To help bring some new life into this section, please list your top 5 NON FINAL FANTASY RPG's (Either single game or series)... and no, I don't mean Rocket Propelled Grenades either (I say that, as I was asked at a EB Games by a stereotypical blonde clerk what my favorite genre of game is on Saturday. I said RPG's... and they referred myself to Call of Duty: Black Ops II saying "There's some great RPG's in this." Yup... VERY BLONDE) and reasons to why they are YOUR top 5. You can list them in order you like, but you can only pick 5... and yes, there was a similar thread like this a while ago, however due to my feelings about thread necromancy, that one'll stay buried.

5) Quest for Glory series : A great series where you can import your own character across five games, in the same world but different lands.The third Trial By Fire, was my first foray into this series by Sierra... It was a blast, set in a jungle land with fantasical creatures. Standard Warrior, Mage and Thief class with a great story and the music fit it brilliantly. The fourth Shadows of Darkness was even better.

4) Suikoden series : Loved this series... a huge cast of characters and a great story. The second game had a lot of fun and inventive side missions (In particular the Iron Chef style side mission). The fourth wasn't as good as the first two in the series (the third wasn't released here in Australia so I can't comment on that one), but was redeemed with the fifth installment. I hope Konami decides to revisit this series sometime in the future or (Wishful thinking here) they do a HD remastered collection of the entire 5 games...

3) Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic I & II: The Sith Lords : Both great games in their own right, the first had a great plot twist and being able to create and play as my own character in the Star Wars universe was great. Pity KotOR II TSL was rushed though, still it was fun.

2) Dragon Age series : I love the old style sword and sorcery games and this series fits me like a glove. Great characters and story, with different aspects on how you play and the decisions you make. Just hope Dragon Age III: Inquisition does the series justice when it's released.

1) Dragonlance series : These three games (Champions of Krynn, Death Knights of Krynn & Dark Queen of Krynn) were the first RPG series I ever played about 20 years ago, based off of my favorite fantasy novellas by Margaret Weis and Tracey Hickman. Create your own party of characters and being able to import them from Champions into Death Knights and then, finally into Dark Queen helped to personalise the game for myself.

Anyway, those are my top 5... List yours below

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I'm going to have to do individual games since these are the only RPG series I've played.

#1 = Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - After playing Partners In Time, I played this one and absolutely loved it! The first moment you could control Bowser I was like WHAT!? I thought is was that awesome. It just kept getting better as it got along and I could not stop playing it since it was so addicting. So it's #1 for me. Hopefully Dream Team for the 3DS later this year will live up to the awesomeness of the first 3 Mario & Luigi games.

#2 = Mario & Luigi: Super Star Saga - The first in the Mario & Luigi series and the hardest in my opinion. It has great graphics for it's time and had a great story with changing it up with being in a different kingdom. This was my favorite RPG until I played Bowser's Inside Story. It beats it slightly.

#3 = Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time - The first sequel to Super Star Saga, it added more to the battle systems and more detailed graphics. It's my least favorite of the 3 games, but it's still in my top 5.

#4 = Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door - Can't really explain how great this game is... unfortunately, the other 2 sequels did not live up to this game. Not even close.

#5 = Paper Mario - First in the Paper Mario series, it is only slightly behind The Thousand Year Door in epicness.

This is no particular order to any of these, but the first three entries I enjoyed more than the last two.

Chrono Trigger/Cross - An awesome action rpgs. Amazing story-lines, awesome characters, great game play. Just all around awesome games, although I do prefer Trigger over Cross.

Ys Ark of Napishtim - I played this game recently and I loved the action rpg elements of it. It was easy to pick up and play for a bit. I really liked how it was free roaming yet it was very self contained. I really liked the island residents and their history too. I loved that you weren't really fighting a nation or at war, it was much simpler story style. This one like Chrono Trigger was an action rpg, they didn't go into a seperate screen for battle and monsters could be seen so battles could be easily avoided or run from. I enjoyed this game so much that I intend on playing the others available in this series.

Parasite Eve - Story was sometimes confusing since I wasn't that far depth into my biology stuff, but definitely original and interesting. Gameplay was different and great. A really different game for me that I really enjoyed, unfortunately the second one I couldn't play.

