Are RPG's getting worse every 5 years? (List your top 10 RPG's ever to help!)

Originally Posted by Megavolt

Good point. I always compare that type to Cyan. Cyan lost just as much if not more than Cloud but does he get caught up in some angsty revenge quest for the duration of the game? I think not. He experiences the self-loathing and such, but he tends to handle things in a more mature way, and he doesn't treat others like garbage just because "my suffering is greater than yours and you could never understand".

Eh, You do realize that your comparing a 50 year old man man to someone who's barley out of this teens, not to mention your taking account upbringing and lifestyle, right?

Of course generally Cyan would be a more mature person since his lived his life, and has a family. But the situations that he and Cloud went through are very much different. Yes both had their hometowns destroyed losing both they families, but at least Cyan wasn't experimented on afterward and had his mind warped, or became a failure nor did he end up questioning his very existence due to some shocking events. What Cloud went through would have broken anyone down especially with the consistent disarray his mind was in. He was only able to move on once he entered the lifestream and piece his past together with Tifa.

Let's not forget that Cyan did let death's of his clouded his judgement as he refused Sabin's help at first and would have attacked Celes and Terra had none of the returners stopped him because they were once associated with the Empire. Even after the battle at Narshe he still didn't trust Celes and did not let go of his grieving until you did his subquest.

As far as Kain, Shadow and Cecil are concern, they dealt pasts and predicaments for quite awhile.

Cecil got over his the fastest since he had made his decision to stand against Baron at the start of the game after coming to terms of what went at the Village of the Myst (and his long indecisive period), through whenever the Mystdia(Sp?) issue came up he would be depressed again.

Shadow grieving over his past IS his entire character. It's why he's emotionless assassin who would kill your party if the price was right, without batting a eyelash. He's not much different than Cloud at the start of the FFVII, and unlike Cloud he never gets developed and at the end of FFVI chooses to die in a tower instead of moving on with his current life.

Kain angsted for more than 70% the game and was responsible for a lot of the parties hardships because of it. He let Goldbez control him through his jealously of Cecil and Rosa which almost got Rosa killed. He doesn't began find redemption for himself until the end of the game.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Jagged

Eh, You do realize that your comparing a 50 year old man man to someone who's barley out of this teens, not to mention your taking account upbringing and lifestyle, right?

Funny how Ramza didn't angst all the time despite being a younger fellow. Since when is maturity directly proportional to age anyways? Some of us don't prefer for heroes to wallow in self-doubt and be carried by others. I don't care how realistic and compelling someone else thinks it is. I think emo characters like Squall are excessive and unrealistic in how they treat others like crap and yet manage to engender concern and compassion.

Originally Posted by Jagged

Let's not forget that Cyan did let death's of his clouded his judgement as he refused Sabin's help at first and would have attacked Celes and Terra had none of the returners stopped him because they were once associated with the Empire. Even after the battle at Narshe he still didn't trust Celes and did not let go of his grieving until you did his subquest.

That's just good development. They explain right after Cyan gets enraged at the sight of Celes that although the Empire may be evil, not all of its people are. At the Emperor's Banquet, the right choice for Cyan is to let Kefka stew in prison for a while rather than just kill him. That's different from Cloud who even by the end of the game still focuses on "settling the score" with Sephiroth.

Originally Posted by Jagged

It's why he's emotionless assassin who would kill your party if the price was right, without batting a eyelash.

I'm sure that's why he helps you escape the Floating Continent. And there's no proof that he commits suicide at the end of FFVI. That end segment is there to show how he finally decides to let go of the past.

Originally Posted by Jagged

Kain angsted for more than 70% the game and was responsible for a lot of the parties hardships because of it. He let Goldbez control him through his jealously of Cecil and Rosa which almost got Rosa killed. He doesn't began find redemption for himself until the end of the game.

