewhat easy to pickup and play the Genesis titles, but when I just looked up all of the games in the series, there are a ton that I have never even heard of that I need to try.  Maybe one day I will beat the first Genesis release and move on to the sequel.

[Brickman | 4,103]

As a kid it was final fantasy because that was probably one of the biggest and most consistent in quality. Plus a few Western ones like NWN.

Then after high school I discovered the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona games. No other RPG series can beat those two for me. I love the themes, story telling, and while I’m open to most styles of combat in RPGs, I find turn based the best.

If you haven’t played any Persona games I recommend starting with 4 or 5 because they’re probably the most accessible.

[OptOut | 8,897]

Aidyn Chronicles. 

[Hammerfestus | 3,955]

Suikoden series.  My very favorite.  I didn’t even care about PS2 but I made sure to pick up these games as they came out.  Awesome storylines.  108 recruitable characters. Excellent battle system including 6 characters in an active party instead of 3 or 4.  Unique magic system.  Iron chef.  Every game is memorable and enjoyable.

[AstralSoul | 504]

Dark Souls. Ok so they're not traditional RPGs. But they're RPGs nonetheless. This includes Demon's Souls, Dark Souls 1, 2 & 3, and Bloodborne. They are all fantastic but extremely challenging. But they are also some of the most rewarding games I've ever played. I love the dark ambience of every game in the series. There is no hand holding and many things will have to be learned the old school way of trial and error or just Wikipedia certain things. That said the games aren't impossible and in fact aren't even the hardest games I've ever played. They just take patience and dedication. The majority of the games are fair and if you learn level layouts and enemy patterns and just adapt to the games' unique set of rules, you can make it through any one of them. I once was one who thought these games impossible. But I've tried and failed repeatedly but once I succeeded they became one of my favorite series of all time.

Now i know Dark Souls aren't traditional RPGs so here are a few runner ups:

Mother/Earthbound - Quirky turn based RPG set in modern setting with unique humor

Mario RPG - Forgive me for throwing an umbrella over all of them but Mario RPG, Mario & Luigi, and Paper Mario are so similar they belong in the same series IMO. Great series for RPG newbies or want something more light-hearted.

Final Fantasy - I mean it's Final Fantasy. The older entries are as traditional RPG fare as you get while the newer you get the more they try new things (for better or worse)

Dragon Quest - Imagine Final Fantasy never shedded it's traditional fantasy turn based RPG setting and this is what DQ is. Every but as good as FF (if not better) and the best series for the RPG purists.

[themisfit138 | 523]

I lean more to the action side of rpg. These are pretty easy to pick up without getting slogged down with all the side mechanics. 

Knights of the Old Republic

Mass Effect

Jade Empire

Dragon Age

Ys

Xenoblade Chronicles

 

 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,664]

Shin Megami Tensei

Penis and vagina monsters.

[dr.robbie | 78]

I absolutely hate RPGs in general as I get bored easily and lose interest in just exploring quickly. The only exception for me is Legend of Legaia (PS). Not sure why, but this game totally absorbed by attention as a kid and has so many side things going on that it kept me intrigued. I was even able to go back as an adult and go through it again. I'd highly recommend giving this game a whirl for people not into the genre.

[RH | 5,049]

3 hours ago, AstralSoul said:

Final Fantasy - I mean it's Final Fantasy. The older entries are as traditional RPG fare as you get while the newer you get the more they try new things (for better or worse)

Dragon Quest - Imagine Final Fantasy never shedded it's traditional fantasy turn based RPG setting and this is what DQ is. Every but as good as FF (if not better) and the best series for the RPG purists.

I was actually going to post something similar.  I grew up on the Final Fantasy games and as such almost exclusively stuck with Squaresoft RPGs when I was a kid.

