Running out of Rpgs...

The day has finally come. As I wrap up "Tales of Xillia" I look at my rpg library and realize that I have exhausted my list of what could be deemed the "good" role playing games.

I'm going to go over all those games as best I could. So many lives and adventures to go through, we'll start from the early systems but not all of these were played in order. You know, emulators and stuff

NES (Nintendo Entertainment System)
Handed down to me, this was my Kirby Adventure system. I played that game to death. I have no doubt I spent over 500 hours into that game. Every single day I played that game. I beat it so many times I can't remember the number. Kirby is my life. That crane game music will scar my memory forever. The day I beat the quick draw contest was the happiest day of my childhood life.
Dad always beat me in tetris though :/
That Silent Service game scared me when going underwater. A big handicap since your a submarine.
I tried and failed to commit animal cruelty to the dog in Duck Hunt. Your a liar if you didn't try to shoot him.
To this day I don't know how to beat "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?". Not that I would have known back then, I treated that game as Grand Theft Auto by running over everything with the toon car. GTA learned from this game mark my words. It even has Jessica Rabbit as a sex symbol. Thank you Nintendo.

Spoiler

The Legend of Zelda
There were two right? Don't remember much of the original. I do remember the second one having that really cool temple theme.

Final Fantasy I & II
Hey I tried at least.

SNES (Super Nintendo)
Amazing system I never had. It was at this point my sister took the system away and left me with the NES. Being a little brother sucks!!!
Haha, well I had a friend who had plenty of games too. Later on we got emulators and the GBA more or less got me covered with some of these gems.

Spoiler

Chrono Trigger
Amazing game. Clearly top material even today. Combat is quick and engaging (important since I hate grinding) and the story is simple but well done. Save the future from some space alien thing with memorable characters. Great game

Super Mario RPG
The predecessor of Paper Mario, charming but inferior in every way to paper Mario. Since I came off the later it was hard to go backwards. Got through a quater of the game before calling quits

Zelda a Link to the Past
The best one is a link to the past which I played on the Gameboy Advance. Same thing really. I actually don't think I beat the game completely but don't remember.

Earthbound
I didn't like this game. It's what you call a cult classic, I just didn't see the appeal. I guess it was humorous and weird but just didn't appeal to me. A shame since it has it's circle of die hard fans and I know from spoilers it gets freaky.

Secret of Mana
Or any game similar to this one. Sort of the more RPG heavy version of Zelda. You run around and hack and slash upgrading your stats. Not really my kind of genre of game

Lufia I & II
Old game. Dated. Has the hated features of all those old RPGs I that I hated. Limited save opportunities, battles that drag out, archaic turn based battles, infuriating monster random monster encounters and required grinding. Needless to say I couldn't get into this game. HOWEVER.
I did like the story presented and the music was excellent.

Dragon Quest
Or was it Dragon Slayer back in the day? The series has spawned many games now, it also had the annoying features of those old rpgs I hated. More on this series later on...

Breath of Fire I & II
Didn't bother, went to III instead.

Final Fantasy 6
Or 3, there's a story to that. I played the GBA version which was pretty much the same thing. Tremendous! That Kefka laugh haunts my dreams. The opera scene still remains noltagic to me. The Celes/Locke subplot is so well done that the game could have been told entirely from Celes point of view. Which it did eventually btw. That's how strong the cast of characters were.
Still love Terra though.

Final Fantasy V
I know I got past the part with the battle on the big bridge (Or am I confussing another Final Fantasy?). In any case it's a step backwards from FF6. That of course makes perfect sense.

Fire Emblem
I played many games in this series. It's hard to get the series numbers right but here my best shot. I played all of Marth's story. That would be I & II combined. The first Fire Emblem I played was on the emulator with Marth. Very good game even if it looked old as hell. I grew to love the whole "characters can die" thing going with the game. Watch your six.

Fire Emblem IV Genology
Forgot the whole name, deserves special mention. Japanese only but a translation is floating around somewhere. Someone recently changed it from last I played it but apparently they didn't even bother to fix the end game credits crash. They butchered the names around too from what I have heard. I can find you the good original translation if you want. An awesome game. Since it was fan translated no one felt obligated to pay lip service to the morality police so there were definite veiled...things going on in the background story (Were they cousins or brother and sister?).
Game's concept of passing on your characters stats and chosen spouse was copied in one of the new recent Fire Emblem games. So this is the granddaddy game that started wiefu Fire Emblem. Don't you forget it.
One thing I did wish they brought over was the huge expansive maps. The levels were gigantic and events gradually expanded the battlefield.

Ogre Battle
Forgot the whole name. Was pretty neat but sometimes a little too tedious. A real time strategy game which has multiple endings.
Well I say strategy but really you just park your armies in a city and wait until the enemy finishes sending wave after wave of troops at you. The game punishes you with a bad ending if you curb stomp the enemy with your best troops. Like I said, tedious. Called it quits just a few battles from the end. Would have got the bad ending anyway.

Tactics Ogre
An alternative to Final Fantasy tactics of sorts. Despite many similarities this game was more frustrating for some reason. Just couldn't get into it and that goes for all it's remakes and stuff.

Shining Force
Kind of like Fire Emblem but not nearly as fun and very forgettable

Gameboy Advance (GBA)
Most of these games can also be found on the SNES.
This was a tough handheld system. How many times did I drop this thing? Even the game cartridges were tough. True story, I dropped my Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past on the front yard of my grandmother's house. For almost a year the game laid on the beaten muddy ground where my parents would park their car to pick me up. Eventually I found the game lying there.

