RPG rating lists are serious business so I'm updating mine.
Games I haven't finished are starred like this *.
The sheer amount of unstarred games in this list is terrifying.
I don't know how I still manage to look and act normal in social situations, and not be the most disturbing, least educated person ever.
Games I appreciate more nowadays include:
- Literally every SaGa game. I initially hated weird SaGa mechanics like everyone else. But give it 20 years and they'll grow on you!!!
- Dumb Final Fantasies (FFVIII and X-2): There is a lot of fun in a dumb Final Fantasy game. I can spend all day breaking FF8 or playing card games.
I should note here that my view of Disc 1 Squall went like this : "Wow, Squall is cool" (at release in 2000) -> "Jesus, Squall, stop being such a jerk" (10 years ago) -> "Actually everybody in FF8 is insane, so I can relate. Not to shunning Quistis though, come on dude what the frig" (now)
- Breath of Fire 4, The Dark Spire and Shadow Hearts 1: Points for style / music.
I remember a magazine I read all the time in the early 2000s called "Gameplay RPG". It went into a frothing 20 Page 10/10 review of FFX, then spent less than half a page on Shadow Hearts saying basically "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS how dares this game be released at the same time as FFX"
- Front Mission 3: This game has a HUGE fake Internet, circa 1999. I loved it then, I love it even more now. Screw the giant mechs. I only played the story to unlock old web 1.0 websites.
- Front Mission 4: I was initially relatively harsh on this game, because i was really sad that there was no fake Internet...
- Old SMT: I'm starting to really like old, clunky as hell, MegaTen. I cannot explain it.
- Legend of Mana: I haven't played this in ages, I remember being a bit disturbed when a lot of these cute NPCs acted way meaner and selfish than you'd expect from characters in RPGs. Of course I've realized it's a good thing since then. Man. Just imagine if that game had a cool battle system. Just Seiken Densetsu 3's? It would have been amazing.
Games I see as worse nowadays:
- Shadow Hearts 3: Remember Hilda guys? ....
- Borderlandses: In Borderlands the shooting is not crunchy at all (just compare Serious Sam BFE to this), there is too much white noise, the humor is terrible. (I give Portal 2 this: It's funnier)
- Personas (Except P2 EP): High school setting = Boring.
- Fables: In general, the novelty of "3D Action RPGs!" has worn off; Fable comes off as really mediocre now.
- NIS games in general: I already had given them pretty low ratings before, but I found some ways to remove even more points. Neat!!
- Magna Carta Tears of Blood: I wanted to pick one Worst RPG Of All Time and put it in a new -1/10 category. It was a difficult choice, but, in the end, it couldn't have been anything but Magna Carta.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUO7x_U9tHgNew games:
- The Third Birthday: 2/10. This game has allright gameplay. And tons of fanservice for a girl who's actually a 10 year old girl trapped in a grown woman's body. Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope.
- Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei: 5/10. This is old SMT but slightly better. Props for the impossible to remember title.
- Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning: 2/10. I didn't even last one dungeon before stopping playing this game. It is a super generic game. Just look at its super generic title. I would have called it "Kingdom of Kyuuyaku: (358/9)+3^n days".
- Persona 4: 4/10. When Persona 4's charm doesn't work on you, you're not left with much reason for playing.
- Elminage Original: 5/10. In this game I love the art and literally nothing else. Every enemy is cool like this.
http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2013/41/1381247614-el1ss-131005-122046.jpeg. Worth my 5/10.
- Elminage Gothic: 2/10. This game steals too much art from the other Elminage and doesn't create enough new assets!!
- Penny Arcade 4: 7/10. It's very similar to the third game in the series. But with a vending machine as a player character.
- Stella Deus: 1/10. It is the unofficial Hoshigami sequel nobody wanted.
- Shadowrun Dragonfall: Director's Cut: 8/10.
- The Witcher 2: 7/10. Gerhalt has an amazing voice actor and I could hear him talk all day.
- Terra Battle: 5/10.
