Malifax
Watchdog
Eek...haven't completed too many console ones. If I had to pick, I guess it would be Dragon Warrior. It and Final Fantasy VII are the only console RPGS I have ever completed.
Valkyrie Profile.
The PSP port is quite good as well!
Yeah, here is my review. A year+ ago it was the best PSP RPG available ... not anymore.Wasn't the PSP version little more than a port of the PSX version, with 3D CGI replacing the original anime cinematics? Not that this is a bad thing, at least it made the game available (and affordable) again.
Tales of Symphonia! Tales of Symphonia for the GC!!
Skies of Arcadia Legends!
Great list Relayer, I've played most of those games as well. It's good to see the Phantasy Star series get some love, I really wish PS1 would get remade and rereleased.
Just bought a copy of Tales Of Symphonia off Ebay, I'm convinced I need to try this game for myself.
That being said I think my favorite of ALL time would have to be Final Fantasy Tactics for the PS1 but it IS a tactical RPG which to me is such a different beast from standard console RPGs.
I don't understand why Sega hasn't made a new Phantasy Star game, it certainly has it's fair share of fans. The series always stood out from nearly every other console RPG. It definitely had more originality.
As for Tales Of Symphonia - if you're not bothered by "mediocre" voice acting then you'll most likely enjoy it. That was the only gripe I had with it but really it didn't bother me that much, it was also part of it's charm.
The story is good, combat is a lot of fun and challenging (no random monsters, thank the gods), levelling/skill system is great, it's just an all around good RPG. And not that it doesn't get a bit melancholy or dark at times but generally it has a fun lighthearted tone. Oh, and it's a pretty long game.
And I'm really glad they included Kingdom Hearts.
I only played KotOR 2 with the fan patch, but I found it to be a lot more interesting than the first one. More flawed, but the strong points were stronger.Of interest - KotOR is represented … but by The Sith Lords rather than the original. Um … why?!?!
I still have original copies of both of the first 2 games you mention, never played Illusion of Time/Gaia though.
An old roomate of mine was really into Gamecube RPG's, and had both Tales of Symphonia, and Skies of Arcadia. I thought ToS had great graphics, but the battles looked somewhat confusing to me.
My favorites in order of release:
- Phantasy Star (Sega Master System, my first console RPG…so long ago)
- Phantasy Star IV (Sega Genesis, should be remade for the DS, would rock!)
- Final Fantasy II (IV) (SNES/GBA, anxiously waiting for DS remake)
- Chrono Trigger (SNES, great story, fun combat)
- Lunar (first one, PS1 port deluxe box set , had a loveable cast!)
- Final Fantasy IX (PS1, my favorite of the PS FF games)
- Skies Of Arcadia (DC. Like Lunar, fell in love with the cast. But combat was dull/easy)
- Tales Of Symphonia (GC. One of the best RPGs of recent times, on the RPG-starved GC no less!)
- Final Fantasy V (GBA, great combat/class system)
- Final Fantasy XII (PS2, amazing tech - largest play areas EVER seen in an RPG and fantastic art design/graphics - terrific writing/voice acting helped too!)
That being said I think my favorite of ALL time would have to be Final Fantasy Tactics for the PS1 but it IS a tactical RPG which to me is such a different beast from standard console RPGs. This game had it all: beautiful music, great graphics, interesting and mature plot, great characters, and challenging gameplay. Pity the GBA sequel sucked big time and had none of the above except for the pretty graphics.
Games that almost made the list:
- Suikoden (PS1, will have to replay this someday to see how it holds up today)
- Chrono Cross (PS1, really did suck as a Chrono Trigger sequel which is why many hated it. But on it's own it was a wonderful game).
- Vandal Hearts (PS1, another memorable tactical RPG - too bad I lost my disc!)
- Phantasy Star II (Sega Genesis. If not for the mind-boggling amount of random encounters (every 2 steps?) and lack of map for those torturous mazes this would have made my list. Would make an awesome remake with the above fixes.