I'm beating Final Fantasy XII, Alundra 1, and Mass Effect this fall. It was just announced that Lost Odyssey won't come out in the Usa till February 2008. Between Mass Effect and Lost Odyssey, I'd like to beat an ultimate older rpg that I haven't beaten before.

There are four rpg teams that I follow. One is the main Final Fantasy team. One is the team of Yasumi Matsuno(Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy XII, etc). One is what I call the "cool team", for lack of a better phrase, which has made Xenogears, Chrono Cross, Xenosaga, and more. The fourth team is the team for The Legend of Zelda, including the Flagship developer who made some of the handheld titles.

Early next year in January I would like to beat a game from one of these four teams. For each of the teams, it should be the earliest game they have made that I haven't beaten, although if it's too old I may skip it. I plan to beat one of four games, although I am not yet sure which game/team it will be. I will form my own preference soon after researching them. I am curious as to the preferences of the forums. Here are my four options, which do you recommend that I beat between Mass Effect and Lost Odyssey?

Final Fantasy VIII
-I may skip FF 1-3, I already beat FF 4-7
Tactics Ogre
-I already beat Ogre Battle
Xenogears
-I already beat Chrono Trigger, I may skip Radical Dreamers
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
-I may skip Zelda 1-2, I already beat Zelda 3-4

Xenogears because it is the better than all of them combined.

Xenogears because it is the better than all of them combined.

Tactics Ogre would be my second choice though, then Final Fantasy VIII, and finally Ocarina of Time (Never really liked that Zelda... I guess it's okay, but not as good as A Link to the Past, Wind Waker or even Twilight Princess.)

I can't really decide. 3 of my favorite games of all time are in that list.

If at gun point, I'd say Xenogears.

I posted this on the forums.eyesonff.com forum also. I got more votes there and Zelda beats out FF VIII and Xenogears, which were tied, and Tactics Ogre got no votes, but is not in the same league as the other three games.

Hehe! I'm not sure which game I'll beat yet! :) Thanks for the replies!

Tactics Ogre probably isn't getting many votes because there aren't a lot of people that would have played it compared to the others. Tactics Orge was one of the games that set the standards for Tactical RPGs and if you're into that sort of genre you should definitely check it out.

But yeah, Ocarina of Time is my favorite game from that list. Xenogears tells a great story but the gameplay can be really terrible at points. FFVIII is...a mixed bag. Their both pretty good, however OoT is consistently better. However, Zelda is an action adventure game rather then a JRPG, so if you prefer the more turn-based style of gameplay in the latter genre you might want to stick with one of the other games.

Probably FFVIII. I don't have the other games/consoles to play the other games.

xenogars

i would say Xenogears, but i am also leaning toward FF XIII, its too hard to decide

Check out the thread on this at forums.eyesonff.com

Zelda, then FF VIII are leading, Xenogears is farther back and Tactics Ogre hasn't gotten a vote yet. I should have added Radical Dreamers and Zelda: Phantom Hourglass to the list.

I'm leaning torwards Final Fantasy VIII! :D

I guess you don't want Xenogears to give you a life changing experience.

I guess you don't want Xenogears to give you a life changing experience.

cuz it will.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
-I may skip Zelda 1-2, I already beat Zelda 3-4

What do you mean by Zelda 3-4?
ALttP and OoT? Or ALttP and LA? O_o

Either way, Zelda is the most consistently fun series of all you mentioned.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

i preferred alundra to the zelda series

just saying.

zelda, though.

FFVIII's a good 40-60 hours, depending if you sidequest or not, and if you're already know how the game plays through or you're using walkthroughs.

Xenogears ranges about 60-80; you can shave off a good 20 hours if you use a walkthrough.

Ocarina of Time is probably the shortest; never liked Zelda in first person, though. Still a decent game, I guess, but I don't like how they designed some of the locales.

Never played Tactics Ogre.

FFVIII for the graphics, cinematics, and atmosphere, Xenogears for plot, and Ocarina of Time for gameplay. Depends upon which you're interested in at the time.

Great posts! I heard high praise about Xenogears, can somebody tell me what's so popular about the story? Zelda 3 is Alttp and Zelda 4 is LA. I'm playing Alundra 1 next! I'll be done with FF XII in a few weeks. Good summaries of those games. Care to do one for Radical Dreamers or Zelda: Phantom Hourglass?

I was listening to the FF VII soundtrack yesterday, I got excited! :)