After college I picked up DQ8 and I felt a  bit disappointed that I had never given the series a try.  And what @AstralSoul says is 100% true.  When I went back and played DQ 1, in many ways it felt quite similar to Final Fantasy.  Sure, they are different stories but the differences in game play weren't THAT much different.  The real change is that as Astral said, over the future decades, Final Fantasy makers would always experiment a little with some new feature or style of game play.  Even if you just look at the mainline Final Fantasy games, they are quite diverse.  Some are straight up JRPGs but they eventually transitioned into the Action RPG realm.  Some of the games have a jobs system, while others have very creative ways of leveling.  I think FF X takes the cake on that one.  You don't really level up as much as you plug gems into a grid to make your character stronger.  It's... different.

However, DQ isn't like that.  All of the games (at least that I played) seem to take place in the same fantasy realm.  You're not going to find airships or futuristic tech.  It's always this nebulous, historical type of environment that feels like it'd be at place in Europe about 500 years ago.  While running around the world, you run into the same 200 or so monsters you experience in every game and battling and leveling does have some changed tweaks from game to game, but it's more or less the same.  IMHO, where DQ shines from game to game is that it has diverse stories. 

If you appreciate a good story,  and can even appreciate that many of the stories happen in the same universe spanning generations and centuries, then DQ is a great series. However, if you also appreciate interesting stories, in diverse worlds and a series that's only continuity is the frequent continuation of tropes that date back to the beginning of the series (there will be an airship, somewhere you will meet a guy named "Cid", and Chocobos!) then Final Fantasy is a good RPG series for you.

[RH | 5,049]

1 minute ago, dr.robbie said:

I absolutely hate RPGs in general as I get bored easily and lose interest in just exploring quickly. The only exception for me is Legend of Legaia (PS). Not sure why, but this game totally absorbed by attention as a kid and has so many side things going on that it kept me intrigued. I was even able to go back as an adult and go through it again. I'd highly recommend giving this game a whirl for people not into the genre.

One more thing, as much as I just gushed about FF and DQ, in my opinion, some of the best RPGs either aren't in a series or they have a single, stand alone game worth playing in the series.  Xenogears is my favorite RPG even with it's flaws.  Sure, there's an entire series that are a "spiritual successor" to this title, but this one is very unique and to me stands alone.  It's really worth playing. 

Then there's Parasite Eve which was Squaresofts attempt at cashing in on the rush of horror games, while staying somewhat true to it's RPG roots.  It is not a JRPG by any stretch, but it is still an RPG and it's a good story.  I've never played PEII or Third Birthday, but they aren't considered as good and to me, you're not missing anything if you just play PE.

Next there is Final Fantasy Tactics.  True, there are tropes galore in this but it's the best tactical RPG I've ever played, and I've played through it multiple times, which is rather rare for me as someone who rarely finishes games.

And, last, what list of RPGs is complete without Chrono Trigger.  It's truly a masterpiece of a 2D JRPG and there's a good reason why it's at the top of everyone's RPG list.  The swan song of Squaresofts 2D RPGs for the west and it shows.  Yes, there is Chrono Cross and I also admit I never played that one, but most people were underwhelmed by it and would say it's a "good" game, but not a Chrono game.  Maybe so.

So yeah, I understand that this is thread about RPG series worth playing, but if I lumped together the non-series games, Squaresoft, especially, made some excellent one-offs that seemed to eclipse there mainline series.  Those games are totally worth checking out.

[Tanooki | 4,965]

Series I'd be hard pressed to say classic Final Fantasy style (N generation + FF9 which is an homage to it), and on the whole Dragon Quest.  They in those periods(or overall DQ) have been a consistent level of high quality reliable play, stories, and fun stuff to do that doesn't drone or drag on too much thankfully.  They've been at it so long balancing works. The subject matters, atmosphere, types of spells/items, and so on tend to be fairly intuitive and fun to use, usually having a decent purpose and not generally just filler.  The games tend to not feel stiff or stuffy to over stay their welcome.