Popped it into my GBA and played like a boss.

Spoiler

Pokemon Blue/Yellow/Silver
Those were my games, I love Silver. The ability to go back to the first region from the original games was really cool! Still waiting for the Pokemon game that lets you tour the entire Pokemon world like the anime. You could balance it by making your character swap out Pokemon for plot reasons or something.
Or just remove level limits and go bananas

Golden Sun
Or was it for the DS? Was kind of boring. I heard good things about this game but a lot of hours in and it seems really generic. If something good was supposed to happen it must be late in the game and carries over to it's sequel? Dropped this one.

Tales of Phantasia
Another Japanese only but a translation is floating around. Actually not a bad game at all. As a first in this new type of battle system (2D fighting with RPG elements) this was really fun. Also yelling out "INDIGNATION!" with a heavy Japanese accent is just hilarious. I noticed shades of this story seems to have been retold in Tales of Symphonia, more on that later...

Nintendo 64
That was so me
My first system given to me on Christmas! Playing Super Mario 64 on our new big t.v (man we had some money back then) was so mind blowing. Even dad wanted to play.

Spoiler

Ogre Battle 64
I have come to the conclusion that this entire series is not for me. Same as before but the maps are smaller which is fine since the enemies do the same thing. Story seems interesting however this is one of those games I would have to look up the plot rather then actually go through the work of unlocking it.

Zelda
Both games, they are great we know that already

Paper Mario 64
Ah, fun game. Actually has some pretty good moments, who remembers that boss that was eating the boos and was invulnerable until some plot thing happens? I forgot the name...Tumba? Tubber? Tuba? That big purple thing.

Playstation (PSX, PS1)
Here we go.

Spoiler

Final Fantasy VII
The benchmark. Some games have passed it however others fail to reach it. Nothing needs to be said about one of the greatest role playing games in existence. At least if your a 90's kid. If by some bizarre reason you haven't played this game and know nothing about it's plot don't click on the link since it's will lead to Youtube spoiling scenes on the bar on the right.
I mean you would have to live in a cave at this point but just giving you that tip. Hey FF7 remake is on the way so no point giving details away if you don't know. I can't be that old can i?

FF8
Almost as good, I like how Squall is a jerk. It just felt good sometimes. However the plot was kind of out there. Draw system sucked and was more annoying then it should have been. I liked how it switched to Laguna and his crew from time to time. The romance subplot for both of them was well done. At least for me, I'm a sucker for that kind of thing.

FF9
Not as good. Played it, was done with it. It wasn't bad but it lacked any special parts that stood out to me. Except when Zidane needed help from his friends. That part was touching. And the ending, the catchphrase with "give me my dagger!" was really cool because we were waiting the entire time for him to show up. That's it though, the entire game was forgettable, I can't even remember the final boss and Kuja was only memorable because he was a cross dresser.

Final Fantasy Tactics
Greatness. Ramza is a hero and Delita is a great anti hero. You are Ramza and see the war in Ivalice for what it really was. Ending had shades of Shakespeare writing all over it. Some skills were stupidly broken and the game gets easy if you use Cid. Also the beginning of the game is harder then it should be, might be one of the few games where inverse difficulty is in effect. The early game is hard while late game gets easy.
That second demon boss is cheap as hell, you can get a game over before you freaking move.
Story is worth the rare gameplay bumps.

Breath of Fire III & IV
Kind of boring really. This series just doesn't do it.

Chrono Cross
Hated this game. However I'm being biased. After playing Chrono Trigger I expected it's "sequel" to be a better version. However I got something very different, characters joining for no real reason destroys any camaraderie the previous game had. The silent protagonist thing does not work at all in this game.
I don't know, I just didn't like it. I'm sure some of you who knows the series understands this game is love or hate. I'm in the hate category for this game.

Lunar Silver Story Complete
A remake of the forgotten Sega CD system game. Thank you universe for bringing this game to a system people actually own because Lunar Silver Story is the greatest rpg in the world.
Okay top 5. The story is absolutely simple. Yet it's simplicity proves to be it's greatest strength because the characters (voice acting that grows on you included), prove that characters drive the narrative. Music is supurb, voice acting is overdone and cheesy but damnit if you don't smile. It's like watching an old Star Trek episode with Captain Kirk. William Shatner may be king of ham but you can't say he didn't try.

I love this game

Lunar Eternal Blue
Lunar II essentially. The sequel is so good I honestly don't know if it's better or not. While the first game ends great this game expands on it anyway. And it's so good.
I hear stories that some people played Lunar II before Lunar I. I think it's possible the plot twist is even more of a stinger. Although the story is still predictable the characters carry the torch proudly.

Grandia
The last of the trio of Sega CD games. Everything I said about Lunar applies to this game. I can't believe how similar the games are in style. The battle system is a big plus however. I'm not even sure how to describe it as I haven't seen anything too similar.

Star Ocean 2
Frustrating and not very fun. Can one game destroy any hope you have for a series of games? Star Ocean 2 did. What's really weird is that I like the comparable "tales of..." games. This game though was a chore from start to late game. What did it for me was the lackluster story telling.
I haven't touched a single Star Ocean game since. The apparent debacle that is Star Ocean 5 doesn't help. I really should give one of the others a fair chance.

Suikoden I
Old, that was my first thought. Story wise though it was good, very good. A political backdrop to an average battle system might not sound exciting but it kept me interested from start to finish. Enough to play the sequel.

