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I could've just made the title "New Games Are Terrible" as that would also be true but for this I'm just focusing on RPGs. I grew up loving them and playing at least what I used to think was a lot of different ones as a kid, but recently I've started to realize how many of them I've missed over the years. The last RPG that I can say I legitimately liked was Tales of Symphonia for the Gamecube (which was absolutely fantastic and if you haven't played it I high recommend that you do at your earliest convenience). Everything since then I've tried pretty hard to like but everything's been completely forgettable. It's pretty easy to realize the sad state that modern RPGs are in when you see that Bioware is one of the biggest RPG developers.
So anyways I've decided to go back and play all the games that I've missed over the years. There were a few on the SNES that I missed and TONS on the PS1, mostly because the N64 was my console of choice back in the N64 vs PSX days. There are also a lot of PS2 games that I didn't play but for now I'm just gonna focus on SNES and PSX for now. So here's the list that I've come up with:
SNES GAMES:
Earthbound
Seiken Densetsu 3
Secret of Evermore
Lufia and the Fortress of Doom
Lufia II Rise of the Sinistrals
Breath of Fire
Terranigma
FFIV
FFV
FF Mystic Quest (maybe)
Tales of Phantasia
Ogre Battle - The March of the Black Queen
7th Saga
Games I've Already Played That People Keep Mentioning
Chrono Trigger
Super Mario RPG
FFVI (best game ever)
Breath of Fire II
Secret of Mana
Soul Blazer
Illusion of Gaia
PLAYSTATION GAMES:
Chrono Cross
Brave Fencer Musashi
Suikoden
Suikoden 2
Xenogears
Breath of Fire III
Breath of Fire IV
Lunar
Lunar 2
FFVIII
FF Tactics CURRENTLY PLAYING
Wild Arms
Wild Arms 2
Parasite Eve
Parasite Eve 2
Legend of Dragoon
Legend of Mana
Tales of Destiny
Tales of Eternia
Valkyrie Profile
Vagrant Story
Games I've Already Played That People Keep Mentioning
FFVII
FFIX
Yes I'm going to finish this entire list.
Some of these (like Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, FFIV, and FFV) are games that I've played through at least somewhat at some point or a few times in the case of Chrono Trigger, but just never got around to finishing. Are there any games that I should add to this list? I've been streaming most of my playthrough of Chrono Trigger (almost done) and I'll probably stream most of the other games that I play, although watching some guy play jrpgs is pretty boring I'll admit.
 
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Wait, was tales the one where the protagonist took a full minute to climb up ladders an stuff? Witcher 2, dragon age 1, and mass effect 1 were all pretty good, but I agree, old rpgs were awesome. Mostly because without graphics they had to fill up content with, well... content. No cutscenes, all text and characterization.
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I know how you feel but I eventually had to settle with newer games. I mean, I don't REGRET playing Skyrim through but it certainly wasn't SNES hard or even SNES engaging, yeah? If you haven't played it through you should, just to keep up with pop culture.
If you have a Nintendo DS (or an emulator w/ roms) the new Pokemon Black/White games are pretty good. Actually I've found the Nintendo DS to be a pretty good source of "Classic feeling" games of all sorts, including RPGs.
If you are into Final Fantasy Tactics you should DEFINITELY look into the Disgaea series, La Pucelle Tactics, Phantom Brave. Mostly PS2 games but they're all great.
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here's a few more for ps1 you might like:
star ocean
persona
persona 2: eternal punishment
kartia: word of fate
tactics ogre
saga frontier 1 and 2
sayuki: journey west
there's also a translation for bahamut lagoon for snes which is pretty good
also if you're a chrono trigger fan, at least one playthrough of radical dreamers is manditory
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Dude, FF7 is not on the fucking list! And what about PC games? Baldur's Gate?
Dragon Age was pretty good if you forget the DLCs and sequels, and The Witcher (currently playing) is awesome. But yes, quality has gone down, especially in J-RPGs.
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SNES
Breath of Fire 2
Front Mission
PS1
FFVII
FFIX
Vandal Hearts
Front Mission 3
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Remove Mystic Quest from that list, and add Final Fantasy VI. Mystic Quest is like....RPG lite for retards. Even the story sucks. FF6 is amazingly awesome.
Breath of Fire 2 on the SNES was also well worth your time. BoF4 wasn't....great......
Secret of Mana is you have't played it is good, better than Evermore imho.
You can also add Tactics Ogre to your PSX lineup if you can find it.
Legend of Mana you can probably skip unless you're just reeeeeally into it. That game was....ugh....not really worth it. They've all been pretty terrible since the jump to PSX.
Another BIG one for the PSX is Star Ocean: The Second Story. Still my favorite of the Star Ocean series.
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FFVII and FFIX on the PSX were both great Final Fantasy games, especially compared to the newer ones. Also on the PSX are the some good ones from the Megami Tensei series, specifically Persona and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment.
Also Secret of Mana on SNES also known as Seiken Densetsu 2.
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FFVII and Secret of Mana aren't on the list because I've already played them. And FFVII isn't as good as the others in the series anyway. It's incredibly overrated.
And I don't remember climbing ladders taking a while in Tales of Symphonia. I don't really remember every being weighed down with waiting for nonsense to finish like I am with everything that comes out today.
also already played FFIX, Breath of Fire II, and FFVI (my favorite game ever)
I would't just skip games in a series I didn't list it because I've already played it.
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Baldur's Gate I and II.
KOTOR
Tales of Destiny II
Tales of Symphonia.
All decent games. Same with Dragon Age: Origins/Awakening if you're in that sort of thing.
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Before you write off the modern RPG genre completely (and for the most part I agree with you) give Xenoblade a try. The Japanese and European releases are already out, but if you're in NA you'll have to wait until April. Brilliant game; it takes a lot of the best aspects of the JPRG genre and misses most of the pitfalls - on top of that, it's a lot prettier than an older game (especially if you emulate it on a decent computer).
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I agree with the title. And your list, though somewhat incomplete  !, seems really good. Whenever I get an RPG craving I always go oldschool.
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New RPGs do suck, and fuck FF7...that was the game that destroyed FF to me.
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Final Fantasy X had a perfect battle and upgrade system and a lot of challenging battles in and out of the story. That absolutely deserves a mention. To be perfectly honest though I think FFXIII wasn't bad (not amazing) and I thought it slotted in well with the Final Fantasy feel. The only thing missing were towns. I grew to enjoy the battle system after a while and the art direction is superb. There were also some pretty hard battles;I still haven't beat Orphan, and motherfucking Barthandalus battles are nightmares. Comparing Barthandalus with Seymour the only Seymour battle I had trouble with was Seymour Flux. Barthandalus was difficult every time.
I can't say much about Bioware games because I've only played KOTOR, which was awesome. There was an intense thread on /v/ the other day talking about how deep and philosophical KOTOR 2 is, but I heard it's incomplete.
All I know is that you should stop being such a cynic and look at things with a like vs. don't like mentality a la Day[9]. Don't compare games to others, just evaluate them on their own merits. Skyrim, for example, is buggy, but it's a solid game otherwise. Notice how I don't have to go HURRR MORROWIND 4EVAR when playing the game. It's just like my idiot friends who write off Minecraft for the graphics when they don't realize the beauty and potential of the game.
Just learn to enjoy things for what they are.
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One game that i just watched HCBaily Let's play which I enjoyed a lot is Radiant historia for the DS. It was amazing!
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Lufia 2.......
i think i may have found what my 1k post will be about
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final fantasy X was HORRENDOUS
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Radiant Historia was definitely awesome. Probably my favorite JRPG since the SNES days.
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EPT
