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The 5 Greatest RPGs Of All Time: A List With ZERO Nostalgia

RKRigney | June 03, 2008 | Top List | Playstation 2 Gamecube 
Sometimes a gamer needs to admit to themselves that the games that EVERYONE puts atop a pedestal as some of the greatest ever weren't REALLY all that good, or at the very least don't hold up worth up so great. So here's an honest, opinionated evaluation of the 5 Greatest RPGs of all time: written while NOT under the influence of blind nostalgia. You may applaud the author for his honesty, or curse his unborn babies for excluding your favorites. Either one is okay, and I encourage EVERY gamer to read this list. And wow, is number one a shocker... (no sarcasm intended)
As you can tell by the title, this article is going to be a countdown of my top five favorite RPGs of all time. Unlike every other list like this that you’ve seen before, however, this is not a list filled out with games that USED to be great, but are now about as fun as getting slapped in the melon with a large ham. This is a list of games that are STILL awesome, even if you played them today. In other words, Final Fantasy 7 and Chrono Trigger aren’t going to be wasting space here. These are titles that I personally found to be extremely enjoyable, so don’t spaz out if they aren’t your picks, it’s an opinion people. And it’s one that’s better than your own, so listen up.

Also, since it’s a “Top Five of All Time” list, things like great controls, working AI, graphics, frame-rate, localization, and whether or not the game is just a big smelly piece of what some Canadians like to call “garbage” (pronounced “garbaj”) are not really going to be talked about. It’s sort of a given that all the basics are working right.

With that outta the way, lets start it off with a SNES classic at number 5...
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  • 0 thumbs!
    kik36 | June 03, 2008
    Well I do really enjoy TWEWY.....Best game I've played in a LONG time!
  • 0 thumbs!
    ali3n | June 03, 2008
    I hadn't even heard of 'The World Ends With You' before, looks like it's worth checking out from what I've read of it. Personally I preferred Kingdom Hearts over Tales.
  • 0 thumbs!
    DusktoDawn | June 03, 2008
    WOW!! Symphonia was on the list?!!??!?!?!?

    one of BEST RPG GAME EVER FOR SURE, due to the multiplayer and amazing story.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Alvaroduck | June 03, 2008
    Phantasy Star IV shoudl've been on there. It's great, even by today's standards.
  • 0 thumbs!
    On Vacation | June 03, 2008
    ZOMG NO FINAL FANTASY 7!!!!111111?////??

    I agree with every single game there
  • 1 thumbs!
    Razentsu | June 03, 2008
    Awesome list. Tales of Symphonia and The World Ends With You are ****ing awesome.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Zeon I | June 03, 2008
    How did TWEWY get over Super Mario RPG? Nu more justice in the world of Video Games.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Moonrise | June 04, 2008
    The list is shit. They put SO3 on there (a game I love, mind you) when really it couldn't even hold a candle to SO2 in terms of storyline and characters.

    No Final Fantasy Tactics or Suikoden II? Give me a break.
  • 1 thumbs!
    Storm | June 04, 2008
    Zero nostalgia...hint hint.

    Which means they are going with the newer RPGs, not the older ones. Glad to see TWEWY up there.
  • 2 thumbs!
    Moonrise | June 04, 2008
    Seriously, Nostalgia has nothing to do with the fact that SOII was better overall than SOIII. You can't put Super Mario RPG on there and say there's no nostalgia involved.
    • 1 thumbs!
      Storm | June 04, 2008
      Hm, good point. Maybe this gamer didn't play SOII, or he just prefers SOIII, or perhaps he's only recently tried Super Mario RPG. Hard to say.
      • 1 thumbs!
        Fatal Error | June 04, 2008
        That's true, because quite frankly it's a damn hard game to find (as well as Suikoden II). That said, if you wanted to rate all of these games now then graphics would have some effect on people's opinions as well. I'm not put off by them (I'd play Chrono Trigger if it was released today), there are a lot of people that think otherwise.
    • 0 thumbs!
      TwilightPrince | June 07, 2008
      Nostalgia or not, Super Mario RPG is still one of the greatest RPGs of all time. Anyone could still play the game today and be impressed by it.