Suikoden II
Old, that was my second thought. That story though...!
Once again we're plunged into another adventure with someone new. This time the story is far more personal and includes notable villains like Luca Blight (deranged lunatic on par with Kefka). A far superior game to the previous and in some circles a favorite.
While no favorite of mine I did enjoy it for what it was. This game has it's moments.

Tales of Destiny
For some reason the talking sword pissed me off and I called it quits early

Tales of Eternia
Or was that on the SNES? I got lost past the midway point. Slimier to Phantasia but at this point I wanted to move to the new battle system that was like Symphonia

Vagrant Story
My sword doesn't work against this enemy. Let me switch to another sword. Pause, switch, kill. This sword doesn't work on this other enemy, let me switch back. Pause, switch, still can't kill. Oh well less damage then.
Rinse and repeat.
This stupid battle system!!!
I couldn't take it anymore and rage quit. The story may have had a lot of promise but the tedious fighting just killed the mood for me.

Valkyrie Profile
Underrated gem. This game gives you the "feelz" with it overwhelming theme of death and redemption. Music is beautiful, I admit some of the tracks make me nostalgic. The dungeon music is nothing to throw away either, real good stuff here. The game's only real flaw is the lack of characterization. While Lenneth is your main character you don't really learn anything about her until the very end of the game. The impersonal interactions with other characters abruptly end once they "join" your side.
Still It's a great game

Vandal Hearts
Similar to Final Fantasy Tactics but nowhere near as interesting a storyline. Don't remember where I quit.

Wild Arms
Dat intro them though!
Couldn't finish this game though, the translation job they did was atrocious. Got pretty far, don't remember where I quit.

Wild Arms 2
Dat intro theme is still greatness...!
The dialogue was so stff though. I got pretty far but couldn't get into this game either. A shame, it seemed charming enough. At least I got some good stuff out of it.

Xenogears
Last but certainly not least!
THE BEST GAME EVER MADE
This is the game I would take with me if I was on a deserted island. 80+ hours of plot and gameplay. Xenogears plays out more like a drama then an actual video game. I keep telling myself to dedicate an entire post to this game but I'm not ready. It just left such a mark on me, nothing has come even close to it. Nothing could possibly surpass this game because it fills me with such nolstalgia and you know how that never really goes away.

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That's it for now however I got more coming for other systems. I will then follow with what I'm planning on playing (I know a few gems I haven't tried yet)

 

@Doomguy How dare you say that about Star Ocean 2 and Final Fantasy 9!! They are my favourite RPG's! :O

 

Hehehe, I knew that would rattle someone

Dreamcast
This system had some really good games. Both Sonic Adventures are benchmarks for the Sonic games which sadly nothing since has reached. Toy Commander is an underrated gem. There are no decent emulators for this system however. Last I checked NullDC is a broken mess and the even older Chankast (or something) barely functions. It's doable though, I know I was able to beat Grandia II on it.

Spoiler

Grandia II
Very good game. More serious then the light hearted first game so it losses some of it's charm. Millennia voice actress is awesome (she plays the Little Mermaid). She stole the show. The battle system remains unchanged and only slightly tweaked. This is a good thing because this is the game's strong suit. Graphics are what you would expect for an early 3D rpg, serviceable. Voice acting is more prominent in this game and is actually very good. Very good game.

Shenmue
Wasn't sure if this counted but might as well include it. Boring. Another cult classic with it's fanbase screaming for a sequel. I don't understand why at all, usually I could find some kind of redeeming quality but this game had me burning time doing nothing really. While the story line seemed promising the slow pacing (artificially placed into the game to simulate the passage of time) just killed any enthusiasm I had for the game. I quit somewhere along the line, don't think it was a long game.

Skies of Arcadia
Actually I played it on the gamecube but the same thing. Good game, not great. I actually liked Grandia II better. Battle system was overly reliant on certain moves and the battles themselves had a annoying tendency to drag out way too long. That stupid turtle boss took me 45 minutes to beat because it uses a healing spell half way through the fight. Last boss death spells is cheap too.
The really cool thing were the airship battles, nothing has come close to matching those battles. If this game ever had a sequel I would tout the airship battles alone as a selling point. How can anyone deny just how cool it was to fire the Moonstone Cannon?
This is the game where you look forward for these airship battle more then the ground stuff. Good game with memorable characters, just the gameplay was a mixed bag.

Gamecube
The little blue cube system. Had some pretty good games.

Spoiler

Zelda Wind Waker
Searching for the Triforce pieces is the most annoying thing in this game. That alone is the only reason why I have no interest in replaying it. One of the first times I had to look up on the internet how to beat the game. Aside from that the rest of the game was really good but I do prefer Ocarina and Majora Mask over this one. The graphics were (and still are) weird but gets it point across. Sailing the sea was pretty fun, at least until you start searching for the Triforce (grr).

Tales of Symphonia
Great game that gets better as the second half comes along. The battle system gets better as you start to learn new moves, a staple to the series. Learning new moves allows you to take advantage of all the things the gameplay allows you to do. Story may be the strongest in the series overall. This is probably due to a very good cast of characters that properly react to the events in the story. All to often characters seem to just serve as props to a storyline but in this game they are very much a part of it.
If looking for a "Tales of" series starting point you can't go wrong with Symphonia

Fire Emblem Path of Radiance
Continueing from the GBA games and the SNES games is the Gamecube Fire Emblem. It was okay I guess. More of the same, you can't go wrong with this series. Don't fix what's not broken.

