FFVII
FFVIII
FFIX
FFX
Arcanum
Fallout 1 & 2

Chrono Trigger

In which game can you become any of the following:

-Slave trader
-Ranger (Hunting slave traders)
-Member of three different mafia organisations
-Boxing champion
-Addicted to drugs
-Pornstar (or fluffer)
-Married to a person of the same sex
-Chessplayer beaten by a scorpion

...Fallout 2. I'm playing it right now.
Get it.

I second that.

I know they're old, but has anyone played any of the Ultima games? My favorites are 7 and 7 part two, Serpent Isle. They're from back in the early 90's, but the graphics and gameplay were revolutionary for the times, and they are extremely fun and time consuming. Give em a shot, there is an emulator out there that will let you run them on a new computer, it's called ExUlt, but I'm not sure where exactly you get it anymore. Eric

Lasereth - I'm sorry to hear that, bro. It ain't that way with most groups. Heck, if your anywhere close to me (VA), yer welcome to sit in on an session. It's really just a bunch of friends sitting around BS'ing with some dice thrown in, but there are strong underlying rules behind it all.

Planescape Torment for sure.
Fallout 1 & 2

Yeah I figured you had a bad experience as well. There are rules, LOTS of rules. See, you are only limited to what you can think of, but the GM can turn you down if its just plain stupid.. or let your character die trying. But yeah, the GM COULD give you all that XP, but in my game, it was sweet... One of my favorite RPG memories, then out of nowhere the GM gave me 3 powers that made me so Godly, that I was angry, and refused to continue the campaign. If word gets out that the GM sucks, people won't play with him. Thats just like a video game, word gets out that the game and/or engine sucks.. no one plays it. As for no plot? Try White Wolf... their cames are CENTERED on plot, as fighting is the rarity. D&D has lots of fighting.. but I'll be damned if I didn't spend a lot of time with the plot. I play theives, and if you just run off and kill things.. you're not much of a thief. ;) So yeah, it sounds like your GM downright sucked ass. I'm very sorry that you had to go through such an experience. Thats like being forced to play Hexen for 8 hours... :eek: :eek: It'll traumatize you and make you not like it :(

Edited Addin!!! I forgot to say, EVERY... REAL PUBLISHED RPG... has strict rules on how fights go down.

Knights of the Old Republic followed by the NES Zelda.

Final Fantasy 4(one for SNES) or Crusaders of the Dark Savant(Wizardry 7)...
Ah I (used) to be such a nerd

Bards Tale for sure, on my Tandy CoCo 2. :) While it may not be the best by today's standards, that was the game that got me hooked on RPG's, and video games in general...

Electronic Arts owes me several years of my life back. :D

Secret of Mana
Final Fantasy I & III
Dragon Warrior

FFVII and beyond had great production values, but they became more and more linear (offered "mini-games" instead of freedom of choice in advancing one's character), had elaborate nonsensicle plots, and didn't have as balanced gameplay as the older games. i'm not trying simply playing devils advocate here either (since it's obvious that the majority of the world thinks FFVII is the end-all of RPGs) - i played through FFVII & FFVII and clocked in near 90 hours on FFX. comments?

Come on, there must be at least one other Ultima veteran around here... they are considered some of the best RPG's of all time!

Chrono Trigger, FF7, FFX, or Kingdom Hearts. Pretty much anything by Squaresoft.

FFX is getting quite the response, did Tidus get on anyone elses nerves or was it just me?

I think Tidus was fine. People were just mad because he had a femine look. His voice didn't annoy me or sound whiny either. The only bad voice acting done in FFX was Yuna's character and it sounded more like a sound-editing issue rather than bad acting. What's more entertaining is that Squaresoft announced that it's pronounced "Tee Duss" instead of "Tye Duss." I can't stand it when people say his name wrong! Or maybe I'm just a dork.

-Lasereth

Tidus just didn't appeal to me the way Cloud Strife or Squall Leonheart did. Squall was the 'silent type' and Cloud, well he was just cool. Tidus on the other hand was loud and in my opinion, annoying, I don't have a problem with his look or anything like that I just didnt find him as appealing as the others. Although FF7 is my favorite RPG, and favorite game, I'd have to say out of the main characters from Final Fantasy I actually found Squall to be most appealing to me.

