RPG games are amongst the most popular types of genres in the gaming community. Rich stories, customizable characters, epic adventures and enticing combat all mark the engaging elements of the genre. In celebration, here is a quick list of the best RPGs in history.
#5 Dark Souls
Dark Souls is a Western-styled action RPG that utilizes Eastern horror and it was made in Japan. In a nutshell, Dark Souls is a modern RPG that blends a lot of elements from action-horror games but it does so in such a perfect way that its proper genre doesn’t really manner. It is punishingly difficult but equally rewarding. Mass Effect and Fallout 3 could have tied for this spot as well but Dark Souls simply offers a more rewarding feeling due to its escalating difficulty that requires timing, skill, and dedication.
#4 Final Fantasy IX
While VI is often regarded as the best of the 2D titles and VII is the most popular, IX is often regarded as the perfect Final Fantasy. It is unfortunate that it is always overshadowed by its more popular brethren. Even series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi stated that IX was his favorite title in the series. It was a homage to the past games but still pushed forward with its beautiful presentation, streamlined game play, and wonderful cast of characters.
#3 Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn
There are a myriad of Western RPG’s that barely made this list such as Diablo II, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, but none of them have perfected the Western-style of RPG as Baldur’s Gate II did. It was Dungeons and Dragons done right. Players were thrown into an epic quest with all the tabletop freedom that D&D had to offer, save this time it was on a computer instead of a living room table.
Baldur’s Gate II would go on to inspire the Dragon Age series, MMO games like World of Warcraft, and others.
#2 Pokemon Gold/Silver and Crystal
Pokemon games are often left out of “The Best Games” lists but there is no doubt that these games execute perfect gaming mechanics. While the newest titles boast updated graphics and online multiplayer, it was the second generation (Gold, Silver, and Crystal) that elevated the series as a gaming legend. Gold, Silver, and Crystal introduced a day/night cycle, in-game communication, 100 new critters to capture, a complex breeding system, and an entire new map (the whole world of Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow) as a post-game reward.
#1 Chrono Trigger
Behind this project were Hironobu Sakaguchi, the man behind Final Fantasy, Yuji Horii, creator of Dragon Quest, and Akira Toriyama, the artist and creator of Dragon Ball. Composing the music were Yasunori Mitsuda and legendary composer Nobuo Uematsu. The story was done by Masato Kato, the man who also penned the highly acclaimed Final Fantasy VII. In all sense of the word, this was the dream team.
Chrono Trigger had a simple but elegant time-travelling story that had several endings. It was littered with characters spanning the eons, from a futuristic robot to an ancient anti-hero of a time long-forgotten. It shared a similar combat system with its Final Fantasy brethren but it was refined to near perfection, with the inclusion of dual-techs and triple-techs. There has yet to be an RPG this amazing.