Best RPG of All Time?

As the title says, what is your most favourite RPG you have ever played?

My #1 would probably have to be Dragon Quest IX. The heart-warming storyline, the fun characters, the combat - everything. Especially how once you have completed the main story, it just goes on!
Although my list of RPGs could go on forever.

So, what about you?

The Diablo series. I've been playing it for a long time, and with Diablo III, I can play with my family, it's a way to connect with my Dad and sister, so yea, that would have to be it.

Skyrim and Guild Wars 2.
Skyrim is so customizable and 'down-to-the-player', the graphics are just amazing, general gameplay is very interesting and unique. The way in which you can explore the whole map is great, especially since is so big and Bethesda have detailed every single bit. The variety in the game is crazy, I think it would take over 1000 hours game time and you couldn't complete the game; there are thousands of quests and loaaadddsss of places to explore around the map.
Guild Wars 2 also, the customization, exploration, graphics, storyline, originality, variety all those sort of things make a great RPG game that I would be certain to buy.

Definitely Skyrim. They only problem i found with it was some of the dungeons were a tad repetitive in regards to graphics and appearance. Other than that, it's amazing. Both graphics-wise and gameplay-wise.

My list would go...

Final Fantasy VI.
Huge cast of characters, a very memorable villain, awesome sound track, awesome gameplay.

Chrono Trigger.
Could possibly be the greatest Rpg ever in a lot of respects, overall the game is just absolutely stunning.

Earthbound.
One of the most original and quirky Rpg's ever and again is stunning in almost every aspect.

Mass Effect.
Self explanatory.

Skyrim.
Also Self explanatory.

As greatest of all time, I would choose something from that list, Probably Chrono Trigger.

Still Suikoden 2 for me.
(Although Persona 2 is close behind!)

Shin Megami Tenesi 3: Nocturne. You're a survivor turned demon in a post-apocalypse world, and everyone hates you, even God. You're fighting demons after demons trying to change the world in what you see fit, be it changing it back to what it was, leaving as it is or three other Reasons. Never before have I seen a game with such great atmosphere and settings. It might sound emo and depressing, but it really isn't. It's tense as hell, with great writing and dialogues. (Quite funny at times.) The RPG mechanics is genius as well, where you are reliant on fusing the demons you recruited in order to get a better demon to progress further. The turn-based system plays more like a puzzle, especially boss fights, unlike most RPGs where as long as you have good stats you're good, but not in Nocturne. Your level doesn't matter much, it's what demons you have and what moveset you have. If you can figure out a strategy that is winnable, then congratulations. If not, you're as dead as the human souls wandering the world.

The Pokemon series should STEAL this game's formula, because next to Nocturne it's like a new toy car next to a say...a shiny new labhorgini. Holy crap it's impossible to go back to it.

EDIT: Also, best soundtrack. Meguro is a genius. Though I have to say the characters are bland (hate Chaiki. With a passion), especially after playing Persona 3 and 4.

Pave Low said:

Skyrim and Guild Wars 2.
Skyrim is so customizable and 'down-to-the-player', the graphics are just amazing, general gameplay is very interesting and unique. The way in which you can explore the whole map is great, especially since is so big and Bethesda have detailed every single bit. The variety in the game is crazy, I think it would take over 1000 hours game time and you couldn't complete the game; there are thousands of quests and loaaadddsss of places to explore around the map.
Guild Wars 2 also, the customization, exploration, graphics, storyline, originality, variety all those sort of things make a great RPG game that I would be certain to buy.

Click to expand...

Curious. said:

Definitely Skyrim. They only problem i found with it was some of the dungeons were a tad repetitive in regards to graphics and appearance. Other than that, it's amazing. Both graphics-wise and gameplay-wise.

Click to expand...

I respect your opinions and despite personally thinking Skyrim is awful in many ways to me, I do have to say that the gameplay is absolute ****. The combat is horrendous, boring, a mess and not polished. I'll give you atmosphere, setting and the exploration factor, but to say it has a good gameplay is completely false.

Zozma said:

Still Suikoden 2 for me.
(Although Persona 2 is close behind!)

Click to expand...

I haven't played it but why Persona 2 over 3 or 4? I know many SMT fans consider 2 to have a much superior cast and story, but isn't the gameplay awful? 3 is arguable (Portable is basically 4's mechanics though, thinking of getting it because I love the cast better but can't play through FES), but 4 has completely staisfying and fun mechanics.