BG 2
Final Fantasy (the first)

Baldurs Gate 2 is the best and I dont even like computer games

FF7, FF tactics, FF in that order. Where is all the love for Vincent Valentine? Tactics by the way is going for about 14 bucks last I saw if you haven't played it

Oh ya I've played Tactics, I own Tactics, great game. But FF7 still takes it for me.

Couple of people have mentioned the ultima games, which reminds me I forgot to put Ultima Underworld on my list - it's brilliant.

I could be wrong, but I believe Ultima Underworld, a 3D first-person RPG by Looking Glass Studios (also responsible for the insanely good Thief and System Shock series and several other great games) predated Doom and had a more advanced engine to boot - you could look up and down and it had ramps.

I've also played U4 and U8 (I think it was 8) and they were good but not great imo.

Electronic: Eye of the Beholder II (Amiga wayback ;)), Neverwinter Nights, Ocarina of Time, Link to the Past, Fallout. And if it counts, then Frontier: First Encounters.

Paper: Nightbane, The Window.

sad so many of you metoin big budget big name games

soul bringer must be the most underrated game in history

You got dicked over BIG TIME! If I may, I suggest you try again with another group, or perhaps another game, I don't know. If there's a gaming store near you they should have a good way to connect with other RPGers.

Mario Rpg

Chrono Cross' story just complety blew me away when I played it. And it has a really nice battle system.

Same goes for Final Fantasy X. It's method of leveling up the characters was odd at first, but once you understand it, it is just amazingly great.

Gotta go with Chrono Trigger (SNES). Hands down, best RPG I ever played.

Oh, and I have trouble with everyone that said Deus Ex... Don't get me wrong, I love Deus Ex, but there's no way I'd call it an RPG. Its definately a FPS with RPG elements.

I'mma go with Chrono Trigger, but Chrono Cross was pretty awesome too

I have the urge to turn this into an essay ... but we'll see, ne?

I have the feeling that FFVII was the first FF/Squaresoft RPG for most people. Among my friends, people for whom FFVII was their first FF loved it, would swear by it, named their kids after characters in the game, etc. Those that had played other FF-style RPGs before VII tended not to like it quite as much.

I will admit, FFVII was a fantastic game. I've beaten it so many times I've memorized every inch of the game, every item location, every code sequence, every boss strategy. And yet every once in a while when I tire of D2 or Warcraft I'll break out FFVII, and it's still fun.

I don't understand that at all.

The graphics are terrible. The gameplay is good: simple, clean, and to-the-point, but not phenomenal. The music was good (most people argue the best, but I liked Chrono Trigger and FFVI/III much better). The characters and storyline were good. But everyone, including me, seem to think it is some kind of God-send. But when asked why I love it so much, I can't think of a single thing to say.

To wrap up, of the Squaresoft games I'd go with:

#1 - Final Fantasy X
I'm a graphics person, so FFX blew me away. The storyline also struck me as significantly different/original. The music was reminiscent of FFVII, which is always a good thing, but had enough of its own character to separate itself from its predecessor (though I'd say Uematsu is *gasp* running out of ideas?). I'll agree with a few other people here and say the characters were extremely annoying. I was wishing for a Japanese dub, English sub version, but ... *shrug*. Oh, and FFX International boasts the most powerful bosses in any FF, ever (IMHO), which is always a plus for me.

#2 - Chrono Trigger
Were it not for the graphics, I would crown Chrono Trigger the best RPG of all time. Why? Not really sure.

#3 - FF VII
We've been over this already.

That aside - I'm surprised by the lack of Baldur's Gate enthusiasts. I'd have thought they would outnumber Morrowind fans. Tells you how much I know about the video game industry, I suppose. My picks for non-squaresoft RPGs:

#1 Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn + Throne of Bhaal
Without the expansion pack, BG2 would have lost to Morrowind in my book. But with epic levels, ridiculously cool/overpowered high level abilities and spells, as well as items and omnipotent boss monsters galore, the game just blew me away. The very nice NPC party play was a huge plus - NPCs that actually had personality so real you could almost shed tears for them.