I agree that Cecil shouldn't have continued to put up with Kain's treachery after being betrayed by him on numerous occasions. However, the poison of angst didn't completely seep into the series and begin to bring it down until FF7 with its typical anime rivalry business. Mind you, I still think FF7 is a very good game for a number of reasons, but it's a shame that FF6 was the last of the series to have a great cast.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Megavolt

Funny how Ramza didn't angst all the time despite being a younger fellow.

Ramza was also a naivete Noble with a pampered childhood. In the start of the game not one pinch hardship had come into aside from his father's death. Atleast he still had Alma, Delita and brothers in his family. It's much different than say Clouds, or, Celes who were understandably cold people from the beginning.

Originally Posted by Megavolt

Since when is maturity directly proportional to age anyways?

Most of time it is in RPGs. The fact of the matter is that Cyan has gone through more events in his life that has shape him into who he is than either Cloud or Ramza, but some cases Cloud and Ramza have gone through worse. Growing environment also counts toward how a person perceives his/her surroundings.

Originally Posted by Megavolt

Some of us don't prefer for heroes to wallow in self-doubt and be carried by others. I don't care how realistic and compelling someone else thinks it is. I think emo characters like Squall are excessive and unrealistic in how they treat others like crap and yet manage to engender concern and compassion.

Well, you just have accept that. There are many different types of heroes and not all of them will have happy outlook on life depending on their circumstances with they own reasons. Some people like those type of Characters while others don't. Same goes for the reverse.

Also one other thing Cloud=/=Squall, while Cloud isn't one of my favorite Characters he was hardly emo for much of the game. It only persisted from beginning of the game until they left Midgar.

Originally Posted by Megavolt

That's just good development. They explain right after Cyan gets enraged at the sight of Celes that although the Empire may be evil, not all of its people are.

It doesn't stop his distrust in her even after the battle at Narshe when she fought against her own comardes, and was ready to believe what Kekfa said about her, and this after Edgar said that.

Originally Posted by Megavolt

At the Emperor's Banquet, the right choice for Cyan is to let Kefka stew in prison for a while rather than just kill him.

I don't ever remember that or, any of the questions at the Banquet being Cyan's choice or, any of the other Characters for that matter. All of them where more player choices than to anyone specifically in your group.

Originally Posted by Megavolt

That's different from Cloud who even by the end of the game still focuses on "settling the score" with Sephiroth.

There also big different between your Arch enemy in Jail, and your Arch Enemy walking around and continuing on with his/her path of slaughter which eventually lends to a great catastrophe. Also there the fact that said Arch enemy is subconsciously controlling you to follow him (due to Jenova Cells) so, no matter what you do, you soon meet up with him again and do his bidding. Besides had Kefka not been in that Jail cell I'm quite sure Cyan would have killed him.

Originally Posted by Megavolt

I'm sure that's why he helps you escape the Floating Continent.

As Shadow himself states, he only helps you because the Empire betrays and leaves him to die. He was only interested in getting back at them.

Originally Posted by Megavolt

And there's no proof that he commits suicide at the end of FFVI. That end segment is there to show how he finally decides to let go of the past.

Considering that he sends his dog to your party and the only way in or, out of Kefka's Tower is by air along with point that he isn't with your characters on the only way out of there, I say he's pretty much dead. Shadow would either fall to his death or be crushed by the crumbling Tower.

Yes he does decide at thar point to let go of his greving after holding on to it for so long through the game by killing himself and hoping to be reborn into a better life. This what I understood from his comment.

Originally Posted by Megavolt

I agree that Cecil shouldn't have continued to put up with Kain's treachery after being betrayed by him on numerous occasions.

Yeah, but Cecil from the beingnning of the game to the end has always been shown to be a big softy as wll as a bit naviete.

However, the poison of angst didn't completely seep into the series and begin to bring it down until FF7 with its typical anime rivalry business.[/QUOTE]

Nope. Angst has been part of series every since they started having actual plot, i.e since FFIV and onward. I don't see the issue with this through because conflict created between your party aside form villain makes the story more interesting and realistic especially you characters were once former enemies of each other.