Baten Kaitos
I had problems running this on the emulator. Put in about 5-10 hours before losing my save file
Nothing special in the beginning but I'm not fool enough to dismiss the game that early (Lunar I started slow too). The audio seemed so distorted though and that was annoying. Was it an emulator problem? I know more today then I did back then so maybe I'll give this another shot one day

XBOX
The original XBOX had Halo. Welcome to the new age of multiplayer.
PROTIP: The magnum pistol is more accurate if you pull the trigger for each individual shot instead of holding down the trigger. I held this revelation to myself to the chagrin of my friends

Spoiler

Fable
Okay I guess. I really don't remember much about the game but some people swear by it. Was less rpg and more hack and slash I think

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II
I started with the second game actually. Really good game! High quality throughout, plenty of dialogue and some fun choices. The downside was everything in Telos (or Talos?). The place sucked. It's okay though because once you beat it the entire game opens up and you can go anywhere. I always go Nar Shadaa because some of the things you can say and do there is really fun. Force Persuade the two thugs to jump into the pit, DO IT.
That's what role playing is all about.

Nintendo DS
A neat little system that was lucky not to go up against the age of powerful smartphones (that would be the 3DS and Vita)

Spoiler

Pokemon Black
I skipped a bunch of them and tried this one out. Nothing different at all from the other games. Had some online features and such but wasn't interested in that kind of thing. Eh, it's Pokemon.

Dragon Quest IX
Been a while since I tried one of these games. Surprised me with some pretty good moments. Battle system is old school, at this point I didn't care too much about it. I almost beat the game but got stuck on one of the final bosses. Kind of lost interest at that point (or looking for an excuse to quit).
The game isn't bad though, just not enough to make me try it again.

Final Fantasy IV
Did I say this already? Anyway the DS version of IV was standard Final Fantasy fare. This one too I quit somewhere past the halfway point. Without a compelling story to grab my attention I just lose interest.

Infinite Space
Here's an unknown game. I wanted to get more into it but sometimes the battles got more annoying then fun. You customize your own space ship and fight pirates and stuff. Kind of like Skies of Arcadia but in space. There's an underlying storyline to this game but I didn't get far enough. This game could use a remake.

Rune Factory
I forgot which one exactly. For a resource gathering/action rpg/dating thing it was actually pretty good. Worthwhile time burn with excellent dialogue.

Valkyrie Profile Convenent of the Plume
Tactical rpg in the realm of FF Tactics. Okay but I didn't like the fact that you had to replay it to get the whole story. First playthrough really was blind.

Radiant Historia
Whoa, where did this come from? Extremely underrated gem. You can travel through time in order to unlock and unblock events that occur in the storyline. This time traveling system is really cool as you see how your actions start to form the story line. No doubt the best pure rpg of the DS system

PSP
I was the cool kid in school with the PSP....
Okay I wasn't.

Spoiler

Disgaea
Funny little game in the vain of FF tactics (the later is the benchmark for this kind of genre). The grindy stuff however isn't something I'm interested in which is unfortunate because the entire series caters to building super powered heroes (or monsters I should say).
It was pretty funny dood.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
I should probably cover the PS2 first but that system is a monster. Birth by Sleep is my favorite of the Kingdom Hearts games. I really liked this game more then I thought I would. Story of the series overall is all over the place but in this game I understood it. Makes sense since it's canonically the beginning of everything. I think.

Persona 3
My first persona game and wow. Somehow I enjoyed the slice of life segments of the game. The parts where you do nothing but form bonds with other characters in the game. The gameplay was hard, sometimes cheap. It's mandatory to use elemental weaknesses in this game. Also this is the only series I ever played where buffs and debuffs are a staple in my character builds.
I only wish the dungeon design was better, it's so repetitive and such a crawl.

Ys Seven
Remember Secret of Mana? This is the full and unleashed version of the action rpg genre. A very good game where the boss fights are hard but fair. Learn their patterns and pummel them with a wide arrange of moves. The a.i teammates are really good and have no problem keeping up with you. Story surprisingly gets touching towards the end. Music it tremendous, Falcom Music is the most consistent and stellar producer of music since the old Final Fantasy days. Do yourself a favor and try one of these games just for the music alone.

Legend of Heroes Trails in the Skies
Proper acronym is TiTs
Welcome to the new age of role playing games Doomguy. This series has now become my go to for role playing games. I know I mentioned this one multiple times in past before but it bears repeating, this series has all the elements of Grandia and Lunar. It is so charming and the character driven plot is so incredibly well done. Falcom Music has done it again and don't be surprised if one day this series overtakes Final Fantasy for the jrpg crown. The older psp title may seem dated but the series is starting to expand into other systems now. The translation team is something else, funny, witty, and passionate. It translates into the games and puts a positive spin in localization efforts for us English speaking people.
Take it from me, this game is a better version of Lunar and Grandia. Take that as you will, you old school guys know what I'm talking about.

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This is taking longer then I thought. I really played my share of games huh? We haven't even gotten through the PS2 and PC yet. You can see what I mean about running out of rpgs right? I know I omitted some games, they are still on my to-do list. More on what's left to be done later.
Do comment on any of these games, I'm almost an expert at this point. My memory is a little flaky and I might mix and match a few games sometimes. I'm using this site to make sure I'm not forgetting anything as their list is much cleaner then gamefaq.

So many adventures...

 

I got rattled.
I liked the story of 2nd Evolution, and being able to play both story lines.

Let's see, my RPGs/Zelda types...