#2 Morrowind
Does this require an explanation? Didn't think so.

#3 Neverwinter Nights
It disappointed me, really, but it wasn't that bad of a game - my expectations were just much too high after playing BG2. The main thing it lacked was party play - NWN makes you feel really alone, especially in the massive 3D environments. Aside from the immediate battles, everything seems so far away and dispersed - detached is the word I'm looking for, I think. And your henchman has all the personality of an ATM machine.

I'd claim Warcraft 3 and Diablo 2 were RPGs, but not many people would agree. They would both rank pretty high on my overall chart - Warcraft 3's storyline started off really well but sort of fell off near the end when it became apparent that Blizz just wanted to get the game done and on the market. The Bonuse Campaign for Frozen Throne is definitely RPG to the core, and it's the most fun I've had in a while.

Diablo 2 is ... well, it's Diablo 2. Anyone who's played the game knows the feeling. Those who haven't ... trying to explain it is a futile effort. It's not a great game, it's not particularly innovative, the graphics are just passable, the soundtrack is less than spectacular ... but it's Diablo 2. It's more dangerous than heroine or cheap sex on some days.

Hands down it has to be Xenogears. Although Phantasy Star is very close. I got into RPGs because of that game. Sega truly created one of the greatest games ever with that. I would also have to agree with the earlier posts of Fallout 2, that was an amazing game.

ok

well, i´ve loved all of the Final Fantasy games i´ve played (8,9,10) - but i´m going ot hunt down FF7 since its getting such great reviews here.

i think also that all of the Zelda games have been brilliant. esp Ocarina of Time.

would Grand Theft Auto come under the role of RPG?

FF7 and xenosaga are my favorite because i loved their stories..and pretty much every rpg after 7 has dissapointed me in terms of length, personality, and sheer fun factor

On console I would go with Final Fantasy 2 (or 4 in Japan) simply because they haven't changed the formula since then. That was the defining console RPG. Runner up Secret Of Mana cause multiplayer action RPGs rock.

On the PC side of things I would say either the Baldur's Gate series, the Wizardry series, or the Jagged Alliance series. Sirtech rules!

Ultima Online

The computer RPG that comes closest to the PnP feel, is Ultima Online. The incredible depth in that game makes it stand above anything else, IMO.

Recent years has seen a lot of good CRPG´s, many of which are listed here. :)

you've obviously never had a good DM before.. sure, there is no rule to say a DM can't give a player a billion XP for killing a bat or killing everyone with a falling rock.. but what would that accomplish?.. a good DM will create a living, breathing world in which your chars are but one small part (or use an existing one created for the particular system you are using).. there are rules and regulation in place when you're playing a pnp rpg.. it is true that they are more flexible.. but i find that's a good thing, esp. since i've DM'd once or twice in my gaming career.. these rules are not universal to pnp rpgs as there are many, many different systems and settings.. one for any fetish, as it were..

as to the imagination being a weak tool.. middle-earth came straight from one man's imagination.. one man.. as did the wheel of time series by robert jordan.. as have countless fantasy and sci/fi worlds since the beginning of the genres.. i might point out that all computer rpgs are also come from the mind of it's creators..

in closing.. that's a load of bull-hooey

^^

P&P: Whitewolf games in general, but especially Dark Ages: Vampire, and Mage: The Ascension.
D&D 2nd edition - Dark Sun campaign setting, and Forgotten Realms.

Console/Comp: #1 Chrono Trigger, #2 Chrono Cross, #3 Legend of Zelda: OoT, #4 FF3 (6), #5 Morrowind

I've noticed a few people mention The Bard's Tale. Well a new game called Devil Whiskey will be released soon, and this was inspired by the Bards Tale. Check out the link to find out more:

http://www.devilwhiskey.com/main.html

Final Fantasy 3 (6 in Japan)

No doubt about it.

FF7. Absolutely.