Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Top 5 RPGs
RPGs and I have a fairly tenuous history. I was into them for a bit during the SNES era, particularily EarthBound, then FF7 and FF8 ruined them for me. It wasn't until Paper Mario came out on the N64 that I began playing RPGs again. All in all I think RPGs are for the most part in the same line as FPS, where originality is shunned for boring gameplay and stories. But as I have nothing better to do I am going to rank my Top 5 RPGs ever.
Chris's Top 5 RPGs Ever
1. EarthBound - The first RPG I ever loved. So offbeat and differant from RPGs of the SNES era it is hard not to love it. Plus you can beat up hippies, how sweet is that? From gross bosses to just incredibly funny characters, EarthBound is for those who want something outside of the swords and sorcery cliche of nearly every RPG.
2. Skies of Arcadia Legends - The first RPG of the 'Final Fantasy' mode that I ever liked. The characters were fun, the story though not creative was solid, and you were encouraged to explore. Not to mention that the dungeons that you crawled had interactivity which is something many RPGs don't quite get.
3. Tales of Symphonia - What is great about ToS is that it's battle engine is real-time instead of menu-based like most RPGs. The story probably hits every major RPG cliche imaginable but the characters are good and all are given plenty of dialog to set them apart from each other. Plus even if you have a group you like the unused will still keep up as opposed to be left in weak hell. Throw in good, interactive dungeons very nice use of cel-shading and you've got an RPG that's battle system is better than it's story. A lot more fun to have RPGs you play as opposed to watch.
4. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door - The original Paper Mario got me back into RPGs, this one just improved on it. The story while your average gaming fare is well played by the characters and the world around them. Interactive battles make it so you are on your toes at all time and your partners were advanced this time around to have roughly the same usefullness as Mario in battle. Along with the best overworld in RPGs as far as interactivity goes and good amounts of Mario humor and this is the best use of Mario in an RPG world.
5. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - Probably the funniest RPG outside of EarthBound. Along the lines of Paper Mario but adds more strategy with the Brother's various combo attacks. This another RPG that puts an emphasis on exploring and gameplay but manages to weave a very decent plot with lots of humor and Mario-jokes. Battles are completely timing based with rhythym being very important to game. The best original RPG to come out for the GBA which is populated by RPG ports and paint-by-number RPGs more often than not.
I'm sure Stephan will be telling me to play Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy 3 if he sees this. Once again I say this: maybe later.
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Chris's Top 5 RPGs Ever
1. EarthBound - The first RPG I ever loved. So offbeat and differant from RPGs of the SNES era it is hard not to love it. Plus you can beat up hippies, how sweet is that? From gross bosses to just incredibly funny characters, EarthBound is for those who want something outside of the swords and sorcery cliche of nearly every RPG.
2. Skies of Arcadia Legends - The first RPG of the 'Final Fantasy' mode that I ever liked. The characters were fun, the story though not creative was solid, and you were encouraged to explore. Not to mention that the dungeons that you crawled had interactivity which is something many RPGs don't quite get.
3. Tales of Symphonia - What is great about ToS is that it's battle engine is real-time instead of menu-based like most RPGs. The story probably hits every major RPG cliche imaginable but the characters are good and all are given plenty of dialog to set them apart from each other. Plus even if you have a group you like the unused will still keep up as opposed to be left in weak hell. Throw in good, interactive dungeons very nice use of cel-shading and you've got an RPG that's battle system is better than it's story. A lot more fun to have RPGs you play as opposed to watch.
4. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door - The original Paper Mario got me back into RPGs, this one just improved on it. The story while your average gaming fare is well played by the characters and the world around them. Interactive battles make it so you are on your toes at all time and your partners were advanced this time around to have roughly the same usefullness as Mario in battle. Along with the best overworld in RPGs as far as interactivity goes and good amounts of Mario humor and this is the best use of Mario in an RPG world.
5. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - Probably the funniest RPG outside of EarthBound. Along the lines of Paper Mario but adds more strategy with the Brother's various combo attacks. This another RPG that puts an emphasis on exploring and gameplay but manages to weave a very decent plot with lots of humor and Mario-jokes. Battles are completely timing based with rhythym being very important to game. The best original RPG to come out for the GBA which is populated by RPG ports and paint-by-number RPGs more often than not.
I'm sure Stephan will be telling me to play Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy 3 if he sees this. Once again I say this: maybe later.