I respect your opinions and despite personally thinking Skyrim is awful in many ways to me, I do have to say that the gameplay is absolute ****. The combat is horrendous, boring, a mess and not polished. I'll give you atmosphere, setting and the exploration factor, but to say it has a good gameplay is completely false.

Click to expand...

Hmm, I have to agree with you there. I've played Oblivion and Skyrim. I can't say I've enjoyed the gameplay much, either. If Bethesda had fixed that up, Skyrim would be considered to me a pretty compelling and enjoyable game.

The Diablo series. I've been playing it for a long time, and with Diablo III, I can play with my family, it's a way to connect with my Dad and sister, so yea, that would have to be it.

Click to expand...

That's awesome! I love Diablo and still play the second one with my brother. We didn't buy the third since you can only play online and we have a bad connection.

Morrowind, as far as for it's time. When that game came out, it was just amazing. It may be outdated now, but it takes the cake for me just because how it exceeded the standards back then.

Spinosaurus said:

I respect your opinions and despite personally thinking Skyrim is awful in many ways to me, I do have to say that the gameplay is absolute ****. The combat is horrendous, boring, a mess and not polished. I'll give you atmosphere, setting and the exploration factor, but to say it has a good gameplay is completely false.

Click to expand...

I guess we have different opinions then, and I respect yours, too. Why I like the combat is because there is many ways in which you can attack people and how you can attack then, they've done it so you can think strategically; do you plan to go all-in with a blade? Or do you go for a certain spell that does a certain effect that will help you get an advantage on the enemy or be able to get past it without it attacking you if you don't think you can beat it? Again, these aren't the only ways, there are so many spells and ways in which you attack.

Mother 3! And pretty much the whole Mother series (even though I haven't finished Earthbound yet). I'll be shamelessly copy-pasting my post from the top 10 games of all time thread because I think I'll only be saying the same things anyway.

Cid said:

Mother 3 (GBA) - Truly a strange, funny and heartrending RPG. No words can describe how much I adore this game. The characters, the plot and their development; the universe, the genre, the charm, the gameplay, the lasting appeal, and the ending— I could go on for years and even after all that time, this will still probably be high up on my best video games lists, if not still the best. I just love it so much. <3 You have to go play it to know what I mean.

Click to expand...

This might have been a bit exaggerated but the gist is all there.

Well first of all, what makes a good RPG? For me, it's if you can really feel sympathy for the character(s); feel their emotion, their happiness, their sadness, and feel like you're really in the setting of the game. Some developers forget the meaning of "RPG," and you feel like you're not actually playing the characters' role!


I'm missing a bunch, but I think that's enough for now. xD;

Depends what you're including in RPG.

GW1/2 stand out as the best online RPGs I've played, due to the customisation and the personal levels that they offer - despite having to keep thousands of people happy on the same server.

I think Dragon's Dogma deserves a lot of credit for what it is as well - it's overshadowed by Skyrim but I, personally, found it a lot easier to get on board with and less of a boring struggle.

Whilst I appreciate Skyrim is such a large open expanse (and is often beautiful), I don't think that contributes to gameplay - it's kind of detrimental, actually.

Pave Low said:

I guess we have different opinions then, and I respect yours, too. Why I like the combat is because there is many ways in which you can attack people and how you can attack then, they've done it so you can think strategically; do you plan to go all-in with a blade? Or do you go for a certain spell that does a certain effect that will help you get an advantage on the enemy or be able to get past it without it attacking you if you don't think you can beat it? Again, these aren't the only ways, there are so many spells and ways in which you attack.

Click to expand...

It seems to me you're referring to the variety the combat gives you, but I'm talking about the principle of it. Having so many options can only let you go so far, and it doesn't change one thing.

And honestly variety doesn't excuse it either, given the fact we're debating about RPGs.

Mr. Magius said:

And to whomever is saying that Skyrim has crap gameplay and saying that it doesn't is wrong... That's your opinion. Doesn't mean it's right nor wrong.​

Click to expand...

Can we have a debate without taking out the "opinions" card? If you like say, Sonic 2006, then it's your opinion, but if you say it's a good game then that's objectively wrong given the many flaws it has. Skyrim's combat is no different. If you think it's fun for whatever reason, then kudos for you, but why deny how shallow it is? It's boring, simple, brainless and lacks depth, and that alone can take away every single enjoyment for a lot of people. And with such bad combat, I don't think it's fair to nominate it for the best RPG as well just because it's fun to explore, and that's basically all that Skyrim has going for it. If it was Morrowind, then go ahead.