The whole "typical anime rivalry business" has also exist since FFIV. The rivalry, however has not always been shared the opposite person, or is even there at all.

Example:

FFIV, Kain saw Cecil as a rival through Cecil did not.
FFVI, had little no rivalry save for the small bit with Sabin and Vargas.
FFVII, Speth barley gave a damn about Cloud other than when he wanted to screw with his mind to get what he wanted. It was Cloud who wanted to settle things.
FFVIII, Squall and Seifer, pretty much explantory.
FFIX, Zidane and Kuja were pretty much rivals.
FFX, pretty much like FFVI. Tidus hates Jecht for what he did, than anything with rivalry, through it's a bit of a "icing on the cake" so to speak.

Personaly, I don't see the problem with rivalry. It's a lot better than FFI-V and IX chessy "big bad guy" who appears out of nowhere at the last point of the game with little personality or, motivation for what they do. Kefka sort of fit's here but he's got a personality that saves him.

Originally Posted by Megavolt

it's a shame that FF6 was the last of the series to have a great cast.

I strong disagree with you since FFVII and FFX had great casts with evry other FF game save for FFI-III and V having decent casts. This if we are just talking about the main series.

For me if we included all the games and I only could pick 5, it would look like this:

FFVI
FFX
FFT (through unfortunately only Ramza and Delita get development)
FFVII
FFIX

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

The time period is irrelevant for me because I was playing a number of these games through emulation: either because we'd never been graced with an Australian release, or with translation patches. As such, identifying with a specific period doesn't make much sense, at least not for me.

The following are some of the titles that won me over from the SNES/Genesis era
-Tales of Phantasia
-Phantasy Star IV
-Chrono Trigger
-Final Fantasy VI
-Dragon Quest VI

There are others, which probably goes some way to explaining why I skipped the whole PS1/2 era -an explosion of translation releases for the SFC (Star Ocean, Live-a Live, Treasure Hunter G, Romancing Saga 3 etc) kept me more than occupied. I don't think I'm able to comment on whether RPGs have as a whole gone downhill, partially because I've missed playing a huge selection of them.

The more recent titles I have played thoroughly have been on PC.
-Neverwinter Nights
-Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
-KOTOR I & II
-Planescape Torment

Oblivion has been positively mind-blowing yet still accessible. The number of hours I've already clocked up is staggering considering my current partial/casual gamer status. When I think about why I could never get into these types of games in the past, I realise now that the main stumbling block seemed to be in the initial character creation. Compared to the majority of the console RPGs which have defined character/hero roles with pre determined progressions and development; for the young gamer having the freedom of near total customisation can be a daunting barrier to enjoyment. I suppose now I’ve come accustomed to it and my tastes have developed somewhat.

Still, I find them all engrossing and enjoyable just like the old days of the ROM hunting and waiting for translation patches. If and when RPGs do appear to get significantly worse (and by this I mean a consistent glut of crap RPGs across both consoles and PC), I’ll probably skip them and play something else until some higher standard is reached.

FELIPE NO

I wouldn't know when was the best RPG period since i only started playing RPGs since a few years (around 2000). But I would say that on a storyline base, RPGs are getting worse. Based on graphics, I say that graphics do make a bad RPG game seem bareable!

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Jagged

It doesn't stop his distrust in her even after the battle at Narshe when she fought against her own comardes, and was ready to believe what Kekfa said about her, and this after Edgar said that.

It's only natural. Locke still wasn't sure about her either once Kefka made the claim, and the two had a closer relationship than she ever had with Cyan. It just shows that the characters are human and that Kefka is one devious bastard.

Originally Posted by Jagged

I don't ever remember that or, any of the questions at the Banquet being Cyan's choice or, any of the other Characters for that matter. All of them where more player choices than to anyone specifically in your group.

