HAY GUYS

Megavolt · Local time: Jan 8, 2008, 09:21 PM

Unbeknownst to me at the time (I must've been between 7 and 9; I was born in 1983), my first RPG was Willow on the NES. But I didn't truly get into the genre until the SNES, when I discovered Secret of Mana. The ad/poster in a magazine caught my attention very easily. It looked something like this, of course:

Anyways, the game had a big impact on me. If you saw that intro sequence with Fear of the Angels playing back in the day, you'd understand why too. I think it was probably the first time that I found a game 'beautiful' as well as moving on an emotional level. From there, I was pretty much hooked on the genre. I would soon play Breath of Fire, Breath of Fire II, Ogre Battle, Illusion of Gaia, Lufia, Lufia II, Final Fantasy II/IV, Final Fantasy III/VI, Earthbound, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Evermore, and Super Mario RPG before jumping into the 32-bit era.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Megavolt · Local time: Jan 8, 2008, 11:34 PM

Originally Posted by Rotorblade

RPGs just really haven't been the same since, save for a few pleasant exceptions. But isn't that how it always goes?

I does seem like the three-peat of Secret of Mana ('93), Final Fantasy VI ('94), and Chrono Trigger ('95) was something special that will never be repeated again.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Megavolt · Local time: Jan 12, 2008, 04:26 PM

Originally Posted by Nall

what matters most is that they're special to you.

I can agree with that. The 32-bit era has plenty of good RPGs anyways. One thing that I can't stand however is the PS1 RPG fan who looks down on pre-PS1 RPGs as having inferior stories and therefore being inferior RPGs. I honestly think that most of the people who feel that way do so out of ignorance and fear. I think they feel that way for the simple reason that they aren't able to play many of the good 16-bit RPGs beyond FFIV, V, VI, and Chrono Trigger. For me, the cutoff point for an RPG being too dated might be with the first Dragon Quest. Obviously some of those early RPGs are a bit barebones, but the third Dragon Quest is still a good game despite being 8-bit and so certainly the various 16-bit classics still hold up.

Originally Posted by Denicalis

Also, I am saddened that for once, I must disagree with you. FF VIII was a classic? Perhaps a classic example of how not to write a story.

Yeah, I think FFVIII is too love or hate to be considered a classic. Suikoden II is easier to accept as being worthy of the distinction.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.