I think it's worth noting that the combat is the main big criticism Skyrim gets from MANY people.

Final Fantasy VI - Easily the best FF game ever made. The protagonists were all likeable, the combat system represents the pinnacle of classic RPG, and Kefka was a great villain. It's unfortunate, though, that it was the last truly great FF game - before the series descended into telling cliche stories about emo teens saving the world.

EarthBound - Whereas most RPGs focus on warriors and mages fighting evil emperors in a fantasy world, EarthBound focuses on psychic kids fighting off an alien invasion. Add in a strange but charming story, good characters, and a quirky environment, and you have one of the best RPGs of the 16-bit era.

Chrono Trigger - This game may be the best RPG on the SNES. With an interesting cast of characters, some great 16-bit sprite work, a gripping story, and the ability to travel through time, this game is simply great.

Mario and Luigi - Bowser's Inside Story - Yes, I know there were two games in the series prior to this one. Yes, I have played them. But, I think that this game is the best in the series. I just didn't really enjoy the bland Beanbean Kingdom of Superstar Saga, and I wasn't a big fan of the Baby Mario and Baby Luigi mechanic of Partners in Time. However, I thought that the main gimmick of Bowser's Inside Story was enjoyable. The game had it's signature combat system, which is a load of fun. And this time, you could control Bowser, which was insane fun.

Fallout 3 - Wow, I'll get a lot of hate for this one. Let me just say that I do, in fact, prefer this game over Skyrim. Maybe it's because I'm more of a sci-fi fan than a fantasy fan, but honestly, I think the gameplay is better. I found the VATS system to be a great mechanic, as well as a great way to blend the genres of FPS and RPG. I really did also enjoy the gigantic world, as well as the post-apocalyptic setting. I found the main story to be interesting, and the concept is just brilliant, in my opinion. Really, though, this game's main flaw is the abundance of glitches. That can get annoying. However, putting that aside, the game is full of mystery and intrigue, as well as some great exploration.

I know I'm being biased, but...I think my name and avatar speaks for itself.

The best RPG's of all time for me would have to be Super Paper Mario and Lufia 3 The Legend Returns. Both for there stories and there unique game play.

Spinosaurus said:

If it was Morrowind, then go ahead.

Click to expand...

But Morrowind has a percentage for spells to fail which is nothing short of a waste of time and magicka; and blocking blows in melee, even landing them, is based entirely on chance too. At least that seems to be the case; I've not actually played it myself. I do just dislike combat based on numbers, admittedly, but it certainly doesn't go well with the first-/third-person gameplay wherein one otherwise controls the character's actions precisely.

The Paper Mario series is my favorite RPG by far.

It may be really linear, and have almost no customization (apart from the BP), but that's what I grew up playing in the RPG genre, and I still love it to this day. :)

Spinosaurus said:

Can we have a debate without taking out the "opinions" card? If you like say, Sonic 2006, then it's your opinion, but if you say it's a good game then that's objectively wrong given the many flaws it has. Skyrim's combat is no different. If you think it's fun for whatever reason, then kudos for you, but why deny how shallow it is? It's boring, simple, brainless and lacks depth, and that alone can take away every single enjoyment for a lot of people. And with such bad combat, I don't think it's fair to nominate it for the best RPG as well just because it's fun to explore, and that's basically all that Skyrim has going for it. If it was Morrowind, then go ahead.

I think it's worth noting that the combat is the main big criticism Skyrim gets from MANY people.

Click to expand...

I'm not playing any "opinion cards," I'm telling you that the fact that you think the game is shallow is your opinion. And me thinking that it's a good game is also my opinion.
I completely disagree with your opinion of it being boring, simple, brainless, and lacking depth. Why? Because that's my view on the game. And I understand that you dislike it, but don't try to make it look like I'm "denying" that it's factually a bad game because you hate it so much. There's two sides to it, which makes it an opinionated reality. There's nothing set in stone that says "This is a terrible game!", so just leave it at that.
I'm not gonna point out that someone's choice of the best RPG is really a bad game, their opinion is wrong, and their just denying that it's such a bad game because of their love for it blahblahblah...
Sorry for arguing, but that just got to me a bit.

Anyway, some notable mentions to my list would the God of War and the Gears of War series. I'm not sure if anyone else loved these games as much as I did, but I felt like I was there in the setting.
I'm a fantasy/sci-fi kind of guy, so these hit my sweet-tooth. They've taken current knowledge of history and the future and stretched them and stretched your imagination.