Gestahl apologizes to Cyan directly at the banquet. Not sure if you have to have Cyan in your active party for it to happen though. Anyways, the point is that by the end of the game Cyan is more concerned with moving on than with avenging the deaths of his wife and son. In FFVII I almost feel bad for Sephiroth when Cloud kills him. It just didn't seem right for him to savor the vengeance like that. It wouldn't have been right for Zidane to have finished off Kuja in FFIX either. It's unheroic.

Originally Posted by Jagged

As Shadow himself states, he only helps you because the Empire betrays and leaves him to die. He was only interested in getting back at them.

There's more to Shadow than meets the eye. He claims to not care but goes out of his way during certain events to help you out. But you know that already. I think it's meant to be understood through subtle behaviors that he does still have a heart in there somewhere even though he seems so cold. The way he tries to comfort Terra a bit (even if it comes off as cold, which is simply his style) during the boat trip to Thamasa, for example.

Originally Posted by Jagged

Yes he does decide at thar point to let go of his greving after holding on to it for so long through the game by killing himself and hoping to be reborn into a better life. This what I understood from his comment.

You got the idea about rebirth, but I think they keep it vague because you're not really supposed to know whether he lives or dies. Or rather, it's not important given the nature of the storytelling throughout the game. You know, with the theme of hope and all.

Originally Posted by Jagged

Nope. Angst has been part of series every since they started having actual plot, i.e since FFIV and onward. I don't see the issue with this through because conflict created between your party aside form villain makes the story more interesting and realistic especially you characters were once former enemies of each other.

See Monkey King's post before about wallowing in angst. Of course angst has its role. But characters didn't begin to swim in it until FFVII. FFVI had the right balance between dealing with your emotions and dealing with reality. FFVII steers more towards stereotypes with brooding fellows like Vincent and that shady Tifa. The "who am I" bits seem to get taken too far sometimes. If the end result is a contrived plot device like FFVIII's orphanage scene, then it's disappointment city for me. Obviously not everyone will agree with me, but I know some do.

Originally Posted by Jagged

FFX, pretty much like FFVI. Tidus hates Jecht for what he did, than anything with rivalry, through it's a bit of a "icing on the cake" so to speak.

How is that? FFVI doesn't make use of the villain=father cliche. I suppose you could draw some parallels betwen Yuna and Terra, but Final Fantasy has been recycling those character types since VI (and to a lesser extent, IV) anyways. Aeris is like Terra too.

Originally Posted by Jagged

Kefka sort of fit's here but he's got a personality that saves him.

And he's quite quotable too. Unlike Sephiroth who is pretty much the stereotypical anime badass and has legions of fans simply because he looks cool. I don't take the "some development is better than none" position either considering how muddled and confusing Seph's development is. The guy is practically a phantom throughout the whole game.

Originally Posted by Jagged

I strong disagree with you since FFVII and FFX had great casts with evry other FF game save for FFI-III and V having decent casts. This if we are just talking about the main series.

For me if we included all the games and I only could pick 5, it would look like this:

FFVI
FFX
FFT (through unfortunately only Ramza and Delita get development)
FFVII
FFIX

That's why they're called opinions, I suppose. I hardly think games like FFVII and FFIX have bad casts. I think FFVII's characters are likeable enough and FFIX's have good development even though I despise their SD designs. FFX though... I really don't care for that cast at all. Rather than taking the time to develop the characters and create real reasons for them to join Yuna's pilgrimage, most of them just tag along early. And those that do develop later on, like Wakka, do so in a rushed and unconvincing manner.

http://mysite.verizon.net/respxabq/ethergeist/id25.html

Just read that to find out why I think FFVI has a better cast than the rest. It's written by a fellow I know and a good read regardless.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

<_< Bah, yeah right buddy (RPG's getting worse, I'd say that's a barrel of laughs). RPG's aren't getting worse every 5 years. It's not the companies fault. They just want to try something new and original.

