Well, I finally cracked and made
it: my list of top 10 RPGs. This was extremely difficult seeing as how I’ve
played dozens over the course of my life, but after some forceful encouragement
from my girlfriend I was able to narrow it to 10 games. Some people will
obviously think my list is crazy, and that there are some true classics
missing. To this I say, I was born in 1986 and was therefore too young to play
some of the truly old-school, original RPGs. Plus, I like to think that I grew
up in the golden age of RPG rejuvenation of the mid-90s, and since all I had was
a paper route it was quite hard to afford all the games I wanted to play. I was
also a console gamer for the vast majority of my gaming life (including today),
so that alone limits my potential library of RPGs quite a bit. Still, as my
very wise friend Casey told me, “you played what you liked – no shame in making
that list dude.” So, without further ado (and despite any fear of reader
backlash), I give you my, Graduated Gamer’s, undisputed* list of the top 10
RPGs of all time!
10) Mass Effect 2
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| Oh Shepard, my Shepard! |
With sexy alien lovin’, a rugged rogue hero, and humanity in danger of extinction, the Mass Effect series had everything a sci-fi fan could want. This may not be a traditional RPG, but the ability to build and level a party of players with different strengths and weaknesses from across the galaxy it still counts in my book. Plus, you’re basically on a one-man mission to save the universe as we know it from certain doom, and it doesn’t get much more RPG than that. The first Mass Effect was great as an intro, but the second installment had better characters (including cameos from the first game) and even better choices that affected the way you played makes the second installment trump the original. Oh, and the Geth Pulse Rifle is possibly the best weapon in a modern RPG I’ve ever seen.
9) Dark Cloud 2
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| Bringing a wrench to a sword fight is a bad idea. |
Dark Cloud is an easily overlooked series from the PS2 era, but any fan of RPGs would be remiss to pass up a gem like this. The cell-shaded look made this game a beauty to look at and play, and still holds up well even to this day (and I’d love to see what an HD remake would look like). The true star of this game was the mix of two classes that are classic staples of the genre: inventor and warrior. One character is all toughness and is your go-to for up-close-and-personal encounters, whereas the other uses ranged weapons like guns and other clever “toys” to get by. Mix in the use of randomly generated dungeons and an original and touching story and you’ve got a classic RPG for the generation.
8) The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
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| If you played Skyrim, you likely died a lot and saw this screen too much. |
“Let me guess: someone stole your
sweetroll?” This game…seriously man, this game. I hadn’t sunk 100+ hours into a
single playthrough of a game since Final
Fantasy VII, but Skyrim easily stole 120+ hours of my life and I don’t
think I even bat an eyelash when I found out. If there’s one thing that RPGs
love to do, it’s send you on side quests to either distract you from the main
story or give you more background to why you do what you do. Skyrim did an amazing job with the
balance of the side quests and especially with the way they made you realize
just how alive the world was around you while you were off gallivanting around
as the Dragonborn. The specialty/trait trees added a nice spin to traditional
leveling up and did a great job of getting you to think critically about the
choices you made in the game and when assigning your next attribute. I’m
actually afraid to pick it back up for another go around, it’s that addicting.
7) Final Fantasy VII
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| Iconic image is iconic. |
Now before you jump down my throat about
what many people consider the “best RPG of all time” only being #7 on my list,
hear me out. Yes, this game essentially single-handedly brought the genre back
to the forefront of gamers’ minds, and yes it was visually stunning (well, the
CGI was at least), and yes it had an amazing hero-villain duo, and yes Aerith’s
death was heart-wrenching. And yes, when I list all those things out and paired
with the fact I’ve played it through 100% on three separate occasions makes me
doubt its low position on the list. However, it’s more a gut feeling for me
rather than the game’s influence on the industry. I tend to be a very emotional
player and tend to connect more with a game via my heart than my head, and
looking back I liked a lot of the characters, and thought they were all cool
and badass; but I only loved a few of them. If you asked me 15 years ago, this game would be tops, but alas I grew up, and so did my tastes.
6) Final Fantasy Tactics
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| Dear Square(soft..er Enix): never stop making beautiful cover art. |
If it not for a very unfortunate series of
events, this game could very well be higher on my list. About 9 years ago, I
played the hell out of this game. I think an entire summer was spent either
playing SOCOM with my dad, or playing
Final Fantasy Tactics late into the
night. I lost many hours of sleep getting lost into a truly fantastical world
of chivalry, knights, ladies, might, magic, and other wondrous things that little
boys grow up dreaming about while building their LEGO Castle sets. I was so
close to beating the game, and one night I saved before the final battle so I
could tackle it when fresh from a full night’s rest. However, I was also going
up north for vacation the next day with my parents, and in the process of
packing I somehow lost my memory card. It was never seen again and to this day
I’ve never actually beat Final Fantasy
Tactics. Still, because the game was so memorable and the story so deep, it
haunts me to this day as one of my biggest gaming regrets. [Also, go easy on me
and avoid spoilers if you can.]
5) Fallout 3
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| "I don't want to set the world on fire." |
This game was my introduction into
western RPGs, and I don’t think I could have picked a better game. I never
played the original PC Fallout games, but I did my research beforehand and
realized I was in for a treat…and Fallout 3 did not disappoint. One of the best
gaming moments for me ever was when I first stepped outside after escaping
Vault 101 and blinking off the sun’s harsh light stared amazed at the harsh
wasteland before me. From that point every quest, every pocket picked, every
mole rat squashed was a lesson in what the western world could and should do
with role-playing games. Despite the glitches (to be expected with a game of
this size), I’ve never had so much fun exploring a desolate wasteland before,
and I’m eagerly awaiting Fallout 4 (understatement).
