RPGs/JRPGs. Name your favourites.

[Griffith]

I wish I had the time in the day to really sit down with a good RPG. Specifically JRPGs. I find them so comforting y'know? They're (usually) very pretty and aesthetically pleasing, fun characters (even if they are just anime tropes), clear heroes and villains- fighting for your friends, for love or whatever. If it counts, one game that to me has been the most therapeutic is Fire Emblem Awakening. It's hard not to love that game I think. Your allies are a joy to interact with, the Avatar too is a good enough character with silly moments, the comically evil villains and just enough drama and emotion to keep you invested. But for standard RPGs: Daggerfall. Daggerfall is simply in a league of its own.

 

[DJShaddycat]

I know for some it's considered the worse middle child of the Elder Scrolls franchise, but it really is Oblivion for me. Partly because it's the game of my childhood, and partly because the setting is just so perfect. Morrowind and Skyrim always felt a little too gray for me. No real color, just a very muted aesthetic. Oblivion is just incredibly vibrant, I don't know, I find it beautiful.

Most people who say the game is better than Skyrim are saying so under the pretense that they've installed mods, but personally, I play stock every time. I've tried installing mods and it's just never stuck, I always end up going back to vanilla.

 

[Hawki]

Being lazy, I'm just going to post my Top 10 RPG list. You can deduce which is a WRPG and which is a JRPG:

10) Golden Sun: Dark Dawn

9) Diablo

8) Torchlight

7) Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

6) Diablo III

5) Golden Sun: The Lost Age

4) Xenoblade Chronicles

3) Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword

2) Golden Sun: The Broken Seal

1) Mass Effect

 

[Phoenixmgs]

-Divinity Original Sin 2
-Disco Elysium
-Mass Effect

 

[BrawlMan]

Final Fantasy I
Parasite Eve
Guardian Heroes
Custom Robo
Odin's Sphere

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Fire Emblem: Best one is Path of Radiance, but that's hard to get. Best readily available one is the 'Fire Emblem' on GBA, the first released outside the US. If you can put up with the fairly long tutorial, everything after that is really good. Sacred Stones is also pretty good, if relatively easy and short.

Persona 5/Royal: Besides strong mechanics and dungeon design, a gripping story and characters, and a soundtrack that never gets old after 90 hours: the menus are so good that people have cosplayed as them. PS4 exclusive, though, so if you don't have a PS4, get Persona 4 Golden on Steam. It's not quite as good as 5, but it's still great. (NB: Denuvo. Might be a deal-breaker; if so, oh well.)

Dark Souls/Bloodborne: Difficult, but extremely rewarding and well-designed. If you have a PS4, go with Bloodborne; if not, Dark Souls 1 is the best to play first, IMO. If you do get Bloodborne, it's unlikely you won't get the GOTY edition, but make sure you get it - the DLC quest line is the best part of the game.

Earthbound/Mother 3: Both incredible games, 100% recommend to anyone with any interest in JRPGs. Mother 3 is probably my favorite JRPG of all time, and the fan translation is a gold standard for translations in general.

Yakuza 0: Less RPG and more action, but I'd argue it still counts. My favorite Yakuza is 5, but 0 is the easiest to recommend to people, since it's on Steam and a prequel to the rest of the series that requires no prior knowledge to enjoy.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

Ys (The series, but 8 is my personal favourite)
Rune Factory 4
Suikoden 2 and Tierkreis
Persona 4G/5R
Lunar Silver Star Harmony
Xenoblade 1 & 2
Dragon's Dogma was pretty neat
Does Monster Hunter count?

 

[Gergar12]

Fallout 4 modded

Skyrim SE Modded

Witcher 3 Modded

Ghost of Tsushima

Borderlands 3

 

[sXeth]

I've got my adherence to my childhood classics (which were late pickups compared to their original release, but still)

Ultima (4-7 is the general highlight of the series. 8, and especially 9 kind of derailed, and the first 3 are only tangentially and vaguely referenced in the future installments)
Might & Magic, Blood & Honour is the big highlight one.
Quest for Glory (sort of dabbling in between adventure game and RPG, but I'd include them)
Final Fantasy 4 and 6 of course in the JRPG. Along with your Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana.


In more modern terms, I played Neverwinter Nights for literally a decade, so thats gotta count. That said... I can't really recommend it, cause the official bundle content is a garbage demo for what can be done more then anything. It was all about the user-created side of it. Which got heavily bungled when they made the second one overcomplex in terms of the toolset, either missing the point, or maybe the publisher realized that having a decade of people sticking on content without making you actual money wasn't their deal.



