Top Ten RPGs

Here is my Top 10 list of RPGs! Theres some surprises there (especially for Ren) but I think I did a good job. I haven't played that many RPGs seeing as it takes forever to complete one or get far to make an understandable judgment on it. Here we have my all time favorites and I know some of you guys would disagree that some shouldn't be called an RPG :p
But screw you guys (especially Ren), tada:

10. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (XBOX, PC) - Bioware/LucasArts
『「STAR WARS」映画の4000年前を舞台にしたRPG』
Now usually I wouldn't put such a Western game in that Ren loves but this was an exception. Being set like 4000 years prior to the events of the New Trilogy, it gave Bioware a lot creative freedom to craft a beautiful story that doesn't cause a time paradox. While I never got to finish it (cause Ren insisted I give it back every time I saw him), it has awesome everything except the Neverwinter Night's like battle system. It took a lot of time to get used to it but one I did, I enjoyed it even more. I think it was one of the first console RPGs that let you customise the face of your avatar to such a heavy extent. While it didn't look like me at all, it still felt good knowing you made him look like a cool dude instead of those Japanese girly RPG heroes (ala Final Fantasy XII). Being able to craft ya own Jedi and pick any colour and type of lightsaber for him is just... wow

9. Tales of Symphonia (GCN, PS2) - Namco Tales Studio/Namco
『テイルズ オブ シンフォニア』
The Nintendo GameCube... how RPG starved have you've become after the Super Nintendo? While the Wii continues the same fate as the Cube and N64, Namco took it upon itself and created a (then-)exclusive RPG for the Cube to all the RPG starved-Nintendo fans. It is a prequel to Tales of Phantasia but not like anyone will notice it. Spanning two GameCube discs, it is the best traditional-RPG on the Cube. Music for the game created by the ever-awesome Motoi Sakuraba and animated cutscenes (even though there was very few of them) by ufotable really made us Cube games feel like a PlayStation 2 RPG fan :p The story is once again about saving the world but at least there were two parallel worlds to be saved! I used the PlayStation 2 cover because it looks sooooo much better than the GameCube's.

8. Grandia II (DC, PS2, PC) - Game Arts
『グランディアII』
I bought this cause the cover looked cool (at the time) and it was like $20 at EB Games Greensborough. I can't remember much about it cause it was a long time ago that I finished it but I will always remember how awesome the battle engine was. While it has been stolen by way more popular but crap Final Fantasy X-2, it was revolutionary when I played it. It kept me engaged in every single battle we had. While there was an auto feature, just being able to command your party to every split second action was amazing! Hard to describe here, you have to play it yourself. Too bad the two sequels never made it to PAL land but that shouldn't stop most ppl from finding a way to play it :D

7. Final Fantasy VII (PSone, PC) - Squaresoft
『ファイナルファンタジーVII』
The first Final Fantasy game I have ever completed and also the only Final Fantasy game to have the most sequels and prequels =] Introduced to me by Myst Walker, I didn't really care for it much until in Year 8 when Ren showed me some cutscenes of the PC copy and I was blown away! While I didn't finish it until like three, four years later, it was an amazing game with memorable moments and characters. Everyone talks about crying or shattered when Aeris (yeaaaaaaa screw Aerith) dying by the hands of the almighty Sephiroth; didn't happen to me cause it was spoilt for me long time ago. Without this game being created though, the Western world would not be getting a lot of the Japanese RPGs they are getting now. So kudos to Squaresoft for making this game on the PlayStation instead of the Nintendo 64, it was groundbreaking in every way possible thanks to its FMVs that could fit into three CDs :p Also nice to see Tifa's chest getting smaller in the sequels, it didn't look good all blocky in the original...

6. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (NDS) - AlphaDream/Nintendo
『マリオ&ルイージRPG2』
Its a horrible title and also horrible cover art but the game inside it is good as. Its always funny to see Bowser being picked on and just there to be comic relief. Having to control four characters at first seemed difficult, it was soon made easier as the game went by. Not known to most people, the music was done by Kingdom Heart's Yoko Shimomura =] No wonder the tunes were so catchy and memorable. Sadly no one I know have played this beautiful game, it is the best original this-gen portable RPG I reckon. Also it supported the Rumble Pak, which made countering in battles a lot easier. I just love the catchy dialogue and the L33t Hamm3r Broz. just owned it! No matter how little they were in the game, it made such an impact especially with lines like this:
"U = NOOBS. BROZ. = L33T. PREPARE 4 TOTAL PWNAGE. WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! WOOT!".
Golly thats funny as!

