IGN's top 100 RPG's of all time

[PegCityFlamesFan]

Super Mario RPG was boss!! Those damn Power Rangers were tough as hell.

[Knalus]

Good to see some love for Freedom Force. Now there was an awesome game. Similar to Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, or Diablo, but in a comic book. So much fun.

[AR_Six]

Originally Posted by Hatter

You people who think FF7 and FF9 were better than 8 are crazy!

8 goes completely off the rails once it hits the third act and turns into a total fustercluck. The whole "futuristic continent" is completely incongruent with the rest of the game. The dream sequence foreshadowing is really great and it seemed like they just had no idea what to do with it. Pretty much they had an idea for a game but only had enough plot concept surrounding that idea for about one disc's worth. The "outer space" part is just painful. The random insertion of a main villain at the end who you basically don't even know exists for the majority of the game shows they just had no idea what to do with it.

FF7's best feature was pacing. It did this far better than any other FF game, but FF9 was close. The problem with 9 was that it was a bit anticlimactic and a lot of the landscapes were pretty bleak (at times monotonously so), but it was a heart and soul FF title right down to the black mages.

[kirant]

I'm a bit disappointed Fire Emblem was 83rd, especially since Disgaea hit 45. Then again, it's not really an RPG as much as a TBS game (even compared to Disgaea), so I guess I don't have a right to complain.

Originally Posted by Ashasx

7. Tales of Vesperia - the Tales games are always known for their characters, and I think they did it best with this game.

Personally would put Symphonia above it (ending of Vesperia felt a little weak), but I guess that's opinion. Wouldn't mind seeing Vesperia up there though...those two are the strongest by far.

Some games I'd like to see end up on the list:
- Final Fantasy I. You'll probably notice a trend here: I list a lot of old games. We have to treat a game as it was when it was made. Goldeneye was a revolutionary FPS which would barely pass as bargain bin today. It's still a top FPS in my mind though because it altered the genre that much. As much as I hate to say it, Halo has the same effect. Taking this back to Final Fantasy, it defines RPG. There are few games I think faster when someone says "RPG video game".
- Final Fantasy VII. See above. It has aged horribly since most mechanics are overdone or cliche now, but its the effect it had on the genre. It did so many things you couldn't find at the time in an RPG (well, JRPG in this case): Unreliable narrator, jumping straight into the action and, while not the first to do so, used a major character death which can't be altered.
- Baldur's Gate 2...like I need reason here
- Super Mario RPG.
- Baten Kaitos. I absolutely love the game once you turn off voices. It's an incredibly unique card-RPG combat system. Probably won't land on it because it's a bit out of the way.
- Eternal Sonata. Same thing.
- Pokemon. C'mon. You can't ignore a game which created its own genre. It's a joke if you take the time to learn the tactics and proper strategy for the story (pick up one pokemon to sweep, the rest to sit around and use HMs), but it's still a heck of a lot of fun.
- Mount and Blade. Really buggy, but one of my personal favourites from the recent years. Really ambitious and interesting open ended game.

[HPLovecraft]

Neverwinter Nights . . . 2? At #54? Didn't expect that, considering there are a bunch of games that came before that I would say were a lot better. Witcher 2, for instance.

[Ashasx]

I think Fable 1 was better than Fable 2.

I hate how they moved from armor to lame cloths. So lame.

[JurassicTunga12]

Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2 are my favorite RPGs

[kyuusei]

Originally Posted by cDnStealth

As you said, ME2 really moved away from the RPG aspects that were present in the first game. The game did have a more fluid dialogue system with better conversation animations and as you pointed out, the interrupts were really great. I wish they hadn't simplified it so much. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mass Effect ahead of ME2. I thought the story was much better and I enjoyed modding my weapons/armour. I wonder if 3 will make the list?

Yeah, I didn't like how streamlined it was, but I loved ME2 as a game (though maybe not an RPG) all the same for the characters and such. Mass Effect will for sure crack the top 20, as for ME3... it's hard to say. They did a lot of things well, ####ed up a lot more, and it was more RPG than ME2 while still not doing it as well as ME1 did. I'm with you, I loved modding my weapons and armour in 1.

Today's update:

#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

I like the BioWare love here. Bethesda too, but I'm more for Fallout than for TES.