Legend of Dragoon - Good music, good story, good characters, awesome game play. I hated hearing Double Slash! every time it connected and I would just turn off the sound. But I really liked that extra complexity to the battle system.

Threads of Fate - Simple yet fun story. Fun characters. Different and fun game play with action elements. It's such a simple game, but one I had found myself sucked into and I really enjoyed it.

In no particular order:

Pokemon Leafgreen - My first foray into the series. Pokemon is always reliably fun.

Chrono Trigger - What's not to like? Especially the combat was great.

Kingdom Hearts - Great fun, and many childhood memories come attached to it. They seem bent on destroying the series now though.

Digimon World 3 - One of those games that no one but me seems to have played. Don't be fooled by appearances though, this is a rock solid RPG.

Dragon Quest 8 - So much fun, but also really difficult the last time I played it. Levelling up was a pain. The characters were really memorable. Don Mole sticks in my mind as one of my favourite bosses in any game.

5. Xenogears / Xenosaga

4. Ys: Oath in Felghana

3. Chrono Cross

2. Chrono Trigger

1) Dragon Warrior III

I hardly play RPGs.

1. Pokemon Ruby - This one holds a lot of nostalgia for me. It was my first Pokemon game, and I loved everything about it growing up.

2. Ys Origin - I've only played the demo of this. Will likely play the full game in the future.

3. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance - I've played through a large portion of this game. Haven't finished it yet, but so far I like it.

4. D2 (Dreamcast) - Not exactly an RPG (actually classified as Survival Horror), but it's something I enjoyed with RPG elements.

5. Mega Man Battle Network 4 - Blue Moon - Another game with an nostalgia factor. I enjoyed this game when I was younger.

5.- Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

At the beggining the gameplay was confusing but I enjoyed it, I like the character design, music and story. I'd love to play FEPoR and FERR.

4.- Pok�mon: Crystal Version

The sprites look beautiful and can move, the pok�mon design is a little bit childish but I love the game.

3.- Mega Man: Battle Network 2

The soundtrack is amazing! The story is really interesting and I liked the gameplay too.

2.- Pok�mon: FireRed Version

Some of the best pok�mon appear in this game, I like the colors and music arrangements.

1.- Pok�mon: Emerald Version

Satoshi Tajiri's last generation :,( Best character design, great pok�mon and events.

I'm going to stick with the PS2/PS3 for now:

Persona 3: FES[b]
I know it gets a bit of...hate...but I really enjoyed all the extra stuff they added and I loved the story and characters.
The only thing that makes it inferior to P4 would be the stupid 'AI controlled partners' that are often too stupid for a low budget slasher flick.



[b]Valkyria Chronicles:
Probably the best RPG SEGA has ever made, or published, and for good reason.
The graphics are great, the story is decent, and the game play is FANTASTIC.



Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch:
Pokemon meets 'classic' JRPG with a nice heavy coat of Studio Ghibli.
While the stories and characters feel 'familiar', that's also part of its charm.
If there was ever a love letter to older FF/JRPG fans, this game is it.




Digaea 4:
I loved the story in D1, I liked the improved game play in D2, I'm glad I didn't buy D3 new.
But then D4 happened.
It's as charming as D1, has all the improvements of D2, and got me sucked into grinding for grinding sake.
<3




Digital Devil Saga I/II:
This is one of the odd ones you rarely get in a "Top XX", and for good reason, but I think it's still a great game.
While everything 'fits' well, nothing really ever feels wrong with it until...

The GRIND...O god, the fucking grind of grinds that grinds you.
THIS is what kills it for a lot of people.

I'll admit, I would have never beaten the game had I not used a GAMESHARK to do a 10x EXP for the battles.
The grinding is REALLY that bad, and for no real reason it seems.

number 1 definite favorite rpg of all time forever and ever: chrono cross.


the rest of the rpgs i like are too good to make a top 5.
if it were a top one million, maybe it was possible, but barely

number 1 definite favorite rpg of all time forever and ever: chrono cross.