- Final Fantasy Dimensions: 4/10.
- Dark Souls 2: 11/10. <3
- Gothic 4: Arcania: 0/10. </3
11/10
Dark Souls
Dark Souls 2
10/10
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Demon's Souls
Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
9/10
Alpha Protocol
Barkley Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden
Bastion
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Digital Devil Saga
Digital Devil Saga 2
Dragon's Dogma
Final Fantasy Tactics
Fire Emblem 7
Mass Effect 2
Planescape: Torment
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
Tactics Ogre (PSP)
Valkyrie Profile
8/10
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance (co-op)
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance 2 (co-op)
Baroque
Breath of Fire 5
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Chrono Trigger
Deus Ex Human Revolution
Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha (3 points for Hard Mode)
Devil Survivor
Drakengard (Don't look at me like that)
Etrian Odyssey 2
Fallout: New Vegas
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy V
Fire Emblem 6
Grandia 3
Live A Live
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
Mass Effect 3
Mother 3
Nier
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Persona 3 Portable
Risen
Seiken Densetsu 3
Shadow Hearts 2
Shadow Hearts 3
Shadowrun: Dragonfall - Director's Cut
Suikoden 3
7/10
Chrono Cross
Costume Quest
Diablo 3
Divinity 2: The Dragon Knight Saga
Dungeon Siege 3 (co-op)
Earthbound
Etrian Odyssey
Final Fantasy Adventure
Final Fantasy IV DS
Final Fantasy XII
Fire Emblem 8
Fire Emblem DS (11?)
Front Mission 4
Grandia 2
Great Greed
Half Minute Hero Super Mega Neo Climax
Icewind Dale
Koudelka
Legend of Mana
Lufia 2
Lufia 3
Mass Effect
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Metal Max Return
Penny Arcade 3
Penny Arcade 4
Phantasy Star Online
Radiant Historia
Rudra's Treasure
SaGa Frontier
Shadow Hearts
Tales of Eternia
Terranigma
The Witcher 2
Threads of Fate
Vagrant Story
Valkyrie Profile DS
Wild Arms 4
Ys 6
Ys: The Oath in Felghana
6/10
Breath of Fire 4
Breath of Death 7
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Cthulhu saves the world
Dark Cloud 2
Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon Quest 8
Dragon Quest Monsters
Dragon Quest Monsters : Joker
Dragon View
Fallout
Fallout 2
Final Fantasy I
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy Legend
Final Fantasy Legend II
Final Fantasy Legend III
Fire Emblem 9
Front Mission
Front Mission 3
Half Minute Hero 2
Lost Odyssey (it cheats because it gets all its points for the dream sequences)
Makai Kingdom
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Metal Saga
Megaman X: Command Mission
Paper Mario
Paper Mario 2
Parasite Eve
Penny Arcade 1
Penny Arcade 2
Pokemon R/B/Y/G/S/R/S/E/D/P/P/B/W/B2/W2
Romancing SaGa 3
SaGa 1 (Wonderswan)
Secret of Mana
Shining in the Darkness
Sigma Star Saga
Star Ocean 3
Suikoden
Tactics Ogre (Snes/PSX)
Tales of Phantasia
Unlimited SaGa
Valkyrie Profile II
Yggdra Union
Ys Origins
ZHP
5/10
Anachronox
Bahamut Lagoon
Baten Kaitos
Brigandine
Dragon Quest 9
Dragon Slayer Gaiden
Elminage Original
Fable
Fable 2
Fable 3
Fallout 3
Final Fantasy III DS
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy X-2
Growlanser 2
Infinite Undiscovery
Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei
Legend of Legaia II
Ogre Battle
Okage: Shadow King
Persona 2: Innocent Sin
Persona 3 (+FES)
Phantasy Star IV
Radiata Stories
Resonance of Fate
Robotrek
