Friday Five – Favorite RPGs

Welcome to the Friday Five! Each week we help you get to know our writers with the help of a top 5 list. This week we list our Favorite RPGs

This week for our Friday Five we’re going into the realm of Video Games so we can talk all about our Favorite RPG’s!

Chris

1. Pokemon – I’ve been playing these damn games since 1997, I’ve mentioned before on the site that I still have at least one version out of every generation, and pretty much all of them from Gameboy and GBA. They’re not the best RPG ever, but they are so simple to get started but impossible to master. Some of the more reason entries have really started to up the quality of the story too which makes them even more entertaining.
2. Final Fantasy IV – It was hard to pick just one Final Fantasy, but I wanted to narrow it down so I went with IV. It’s just such an amazing game, and I think it’s what made the series how it is today. Final Fantasy I-III were good games for there time, but were all lacking something special that IV had and has been around ever since.
3. Fire Emblem Awakening – This is just such a fun game, I’ve had it on a few other game related lists in the past which just goes to show how much I really enjoyed it. The story is great and the characters are easy to get attached to so you really don’t want to lose them in battle.
4. Kingdom Hearts 2 – C’mon son, who doesn’t love Kingdom Hearts? It mixes the best bits of Final Fantasy with all the awesome Disney characters you could hope for. I went with Kingdom Hearts 2 because for me this one just felt like it played the best. Sure the beginning was a little weird, but once you find out what’s going on it really opens a whole new level or lore for the series.
5. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic – This was such a fun game, I already loved Star Wars, but it hadn’t really had a good video game made for it. KOTOR knocked it out of the park though. I just wish they’d make a sequel that lived up to the original.

Honorable Mention: Mass Effect

Drootin

1. Final Fantasy Tactics – I believe I’ve stated multiple times on this site that FFT is my favorite game of all time. Its (to me) the perfect blend of gameplay and story and I could go back to it again and again.
2. Diablo III – The 3rd installment in the franchise has now fully usurped Diablo II as my favorite in the series. It’s so nice to not be locked into a build of skills and they’ve fixed the drop rates to make the game almost perfect.
3. Fallout 3 – Such a great combination of RPG and FPS. The story was was solid and very open, you could kill pretty much anyone you wanted, be a true hero or evil mastermind. Fallout 3 was one of my favorite games of the PS3/360 era.
4. Final Fantasy X – FFX is a beautiful game with a fun skill system (sphere grid) and is one of the easier modern RPGs for someone new to the genre to get into
5. Pokemon – I’ve played at least one game from every generation of the series. While its clearly targeted towards kids it is a surprisingly deep game. The games are fun even if the stories lack a little.

Shannon

1. Tales of Symphonia – One of the few games I’ve played more than once. I love the interactions between different characters, and the interesting storyline.
2. Pokemon – We grew up with Pokemon. We had the cards, the games, watched the show. Now we still go out and buy the new games, though I’ve never caught them all.
3. Skies of Arcadia – This game had a really cool dynamic with airship battles and hand to hand combat. I would love to see a remake of this one.
4. Dark Cloud – I like RPGs that have more than just battling and leveling up. Dark Cloud had dungeons to venture through and you had to rebuild the different towns you visited as well.
5. World of Warcraft – I had a hard time picking this last one, but I can always go back to WoW (budget permitting). There is so much to do in this game, and the mmo aspect helps for the game to never be the same, even if you play the same type of character again. Some of the things they’ve added more recently are a little cheesy, but there’s still the core game to play if you’re a purist.

Honorable Mentions – Diablo III and Final Fantasy X

Eric

RPG has become the genre to transcend them all. Every developer now strives to create some type of advancement system with stats and skills that fits their game. Every developer wants deep and meaningful plots. Every developer wants to create the next big game. The next big game is guaranteed to have plenty of RPG inspiration.

1. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – You can literally do anything! Go to every corner of the map. Search every house. Explore every dungeon. Battle every person, creature, zombie, and dragon to your hearts content. I’ve put well over 200 hours into this game and haven’t experienced everything yet. I still long to go back every now and again. In my eyes, Skyrim is the epitome of the Role Playing Genre. It is the game all games want to be, and the game that will be the standard in which I rate all others.
2. Final Fantasy Tactics – This was one of those games that just found it’s way into my life after a friend, Drootin, recommended it. Since then I’ve been hard pressed to find a better or worthwhile successor in the genre. Some have come close, but none have quite matched it’s strategy and intrigue so well.
3. Diablo – I can’t pick a single title out of the 3. The original earns a place for being slow and methodical, and for creating a brand. 2 earns a place for generating endless hours of calculating entertainment. And D3 is here for being the perfect advancement of the systems, allowing me to enjoy life away from the PC while still giving me the opportunity to experience everything this game has to offer. The Diablo franchise is dark, evil, and way too much god damned fun.
4. Borderlands 2 – Borderlands sort of combines everything good about Diablo with the immersive world of Skyrim, albeit with a hilarious twist. This FPS does all of the RPGing in the background with only a few numbers necessary to pay attention to. Skill trees, way too much loot, and 96.5% more wub wub than it’s predecessor, Borderlands 2 is just an all around fantastic experience, especially with friends.
5. Final Fantasy – I won’t pick a number because, like Diablo, each of these games brings something new to the table that makes it difficult to compare it to the next/last iteration. I will say that each game has successfully crafted a world that I want to visit. Each game contains a story that I want to take part in. They’re all as close to perfection as you can get for being a linear experience. Maybe someday we’ll get a huge Skyrim style version… I can dream, can’t I?

Vogel

1. Pokemon – Gameboy and DS only. I didn’t really like the GBA one’s for some reason.
2. Super Mario RPG – I go back and play this game once every few years. I rented it from Blockbuster week after week when I was a kid, never beating it. As an adult I went back and finally finished it. It’s definitely up there in my favorite games of all time.
3. Skyrim – I put so much time into this game. The story was pretty good, but I spent most of the time running around exploring.
4. Legend of Zelda – Link to the Past – One of my most favorite games ever. I’ve played through this game at least a dozen times.
5. World of Warcraft – I’ve quit this game so many times because of boredom, but they always come up with something that pulls me back in. I’ll be trying it again when the xpac comes out later this year. I’ll probably only play it for 2 months and then quit again, but I usually accomplish the things I care about in that time.

Chris talks a bunch on PodQuest each week. He's also been known to write about stuff from time to time. You can Email Chris or follow Chris on Twitter @Just_Cobb or Facebook

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