For me, it's such RPGs like FFX & FFIX that made me interested in playing more RPGs.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

That is a tough question to answer, to narrow it down to a list of 10.

Lets see on the Snes we have Super Mario RPG FFVI and FFIV and EarthBound, moveing on to the Playstation there is FFVII, Xenogears, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue and Star Ocean, than on the PS2 there is KH 1 and 2. Hmm really hard to make the ultimate list of top RPG's, I would have to say though that some of the best ones of all time came out on the Snes. You have the ones I listed as well as Treasure Hunter G, Live A Live, FFV, Lufia 1 and 2, and Tales of Phantasia. It's really a shame that I've only recently been able to play all of these games.

rant

I agree that FFX really is the weakest one in the series, one of my main probles with it (beside those stupid puzzles) is that the game very easy until you hit some boss, which utterly devastates your party, and because they took out the level up system, it becomes hard to judge if your character's can kill the boss or not.

The FF series in general and many Square games of recently have the annoying tendency to make you fight the same boss over and over again, of have bosses with multiple forms, so you end up killing the first three forms only to be killed but the final. It makes me feel as if I they stole a little bit of my life that I can never get back.

/rant

How ya doing, buddy?

I had to say 1990-1994. While I do have RPGs that I LOVE that fall outside of that realm such as Persona 1/2, Nocturne, and Digital Devil Saga, I do feel that the majority of my love came from the simple yet attractive graphics and sound that came from the SNES era of RPGs. Breath of Fire 1/2 are definitely up there on my list.

I also think that as technology began to play more of a role in the production of a product, less attention was given to that which makes an RPG truly engaging: the gameplay and the plot. Or maybe Im just getting older and Im experiencing "been There - Done That Syndrome."

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

1. Final Fantasy VI
2. Earthbound
3. Final Fantasy VII
4. Valkyrie Profile
5. Star Ocean
6. Tales of Phantasia
7. Xenogears
8. Final Fantasy Tactics

Can't think of a final two... With that said I have to say the 90s-2000 or so produced some of my favorites. So I'm gonna go with 1995-1999 just because I will die saying Final Fantasy VI was so freakin' awesome.

How ya doing, buddy?

Hmm, this is an interesting thread.

1. Final Fantasy 6
2. Secret of Mana
3. Final Fantasy 4
4. Dragon Warrior 3
5. Chrono Trigger
6. Earthbound
7. Wild ARMs
8. Breath of Fire 2
9. Final Fantasy Tactics
10. Lufia 2

I voted up for 1990-1994. Though it does just barely disinclude FF6, I still have to vote for this. The SNES era of RPGs was the best to me. It had so much to offer, from Orge Battle to Secret of Evermore. Plenty to be had during this time period.

Originally Posted by Megavolt

See Monkey King's post before about wallowing in angst. Of course angst has its role. But characters didn't begin to swim in it until FFVII. FFVI had the right balance between dealing with your emotions and dealing with reality. FFVII steers more towards stereotypes with brooding fellows like Vincent and that shady Tifa. The "who am I" bits seem to get taken too far sometimes. If the end result is a contrived plot device like FFVIII's orphanage scene, then it's disappointment city for me. Obviously not everyone will agree with me, but I know some do.

I agree with you. FF6 had things in proper proportions, in both characters and emotional/reality issues. Hence it being first on my list.

FF7, which I thought was good, had more angst than I had previously seen in the series. I have a hard time saying it was just good or okay nowadays because then I get the usual fanboy berating my opinion with "FF7 IS LEIK SO AWESOME!" Sadly, its built up as the monolith of the RPG genre amongst the majority I've talked to.

As for Final Fantasy 12, this'll actually be the first time I don't buy a Final Fantasy at release. I didn't bother with X-2 or FF11, so I'll leave this one to rental. It better be a far step up from X.