Pokémon B/W at 35 is an interesting choice... I've never been a fan though. Same with Dragon Quest.

Super Mario: Seven Stars was actually my first RPG, but not the one that got me into RPGs. That was Chrono Trigger.

So it looks like certain FFs, Chrono Trigger, (hopefully) Mass Effect, KoTOR, etc. will crack the top 20. Wait, what about Dragon Age?...

[Devils'Advocate]

Bah, Dragon Quest VIII should have been in the top 10. Top 5 even.

[Mike F]

Originally Posted by kyuusei

Today's update:

#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

I like the BioWare love here. Bethesda too, but I'm more for Fallout than for TES.

Pokémon B/W at 35 is an interesting choice... I've never been a fan though. Same with Dragon Quest.

Super Mario: Seven Stars was actually my first RPG, but not the one that got me into RPGs. That was Chrono Trigger.

So it looks like certain FFs, Chrono Trigger, (hopefully) Mass Effect, KoTOR, etc. will crack the top 20. Wait, what about Dragon Age?...

The placement of Fallout 2, Deus Ex, ad Baldur's Gate is terrible, IMO.

You've got the best turn-based RPG, one of, if not the best first person RPGs (System Shock 2 may have bettered it), and the game that finally got D&D right in a cRPG, bested by only BG2 amongst cRPGs in the implementation of D&D.

[likwid888]

Awesome, this means that my favorite game of all time and severely underrated RPG, Earthbound, made the Top 20!

[HPLovecraft]

I'm surprised Fallout 1 and 2 are so low. Also, the same for BG and Super Mario RPG. Oblivion ahead of most of those games is pretty iffy to me.

[kyuusei]

Unless I missed something, hopefully this means Secret of Mana made the top 20, too.

And some of the other SMTs. Nocturne, at least.

[Komskies]

This was my first RPG.



Yes it was incredibly simplistic, but I have tons of fond memories playing this game. The first time I saw my next door neighbor playing this I knew I had to have it. This is the game that started it all for me.

[Komskies]

Also, I'm kind of surprised Lufia/II haven't been on the list yet - unless it's in the top 40 somewhere - which is entirely possible.

[gallione11]

Originally Posted by Komskies

Also, I'm kind of surprised Lufia/II haven't been on the list yet - unless it's in the top 40 somewhere - which is entirely possible.

Lufia II was in the high 70s I think. Personally, although I enjoyed both games, I think the experience gain in that game missed the boat. The original was too slow and the "Retry" mode was too fast. 2X the normal experience would have been perfect to me.

[Cain]

An unranked list of the top games I have ever wasted many hours in:

FF 4/6/7/Tactics (FFT so very good)
BG 1/2
TES Morrowind/Oblivion/Skyrim (loved oblivion despite many critics)
Ogre Battle
Xenogears
System Shock 2
Deus Ex 1
Celtic tales: Balor of the evil eye (old, random, not sure what genre it falls into totally, but frick I loved this game)

They really need to make more games like FFT. Ok, they need to make more of all my favorite games.

[Devils'Advocate]

Unfortunately Square ruined their FFT line with FFTA and FFTA2. The story behind FFT was brutal, dark, played the cynical vs the idealism of the protagonist... it was very adult. FFTA's story seemed to appeal to 7 year olds. And beyond that, the law system is nothing if not annoying.

To the BG2 fans:
http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Bal...ine-46887.html

[Mike F]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

To the BG2 fans:
http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Bal...ine-46887.html

Looks great, but I'll believe it when I see a final product.

There were very ambitious projects started with the NWN engine that always petered out.

[HPLovecraft]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

Unfortunately Square ruined their FFT line with FFTA and FFTA2. The story behind FFT was brutal, dark, played the cynical vs the idealism of the protagonist... it was very adult. FFTA's story seemed to appeal to 7 year olds. And beyond that, the law system is nothing if not annoying.

To the BG2 fans:
http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Bal...ine-46887.html

Even if it is never released, that cut-scene is still pretty great (even if Imoen looks a little goofy, and Jaheira looks too young). There's already a DA:O mod that allows you to replay the Irenicus's torture dungeon, though it doesn't include very many new textures and whatnot, I don't think.