      It truly never gets old.
      • 1 thumbs!
        Fatal Error | June 07, 2008
        The absolute same can be said about Star Ocean II, Suikoden II, Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy VI, and Chrono Trigger. Am I missing something?
        • -3 thumbs!
          TwilightPrince | June 08, 2008
          Not really. Star Ocean II, Suikoden II, and Final Fantasy Tactics are hardly considered the greatest RPGs of all time. And Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger both feel outdated when re-playing them.

          This is not the case with Super Mario RPG. No matter how many times you play that game, you'll always find something new to amaze or impress you.
        • 1 thumbs!
          Fatal Error | June 08, 2008
          Uh, not really. I've played Super Mario RPG plenty of times and it lacks the replayability that each of the other games I listed does. As fun as it was the first time, it carries nothing that the other games don't and feels just as outdated, if not more.

          Oh, and the reason they aren't considered the "greatest" is that 1) they were limited in supply, resulting in fewer people playing them and 2) They didn't belong to a mainstream series at the time. Final Fantasy Tactics is only not listed because it belongs to the SRPG genre which happens to be a bit more niche than standard RPGs.
  • 0 thumbs!
    MusiKon | June 04, 2008
    Aside from Kingdom Hearts, this is a "top" list I can get behind.
  • 0 thumbs!
    Gothic Girl | June 04, 2008
    Apart from Kingdom Hearts, that's a pretty decent list. (though I don't agree that some of the oldies are only good for nostalgia *cough*FFVII*cough)

    I have nothing against Kingdom Hearts, by the way. It's just certainly not a series that would come even close to being the "best" RPGs, let alone the best of all time. There are plenty of better RPGs (some even on PS2) that were beter, but didn't get any recognition because Squeenix's games were constantly in the limelight.
    • 0 thumbs!
      JayCat | June 04, 2008
      KH had some of the best level design.
      • 0 thumbs!
        Gothic Girl | June 07, 2008
        I'll give it that. Some of those level designs were awesome.
  • -2 thumbs!
    Final Blade | June 04, 2008
    KH is the only thing that makes this list somewhat decent. KH should be one of the greatest RPG's since the FF10 was the last good FF game. KH1+2 was the best for PS2.
  • 0 thumbs!
    RKRigney | June 04, 2008
    How about some of you guys go drop a comment on the article? The only people commenting on it are the ones that hate it AND ME for writing it lol
    • 0 thumbs!
      Fatal Error | June 04, 2008
      That requires we actually navigate away from this page. D=
      • 1 thumbs!
        RKRigney | June 04, 2008
        technically so would reading the article... which is exactly what most people posting negative comments about it haven't done.
        • 0 thumbs!
          Gothic Girl | June 04, 2008
          I commented at the source. I'm awesome like that.
        • 0 thumbs!
          Fatal Error | June 04, 2008
          The primary difference is that we're already here. There's no necessity for us to comment there when we could comment here.

          There's also the whole thing with comments not working there in the first place, so...yeah.
  • 1 thumbs!
    RKRigney | June 04, 2008
    Yeah the system got janked. Sorry!
  • 1 thumbs!
    StabWound | June 04, 2008
    More like "Top 5 RPGS for casuals"

    Any credible list would include the Shin Megami Tensei series (no NOT persona)

    "The 20 Japanese RPGs you need to play before you die" list was far better than this garbage.
    • 0 thumbs!
      Moonrise | June 04, 2008
      I can't believe I forgot to mention Nocturne. D= Such a good game, just confusing.
  • 2 thumbs!
    Sonic Flash | June 04, 2008
    KH1/2 and SMRPG are two of my favorite RPGs, but in no way would I have the stones to call them some of THE best RPGs.
  • 1 thumbs!
    Tainted | June 04, 2008
    TWEWY is good, as in, best DS game ever good, but top of the RPG list? I'm not sure. I'd put it on the list definitely, but I think there have been better RPGs. It seems that he isn't a fan of the traditional turn-based RPGs, which I can agree with on some level. But I also enjoy popping in Final Fantasy X once in awhile.
    • 0 thumbs!
      TwilightPrince | June 07, 2008
      Wow, is TWEWY really that good?

      I might have to give it a rent if thats the case. I feel like I'm missing out.
  • 0 thumbs!
    kspiess | June 04, 2008
    If the list doesn't include Fallout 2, I'm not going to read it.

    Has to be at least one PC RPG on their.

    Making a list like this across all platforms is impossible.
  • 2 thumbs!
    DusktoDawn | June 04, 2008
    Kingdom hearts is an RPG?

    KH = RPG???????

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