IGN's top 100 RPG's of all time

[GreenLantern]

IGN is putting together a list of their top 100 RPG's of all time, completing the list by Sept 14th. I will update this as more games are released...

100. Ys Book I and II
99. Lunar: Eternal Blue
98. Shadow Hearts: Covenant
97. Final Fantasy VIII
96. Phantasy Star
95. The Legend of the Dragoon
94. Vagrant Story
93. Tales of Phantasia
92. Diablo III
91. Fable II
90. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
89. Fallout: New Vegas
88. Final Fantasy IX
87. Lufia II: Rise of the Sinestrals
86. Shadowrun
85. Breath of Fire III
84. Kingdom Hearts
83. Fire Emblem
82. Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven
81. Dragon Warrior VII
80: Dungeon Master
79: Icewind Dale 2
78: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
77: Tales of Symphonia
76: Illusion of Gaia
75: Front Mission 3
74: Wizardry 8
73: Final Fantasy
72: Grandia II
71: The Bard's Tale
70: Demon's Souls
69: Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3
68: Kingdom Hearts II
67: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
66: Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
65: Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
64: Final Fantasy X
63: Skies of Arcadia
62: The World Ends With You
61: Chrono Cross
60: EVE Online
59: Phantasy Star IV
58: Freedom Force
57: Mass Effect 2
56: Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
55: Monster Hunter Tri
54: Neverwinter Nights 2
53: Ultima VII: The Black Gate
52: Odin Sphere
51: Wild Arms
50: Golden Sun
49: Dragon Quest V
48: Tales of Destiny
47: Xenogears
46: Pool of Radiance
45: Disgaea
44: Suikoden II
43: Valkyria Chronicles
42: Lunar: Silver Star Story
41: Xenoblade Chronicles
40: Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen
39: Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss
38: Phantasy Star II
37: Guild Wars
36: Shining Force II
35: Pokémon Black & White
34: Fallout
33: Ultima Online
32: The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
31: Neverwinter Nights
30: Jade Empire
29: Dragon Warrior/Quest
28: Fallout 2
27: Dragon Quest VIII
26: Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
25: Deus Ex
24: Baldur's Gate
23: Phantasy Star Online
22: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
21: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
20: EverQuest
19: System Shock 2
18: Dark Souls
17: EarthBound
16: Diablo
15: Secret of Mana
14: Final Fantasy Tactics
13: Planescape: Torment
12: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
11: Final Fantasy VII
10: Fallout 3
9: Mass Effect
8: World of Warcraft
7: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
6: Diablo II
5: Final Fantasy IV
4: Pokémon Red/Blue
3: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
2: Chrono Trigger
1: Final Fantasy VI

Updated as they release daily..

http://ca.ign.com/top/rpgs

[GreenLantern]

I stopped playing RPGs for the most part around the mid Playstation/N64 days... I haven't found a game good enough to drag me back in. I was a huge fan of the Ogre Battle and Lufia series, as well as the early Final Fantasies.

On that list so far I have beat..

Breath of Fire III
Fire Emblem
Lufia II

And have played a handful of others. I agree with the ranking of BoF and Lufia, basically getting a nod just for being good sequels to better games. It will be fun to watch this list unfold. Diablo 3 does not belong on this list.

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Similarly, 1up.com has been doing the 100 most influential video games of all time as well.

http://www.1up.com/features/cover-es...l-100-part-one

I believe they're up to around 48 right now.

As for RPGs... number one will be a tough call. I'd have to pick FFVI, with Chronotrigger making top 5, because those two are my favourites.

[cDnStealth]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern

I stopped playing RPGs for the most part around the mid Playstation/N64 days... I haven't found a game good enough to drag me back in. I was a huge fan of the Ogre Battle and Lufia series, as well as the early Final Fantasies.

On that list so far I have beat..

Breath of Fire III
Fire Emblem
Lufia II

And have played a handful of others. I agree with the ranking of BoF and Lufia, basically getting a nod just for being good sequels to better games. It will be fun to watch this list unfold. Diablo 3 does not belong on this list.

Amazing game. I've been meaning to buy both Ogre Battle and Ogre Battle 64 on my Wii for a long time. Might just do that this weekend.

[Rathji]

I find that including Diablo as an RPG is doing the genre a great disservice.

[GreenLantern]

Originally Posted by cDnStealth

Amazing game. I've been meaning to buy both Ogre Battle and Ogre Battle 64 on my Wii for a long time. Might just do that this weekend.

I still have my original Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen limited edition PS1 remake... I did have the SNES version at one point but loaned it out and it was never returned.

One of the best games I ever played for sure. I expect to see it in the top 50.. maybe 40. It wasn't as popular as a lot of the others.

I keep waiting for Atlus to announce a new one so I can buy a console again, but it seems like the only Ogre Battle saga we have seen recently is on the hand held.

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Originally Posted by Rathji

I find that including Diablo as an RPG is doing the genre a great disservice.