:treknod:

If I were to expand my list to pre-PS2 games I'd have that in my list.

CC was the first game I ever bought on an impulse.
-Saw the intro because of a PSM demo disc and bought it the next day.

<3

:treknod:

If I were to expand my list to pre-PS2 games I'd have that in my list.

CC was the first game I ever bought on an impulse.
-Saw the intro because of a PSM demo disc and bought it the next day.

<3

no kidding. when i first saw the game, it was at a friends house, who was religiously obsessed with trigger.
so naturaly he got this on launch day.
what got to me (both, actually) was the incredible intro, with such beautiful music. another friend of mine, his brother bought the actual OST and lent me it. it was so beautiful.
it was thanks to the ost that i bought the game myself.
and from start to finish, i loved it. still do.

In no particular order:

Knights of the Old Republic II ~ The Sith Lords (PC)
Shining Force II (Mega Drive)
Shadowrun (SNES)
Chrono Trigger (SNES)
Knights of the Old Republic (PC)

Baldur's Gate II (PC)
Tales of Vesperia (Xbox 360)
Persona 4 (PS2)
Dragon Quest VIII (PS2)
Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time (PSP)

Dragon Quest series - VII is my favorite game of all time, from the story, cast, music, class system and I love the rest of the games.
Suikoden series - II being my favorite, due to Luca Blight, Jowy, Riou, the story, music, rune system is great, war battles and duels
Phantasy Star series - IV being my favorite. What can I say? Last of the "traditional" Phantasy Star games, and I love it
Chrono Cross/Trigger (can't pick just one, so the Chrono "dualogy") - It's Chrono, need I say more?
Xenogears (Xeno series?) - amazing, and I don't mind how disc 2 worked

Mentions -
Wild Arms series
Grandia/2
Lunar SS(C)/EB(C)
Lufia 1/2
Seiken Densetsu 3
Mother series (Mother/Earthbound/Mother 3)
Ys in general
The Legend of Heroes
Shin Megami Tensei and side series/spin-offs
Tales series
Soul Blazer trilogy (Soul Blazer/Illusion of Gaia/Terranigma)

1. Legend of heroes: Trails in the sky (PSP)
2. Chrono Cross (PS)
3. Tales of Vesperia (Xbox360)
4. Valkyrie Profile (PS)
5. Xenoblades (Wii)

good old digimon world games from ps1, ahh my childhood ....

Rough. I do appreciate the OP for giving some thoughts about his or her picks, his I'd assume since we are talking about Revan afterall, "Top X"-threads seem really common around here but simple lists do not leave much room for conversation. Right off the bat I would love some insight on the second place pick on that list, "Dragon Age series". Really? As much as Origins was an feel good blast from the past I can't really see what was accomplished in the second game, mind you I'm not a comical internet hater of it either.

Though as I said, forming a list of five is rough. There are so many ways to approach the question. I've been playing these games for over 20 years so my nostalgia lies in games that are rather bad by todays standards. I can see how Ultima 4 and 5 created a lot of new conventions into the genre and were amazingly detailed games for their time but they still contain a lot of really poor archaic game design that makes them a chore to play both today and back then, had we known better. I can see how struggling through something like Wizardry 4 was an amazing accomplishment to me as a kid but it's a game that should be burned at the stake instead of revered, well, burned with some reverance.

It's hard. I neither did not want to pick the 5 RPGs that influenced the genre the most since that's a bit condesending nor my personal top five since that's prone to change so I eventually decided to try and create a subjectively-objective list, as oxymoronic as that sounds I tried to pick games that I felt, while not necessaraly pushed the genre forward, at least provided some really cool innovative mechanics in terms of story, role playing or gameplay that do stand the test of time to a degree.


5. Mass Effect

Right off the bat I start with a curve ball. Mass Effect as a game is not that great. I mean when we think of the ones and zeros that make the product what it is, it's basically traversing the two different dungeon layouts for 40 hours. But that statement simplifies everything that made Mass Effect great outside the actual gameplay experience. Mass Effect wanted to create a believeable gameplay world, with the scope of the entire galaxy. When the game struggled in terms of gameplay it always delivered in terms of writing, both character and world. I will fight for the fact that the first Mass Effect game has the best overall writing in all of BioWares library.