5. Golden Sun (GBA) - Camelot Planning Software/Nintendo
『黄金の太陽 開かれし封印』
I first played this on an emulator (which I dislike nowadays) before I got my first GBA from Malaysia. I have completed it twice, once was a quickie and second I had to get all the Djinns so that I could transfer them over to the sequel. Even though I played it twice, i can't remember the story all that well. But for some reason, its always has been one of my favorites. Watching as ya Djinn summon sprites always looked cool, the puzzles while can get complex were fun and also one of my high school mates had this game (original copy) so it was fun doing link battles. It really was a traditional RPG and didn't get confusing like a lot of RPGs at its time. Music was memorable though, done by Motoi Sakuraba once again. Hope Camelot will make a sequel one day on the NDS or even the Wii!

4. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2) - Level-5/Square Enix
『ドラゴンクエストVIII 空と海と大地と呪われし姫君』
Just like Golden Sun, a really simple traditional RPG that does everything just right. You didn't have to customise this, check out which of your party should be in ya attacking party etc. Very straightforward and is a breeze to play. Its my most recent RPG finished and took many months to do but it was worth it in the end. Though I got kinda lazy and just youtubed the secret ending :p Exclusive to the English versions was voice acting. While a lot of the voices were kinda annoying, it was still good to hear some awesome ones like the beautiful Medea and the always funny yobbo Yangus! The music in the game was a blast! Fully orchestrated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra really brings the adventure to life throughout my 70hr or so gameplay. I am really looking forward to Dragon Quest IX (i can play on my DS!) and also I really wanna play Level-5's other excellent RPG, Rogue Galaxy when I have a copy :)

3. Final Fantasy X (PS2) - Squaresoft
『ファイナルファンタジーX』
Best Final Fantasy ever. I was blown away from the very starting CG FMV. I first played it on the demo that came with Final Fantasy VI and I must've played it a dozen times until my mum surprisingly came home with a copy of the full game. Everything was beautiful in this game from the characters, locales, music and to the special effects. Forget the crap sequel, this one is the best there ever was. While changing a lot of the original Final Fantasy games, it was groundbreaking as it was the first one to have voices and the first one to not have a traditional way of leveling up. I really enjoyed using the sphere grid compared to the crap licensing board in Final Fantasy XII. Blitzball is probably the best minigame within any Final Fantasy, I must have put in like 10hrs just into that but mainly to unlock some special weapon. It also has the best theme song, 「"素敵だね"by RIKKI」　that really captures the love between Yuna and Tidus. Story wise, its nothing too new. Mainly its about Tidus trying to live up to his father's name while trying to save the world from Sin with Yuna, the ever cool Auron, funny as Wakka and co. Everyone should play this wonderful game cause its awesome and has Auron in it :p

2. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GCN) - Intelligent Systems/Nintendo
『ペーパーマリオRPG』
Having wanting to play Paper Mario on the Nintendo 64 so bad but never got a chance cause Nintendo didn't release it for sale, I was glad that the sequel got a retail release. Bought it for $59 one day before its release, it totally blew me away. While not a traditional RPG, its more of a Platform RPG as people put it, it was nice and refreshing from the other RPGs at its time. Honestly I was looking more forward to Tales of Symphonia as it was released around the same time in Australia but glad I had gottent his first. Catchy music, unique paper flat artwork, smart and funny script really made this a joy to play. Really never expected a Mario game with story in it but here it was and sooo damn funny. There is also something included in this game that is rarely in any game... Like a certain something peeping on a certain someone having a shower. I'll let you guys find out for yourselves =] Also good to see everyone bagging Luigi, what a loser hahahaha.

1. Pokémon Gold & Silver (GBC) - GameFreak/Nintendo
『ポケットモンスター 金・銀』
Okay, everyone in my generation has played a Pokémon game sometime earlier in their lives so no need for me to prove how awesome it was! It was also groundbreaking, seeing an RPG on a portable console to sell millions upon millions to its normal traditional RPG market but to the children! Where can you see children play and sit still to play game hours on end. Also the communication required to finish the game made it fun to interact to others. Hey, it may be a marketting ploy but it was still fun! Thats why Pokémon is at the top for me. Why I picked these two is because Silver was the first Pokémon I owned myself and I had spent over 100 hours just to complete it by trading with my primary school mates. It really leaves a mark in ya life whether it was time wasted or time having fun. While the next generation Pokémon have not been innovative at all, its still incredibly fun and addictive like its older brothers. Gotta Catch 'Em All!

Of course I am missing some awesome RPGs like Chrono Cross, Chrono Trigger, Legend of Mana, Xenogears, Panzer Dragoon etc. I haven't played them enough to make a judgment. One day I'll get to more RPGs but they take a long time to complete especially if they're on home consoles. Dragon Quest VIII already took me five months to complete and now I've just started Final Fantasy XII after a break inbetween. At least on the DS or PSP, I can play on the road during my long bus and train trips to the my universities. I'll get to them soon while also hoping a portable remake is on its way like Final Fantasy IV =]