-Ganpuru: Gunman's Proof

Japanese only, but translations exist. Much like Zelda, and rather fun.

-Story of Thor

An ultra-favorite as a kid.

-Phantasy Star 2

The first basic RPG I played. At about the same time as FF7.

 

Doom, you're missing out on tens of RPGs available on PC. In addition, I didn't see Mass Effect on your list. Mass Effect is one of the best RPGs/Shooter/Epic that I've played to date. I still play it today.

 

I'm not done yet, I'm going in order

Since you want my list to continue so bad...

Playstation 2 (PS2)
I got a confession to make. I didn't own a PS2 for a very long time. I ended up inheriting it when my brother in law passed away years ago. Why I got it remains a mystery.
So the PS2 is king of the rpg. Or maybe the ps1 but there are definite titles worth checking into. Also this generation of games remains the most pleasing to my eyes so any sort of graphical complaints doesn't extend to this gen or later. Unlike say the ps1 where some games might be hard to get into (cough Suikoden) the ps2 and above still look pleasing to me. Especially something like FFXII

Spoiler

Final Fantasy X
lol
Okay I took that completely out of context but it was funny. The first attempt from the Final Fantasy series to have voice acting. It actually really good (this part was supposed to be an awkward disaster)
Gameplay wise it's a bit of a mixed bag. I like the ability to switch out characters during battle but your forced to use everyone in order to get experience. Also I am not a fan of the level up system. Maybe I'm just old fashioned but I like my predetermined level ups just fine. The orb system, in this game anyway gives you the illusion of choice. The reality is you are going to follow the same path in all your playthroughs and thus the choices you have are an illusion. Exception is Kamari (the beast guy) who quite frankly sucks.

Game is pretty good though and is worthy of being a Final Fantasy game. If you don't know by now, Final Fantasy is a staple for the rpg genre. Game has it's serious moments and can get preachy but in a good way. Ending was a bummer though. More on that...

Final Fantasy X-2
What have I done? No...what did they do?
This game stripped away all elements of a plot line and left the gameplay out to burn in the sun a little to long. I could not take this game seriously at any point. Unnecessary sequel could have been avoided if they simply made the first game end better then it did. Well at least we saw Yuna in a swimsuit. Yeah.

Final Fantasy XII
I like this game. I like this game a lot. My favorite Final Fantasy game since 8, it's heavy on the political backstory but very light in character development. Gameplay is hit or miss for a lot of people. I for one like the "gambit" system. Basically it's a set of macros that makes your characters automatically fight the battles depending on the rules you have set for them. This may sound easy but sometimes you do have to manually input some spells from time to time.
What I think hurts the gameplay isn't the fact that it's hands off, it's that it's so slow. The battles take place in the overworld which is very cool, no warping into and out of battles. However a lot of moves take too long to fire off simply because of their animations. Magic spells take forever to cast versus hacking the enemy. Also the license board ultimately gets filled the same way for any other character. The only difference being on what kind of armor and weapon you want them to use.

Despite the problem of having characters be too similar to each other and a sometimes slow battle system I like the game for it's story. I don't have to worry to much about the battles and the graphics are arguably the best on the Playstation 2.

Tales of the Abyss
Very fun game! Not quite as good as Symphonia but the combat is still very good. The Tales series is known for it's gameplay and this holds up. Story is an anime cliche dream land but gets the job done. However I think it tries too hard and there are times I wish Luke would shut up. He's the weak link of the story which is unfortunate since he's the main character. Well emotional temper tantrums aside the rest of the cast does a good job lifting the plot from his disastrous fingers.

Kingdom Hearts 2
I don't even remember playing the first game now that I think about it. If you don't know Kingdom Hearts is the series that combines Disney with Final Fantasy. The bizarre combo works fine since the plot is simple, you are on a quest to restore hearts to the universe. Or something.
Okay the plot is anything but simple and it's honestly a mess. Despite that the characters are very good because you get to meet the Disney characters who thankfully keep their personalities and even voice actors somehow. An example of characters driving the plot line. Unfortunately I don't get the plot a whole lot but you always know who the villains are and that's good enough for me.

At the time the combat was really cool, sort of a button mashing beat em up game. The numerous spin offs expand on the gameplay while also expanding the already confusing story. In this case however the combat trumps the story. Bless you if you actually understand the plot because I don't. I played Xenogears damnit, you would think I would get this.

Persona 4
Tanaka is also in this game. Best commercial jingle ever.
Great game! Very similar to the third game. Once again the school life stuff is back and I did look forward to wasting the days forming bond points and stuff. Gameplay is the same thing, gather personas and fuse them to make them stronger. Game could be hard and cheap at certain points. Some of the early bosses (on the ps2 version anyway) are unfair. The boss battles tend to drag out but the promised cutscenes make up for it. If you like the third game you'll like this one and vice versa.
Also I fell for the fake ending but was able to predict the murderer from the very beginning. So I got the normal ending.

Suikoden III
More Suikoden is good. Or at least average. The quest to find all 108 characters once again proves impossible for me. Still that doesn't mean I didn't find my fair share of characters. The game requires you to play from three different perspectives which is done really well. Combat is the same as the last game, some generic turn based combat but it's serviceable. Mistakes are your own fault and poor preparation is rectified by a trip to the store and a little grinding. Some characters are unbalanced and make things easy but when you get a cast of 108 that is to be expected. At least the quality ranges from great to poor. Just make sure you use Viki, she's funny and has a unique spell.