The first game in the series created the foundation for two other damn good games. Better in terms of how the ones and zeroes in code came together to create a mechanical gaming experience. Better games that still could not touch the level of soundness and consistancy in Mass Effects writing.


4. Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind

Had this been my die-hard rpg-nerd list this place would've been occupied by Daggerfall. Man, in what other game you had a practically limitless wilderness to explore, filled with dungeons and unexpectable encounters. Yeah... Even back when I played Daggerfall I realized that the wilderness consisted of empty space occupied by 3 different tree models and dungeons that served little to no purpose.

Morrowind introduced a directly player driven main questline, a vast yet limited world with free ability to explore and most importantly a totally off the wall approach to world design. Instead of Ye Olde England the fantasy world of Morrowind was a strange mix of Mesopotamian art and architecture, north-eastern asian nomadism, barren terrain where life yet grows, glowing mushrooms and a heck of a lot more. And that's just when we talk about the visual surface. Beyond that was the greatest strength of the game. There was the social structure of the world. The fabric that made the game interesting to role play even though the game itself gave little to no room for actual social interaction.

Morrowind made Bethesda. With Morrowind they realized what they were good at and more importantly what resonated with their audience. Too bad they left the actually good bits out from the sequels.

3. Planescape: Torment

If this list was about which game I could spew pseudo-intelligent nonesense about the most Torment would top the list. It's still the Mount Everest of interactive video game writing. As silly as it sounds, I'm going to spend most of my time talking about Torment berating it simply for the reasons it's not number one.

Planescape: Torment really isn't that great of a game, the combat fells like an afterthough, the pathing is awful. Hell, it really isn't even that great of an RPG. I mean the basic features of an RPG are all missing: my equipment choices do not change the character model! The stat choices in the beginning are largely superfluous since there's only one way to get the most out of the game! Even Pool of Radiance changed my sprite if I wore a new armour, this words crap is bullshit.

Except it's not. It's everything. Torment is the only game I can see as a moral one. It breaks every RPG convention and presents all the basic quoestions that matter in a way where being good is more than picking the "right"-thing to do. Unlike Ultima 4 in Torment the 'right' and the 'good' thing to do were not always the same. In Torment every choice had consequences but not in a morally nihilistic way like in the original Fallout. The philosophical questions were part of the game and made you think.

2. Fallout: New Vegas

I spent close to 100 hours playing Fallout 3, I still maintain the position that it was a fine game, yet I cannot remember a single instance about that game.

That said I should've picked one the first two games to this list. Fallout 1 was the first game where I had the possibility to solve situations in a sly way, where I was not bound by the moral coded of Ultima and Fallout 2 did all that better apart from the bad final boss fight. But I still picked New Vegas.

New Vegas was part of the final realization of what I actually liked about the old RPGs I played. It wasn't the turn-based combat, it wasn't the isometric view, it was the way they managed to craft an unpredictable world where you felt like your actions mattered. New Vegas probably has to date the most complex set of triggers that are all bound simply to your choices within the game world.

1. NeverWinter Nights 2: Mask Of The Betrayer

Mask of the Betrayer is the best story ever written in a video game format. It is the greatest sign that an rpg can be more than a disjointed collection of 'combat' and 'conversation' sections. It's a true tour de force that those two can be perceftly combined. When Torment was a scatter shot of beautiful ideas and thoughts The Mask is a single full-metal jacket bullet about truth, love and end of life, without directly being a story about any of those.

A really harsh choice to have to make (though made somewhat easier as Revan is allowing whole series for a single choice, I suppose). For me then, it would be:

1) Knights of the Old Republic 2 - The Sith Lords
The first one was a great game, no doubt about that. But its KOTOR 2 that I really love. Obviously its unfinished and has bugs etc, but the richness (not to mention darkness) of the story and characters was sensational. IMO, much better in terms of story, character and overall writing quality, plus with lots of sensible refinements to the gameplay, and more interesting locations and quests... Quite simply one of the greatest RPGs ever made - which is made all the remarkable because of its chronically unfinished status. Even with that in mind, it still beats most other RPGs by a country mile. Your crew also feel more involved, with far more action and imput from them, pulling their weight on missions, getting their own little sections to shine, or interacting with each other seperate from you on the ship, so that they go beyond simply being your flunkies in combat, and walking wikipedia nodes for their respective races etc. They feel more like proper characters who are active and involved in proceedings, rather than just guys who stand around waiting for you to do something cool.