EDIT : Oh, as for Kefka. If you'd like to get a little bit more of a backstory to him, go to the Cafe in Vector. I just started a new quest, and didn't know about this. One of the guys in there tells you that Kefka apparently was Cid's first experimental Magitek Knight, but because the process wasn't yet perfected, Kefka's mind snapped. Just in case no one ever talked to him.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

SNES and PSX rpgs are the best ever, I'm not really interested playing nowadays rpgs, they are just lack of good storyline. some are exceptional, but mostly are boring. I vote for rpg in 1995-1999, but it doesnt mean I hate today rpgs though.

my list
1. Saga Frontier
2. Final Fantasy Tactics
3. Tactics Ogre
4. Chrono Trigger
5. Chrono Cross
6. Parasite Eve
7. Mother 2/Earthbound
8. Dragon Quest Monster
9. Rockman EXE
10. Fire Emblem

FELIPE NO

Arright I've been subscribed to this thread, but never actually posted in it. Guess it's about time I did.

Here's the thing about my list -- it doesn't indicate a particular "era" of RPGs. Hence, I'm not voting for one. These are the RPGs that have left a lasting enough of an impression for me to recall them, and in no particular order:

Legend of Legaia: I absolutely loved this game -- every minute of it. The story might be a little simplistic, but it's fantastic. The battle system is great -- it combines combination-style attacks (indicated by left arm, right arm, a down attack or an up attack) with a turn-based system, and it's a lot of fun to simply watch the combos. The characters are likeable enough, with Vahn being pretty likeable, Noa being extremely cute and bubbly, and Gala being the brick wall. Also, it's one of the few RPGs where every piece of armor has its own image, and changes your character's image accordingly, including on the battlefield -- weapons, helmets, chest pieces, boots, whatever.

Chrono Trigger: Yes, Chrono Trigger. Must've played through the game a dozen or more times. What more could I say beyond what everyone else has already said over the past decade this game's been out? It's got a great storyline, great character, great artwork, cool attacks, a great soundtrack, etc. etc.

Megaman Legends series: It's debatable whether or not you'd call this an RPG, but I will. It's more of an adventure/RPG hybrid, but it's still there. The easiest thing to compare would be something akin to an offline MMORPG. You have quests, you go fetch items, you get the better item, and you go dungeon crawling. But it's MEGAMAN. Creating new weapons is always a blast, and it's really just fun to get his skate-thingies and just spin a long town. I uh...used to chase cars. >__>; Beyond that, the voices are good, the graphics were, at the time, slightly above par, and it was really just a lot of fun.

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: So why not mention Link to the Past, or include the disclaimer "series" as a suffix? Simple -- I enjoyed Ocarina of Time that much more than the rest of the series, but before and after. I enjoyed it for many of the same reasons I enjoyed MML, save for one crucial fact -- instead of repeatedly chasing cars on roller skates, I took to seeing how fast I could clear the Gerudo place. >___>;; In any case, I had a lot of fun mainly just piddling around with the game. God knows how many times I made poor Link dive off that damn waterfall in the Zera caves.

Grandia II: Fuckin' awesome. Battle system+++. This game had by far the best battle system of the Grandia series in my book. It was simple and effective, and not a circle. I. Hate. The. Goddamn. circle action bars in Xtreme and III. The bar is just easier to read in my book. Anywho, the voices were decent (heard worse), but the story was all-out. Religious zelots? Check. Damsel in distress becomes fighting champion? Check. Loner lead warms up to friends and conquers all through the power of love? Semi-check. Psycho-bitch with wings? Triple check. The characters were by far the best thing about this game, as all of them were fantastically written out. Mareg, IMO, was the weakest as far as character development (he seemed a little TOO focused on finding Melfice) goes, but the remaining characters all fulfilled their roles fantastically. The award goes to both Tio and Millenia -- Tio was just plain awesome, and Millenia was...well come on, it's Millenia. If I didn't give her an award, she'd probably eat me. o__o;

Dark Cloud 2: Oh yeah. I hadn't forgotten about this one. Not a chance in hizzell. Dark Cloud 2 remains, to this day, my favorite PS2 game ever. None, and I mean none of the characters are shallow pieces of crap. Max has a huge plot twist in his story, as does Monica. The voices are fantastic (Max = Teen Titans' Robin) and all of the supporting characters are great. Dungeon crawling has been fixed to be a little more gamer-friendly, as they're not nearly as long as the first game's, but there are at least two crucial elements to what makes this game so fantastic: the Georama system and the Invention system.