Xenosaga Episode II
Word of advice, don't skip the first game
Hey it was the only game I could find. Probably for good reason since it seems to be the weak link of the trilogy. Since I was so lost and it had nothing to do with Xenogears I dropped it.

Suikoden V
I skipped IV and went to V. More of the same, I give this series credit. They are consistent and I know what I'm going into. Story is actually pretty good, some end game events was done well. I like these games, they may be flawed and lacking compared to others but there is definitely a lot of love poured into it. Also Viki is back, teleport magic ftw

Wild Arms V
Very promising game...until my game disc refused to pass a certain point
From what I played, a good 20 hours or so, there was definitely some quality work in this game. Story was simple but the characters memorable. I'll have to either redo the entire game on an emulator or just youtube the second half. I was definitely liking this game more then the other Wild Arms. That might rattle someone.

PC
Most PC roleplaying games are from the west. That means no crazy anime stuff. A lot of Dungeon & Dragons stuff going on. Unfortunately this is not the kind of game style I ever liked.

Spoiler

Baldur's Gate
The benchmark, apparently. Every single game based on this kind of battle system bored me. Yes that's blasphemy I know.

Diablo II
Too hardcore for me. Just kidding you don't have to play like that guy to get into this game. Very good game, check out the Median XL mod for a twist on the vanilla game.

Elder Scrolls Skyrim
So many things to do. However for whatever reason I had more fun with Oblivion. I blame the fact that I can't lounge on the bed to play this

Elder Scrolls Morrowind
Played AFTER Oblivion. How the heck did you guys survive this combat system? It's infuriating. I actually miss the damage sponges of Oblivion.

Fallout New Vegas/Fallout 3
Great game made even better using the TTW mod (Tales of Two Wastelands). I have a playthough of that around here...

Trails in the Skies SC (Second Chapter)
The direct sequel to TiTs (Trails in the Skies) is available on Steam as well. First game playthough is mandatory to understand this game. Don't worry, both are similar in gameplay. This is a direct sequel and is probably the best game I played in 2016

Myst
Not sure if this counts but I did try my hand on this puzzle adventure game. Very different and unique but the puzzles were too much for me.

Neverwinter Nights
Not all that different then Baldur's gate but at least I tried

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
That would be the the game before KOTOR 2. Very good game, if you like either one of these then try the other because you'll get more of the same. That plot twist was really good, I had no idea it was coming despite playing the second game so don't worry about playing out of order.

Ultima
Any version really, VII stuck out the most. Man what an old game, remember my uncle playing it all the time. Boring though, is the lesser version of Baldur's Gate and I said enough about that

Next up is the 360/PS3 era of games. Almost done now

 

XBOX 360
By the divine intervention of GOD my XBOX 360 hasn't gotten a red ring of death in 4 years.

I can't say the same to the one I had before that
This system is on it's last legs. I can just tell, sometimes it refuses to turn on. It has given me blinking lights and an ominous orange ring. All my controllers are falling apart, the rubber thing they put on the thumb stick fallen off long ago. Hard drive full from a single game install. I got so many games on this system, I have no plans of replacing once it goes.

Spoiler

Borderlands
You find so much crap in this game. I suppose that's what a loot based game does to you. The closest thing I can think of is that this game is Diablo with guns. Well it should be Diablo with guns. I beat it with my brother, same screen coop is a dying feature in video games. We had our fun, thank you co-op.

Borderlands 2
More of the same but with elemental effects! Really though it was almost the same thing. Not that it's a bad thing mind you.

Eternal Sonata
This is a game you cannot hate. It may be average but you cannot hate this game. The story it tells is very heartwarming. Fredrick Chopin (real life musician) is on his death bed. You play as him in a colorful world where everyone and everywhere has some kind of musical theme. We know that this world is probably a figment of his dying mind, a dream basically. Despite this we play through this adventure.
What holds the game back is the repetitiveness of the combat, it's action rpg fare but the lack of variety between moves and fights start to grind you down after a while. Between chapters you get a bit of a history lesson about the real life Fredrick Chopin accompanied by one of his classical piano pieces.
So hey you get a free history lesson to go with you gaming.

Final Fantasy XIII
"It's over. Final Fantasy if finished"
Well that's what I said then, shows what I know. Anyway I hated this game for numerous reasons. I think I called it quits when the combat system required me to change my strategy on a stupid random battle and I died.
"But Doomguy FF13 doesn't have a random battle system!"
If you can fly over the narrow corridors then please tell me. Enough has been complained about with these games. I won't go into details as I'm sure you heard of them

Lost Odyssey
A little disappointing really. See here's a game with the right ingredients. The turn based combat gets a twist with that weird ring thing that keeps you engaged. Also there is a cap on the experience you can get which cuts down on grinding (similar to Chrono Cross). Music is pretty good and the books you can find via the sidequests are incredibly well done. Some of them were very moving.

However, the actual main storyline was boring. The antagonist was such a disappointment that nothing I did felt like I was "sticking it to the man". The stories in the books were infinitely better then the actual story. This makes it more frustrating because your own character IS the person from the books (well alluded to anyway). See you control an immortal guy with a huge backstory to him. It's a shame none of this translate to the main plot.