Probably the game's greatest achievement for me, is the way that the Dark Side playthrough feels like a viable and sensible option for once. Instead of just being the kind of silly 'Mwahh ha ha - I'm so powerful and amazingly evil!' that the 'Evil' option usually is in such games, it is handled much better in this game (to the extent where the Sith of the first game are ridiculed by some of the characters for their childish behaviour). The realities, rationale and execution of living by the Sith Code are explored and dissected meticulously, and the game presents all three options (Light Side, Dark Side and Neutral) as viable and interesting avenues. Indeed, one of the central arguments your mentor makes to you, is that just because the extremes offer great power, they close as many doors as they open, whereas the Neutral will have the greatest overall understanding of the world. The game does a great job of getting you in character, and encouraging to not simply go all Light Side all the time or all Dark Side all the time.

2) Quest for Glory 4 - Shadows of Darkness
This was the first RPG I remember getting really deep into - I'd play it non-stop and never get tired of it. The whole H P Lovecraft mixed with Hammer Horror and dashes of the Carry On films, made for an absolutely irresistable combination. Every new section of the game held new delights, whether you were giving out dashing hats to talking skull guardians, having a proper Tarot reading with a Gypsy wise-woman, watching a faithful beast give its life to breathe life into a vampire child, or meeting crazed scientists in their bizarre labs... This was one of those games that just felt like it was written specifically for me, including all the the things i really love in these genres.

3) Fallout: New Vegas
I wasn't really a big fan of FO:3. Some of the wandering about the destroyed wasteland, listening to the radio broadcasts was great, but mostly the game's quests, locations and characters didn't really grab me at all. But New Vegas mixed all that, with far more muscular and engaging storytelling, vastly superior quests and a much more coherent and well planned out Wasteland to explore. By creating minor and major factions with their own distinct territory, the game was able to give much greater form to the environment, so it wasn't just a lot of dungeon crawling, with the occasional settlement of people who knew nothing of the world around them. Your actions mattered this time, and the game did an excellent job of tracking and accounting for exactly where you stood with the factions, and how everyone felt about that.

The game also captures the whole 'anything can happen in Vegas' vibe perfectly. Gangs of Elvis Impersonators, chain gangs who run around blowing people up with dynamite, guys dressed up as Roman legionnaires led by Caesar himself, battling against American army forces, all whilst trying to keep an eye on an undead technomancer and his legions of robot soldiers... It sounds absurd, yet it makes perfect sense when you play the game. And unlike the previous game (or the various Elder Scrolls games) you are completely free to get involved with any of these, or make your own way. So much choice, all of it excellently written and still the only real game of this kind (Elder Scrolls, FO3 etc) that balances exploration and freedom, with a story and characters worth caring about.

4) Mass Effect 1
Although it is obviously inferior technically to the sequels, this is by far and way my favourite of the ME series. I said right from the start that this game didn't need (and IMO didn't really get) any sequels. It stands alone, with a story that is good, without really being anything too amazing. For me, it was the Hard Sci-Fi feel of the world, the majesty and romance of space travel, mixed with the dangers and horrors of the unknown frontier. The sequels would forgo this in favour of more comic book, pulpy genre friendly sci-fi, which was fine in its own way, but nothing compared to the awesome feeling of roaming about in the mako on an airless moon, knowing you are the only life on the planet, the feeling of awe as you take in the scale of the galaxy etc.