4) Pokémon Red/Blue
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| Pokemon Rap Battle...GO! |
What can I say about the games that started
it all that hasn’t already been said? Not only was this game filled with 151
adorable creatures to catch and collect obsessively like a hoarder, but
underneath the cutesy façade lied a complex game that relied as much on
strategy and a little bit of luck as much as it did on grinding. For those of
us lucky enough to experience this game when it released in the 90s, we’ll
never forget the memorable moments that blew away our conventions of what an
RPG should be, especially on a handheld. Whether it was sitting under tress
during recess with cables running between bulky green-screen GameBoys, or
running home after school to battle the next gym leader, my time spent with the
first versions of Game Freak and Nintendo’s series about pocket monsters that
became a massive hit will always be remembered fondly.
3) Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven
Stars
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| Peach obviously isn't happy about placing third.. |
Seriously, you know you’ve got a winning
combination when Nintendo pairs with Squaresoft to make a JRPG starring
everyone’s favorite mustachioed plumber. What made this game so fantastic was
it took Mario out of his platforming safe-zone and dropped him smack dab into a
world filled with magical star powers, evil wedding cakes, and, of course, hit
points. The 3D look of this SNES game was gorgeous to behold in its time. To me
though, the characters in this amazing mash-up are the reason the game shines.
Princess Peach is no longer the helpless victim and instead busts heads with an
iron skillet and a parasol (I’ll admit, it’s a bit sexist); newcomers Mallow
and Geno are two of the best one-time characters of any RPG with their mix of
heart-warmingly epic and tragic tales; and Bowser is seen in a new light as
vulnerable when he’s kicked form his own castle, and even shows us his talent
as a wordsmith when he waxes poetic to the gamer (hands-down the best
representation of Bowser ever). For a game that seems to not take itself too
seriously it is amazing difficult, even requiring gamers to grind intensely in
the first hour of the game just to beat earlier mini-bosses. But if you move
past the early frustrations, you’ll be treated to one of the best games the
genre has ever offered. A must-play for any fan.
2) Final Fantasy IX
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| *gets misty eyed* ...IT'S DUSTY IN HERE! I'M CUTTING ONIONS! |
The Final Fantasy series is filled with so
many amazing games, and I truly believe that it’s hard to pick the best one
without inserting so much subjectivity. With that in mind, here we go. Final Fantasy IX is, in my opinion, the
best game of the series that I’ve played. I will admit that I only got
part-way through Final Fantasy VI and
Final Fantasy VIII, and I haven’t
played a game in the series since Final
Fantasy X-2 (yes I played it, and I enjoyed it judgers!), but to this day,
even when compared to Final Fantasy VII,
nothing will ever compete with the whimsical world of Final Fantasy IX. Over the course of my life I’ve played hundreds
of games, and I can easily count on one hand the number of games that caused my
emotions to stir so much that it brought tears to my eyes, and this is one of
them (to this day, “Melodies of Life” still gives me goosebumps). The love
story of Zidane and Dagger is enough to make even a 6’4” bearded man quiver a
lip, and the completely tragic existence of my all-time favorite FF character,
Vivi, made the 12 year old me search his soul about the meaning of his own
existence. Of course there are some flaws with the game, especially the ending
where things become a bit confusing and convoluted, but as I said earlier I
play more with my heart and when a game still gives you pause over a decade
later, you know you’ve got a winner. To not have this in my RPG collection
would be a mortal sin.
1) Earthbound
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| If this is what you think the game looks like, you're gonna be very confused. |
And here we are: my #1 RPG of all time. I
can’t accurately tell you when my love affair with this game began, but it was
a long time ago. I’m talking a time where I had to beg my mom to take me to
Blockbuster to rent a game once a week. A time where Funcoland was the big dog
in the second-hand video game industry. A time where innocence reigned in my
life and the goofy troubles and pressures of a boy named Ness spoke to the
childhood version of me more than it ever could with each passing year. The
issue with Earthbound is that it isn’t meant to be played by hardcore RPG
gamers. It’s meant to be played by casual gamers, especially if they’re younger,
because the game, while difficult at times, is light-hearted and speaks to the
innocence of youth but the inherent pressures on that same generation of
youngsters to one day “save the world”. I may have been an outlier by playing
and beating it as a 9 year old, but the game was a dream to me and I felt like
I was in a fantasy every time I booted it up. Even the soundtrack is trippy as
all hell, but it works with the ever-quirky nature of the game. The humor is
top notch, causing numerous laugh-out-loud moments. The writers for Earthbound
should be on the staff of every game not trying to be a soap opera (I’m looking
at you, Metal Gear 5). Also, the
developers clearly had an appreciation for American culture (or a healthy sense
of humor about it), because for a JRPG it has a decent amount of western themes
(prayer, father-son issues) and references (Blues Brothers, fast food). The
game can certainly give hardcore fans of the genre something to remember, as Earthbound is not only a length RPG but
also a difficult one to boot. However, unless you played it in its prime during
the glory days of the SNES, and unless you’ve retained a decent amount of
youthful innocence, a lot of what makes this game #1 in my mind might just go
right over your head….but you should still play it because it’s amazing!
[*Actually, it’s okay
to dispute this list if you want.]
Making this list was a pain, mostly because there are so many games that are worthy of high praise as RPGs. Therefore, I decided to recognize those that were in the mix but didn't make the final cut to the top 10. Basically, this is just another chance for everyone to disagree with me, but I'm cool with that.
Honorable Mentions:
- Dragon Quest VIII
- Paper Mario
- Mass Effect
- Final Fantasy X
- Chrono Trigger
- Fallout: New Vegas