Mass Effect
Renegade for life
The fun part in this game are the dialogue choices. Not to say the gameplay is bad but really I was looking forward to the talking parts. Not often you can say something like that. Gameplay is a bit clunky, a sort of third person shooter with a magical element to it. I forgot what they call it, you can throw people around the map and stuff. They revamp it for the later games so it's pretty good.
The story gets altered based on what you do. As I said the best part of this game is the dialogue, many choices you make effects the story here and in the later games. I didn't play the other games but the trilogy is worth getting into

Tales of Vesperia
Ugh, no. Just no. As a Tales game I felt this was the weakest in regards to the gameplay. The battles felt like they were running at half speed and some fights were more annoying then fun (go to hell Zagi). This is really bad because the plot is almost painfully generic and the characters no where near as fun as other games. Carol is so annoying. Judith serves no purpose, Raven is not funny and such an obvious *spoiler*. That girl is okay, already forgot her name. Rita is okay. Repede is a dog.
Could not finish this game.

Playstation 3 (PS3)
Since I had an XBOX 360 there wasn't much point to have a similar system. At the time these two were new the only game I had any interest in was Metal Gear Solid IV (What a joke of a game, Kojima is off his rocker)
Years pass and now we have PS4's and stuff. Got this system fairly recent in order to play the games I haven't had a chance before

Spoiler

Trails of Cold Steel
PLAY THIS GAME. You don't need to play the psp Trails game to follow the story. This game is also on the vita. There's plenty of lore but you'll get used to it. New to the series is a Persona-espe bond system. The game lets you form bonds with character alongside it's battle system. Battles play out like the other Trails games, a turn base affair like Final Fantasy X. You can delay enemies and manipulate effects to your advantage. There is also weapon ranges so battle field position is very important. All of this is like the other games in the series.
It's the story and the characters that make this game great. It's a slow burn but the payoff is there. Dedication to the world building in this series is unrivaled, if you show a little patience you'll be treated with a real gem.

Trails of Cold Steel II
PLAY THE FIRST GAME
Under no circumstance do you skip the first Cold Steel to play this one. This is a direct sequel to story events from the first game. I wouldn't even look too hard at the covers or synopsis. This game is amazing, it's worth it to reach this point. If I do have to say a bad thing then I would say the game is easy. Once you master the gameplay system it's not hard to breeze past sections of the game.
At least the story is great as always.

Tales of Xillia
Okay, probably better then Vesperia but it's a short game. The gameplay suffers from really bad frame rates for some reason. The story is a total disaster, it's all over the place and I couldn't shake off the feeling that things happen simply because the plot people decided to just throw it in at the last moment. Tthe characters are very good however so it's a mixed bag.
As far as Tales games go I liked Abyss and Symphonia more then the others. From what I been reading opinions vary widely between the games, some folks swear by this game and others thought Abyss was a pile of flaming monkey doodoo. Not all Tales games are created equally, let that be the lesson.

Valkyria Chronicles
A pretty good srpg like Final Fantasy Tactics (how many times have I compared to that game )
I only wish that the gameplay wasn't catered to speedrunning the levels. As large as some of the levels were all too often the battles could be won in two turns. Not much strategy then huh? Just trial and error to find the best path to win.
At least Vyse and Aika from Skies of Arcadia are in this game. Why you tease us Sega?

Nintendo Wii
Implementing Twilight Hack in 3...2...1...

Spoiler

Twilight Princess
Not only serving as a guinea pig to hacking the Wii this game is great! (it's not possible to hack the Wii with this method now I think). The horseback riding on the field of Hyrule is very fun, reminiscent to the sailing of the oceans in Wind Waker. The whole annoying "find the triforce" thing is not annoying in this game. If you like a Zelda game then play this one.

Arc Rise Fantasia
Pretty bad game. Dialogue is a mess and the voice acting is from hell. Even muting them won't do you much good since as i said, it's stilted dialogue is a joke. I didn't get very far, I really don't remember the story on this one. Actually I don't remember much at all and I'll leave it that way.

Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn
Sequel to the Gamecube Fire Emblem. This game is not as good. The constant changing of which army you control due to the storyline was very annoying. The cool thing about the series is picking characters and making them stronger as the game goes on. However this game forced you to use a whole lot of characters, many who frankly suck.

The Last Story
:shrug: Okay I guess. What kills the game is it's incredibly dull combat system. It touts being an action rpg but really you don't do anything. It's story is nothing to write home about, it had promise in the beginning but lack of any likable characters doomed it from being anything more then a shallow plot.

Pandora's Tower
A dungeon crawler, normally something I avoid. The plot is actually pretty neat, your trying to save your girlfriend's life by making her eat monsters. It's disgusting but in a "I can't believe the things I do for love" sort of way.
Just not a fan of the dungeon crawling, the repeated trips to the tower grinds on you. Story is good though. I couldn't get through the game but this was something I was going to see on youtube.
One of those "I don't want to play, just show me what happens next!"

Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World
One word, Tenebe. This game gets a bad rep from the Tales crowd because it's not Symphonia. Well no it's not. Emil is annoying and Marta has no point to the story but to follow you around like the tsundere she is. Despite this the gamplay remains the same and it's still pretty fun. This time around you can catch monsters to fight for you. They aren't great but sometimes you catch a cool monster you want to drag around with you all the time.
Story wise it's a bit of a slap to the face to the original cast from the first game but it's okay with me. You just have to play this game with the expectation that you aren't going to be using the same people from before.
Besides you got Tenebe, hands down the funniest character in the entire Tales universe.