It reminded me of the early days of Star Trek: Next Generation. I know most people dismiss those early seasons, but for me when they work, they represent that series at its best - when the galaxy felt vast, untamed, haunted and dangerous. I'm not saying that ME2 and ME3 aren't good games in their own right (ME2 is a perfectly constructed game in many games - but with its quirky AI companions and pulpy action spy '007 in Space with his Assembled Avengers' feel, it isn't quite delivering the kind of hard sci-fi 'it could really be like this in the future' experience that ME1 does, and I value that above all considerations).

5) Persona 3
Although most westerners seem to prefer Persona 4 for its lighter tone, and greater emphasis on hanging out with your quirky, loveable friends etc, Persona 3 is the one that really does it for me. The doomy atmosphere, and the real tragedy and melancholy of the game strike at the general fatigue that modern society seems to be in. The rise of technology matched with the slow death of hope and inner fulfillment, but also a great tale of people coming to terms with being superheroes after a fashion. It mixes in so many great ideas of social unrest, youth apathy, the crushing banality of 'real life' and how just about everyone *really* hates their boring lives etc. Even the basic act of summoning your powers delivers a potent image, as your characters use a replica gun to blow their brains out - a meshing of the desire for fantastical powers and the desire to escape this awful, soul destroyingly pointless world.

And yet, its insanely joyful and upbeat as well. With catchy pop tunes that have your dancing as you fight, likeable loser characters, and the opportunity to 'Fight for Justice!' as the game once jokingly puts it, the game isn't all doom and gloom. A consistently engaging and gripping tale, with some important things to say about modern life. Persona 4 is a more comfortable game, and in many ways a better constructed game, but this game means more to me because its feels more true to life, like it more accurately shows what life is, and how even if super powers came at a cost of your life eventually, and even if their existence meant the world was about to end, a great many people would embrace it, because it has to be better than the monotony of modern life. A sobering thought.

Okay
1. Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
2. Fallout: New Vegas
3. Persona 4
4. Fable The Lost Chapters
5. Drakengard

There where others I considered adding but I think these five I have spent the most time on. I just find them fun. :)

I cannot really say they are my top five since they might be the only ones I've played so far, but (since most of my time I spend on reading or watching manga/anime) Tales of Graces for its battle system. I thought it was a good game. Final Fantasy 10 got my attention because of the art work and beautiful soundtrack. Rune Factory was really fun since it is not only about battling and saving the world, but there is love, farming, and gaining new skills. I really liked playing the Pokemon series since I grew up with it. I cannot really remember if Digimon was a RPG, but I really liked Digimon too.

5. Xenoblade Chronicles: What Xenoblade lacked story-wise it made up for in engagement. The story was a bit typical for a JRPG, though not predictable. It was simple, with twists that kept me engaged. But the main point of engagement of Xenoblade was the unique journey across the Bionis and Mechonis. Not only that, it was fun to play, even though it dragged on a little longer than it needed to, and got kind of weird at the end.

4. Xenogears: This may come as a surprise, but I only played this game last year. Despite the mechanics and presentation being extremely dated, the story was just so enthralling, I just had to suffer through it. The main characters, especially the villains, were very interesting. The plot was a little hard to follow at some parts, but once I got the gist of things, it was oh so satisfying.

3. Golden Sun: The Lost Age: It was the first Golden Sun that got me interested in RPG's in general, but the second game had so much more going for it. Better playable characters, more exploration, more end-game content, more challenge (especially the dungeons), everything was improved upon, despite the first game having very few flaws, being one of the simplest, yet most FUN RPG's on the Gameboy Advance. Not only that, the creators never fell into the trap of tacking on a cheesy romance between characters. This kept the game satisfying all the way through without any distractions.

2. Xenosaga Episode I: I think the reason many people don't like cutscenes in games is that they just aren't interesting. In Xenosaga, there are about EIGHT HOURS of them. They have to be good, good enough as an 8-hour movie would be, and in my opinion, they are. No other game I've played has been dubbed as well as this one. The characters, even the ones I didn't really like personally, have very deep and real personalities. Unfortunately, the later games did not impress me, and they were obviously rushed and could not hold up the standards of the first game throughout the rest of the story.