Then in the more recent generations, I'd say the first two Mass Effects mostly hold up, Biowarisms aside. Battle Chaser Nighttwar. Dragons Dogma., I wouldn't generally slot Monster Hunter in as an RPG, but you could make an argument as a JRPG.

 

[Worgen]

Final Fantasy 9, 2 and 3 (merican numbers)
Shadowrun SNES/Dragonfall/Hong Kong
Undertale
Deltarune
Divinity Original Sin 2
Persona 4
Magical Starsign
Super Robot Taisen Endless Frontier OG Saga
Quest for Glory series (but mainly 1 3 and 4)
Crosscode (puts me in mind of an RPG but not might really be one)
Golden Treasure the Great Green
Legend of Grimrock 1 & 2
Suikoden 2
Breath of Fire series (all good but 2 is the one that got me the hardest.)
Secret of Mana
Chrono Trigger
Lunar The Silver Star and Lunar 2 Eternal Blue

I know there are more out there but these are the ones that come to the mind at the moment.

 

[SckizoBoy]

I find WRPG's and JRPG's to be completely different beasts, so I'd need to a separate list for each. Though to be honest, I've not found that many JRPG's that I could really get into, the typical gameplay loop not really appealing to me in large part. There's also a fuzzy line between RPG's and open world games that happen to have a lot of RPG style choices and leveling (for example, I don't consider Assassin's Creed: Odyssey as an RPG, but this may be because of the series' history). I guess it's based on a combination of factors with RPG's requiring nearly all of them (character creator, dialogue/mission choices, leveling options, overtly different gameplay archetypes

In so saying, my favourite RPG's are, in no particular order:

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic I&II
Jade Empire
Mass Effect I&II
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (vanilla, shockingly, is a fun enough experience for me, laughing at the jank-wise)

These days, however, I tend towards open-world sandboxes with pre-defined characters. (Still haven't even started Ghost of Tsushima, which is faintly amusing, but I have too much fun with TW:WH2, regrettably).

 

[Chimpzy]

Persona 4
Divinity Original Sin 2
Xenoblade Chronicles
Chrono Trigger
Parasite Eve
KOTOR2
Dragon Quest XI
Crosscode
Diablo 2
Mass Effect 3

Does Monster Hunter count?

It does in my book, tho I guess many would disagree.

Suikoden Tierkreis

Parasite Eve

 

[DJShaddycat]

KOTOR2

KOTOR2 but not KOTOR1?

I actually haven't even been able to get into KOTOR2 like I did KOTOR1, but maybe I'm missing out on something.

 

[Chimpzy]

KOTOR2 but not KOTOR1?

I actually haven't even been able to get into KOTOR2 like I did KOTOR1, but maybe I'm missing out on something.

With the restored content mod? Yeh, KOTOR 2 >>>>> 1. Mostly the same gameplay but imo way more interesting main storyline, characters and side quests.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Fallout: New Vegas is a broken mess, but out of all the RPGs I've played it gave the most freedom to actually role-play. Investing in speech feels like a legitimate strategy, as opposed to Skyrim where all it does it get you better prices.

Final Fantasy 10 is probably my favourite in the series, just for the fact that of all the turn-based combat games it feels like you can harness some real strategy. The game has a nice rock-paper-scissor feeling, making it easy to decypher who to use for which enemy, you can switch out characters without losing a turn, and there's that handy bar up top that shows the order of turns.

There's other RPGs I like, like The Witcher 3 and Skyrim, but I don't necessarily like them for their RPG mechanics, more just the world and getting lost in it. I've also recently been playing Dragon Quest 11, which is pretty good, though also suffering from turn-based combat annoyances that FF10 solved almost twenty years ago, but that modern JRPGs are STILL doing for some reason.

 

[Catfood220]

I love a good RPG, here are some of my favourites.

Skies of Arcadia
Tales of Symphonia
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Paper Mario
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Valkyria Chronicles 1 + 4
Persona 5
Ni No Kuni 1+2
Fire Emblem: Three Houses

I'm sure there are some I've forgotten as I thought this list was going to be longer.