The Georama system is what you use to rebuild cities that have, for reasons contained within the plot, been wiped out. Rebuilding these cities is an absolute BLAST. So much fun. You have total creative control, albeit you do have a guideline should you actually wish to complete the city to 100% completion. 'Tis not necessary, as only certain requirements need be fulfilled to continue on. However, there's one place, Veniccio, that requires very minimal to not only complete it, but to get 100% completion as well, and it leaves you a broad portion of the map to play with. Needless to say I spent many, many hours just seeing what I could do with this space. I made it look really really cool. ^___^

Then there's the Invention system, which is split in to two parts. First, you must take pictures of the "ideas for inventions." That is to say that you may need to take a picture of a chimney to get an idea for a part you'll need to create a weapon for your Ridepod. Once you have the necessary images (three are needed per invention), you can come up with a plan to invent and a list of raw materials you'll need to invent. And that's at least a 50 hour portion of gameplay, provided you want to collect every picture and create every invention, which you will.

There're also the minigames in Dark Cloud 2. Spheda is a golf-based minigame which sounds boring and stupid, but it actually makes the dungeon crawling a little more fun, as Spheda opens up as an option to you with every level you complete. At the end, when you've beaten it, you're given the option to play Spheda. Winning gets you an item, losing gets you nothing but lost time. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's quite challenging, and it's always very rewarding and fun to play. There're also fishing contests that come in two varieties -- a weighing contest and a race. The weighing contests are simple enough (and there are at least a dozen different venues to fish at, all of which have unique fish), and the race is a bit more in-depth. You'll build an aquarium to store your fish, and you can feed it different items to boost its stamina, speed, and even change its gender! It's a lot of fun breeding a fast fish to race!

Hmm...on to other RPGs now. The studio who created the (in my mind) legendary Dark Cloud 2, Level-5, was given complete control in bringing a hugely popular Japanese RPG from 2D into 3D, and they did a magnificent job. The game they completed most recently?

Dragon Quest VIII: And fail they did not. DQ8 is a wonderfully visual game, sporting vivid cel-shaded graphics for the land and the characters. Draw distances stretch for what could be conceived as miles. The characters are also really likeable -- the nameless hero's a pretty good guy overall, Yangus is...well, he's hilarious. And popular, as the bandit scored his own spin-off game, starring him as a child. Jessica's got the VA-VA-VOOOM to work with and she's actually very cool, with a really great voice actress. And Angelo's a typical ladies' man, but he's a got a past deeper than some would suspect. This game is extremely well-made, sporting interactive environments beyond any other RPG I've ever come across. Minor things too, such as actually reaching in the bag to retrieve an item, or pulling a book from a shelf and flipping through pages while reading. Really, America, you should pull your head out of your ass and give this game the respect it deserves, you FF-loving pieces of shit. Of course, I'm about to contradict myself...

Final Fantasy VII: Yeah whatever. Get over it, because I really enjoyed this game. Not gonna say much on it though.