Agreed. But the list in itself is going to be somewhat ridiculous and super subjective. Shin Megami Tensei barely breaking 100 is already kind of silly.

I think if you take this as a "name 100 RPGs that you may recognize if not played" list instead, you'll be much less disappointed.

[Komskies]

IMO FF9 should be much higher than 88. That game was goddamn incredible.

[ma-skis.com]

i have a feeling that FF3(SNES) Legend of Zelda ocarina of time (N64) FF7 playstation, chronotrigger will all break top 5,

[eden]

Originally Posted by Komskies

IMO FF9 should be much higher than 88. That game was goddamn incredible.

Agree 100% with this, I haven't checked the whole list since I'm at work right now, but I have a hard time believing that there are 87 RPGs better than FF9 as it was amazing. Definitley my favorite genre of games though so I'm looking forward to checking out the rest of the list soon.

[LGA]

Glad to see Shadow Hearts: Covenant on there, really good game and a huge step up from it's predecessor.

[Raekwon]

Yeah FF3 will be #1

[northcrunk]

Number 1 of all time......FFVII on PsONE.

A fan recently created FFVII on Little Big Planet 2, so epic. Here's the link to the IGN article:

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2012/09/1...tlebigplanet-2

Here is his youtube page, 30 minute videos:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...eature=mh_lolz

I can't believe there is so much inaction on a re-make. This is the best Final Fantasy game in the series and the most deserving of a re-make. Someone has even started to re-make the game using the Unreal engine:

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/12/fan-ffvii-remake/

[cDnStealth]

Originally Posted by northcrunk

Number 1 of all time......FFVII on PsONE.

A fan recently created FFVII on Little Big Planet 2, so epic. Here's the link to the IGN article:

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2012/09/1...tlebigplanet-2

Here is his youtube page, 30 minute videos:

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...eature=mh_lolz

I can't believe there is so much inaction on a re-make. This is the best Final Fantasy game in the series and the most deserving of a re-make. Someone has even started to re-make the game using the Unreal engine:

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/12/fan-ffvii-remake/

Final Fantasy VII is totally over rated. I think most people would agree that VI was better.

[Esoteric]

Originally Posted by northcrunk

I can't believe there is so much inaction on a re-make. This is the best Final Fantasy game in the series and the most deserving of a re-make.=\=

The game industry honestly has no idea what to remake, and what to make half the time.

If Nintendo ever made a full 3D Pokemon RPG for a console, I'd gladly buy a console just to play it, and I'm sure the game would make them millions of dollars, but they just don't want to do it.

[Traditional_Ale]

I would consider FF8 and Xenogears to be two of the better RPGs that have been made.

[northcrunk]

Originally Posted by cDnStealth

Final Fantasy VII is totally over rated. I think most people would agree that VI was better.

FFVI was great as well. I wish they would just re-make 1-9 in HD instead of producing linear garbage like 13.

[HPLovecraft]

In my opinion, the entire Final Fantasy brand is greatly overrated (though I had a great deal of fun with all the SNES ones when I was growing up). The stories are often convoluted messes (maybe this is an issue with translation), the character design has steadily gotten more and more ridiculous, and if IGN were to make a top 100 most annoying video game characters list, you'd likely find a lot of FF characters near the top of it. I felt that franchise hit its peak with FF3 (6, whatever), and 7. I couldn't stand the emo lead of 8, and 9 was only good because its references to all the prior Final Fantasys. Not to mention you're not even really playing a "role" of any sort; your character is predetermined for you, for the most part.

My choice for the #1 RPG of all time is an easy one, for me. Baldur's Gate 2. The story is one of the greatest ever put into an RPG (how often do you get to play as the son of the god of murder?!), the characters, the epicness, the tactical battles and their variety . . . Unfortunately, I think that kind of RPG is dead in today's age. A lot of it likely has to do with the costs of designing games now, and, I'll be perfectly honest, the focus on consoles.

#2 would be Fallout 2. The writing in that game is arguably better than BG2 (especially the humour). #3 would be Planescape: Torment, just because of the writing (which is basically the entire game. You can go hours without even getting close to a combat encounter).

Oh, how I pine for the golden age of CRPGs . . .

Edit: And if anyone is interested in playing a really under-rated, often over-looked RPG, try Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura.

[Mazrim]

If FFVII is anywhere in the top 10 of IGN's list, then the whole exercise of making this list is a waste. Maybe if this is the top 100 overrated games of all time...

[GreenLantern]

I struggle with a lot of this because it is hard to compare say Dragon Warrior with a game like Fall Out.

You really have to look at it in the context of its time period and constraints. Given the technology that was available and the calibre of game play for the early 90's, I would say that FF3 was a fricken' master piece, with Chrono Trigger nearing on perfection. But if you compared them say graphically or even some of the story line to a lot of today's RPG's they may look like crap.

I think we are all forgetting the best game to come out of the FF series anyway, Final Fantasy Tactics.