Ghost of Tsushima

I wouldn't say Ghost of Tsushima was a RPG, it is more of a open world samurai sandbox. It has leveling mechanics, but what game doesn't these days? I've seen people put Horizon: Zero Dawn down as a RPG too. But if we're calling every game that has a leveling mechanic in it a RPG then why aren't we including stuff like Dying Light, the newest Tomb Raiders and the Arkham games?

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I'm surprised it's not talked about much. It's a genuinely really enjoyable game. It might not be the best Suikoden game, but the story, characters, music, art direction... it's all rock solid. Though I wish the character models looked a little better, and after playing Suikoden 2, I REALLY wish it had a run button or at least a slightly faster movement speed

 

[sXeth]

I wouldn't say Ghost of Tsushima was a RPG, it is more of a open world samurai sandbox. It has leveling mechanics, but what game doesn't these days? I've seen people put Horizon: Zero Dawn down as a RPG too. But if we're calling every game that has a leveling mechanic in it a RPG then why aren't we including stuff like Dying Light, the newest Tomb Raiders and the Arkham games?

Well, the two sort of main components to RPG are the aforementioned mechanics, and the ability to well, role-play. Which is to say some sort of control over the characters development and actions within the story.


Tsushima has enough of both that I could see it qualifying. The story obviously railroads the larger arc, but you can still adjust the minor decisions along the way.


Horizon has a handful of skill trees, but no real distinct choices in your build. And you have no control over Aloy's character or choices whatsoever. Dying Light has a smidge more of the mechanics, but again, Crane does Crane with no significant alteration from you.


Of course, JRPG's almost universally fail that second too, but generally have the more in-depth mechanics to offset that.


Its kind of like Zelda as an RPG. Many would say yes. But its mostly linear upgrade mechanics with a few metroidvania bits thrown on. And the story is entirely pre-determined (any time there is a choice become a "But thou must" dialogue loop)

 

[Phoenixmgs]

But if we're calling every game that has a leveling mechanic in it a RPG then why aren't we including stuff like Dying Light, the newest Tomb Raiders and the Arkham games?

People confuse RPG mechanics with what the actual genre is about. The more non-RPG games acquire said mechanics shows how dumb it is to classify what an RPG is based on said mechanics. I've probably said this a million times on these boards, but if you're max level in DnD (or start your DnD campaign at max level), it's still an RPG because you're still ROLE-PLAYING. RPG mechanics don't make a game an RPG, they're there to enhance the already present role-playing. You can make an RPG where you can only play as a backstabbing rogue for example. Adding in different rogue playstyles (like a strength-based rogue) or other classes like wizards/rangers/whatnot is there so you can role-play as various characters instead of just one specific type of character. If the actual role-playing isn't present, no amount of RPG mechanics makes a game an RPG.

 

[happyninja42]

People confuse RPG mechanics with what the actual genre is about. The more non-RPG games acquire said mechanics shows how dumb it is to classify what an RPG is based on said mechanics. I've probably said this a million times on these boards, but if you're max level in DnD (or start your DnD campaign at max level), it's still an RPG because you're still ROLE-PLAYING. RPG mechanics don't make a game an RPG, they're there to enhance the already present role-playing. You can make an RPG where you can only play as a backstabbing rogue for example. Adding in different rogue playstyles (like a strength-based rogue) or other classes like wizards/rangers/whatnot is there so you can role-play as various characters instead of just one specific type of character. If the actual role-playing isn't present, no amount of RPG mechanics makes a game an RPG.

Yes you've said this before, but the problem is that a video game will never be as fluid as a tabletop. You are forever limited to the number of options and parameters the developers were able to code into the game. So expecting a video game to be like a tabletop is an effort in futility. The reality is that in video games, the classification of RPG, is, well for one thing, a ridiculously broad and nebulous term, and also generally just refers to a leveling system of character progression. Where advancement isn't based entirely on player skill (like shooters), but can be enhanced by character skill (ability/skill advancement). It's more often a hybrid term, like Action-RPG.

Dislike it all you want, but that's the reality of the video game genre.

OT: It's hard to say, as I don't really have games that stick with me over time. I play them, enjoy them, and then move on. A handful will stick with me over the years, but most of those aren't RPGs.

I guess Final Fantasy 10? I loved the various cinematics, especially some of the ones with Yuna as center. The combat was pretty fun. I enjoyed playing it enough to get everyone's ultimate weapon, which meant i just spanked Sin at the end, but it was a fun game. Khimari inspired one of my favorite D&D characters shortly after playing it, as did Yuna.

So....yeah I guess that one. No others really stick out as amazing to me.