Final Fantasy X: If I rated RPGs based on their mini-games, this would tie with Dark Cloud 2 -- maybe get 2nd place, actually. I spent over 100 hours play Blitzball. Beyond that though, I really enjoyed this game's story (Even the laughing part. I admit, it was pretty stupid, but I did crack a grin the first time I saw it.) and the characters weren't half-bad either. The only one that ever truly got on my nerves was the ever-brooding Lulu, but she wasn't all that bad. Although, looking back on it, I probably thought of this game more as a side-story to Blitzball than anything else, heh. I wish Squeenix would release Blitzball online...I'd totally pwn at that. >>;

Legend of Dragoon: Gonna take it back in time now. I really, really wish S-E would either re-release the game (Hey, VP did it on the PSP! Now do it again with LoD! Bastards!) or remake it and give it a sequel *cough*VP2*cough*. Legend of Dragoon deserves so much better than what it's garnered so far. The battles were really cool, and I liked the timed attacks as well. Plus, hello Dragoon Transformations? Those were awesome, and the attacks were really cool as well. The story was also really enthralling if not a little convoluted at times, and the characters were all pretty cool, though not necessarily likeable. Dart, Rose, and Albert were pretty cool, but the rest I was kinda iffy toward. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the hell outta this game and I'd like to see it get some sort of current-gen or next-gen rememberence.

Valkyrie Profile: So. Yeah. VP. Gonna play the sequel here soon, just played the re-release on the PSP and sadly got the B ending -- must've screwed up somewhere. Anyway, it's fantastic. The best things about it are the characters and the story. Tragedy, betrayal, [i]shocking revelations[/i, perversion a la Lezard, etc. This is a very intelligent game (no dimwits allowed, lawlz). Moreover, it's a tragic one. It was released probably way before its time when it first debuted on the PSone, but I think now was the perfect time to put it out in the sun once again. The new CG scenes rock, by the way. There's really nothing I don't like about the game -- it's just that damn good. Extremely addictive gameplay, great battle systems that change basically with every character you change in the party, semi-nonlinear direction as far as where you want to go in each chapter, and it's just really fun.

Xenosaga series: This'll be my last one for now, as I'm starting to get tired. My friend brought his copy of the first game over to my dorm room when it first came out and let me check it out. Played through, I guess, the first couple hours of the game and went out to Wal-Mart that night to buy my own copy. The first game is absolutely stellar -- the voices, the music, the characters, the story and the battle system are all really well done....

...which is why the second one was such a big letdown for me. So much so that I've never actually completed it, nor do I plan to now that I know all the info I need can be found in Xenosaga III's in-game database. Xenosaga II was graphically superior, as were the character designs, I admit. However, I care not for the new voice actors they included, nor do I have any respect for the clusterfuck of a battle system they included. Granted, these are just the rantings of a gamer, but Xenosaga II really irked me. Those retarded side-quests, the fact that there is no money to buy anything with (what. the. fuck.) and the sheer lack of polish on the game has officially made it nothing but shelf-space for me.

However, I have enough respect for the Xenosaga series that I will buy III, especially after I found out what changes they were making. Xenosaga I will likely remain my favorite of the three though.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

1. Icewind Dale
2. Dues Ex
3. Baldur's Gate II
4. Diablo
5. Fallout
6. Planescape: Torment
7. Final Fantasy IX
8. Chrono Cross
9. Grandia II
10. Vampire: The Masquerade

Generally what I enjoy most in RPG's is good character design and overall atmosphere, back when I played IWD for example the music and the graphics blew me away and totally sucked me into the game from the word go. Other games such as Grandia II and Final Fantasy IX had cool and interesting characters which kept you playing to find out more about them. Some of the others such as Dues Ex, Diablo & Fallout all were really fun games that you could play again and again due to their less linear structure.

While my more favourite games are from the 95-99' bracket I don't believe RPG's are getting worse at all, just the sad fact of the matter is the producers are out to make money at the end of the day and the traditional RPG as we know it isn't exactly the money maker it once was; not at all compared to your run of the mill MMO released today. Even the MMO's seen as many as failures due to low subscription rates will end up making much more money then your run of the mill RPG.

On a sidenote I've been an active gamer since around 88', so yeah I haven’t missed many of the titles mentioned; either I just can't remember them right now or they didn't appeal to me at the time I played them.

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