1. Morrowind: Yeah, kind of a cliche #1, but what I love about it so much is something that no other game has ever been able to do for me. I am creating history, and the game's presentation makes me feel that way. From the moment Caius told me the true reason for my summon to Morrowind, to the defeat of the Sixth House, every moment (of the main story) feels like it really matters. I've never experienced a similar feeling of escape from reality.

As you can see, I'm a Xeno fandork. :D
I was also considering putting Pokemon Crystal on here, but I can't help but think that's just my nostalgia speaking.

Kingdom Hearts - I just generally liked it.
Bravely Default - I got both endings. Both Finale and True Ending. It plays like older main number Final Fantasy...it reminds me of Final Fantasy III I think it's only because Tiz ends up getting an Onion Knight costume from finishing a building in the town.
...eh I haven't really played any other RPG that I liked I played as extensively as those 2.

Is there any spoiler ban on this forum for Bravely Default...or am I free to say what's on my mind.

- Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age (GBA)
- Mother Series (NES, SNES, GBA)
- The World Ends With You (DS)
- Super Mario RPG (SNES)
- Chrono Trigger (SNES, although I played the DS version first)

I like some other RPGs like Dragon Quest (especially IV), Fire Emblem (6,7,8), Sword of Mana, Kingdom Hearts 2 and Pok�mon.

I have a hard time picking RPGs as favorites, but here are the RPGs I really enjoyed (in no particular order)

Darksun Shattered Lands - great gameplay, good story, good music (for its day)
Ravenloft Strahd's Posession / Ravenloft Stone Prophet / Menzoberranzan (enjoyed all 3 equally)
Shadowcaster (FPS/RPG)
Elder Scrolls: Arena - yea the dungeons were usually not that useful, but it had an unlimited explorable world, and spells were fully customizable unlike in later Elder Scrolls. The graphics aren't that great but the game was fun
Super Mario RPG was fun, and had great music. Paper Mario 1000 year door is right next to Super Mario RPG for me

Chrono Trigger - So good. There is something special about this game for me.
Golden Sun and The Lost Age - Really simple, but still really enjoyable. Still remember the day I instant killed a boss with the Assassin Blade on turn 1.
Fire Emblem - I enjoy majority of the series, but my favorites definitely are 6,7 and Awakening. Lilina best mage.
Tales of series - For story my favorite is definitely Symphonia, on terms of gameplay it's between Graces and Xillia 2. Pascal is so much fun
Mother series - They're all very interesting, really good music as well, especially on Mother 3. Get on that Mother 4 hype train.

Souls series (Demon's and Dark Souls)
The Legend of Zelda for SNES and N64
Chrono series (Trigger and Cross)
Personas for PS2 (3 and 4)
Valkyrie Profile 2 Silmeria

I don't slant WPRG's and JRPG's together so this is just my top 5 JRPG list.

5. Lost Odyssey - Lost Odyssey does start to drag down towards the end but it's still a great game despite that. There's some really great moment's here and there and the ost is amazing.

4. Demon's Souls - I have my quarrels with this game but those problems don't prevent Demon's Souls being one of the most memorable games out there. Very atmospheric and the soundtrack is fricking amazing on this one too.

3. Persona 3&4 - I don't really like Persona 3&4 all that much as game but i do love these games because of really well written dialogue and characters.

2. Disgaea - Really funny and addictive. Nuff said.

1. Nier - Not only isn't near my favorite JRPG but it's also one of my favorite games of all time. I admit that gameplay wise it's mediocre and the small budget shows but i absolutely love the story and characters this one and Nier probably has the best soundtrack of all time. This game made me cry several times and it was just such a great experience. I love it.

non into RPG besides FF but i like Tales of. And Star Ocean.

Number 1: Baldur's gate - taken as a whole (BG1+et+BG2+Ext), it's an impressive journey through the forgotten kingdoms of AD&D. Compelling storytelling, lots of freedom, tons of quests and subquests that needed both brute force AND finesse to solve. Also, the romance system was a nice addition to BG 2, adding a supplemental level of roleplay.

Number 2: Fallout 2 - Because if Mad Max was a game, it would be that one. basically the reasons I liked it are the same as for BG: well written, lots of little things to do that seem insignificant but are later revealed to be important. that and I discovered GOG because of it.