If we're getting into single affairs, Square-Nintendo's Super Mario RPG on SNES is a must, imagine Final Fantasy 16bit mechanics smashed in with Super Mario lore and style and it's such an overly well executed fun ride, and it's not on the nastier side of difficulty so if you're fresh, it's fair.  (If you did start with the above FF games, try 4(2SNES) as it's around a 20-30hr game, you gain as you raise levels, costs of things aren't killer, doesn't make you grind into insanity to level up xp/gp either, and the story is one of the very best and really draws you in.

 

I could detail that stuff more, but look up and re-read what Astral there wrote for his runner ups section: I'm in agreement, other than the fact that the Paper Mario series other than Gamecube is too timing sensitive and kind of junk design, but Mario & Luigi bends more closer to the SNES oldie and can be quite a lot more enjoyable.

 

Aside from that I don't have the time or care to detail into it, but research Lunar Silver Star Story Complete, Xenoblade Chronicles, Ys(franchise), and Shin Megami Tensei(franchise) too.  Also perhaps look into the Grandia (1+2) HD collection as that's a pair of solid games, fairly similar but unique too in a good way.

[SilverspoonGaming | 336]

8 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Shin Megami Tensei

Penis and vagina monsters.

So you say that your going to play SMT III: Nocturne?

[Brickman | 4,103]

8 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Shin Megami Tensei

Penis and vagina monsters.

[G-type | 2,654]

Gotta go with the O.G... Dungeons & Dragons. I love sword & sorcery / medieval fantasy. I've played others, but I always come back to D&D.

[WhyNotZoidberg | 590]

I prefer JRPGs in which you can't go wrong no matter what you do so Chrono Trigger (not a series, don't play Chrono Cross) obviously comes to mind. It has the added benefit of not being grindy and the encounter rate is extremely friendly. Xenogears on PSX is like that, too. You can beat the game even if you are far from the "optimal" setup.

Otherwise the Dragon Quest games on DS are mostly excellent. Can't go wrong there, but be prepared to go lvl up and hunt for money.

Final Fantasy III on SNES is heavy on min/maxing but the game is super broken so it really isn't necessary to optimize anything, just play how you want and you should be strong enough to take care of everything in your path if you just play normally. But FF as a series has so many entries in it that I can't recommend playing all of them.

Suikoden 1 & 2 are the stuff legends are made of. In these games you build your headquarters as you progress and recruiting heroes (which you have to do) expands and improves your headquarters and that shit is straight fire, yo. 

edit: and if you like Strategy RPGs I recommend Vandal Hearts on PSX as a starter. Again, even if you make your characters "sub-optimal" you won't notice much, there are only a few instances where certain weaknesses will hurt hard but not a deal breaker. Tip: only make 1 flying and don't do Dragoons because their movement is so limited they almost become NPCs. There's a sequel but it has a gimmick I'm not fond of.

Edited May 25, 2021 by WhyNotZoidberg

[SilverspoonGaming | 336]

Im gonna break the internet here and say that the best RPG I have ever played is Dokopon Kingdom.  Im serious.

[Estil | 1,280]

I've mainly been trying to get caught up on the "big two"...Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.  And why should you play them?

You just should.  

Just like how why cute adorable kitties are so much better than silly dogs...

They just are  

Edited May 28, 2021 by Estil

[Rocketship Evan | 55]

The King's Field series.

Light on conversations and heavy on exploring labyrinthine areas, real-time combat and loot. Very immersive with a spooky atmosphere, great world building that slowly unfolds. The level design is fantastic throughout the series. I consider shadow tower to be its cousin and within the same series. Some might consider the combat a weak point, I rather like it, there is a finesse to it and yet it is not too demanding. Of course I've come to appreciate it more with age and the slowing of my reflexes ha ha

for more traditional RPG series my favorite is Might and Magic, especially three through seven, with my favorite being six. It's like one giant, first-person, party based, RPG scavenger hunt. You explore and hunt for treasure, hunt down trainers for your skills, hunt down spells. Huge open worlds before open worlds were thing. Very fun with this constant since of progression in equipment, and skills and in cool spells.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,664]

@Rocketship EvanI use to sit and kill the dragons and titans over and over again until they dropped artifacts