Romancing Saga (PS2)
Saga Frontier 2
Secret of Evermore
Shadowrun (Genesis)
Shining Soul
Shining Soul 2
Skies of Arcadia
Star Ocean 2
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Suikoden 2
Suikoden 5
Terra Battle
The Last Remnant
Torchlight
Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption
Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls
Xenogears
Ys 2
Ys 3 (Snes)
Ys 4 (Snes)
4/10
Baldur's Gate
Baldur's Gate 2
Borderlands
Borderlands 2
Car Battler Joe
Champions of Norrath *
Children of Mana
Deathspank
Defenders of Oasis
Disgaea
Disgaea 2
Dragon Age 2
Dragon Quest 3
Dragon Quest 4
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy Dimensions
Fire Emblem 4
Front Mission: Gun Hazard
Grandia
Infinite Space
Inindo
King's Field 1 J
Lost Magic
Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals
Megaman Battle Network 1
Megaman Battle Network 4
Ogre Battle 64
Persona 1
Persona 4 *
Phantom Brave
Shadowrun (Snes)
Shin Megami Tensei
Shin Megami Tensei II
Shining Force
Shining Force 2
Star Ocean
Suikoden 4
Super Mario RPG
Super Robot Taisen J
Super Robot Taisen Original Generation
Super Robot Taison Original Generation 2
Tactics Ogre Gaiden
Tales of Innocence *
Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2
Wild Arms 3
Xenosaga 2
Ys 1
3/10
Another Bible
Arc the Lad 2
Arc the Lad 3
Breath of Fire
Breath of Fire 2
Breath of Fire 3
Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
Crystalis
Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku 2
Dragon Quest
Dragon Quest 6
Dragon Quest 7
Drakengard 2
Drakkhen
Elminage Gothic
Evolution
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 *
Fire Emblem
Fire Emblem 2
Fire Emblem 3
Golden Sun
Golden Sun 2
Grandia Parallel Trippers
Hero Quest
Kingdom Hearts: Chains of Memories
Kingdom Hearts 2
Knight Quest
Lufia 1
Madou Monogatari
Magna Braban
Monstania
Phantasy Star
Phantasy Star II
Quest: Brian's Journey
Sailor Moon: Another Story
Shining Force Gaiden
Shining Force Gaiden 2
Soma Bringer
Suikoden Tactics
Super Hydlide
Super Robot Taisen OG Saga
Tales of Legendia
Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3
The Dark Spire
The Third Birthday
Treasure Hunter G
Vandal Hearts
Vandal Hearts 2
Wild Arms 2
Wild Arms: Alter Code F
Xenosaga 3
Zenonia
2/10
.hack Infection
.hack Mutation
.hack Outbreak
.hack Quarantine
Adventures of Musashi
Arcanum
Arc the Lad
Arc the Lad 4
Atelier Iris
Brandish
Castlevania Harmony of Despair (solo only)
Chronicles of Radia
Contact
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban *
Kingdom of Amalur *
La Pucelle
Lagoon
Legend of Legaia
Lord of the Rings War in the North *
Lufia 4
Lunar 1
Lunar 2
Magic Knight Rayearth
Mazes of Fate
Mother
Odin Sphere *
Onimusha Tactics
Phantasy Star Zero
Quest 64
Quest for Camelot
Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
Riviera
Stella Deus
Super Robot Taisen 3
Sword of Hope
Sword of Hope 2
Sword of Mana
Sword of Vermilion
Tales of Symphonia
Tales of the Abyss
Xenosaga 1
1/10
Black Sigil *
Cladun: This is an RPG *
Dawn of Mana *
Dragon Ball Z: The Legacy of Goku
Dragon Quest 5
Hydlide
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (Snes) *
Kingdom Hearts
Legend of Dragoon
Neverwinter Nights
Oblivion *
Paladin's Quest
Ragnarok Online DS *
Sacred 2 *
Super Robot Taisen
Tales of Destiny
Wild arms *
0/10
Doraemon RPG
Dragon Slayer (GB)
Gothic 4: Arcania
Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth
Lord of the Rings (Snes) *
Phantasy Star III
Secret of the Stars
-1/10
Magna Carta: Tears of Blood