Xenoblade Chronicles
"Press any button"
I can't, this title screen is too beautiful to pass.
And the rest of the game too, beautiful huge environments with a spectacular soundtrack. This is the only game I ever played where the obligatory swamp place is amazing. Xenoblade isn't just a running simulator (a lot of running around), the story is one of the best you'll find anywhere.
Now the story does run out of steam later on but by then you would have spent so much time playing the game you would most likely want to finish it. Gameplay automatically does attacks for you and the damage is based on your position. No battle screens or anything, it's like Final Fantasy XII but much more faster. There are tons of sidequests so completionists will have a field day. However personally I felt most were a waste of time since they essentially broke down to fetch quests. Still it's there if you want and completely optional.
This is without a doubt the best rpg on the system and one of the best rpgs to come out in some time.

===========================

And that's it. I have played through so many adventures. If my short comments about these games seem harsh that's only because it's a lot easier to complain about bad things then to talk about good things. I never really felt I wasted any time playing these games, even the ones I couldn't finish. I always take the things I've seen from other games and compare and contrast newer ones. Persona with it's bonding system, Suikoden with it's character recruitment and base building, Final Fantasy X with it's orbment level up system, Xenogears with it's reincarnation theme, Final Fantasy 7 with it's cool sword wielding bad guy, Skies of Arcadia with it's airship theme, Chrono Trigger with time traveling, Shenmue with tedious time wasting events...

The list just goes on and on. When the games start to do something that another has done I get excited with thoughts on how it would be implemented.
I don't know if I'm an expert with this genre but chances are I have seen my fair share.

I'll probably have one more post with the games I have on my list of things to play. There aren't many left now that I planned. The realization that I played a lot of the good ones is kind of sad. Hunting down the gems in the rough now, next post soon.

 

@Doomguy

Your Missing the Witcher series! Witcher 3 being the best of the three.....
Also Dragon Age: Origin was pretty fun Dragon Age 2 and inquisition were ok....

Just to name a few that I did not noticed.....

Kingdom Of Amalur was another fun one that no one ever played

 

Yeah I know, there's a few I have not played yet. Kingdom of Amalur seems to be another obscure game I find mentioned from time to time.

So the games on my radar but I haven't played them yet for various reasons

As far as the old gen consoles go, I'm pretty much done.
On the PS1 front there are a few I have planned.
I hear about Parasite Eve from time to time. Don't even know if it's an rpg or not but it sounds different.
Legend of Dragoon is on my radar. This is the last of the old games I wanted to play before benching the ps1 for good.

Grandia III for the ps2 is something I'm curious about. I actually played a little from the beginning and it felt very similar to Skies of Arcadia and Grandia II. Only reason I stopped was because I found something else to do at the time. This is a game I will play soon.
Radiata Stories is an option, I'm not entirely sold on the premise but I would give it a shot.
Suikoden IV is the last of the Suikoden games I haven't touched (minus the spinoff anyway). I constantly read on how this game is the black sheep of the series but if I find the other games average just how worse could it be? Something I know I will cover eventually, none of the Suikoden games have disappointed me yet.
Valkyrie Profile 2 probably. I liked the first one enough to give this a try.

As far as computer games go, I'm not really feeling anything new. I keep seeing Planescape Torment floated around as this insane game that has a cult following. However since it's based on the type of combat system I hate I'm not sure if this is something I could get into.
All I ever hear about Witcher III is good news. That frankly has me skeptical, surely there has to be something annoying about the game.
Dragon Age and it's sequels maybe.
Dark Souls is out of the question. I despise hard games that punish you because you don't have psychic powers that can predict enemy moves before fighting them.
Final Fantasy XV I'm on the fence about. My nephew is playing it now, he's old enough to give me the go ahead word on whether it's worth it or not

Oh what else, I heard about them all really. Nothing left that I'm really curious about.
Right now waiting for Trails in the Skies Third Chapter and Persona 5 to come out this spring.

It may be time to branch out and start doing visual novels. I did one recently, I won't name it as it's not... appropriate
Surprisingly pretty good. Kind of sad though. There might be good stories to see, although I wish for some degree of control. Well that's all for now, thanks for reading this far

 

Some rpgs on PS2 (even though I am playing them currently on PS4) I can think of are Wild Arms 3 I haven't finished it yet but my brother enjoyed the game.
Okage: the shadow king which I haven't played very much of it so I can't say anything about it other than it seems to have good reviews.
Then there is Rogue Galaxy I enjoyed playing up to the point of where I last saved it and currently at the end of the game but some other games came out at that point and got side tracked from finishing these games and planning to finish them at some point.

On PS3 there I can only think of one rpg at the moment is Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch I enjoyed this game.

On PS4 the rpgs I can think of currently are Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth I enjoyed this game but not sure if others will enjoy it. There is the Sword Art Online games they have a different story from the anime and light novel.

The only other rpgs I can think of aren't released yet so it is impossible to say if they are good. The Legend of Heroes Trails of Cold Steel III the earliest it will probably be localized is sometime during 2018 since it releases Q4 2017 in Japan the game will be PS4 exclusive. There is Digimon World Next order which I will be getting and Tales of Berseria. Then there is also Akiba's Beat which from what I have seen so far it is similar to Persona.

 

For the money I highly recommend kingdom of amalur I got it for 5 dollars on steam when it was on sale and it was really fun the combat & was story was pretty solid.

As for the Witcher 3 just play it all skeptism will go away... story is great, What impressed me the most was that the side quest marked on the map did not feel like long obnoxious side quest.. you went to the question mark on the map and completed it right then and there no running around or anything
... One of the best RPG ever made in my opinion

As for dragon age the one you should try is origin the first one... The story was fun and solid & the game play was manageable to...

 

Dragon Age Origins if I remember its combat system is identical to Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic