So I was going through my older games (Saturn, SNES, Megadrive, PSX etc), and found a few SRPG's which I love... and even a couple which I wonder why I bought. Gave me the idea for this thread...

Basically, just list your favorite and least favorite SRPG (Strategic Role Play Game) with a reason why.

Favorite:
Front Mission 3 (PSX) - My first FM game and I loved it. Nothing better than piloting a big robot with a big gun, blasting even bigger holes in other big robots.
Vandal Hearts (PSX) - G(if somewhat cliche) story, great characters (The mage Zohar, bearing a eerie resemblence to the Dragonlance character Raistlin Majere (Hence auto win!) and the spell 'Phase Shift') and battle system.
Mystaria: Realms of Lore (Saturn) - I think that this was my first SRPG ever... your stereotypical fantasy fare with standard fantasy plot... but the battle system was brilliant. Very easy to play and plan strategy.

Least Favorite:
Rhapsodia (Suikoden Tactics) (PSX) - To get the full story to this game, have to play Suikoden IV... add in a weak main protaganist, subpar music and a awful battle system... severe dislike for this game (Sadly, I do have it and Suikoden IV... only to have my Suikoden Collection 'almost' complete, as Suikoden III wasn't released here in AUS.)
Final Fantasy Tactics (PSX) - It's not a bad bad game... just one I found to be overhyped. The battle system is good, as is the music and some of the characters kick ass (Cid for one). However I just couldn't get into it at all. I'll give it another try at a later date though... hopefully change my mind (though it'll be the PSP version).

Favorite: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance is a game I played through most of middle school as a pre-teen and as an adult i've come to appreciate what its point really is. It's one of my favorite games ever.

Least Favorite: I actually don't like SRPGs all that much.... but I have to say FFTA here because of how stupid the penalty system was and I had an extremely difficult time getting into it.

Favorite:
Shining Force III (Saturn) - Is my second favorite game of all time, used to play it at my friends house for hours. Bought a Saturn myself a few years ago and bought the game for €80 on ebay.
Shining Force II (Megadrive) - Was the first srpg i ever played and was what got me into loving the genre.
Vandal Hearts (PSX) - Remember getting this for christmas one year and was delighted because it was very hard to buy in Ireland, a friend spotted it at a second hand shop and knew i was after it and got it for me. The graphics were kind of bad, even though it was only a year or two old, but the gameplay was excellent and i really liked the story.

Least Favorite:
FFT - For me too, i only played to the second or third battle, but i didn't really like playing it, felt more of a chore to continue playing.
Suikoden Tactics - I didn't like this either, the graphics and gameplay were terrible, i actually bought the soundtrack, so not gonna complain about the music :P (I'm just missing Suikoden V from my collection, i have three copies of Suikoden IV xD)

That's FFT's major flaw sadly - the first battle is really a glorified cutscene with every unit except for Ramza controlled by the computer, and the next two battles are so utterly dull due to the low levels of the party and their total lack of abilities at that point. It does get much better though.

The PSP version also suffers from bad lag while it's loading off the disc, which is why I much prefer the PSX original - Engrish typos and all ("I got a good feeling!"). :p It's still one of my favourite SRPGs in any event. :)

Apart from FFT, my favourite SRPG would probably be Shining Force II on the Mega Drive/Genesis. The original was excellent in it's own right, but the second one has a tweaked battled system and more vibrant graphics, as well as a more interesting story. It also has May the Ranger, one of my favourite RPG characters (the only centaur character in the SF series to not be a knight class). :D

Least favourite: I'm not sure. Vandal Hearts II annoyed me with the whole 'enemy moves at the same time you do' thing, making strategy more a matter of 'second guess where the enemy is going to move to and get it wrong more often than not' most of the time. It had a cool soundtrack and interesting art design though.

It also had one of the most disturbing openings to a game I've seen - seeing that solider drag that poor peasant girl into an alley, presumably to be raped, while his fellow soldiers snigger evilly as the camera moves past a big pile of dead bodies, with blood splattered everywhere, is something that really slaps you across the face hard.

FF Tactics Advance would probably beat it though, as although it wasn't unplayable, it was just so boring as to not give me any incentive to complete it.

The story was too slight (SE succumbed to the old cliche of 'kids from the real world enter a fantasy world and have adventures') compared to the original FFT, the Job system was about the most flawed application of it in the series, and the main character, was just too aloof to be a Ramza clone which SE seemed to be trying hard to make him out to be.

And don't get me started on the stupid Laws, which just got plain ridiculous by the end. It made for a forgettable game in my opinion.

FFT is vastly superior to this cheap knock-off.

Favourites would be Final Fantasy Tactics and Super Robot Wars: Alpha Gaiden

Least favourite hmmmm....anything else really as I'm not a huge SRPG fanatic.

Favorite: Shining Force III (All 3 scenarios) - Simple yet addicting gameplay, and the storyline was excellent especially viewing it from three different perspectives. Just wished all three armies woulda joined at the end instead of fighting separately.

Other I enjoyed are FF Tactics, Fire Emblem 4, and Tactics Ogre.

Least Favorite: Maybe Growlanser V, Phantom Brave, and Hoshigami. All felt like chores to play.

I'm probably the only person in this forum that enjoyed Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. And Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones is pretty good.

Bahamut Lagoon would be my least favorite.Not because it's bad by any means, it's a good game, but these 3 games I mentioned are the only strategy games I played :V