Favorite past-gen RPG and why...

[Jpwolf]

damn it, i forgot ultima VII

 

[Juk3n]

Skies of Arcadia - hands down...
Huge World.
Pirate references.
Great story.
Great locales.
Pirate references.
Awesome soundtrack.
Nice battle system
Perfectly wrapped up at the end.

 

[drivel]

I'm well aware of Nehrim. It's also 50 hours long, and is basically a different game. A game I don't like.

Fair enough!

I actually quite enjoy Tidus' voice acting. Sure sometimes he gets a little whiny, but I just really love how the voice actor manages to create almost two different voices: one for the Tidus in the game, and one for the Tidus narrating the game. Tidus the narrator just sounds like he's been through a lot more than Tidus the game character, and has more maturity as a result. Which is a pretty impressive thing to do with just your voice.

That's an interesting point. I can actually hear that difference in my head, having recently watched a Let's Play of FFX. Makes a lot of sense.

 

[KwaggaDan]

As a kid, playing an RPG for the first time and being old enough to understand it:

Final Fantasy VII and VIII

As an adult, looking back on a golden age:

Chrono Trigger (which I now bought for my DS and which is still fun) and Fallout 1...

I guess what I'm trying to say is it's almost impossible to narrow it down to one single game. Even the awful RPGs like FF XIII still made some sort of impact, bad or good.

 

[Kais86]

Earthbound. No, really.

 

[drivel]

Earthbound. No, really.

That's cause it's the best ever.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

I'm well aware of Nehrim. It's also 50 hours long, and is basically a different game. A game I don't like.

Fair enough!

I actually quite enjoy Tidus' voice acting. Sure sometimes he gets a little whiny, but I just really love how the voice actor manages to create almost two different voices: one for the Tidus in the game, and one for the Tidus narrating the game. Tidus the narrator just sounds like he's been through a lot more than Tidus the game character, and has more maturity as a result. Which is a pretty impressive thing to do with just your voice.

That's an interesting point. I can actually hear that difference in my head, having recently watched a Let's Play of FFX. Makes a lot of sense.

Also, don't forget it was FF's first foray into voice work.

And the awesomeness:

 

[x EvilErmine x]

Final Fantasy VII, VIII, X, and XII

Edit
oops forgot to add the 'why'...Well i like the story/art style/world

 

[Artina89]

For me, it has to be Persona 3: FES and Persona 4. Both these games are amazing in that they are similar, yet not at all. I mean, you don't have to play through Persona 3 to enjoy and understand Persona 4, but there are little tidbits that almost reward the Persona 4 player for playing Persona 3, for example, Margaret's backstory and the school trip which comes to mind. That, and the characters are rich, well thought out and have their own backstory and personalities. I must admit though Junpei (P3) and Yosuke (P4) really get on my nerves sometimes, but at other times I like their characters and their flaws. I really enjoy the games and I hope the Persona series keeps on delivering quality games and story.

 

[dkyros]

Super Mario RPG Legend of the Seven Stars. Simply bc it was my first and those always seem to leave impressions on you. *wink*

 

[trooper6]

Morrowind. It is, IMHO, one of the best written sandbox RPGs. It is much better than Oblivion and Fallout 3. It has a complicated political landscape that draws the player in and the side quests mostly feed back into the socio-political landscape. So it never feels too random. Also, there is a really compelling mystery: Are you the Nereverine? Or are you some plant sent in by the Emperor to further control the island? The answer that you get by the end is novel and really makes one think. The different factions, everything. Ultimately, I cared about Morrowind and its Dunmer. The game dealt with colonialism and cultural relativism soooo well. Is was simply exceedingly well written. And...Oblivion and Falllout 3...which have better graphics (it that's all you care about)...just weren't as compelling for me in the writing department.

KotOR 1&2. I like both of them for different reasons. KotOR 1 had a couple a amazing plot moments. KotOR 2 improved on KotOR when it came to subtlety and characterization...but had the ending problem.

Fable. Its humor, it's game mechanics, its art direction, it's wonderful balance between the very sandboxy stile of Morrowind and the very scripted style of KotOR.

And yeah, I'm an Xbox player--so I can't comment on PS2 exclusives. Or things that were out for PC but not for Mac.

Oh! Deus Ex!!!

 

[JDviewer]

For the PS1, Final Fantasy VII. My brothers and I loved the gameplay and storyline. Walking through Midgar, climbing the rubble to reach shinra headquarters in the first part of the game, i get goosebumps thinking about it.

For the PS2 I would have to say Persona 4, amazing characters, and a cool storyline as well. I wasn't sure of the whole Social Link concept, but it made me appreciate the characters more and even contributed to improved skills in battle.

 

[Caligulove]

If by past gen you mean pre-sixth-generation? I would have to say Earthbound. Was very happy to get that off a friend back in the 90's when he sold off his SNES- that game is pretty hard to come by nowadays. Great, great game.

 

[Jazoni89]

Any time I hear rpg the first thing that pops up is Baten Kaitos for the GC so I guess I'll go with that.

Now you are speaking my language.

Gold fucking star for you sir for mentioning the most underrated RPG of all time.

I can't express in words how much i love that game.

 

[LitleWaffle]

My first and favorite forever and ever would have to be Golden Sun. Such a good game that rarely people know about.

If you haven't played it, I am so sorry for your lost everything.

Oh, and I played Earthbound my first time last year (my first console was a gamecube, so shush). And I still consider it to be better than most JRPG's out there.

*High Fives Existence*

 

[Tarlane]

Absolute favorite is probably Kotor.

Beyond that, the ones I have really enjoyed is a pretty long list. Here are some other great ones, in no particular order:

Fallout 1 & 2
Baldur's Gate 1 & 2
Temple of Elemental Evil
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
Chrono Trigger
Earthbound
Gothic
Planescape: Torment
Lufia and the Fortress of Doom
Suikoden
Final Fantasy 4, 5, 6 & 7
Morrowind
Swords and Serpents
Ultima Quest of the Avatar
Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday(way better than you would expect)
Secret of Mana
Phantasy Star IV
ShadowRun(Genesis and SNES)
Landstalker
Beyond Oasis
Crystalis
Crusader of Centy
Super Mario RPG

I'm sure there are a lot more I am forgetting that I've spent way too much time on.

 

[moose_man]

As of the end of March, TWEWY.

But that's cheating, so I choose KOTOR of Symphonia.

 

[newwiseman]

morrowind because it had a great atmosphere, a huge world, and gave you infinite freedom.

Same, with out doing any of the guild or main quests there was hours of available exploration with vivid characters and diverse landscapes. Not to mention the freedom of the character to do what they wish was and remains second to none.

Not even oblivion competed with the freedom and openness of Morrowind, Oblivion was just bigger and prettier with less to do in the country side. Hope Skyrim will be as good as Morrowind still is.