Number 3: Chrono Trigger: on many levels, it's the best thing ever done by Square Soft, at least up to that point. interesting and funny characters that you feel genuinely attached to, without falling into the trap of self parody, great designs, and a very, very impressive story that does time travel right. that in itself is a miracle.

Number 4: KOTOR - again, essentially the same reasons as BG, but KOTOR adds a huge measure of epicness through the whole starforge deal. One of the very few star wars superweapons able to make the Death Stars pale in comparison.

Number 5: prepare the pitchforks: Diablo. yeah, it's a hack'n'slash. Door, monster, Treasure. If the old D&D had to be made into a game, it would be diablo. probably why Wizard released some Diablo modules for both AD&D and D&D3.

I can't think of the order, but these would make my top 5. As in replayability, good storyline, and battle systems.

Star Ocean 1. Yeah, i've finished it more times than can be remembered. It was only released in Japan, but there was a translation done by DEJAP.

Star Ocean 2. I love how the story, even though it is from two different points of view, is brought together in the actions that you do. There is also alot of customisability in the story (doing subterfuge by stealing and also your fame between characters)

Also both of these had extensive end game dungeons that you didn't need to complete in a regular play through. Both let you get to Level 255.

Chrono Trigger, as my interest, I wanted to get past all the bosses to unlock all the endings. I ended up getting all the rainbow weapons and played through the game a few times. I guess the one criticism (if I can call it that) is that I never had a SNES, so i've never played it on the TV

Chrono Cross. I loved how there were so many characters, but my favourites were Glenn, Kid, and Razzly. Oh yeah, and Pip. Actually i loved all the characters, and that was one game that you did manage to hear about all the characters back stories. As far as you were aware, what they had against Lynx, and seeing their endings.

Seiken Densetsu 3. Yeah, i know, it makes me look like a real Square-Enix fan. in my defence, I've only played Square-Enix games. This one was the best game I've ever played for so many reasons. Having jobs, and special abilities, and every kind of ability related to those characters, different endings for the different characters, and the action-based RPG battle system, I think in some ways they did it better in this than in Legend of Mana (mind you, that one actually had so much customizing you didn't know what to do)

I really have noticed some games that I have not played, and which I'll have to try out. Thanks for sharing your top 5.

I'm happy to see that you all have good tastes!

Not sure about the order, but 5 good ones:

Chrono Trigger - 'nuff said.
Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana) - Pretty cool 3 player mode.
Seiken Densetsu 3 - Somewhat less cool 2 player mode, but still nice game play and story.
Sailor Moon RPG - Surprisingly well done.
Shadowrun - Early cyberpunk RPG. Has a fox girl.

All SNES/Super Famicom for no particular reason.

Arc Rise Fantasia
Chrono Cross
Breath of Fire IV
The Last Story
Legend of Mana

My favorite Non-Final Fantasy RPGs are as follows -

1 - Chrono Cross = Chrono Cross is just timeless. It has a great musical score, wide varitety of playable characters and a storyline is just a win.

2 - Legend of Dragoon = This was along with Chrono cross, and Final Fantasy VII one of my first 3 PS1 games. It hasn't aged as well as chrono cross and the FF series. But it is still in a league of it's own.

3 - Tales of Symphonia = What can I say, this is simply IMO, the best installment in the Tales Franchise. Great characters, with so much depht and a great overall story and gameplay. The musical score was unforgettable.

4 - Golden Sun : The Lost Age = For a GBA game, this was simply ahead of it's time. Turn based combat with decent animations. Great for the gameboy, and the music, story and characters mesh perfectly.

5 - The Legend of Zelda : Majora's Mask = IMO, quite easily the best zelda game ever made. It is dark, creepy and deep in so many ways. I buy into the theory by MatPat of GameTheory that link is actually dead in Majora's mask. And that he is going through the stages of death detailed by the kubler ross model of grief.

I really like the Dragon Quest series. Also the Mario and Luigi series. I guess I like games with a sense of humour! :)

That's easy!

Pok�mon main series
Yo Kai Watch series
Paper Mario 64
Zelda series
Undertale

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