Top 3 RPG's

3. Breath of Fire IV - BoF3 was amazing, but BoF4 carried over everything (non-storywise, of course) that worked, and I'm a sucker a story where, when all is said and done, you have to wonder if justice was done. Almost gave this spot to Lufia 2 (a really gutsy story in that the ending has already been revealed in the prologue of the predecessor), but BoF3/4's gameplay is superior.

2. Final Fantasy VII - Oh, go ahead, roll your eyes. I cut my teeth on FF1, DW1, and Magic of Scheherazade back in the early 90s too, and I still think this one's great. You know what does it for me? The little touches. Like when

Spoiler:

Aeris' "mother" is telling her story just after Aeris is kidnapped, and in mid-story the characters interrupt. Suddenly a text balloon reading "Aeris: Mom." appears out of nowhere, covering the characters. When the balloon disappears, the characters are gone, young Aeris comes down the stairs, and you realize you've been effortlessly carried back into the story. Brilliant bit of directing.

In my opinion, people who base their love/hatred of the game on Cloud vs Sephiroth, the graphics, or on damn-Tifa's-got-big-boobs-hur-hur are missing the point by miles. FF7 is all about the honing of the craft, and as far as I I'm concerned, no other entry of the series pulls it off as well.

That all said, my #1 HAS to be:

1. Paper Mario - Love this game so much. Mario RPG provided much of the foundation, but it's absolutely perfected here. Everyone making RPGs should learn from this one. The design is creative, the dialogue is perfect (Bowser's diary!), and side quests are actually direct, inobtrusive, and fun as hell. Not even the sequel pumps on all cylinders the way this one does (matter of fact, the Peach portions of that one make me feel a bit...unclean. If you've played it you know what I mean). Best ever, hands down.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Oh, don't worry, I got that. I wasn't singling you out, sorry if it came out that way. I was speaking to anyone who would see me list that one and reflexively think I hadn't paid my dues, so to speak. No umbrage intended.

There's nowhere I can't reach.