Your favorite RPGS

[108 Stars]

Correct me if im wrong but I don't recall a signal Final Fantasy using Kanji until ff5. Meaning that the original games took a lot of text space up because they where only using Katakana and Hiragana. I defiantly know this was the case with FF4

That´s possible, I don´t know. Yet even if the japanese texts could have been stored in space-consuming characters the English translations still did not fit in the same space and had to be cut. I remember there being an article about the leaked Final Fantasy II-prototype, where one of the guys responsible explained how hard it was to squeeze all neccessary info from the original japanese text into the English translation.

When I asked on romhacking.net about this topic (whether size restrictions really made a difference for English translations) I was also told that accurate translations usually take up about 50% more space.

Game devs did not usually waste space on their ROM-chips; they used the smallest size possible to save money. The texts just had into what was left after graphics, sound and game logic were done.

[Mr. Neil]

I remember there being an article about the leaked Final Fantasy II-prototype, where one of the guys responsible explained how hard it was to squeeze all neccessary info from the original japanese text into the English translation.

Exactly. And in the many, many interviews I've read or seen with people who did translations in early video games, I've never heard any of them NOT say this.

Heck, the guy in the Making Of Lunar disc for PlayStation was still griping about it, although he was talking about RAM. Even in those days, there were problems with getting the English language version to match the story of the Japanese original without running out of space.

It's also not fair to blame the simplicity of the stories on early games. Some of the earliest games, particularly Phantasy Star, had fairly competent stories that were extremely simplified in their American incarnations. Look at Final Fantasy IV. The SNES localization barely has a story, but more recent translations are far more robust, and it's not just due to the person doing the translation.

So to bring this around (before someone gets twitchy and LOCKS this), that's why I have a hard time with early RPGs. It's not that the genre was so new that they didn't know how to do characters. It was that the ROM size was so small that they couldn't afford to do any, especially in the western iterations. So my RPG favorites have always had a point of origin in the mid 16-bit era.

[mr3dx]

Final Fantasy X

[Clessy]

Final Fantasy X

Thats terms for a banning right there.

[mr3dx]

Thats terms for a banning right there.

for what?

[Clessy]

Thats terms for a banning right there.

for what?

Liking a horrid game

[108 Stars]

Clessy, seriously, you have crossed the line. FF X is my favorite video game of all time.

[Clessy]

Clessy, seriously, you have crossed the line. FF X is my favorite video game of all time.

You know what, you're on a temp ban for a week. I want you to think about your actions.

[reaperman]

Some of my favorite RPGs right off the top of my head:

Persona 4
Grandia II
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
Final Fantasy III (snes)
Final Fantasy VII (I'm not ashamed to say that it was great)
Fallout 3
Suikoden IV

and a couple more rpg-ish misc titles:
Deus Ex: Invisible War
Castlevania Symphony of the Night

I tend to lean a lot more sci-fi than fantasy. Actually I'm openly racist against elves, dwarves, orcs, and horses. I can't stand looking at them for any length of time. I also can't stand video games where the main character is too goody-goody.

[silverf0x0]

It's really difficult for me having an ordinable RPG preference scale. I'll mention Chrono Cross as I've notice no one have done it yet...

[108 Stars]

@reaperman

Now THAT´S interesting.

You mention a Suikoden game, yet the only one is Suikoden IV, whichis usually regarded as the worst entry in the series. I´m surprised to see someone have it in his favorites-list.

[Radchek]

Really can't decide on my favourite!

Zelda Link to the Past
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Dark Saviour
Shenmue 1 & 2
Shining Force 3
Final Fantasy 7
Albert Odyssey
Secret of Mana
Landstalker
Lunar 1&2 (Sega CD)
Infinite Undiscovery (really good game if you stick with it)
Elemental Gimmick Gear
Grandia 1 & 2
Evolution World of Sacred Device

All these but in no particular order

[silverf0x0]

@reaperman

Now THAT´S interesting.

You mention a Suikoden game, yet the only one is Suikoden IV, whichis usually regarded as the worst entry in the series. I´m surprised to see someone have it in his favorites-list.

Well if I'm not mistaken 108 Star, you put Final Fantasy VIII in your list as second entry (maybe it wasn't an ordered list...).
It's actually one of the worst among the Final Fantasy series...
(Anyone have its taste... )

Really can't decide on my favourite!

Zelda Link to the Past
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Dark Saviour
Shenmue 1 & 2
Shining Force 3
Final Fantasy 7
Albert Odyssey
Secret of Mana
Landstalker
Lunar 1&2 (Sega CD)
Infinite Undiscovery (really good game if you stick with it)
Elemental Gimmick Gear
Grandia 1 & 2
Evolution World of Sacred Device

All these but in no particular order

I really like your list, finally someone who give a little glory to Elemetal Gimmick Gear...
I don't know if ShenMue can be accepted as RPG...

[108 Stars]

Really can't decide on my favourite!

Zelda Link to the Past
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Dark Saviour
Shenmue 1 & 2
Shining Force 3
Final Fantasy 7
Albert Odyssey
Secret of Mana
Landstalker
Lunar 1&2 (Sega CD)
Infinite Undiscovery (really good game if you stick with it)
Elemental Gimmick Gear
Grandia 1 & 2
Evolution World of Sacred Device

All these but in no particular order

Zelda, Landstalker, Dark Savior and Shenmue definately are not RPGs, but still great games.

@silverf0x0

I put it in order by series only, so all FFs appear together. It´s true that FF VIII kind of divides players, but it is not as universally panned as disappointment as Suikoden IV is with Suikoden-fans. I see it as a masterpiece. The junction-magic-system just rocks, and it successfuly eliminated thee importance of character levels. I also liked details like that you get a regular payment instead of collecting money from enemies, since your payment was based on your performace.
Lastly it had an awesome cinematic feel. The mixing of your polygon characters being playable while a great FMV is played in the background was a fantastic idea; the cuts between gameplay and cutscene were eliminated and playable scenes were arranged that the hardware of that time could never have done in real-time. The battle of the two Gardens was truly an epic experience.
The ballad "Eyes on Me" was a first in RPGs too, and remains one of my favorite songs in gaming.

The downside is the rushed ending; there was too little explanation on Arthemesia´s motives and the time compression overall. Also it was sad that you could not visit towns anymore on CD 4.

[Radchek]

Yeah, I suppose they could be loosely called action rpg's but technically they are action adventure games. Except Shenmue! I don't know what it is, supposedly it is FREE but I would say it was more of an interactive story, I loved every moment so I had to mention it.