my top 5 Fav. RPG’s

In terms of video Games, I really enjoy RPG’s. I just like playing them…to be sure some RPG’s have massive massive replay value, and like other genres there have been some spectacular RPG’s that have come out throughout the years. (not just relegated to Final Fantasy either :P) so without further need to explain myself, I will now list off my top five favourite RPG’s.

Just a note, there probably won’t be any final fantasy games on here, and even though I enjoy some of them (III and VI for example), I just think there are better ones to be found that aren’t  FF. Which I know can be considered blasphemous depending on which circles discuss this.

5) Chrono Trigger

This is the first RPG that I really really enjoyed. And most definately this game offers a ton of replayability….if only to see it’s multiple endings. The graphics and soundtrack were spectacular for its time, and in all honesty still look really really good. The combo attacks and special attacks themselves are really great, and the character designs are amazing. And I believe, at least when it first came out, it was one of the first RPG’s that had enemies on screen and not the ridiculous random battles, so at least you could avoid enemies….somewhat.

4) Pokemon

And I’m totally serious about this. I enjoy Pokemon. It takes some strategy in terms of establishing a good team of monsters. The names of some of the monsters….admittedly is very lame. and some of the designs are absolutely bland. But in terms of a RPG for gameboy, it was really really really good….and it still is. I think the fun is the fact there are like a several ways to set up your team because there are so many choices in terms of monsters. And the farther along you are in the game, the better the monsters are (obviously).

3) Suikoden

One of the reasons why I love the PSnetwork is because I can get classic playstation games. Games I would have never heard of/never tried because I don’t own/will probably never own a PSone. Suikoden is one of those games. In terms of RPG’s, it’s not all that original. Its standard story fare. But you can use up to 108 characters. Yes, I will repeat that “up to 108 characters.” obviously your party is relegated to 6. But seriously, 108 potentially playable characters. How freaking awesome is that? The graphics are bright, and the hand drawn art is pretty good. Love it.

2) Grandia

I’m currently playing through this now. It’s again a PS classic. and I can see why. The storyline is good (although in all honesty I haven’t really gotten that far in it). This game with its mix of computer generated/hand drawn graphics looks like it could have pushed the PSone processors to its limit. the settings (especially in the dungeons) are incredible. And from what I can gather, the storyline and character development will be really really good.

1) Disgaea

If I had to choose which Disgaea game I liked more (between 1 or 2) I would probably have to say 2. But not by a large margin. I never thought I would like strategy-RPG’s in all honesty. But Disgaea makes it….fun. There’s just so much to this game (so many characters to create). there’s great humour, outlandish looking special and combo attacks. the voice acting is amazing (especially if you are like me and love the original Japanese voices). The difficulty is just right, and the learning curve gradually gets steeper. I love how some items can over-power stats to ridiculous levels. And of course, you can’t forget Prinny’s….which are essentially hilarious celestial penguins that explode when you throw them….awesome.

There you have it. My top 5 fav. RPG’s. Were this a top 10, a Final Fantasy game (VI…most likely) would have come in….um, 6th. Because i know that there are some really really good RPG’s out there. (oddly my 7th choice, Monster Hunter, I think is considered an action-RPG but there isn’t really any RPG elements….or story in there.)

Anyway, I think I showed way too much nerd. But that’s ok.

Hansen