10 RPGs You Must Play Before You Croak - Recommendations

[marurun]

I think for inclusion on a list like this, you'd have to really look at those hybrid games. Something like Dark Souls, I would argue falls more on the side of action, so despite the myriad RPG elements, I don't know that I could in good faith include it on a top 10 RPG list. That said, I think the point about Vampire makes perfect sense. In that game the role-playing bits are much more prominent than the FPS/action bits. You can get through it with very little actual fighting.

[Ack]

I think for inclusion on a list like this, you'd have to really look at those hybrid games. Something like Dark Souls, I would argue falls more on the side of action, so despite the myriad RPG elements, I don't know that I could in good faith include it on a top 10 RPG list. That said, I think the point about Vampire makes perfect sense. In that game the role-playing bits are much more prominent than the FPS/action bits. You can get through it with very little actual fighting.

Nosferatu/Malky paths, eh? Or, in other words, the best paths.

[isiolia]

Malkavian is pretty cool, but especially as a second+ run through, when you can appreciate just how insightful the crazy talk is.


Dark Souls is more action-oriented to play, yes, but realistically not far removed from King's Field in most other respects, which was mentioned multiple times.

Probably the difficulty is more that there are a lot of subgenres here. So, to me, it'd make sense to include one or two shining examples of each. Others might feel like a bunch of JRPGs makes more sense. I think either way we end up with a bunch of good games listed.

[MrPopo]

I definitely had trouble as I tried to balance things between JRPG and WRPG; I could easily fill a 10 essential list for both. And that's before you go down the various subgenre rabbit hole.

[marurun]

I am no longer sure I could fill a top 10 essential JRPGs list. There was a time I would have been able to, but given my current inclination toward JRPGs, I'm not sure how many of those, in retrospect, are truly essential, at least for anyone who isn't already significantly invested in the genre. That's not to insult JRPGs, necessarily, but I think the tendrils of western RPGs are, appropriately, far more present in western games, and since the early CRPGs underpin both modern WRPGs and JRPGs, starting with CRPGs and including a couple JRPGs in with everything else just makes more sense to me.

[Exhuminator]

Something like Dark Souls, I would argue falls more on the side of action, so despite the myriad RPG elements, I don't know that I could in good faith include it on a top 10 RPG list.

I agree, that's why I didn't put Demon's Souls in my pure-aught RPG list, despite the fact it's essential to play before one croaks. To be honest, Demon's Souls is more of an action-adventure than an action-RPG, IMO. I can't attest to Dark Souls or its sequels as I've not played through them yet.

I think this thread would have been better as "Your top 10 JRPG and your top 10 WRPG" lists. As in 20 games total. But that'd probably cause a tirade of "what's really a JRPG/WRPG bub" so yeah maybe not. My list is almost entirely dominated by JRPGs, because well, I like those more. But there are certainly plenty of essential WRPGs, no doubt. The original Fallout just happens to the one I like most, hence it made it on muh list.

[Jmustang1968]

Man! Some awesome responses so far. I always appreciate the passion RPG fans bring.

Will give some additonal thoughts when I get a bit more time to dig in, but high level: surprised not to see Lunar SS or Lunar EB yet. Also fairly surprised to see Golden See twice already. I did beat the GS DS game and enjoyed it.

I own and/or have access to many of these. Several I've even played a few hours into, but got distracted. Keep them coming!

Yeah John, think I could've made your list but I wasn't aware Ogre 64 was essentially a reimaging.

It isn't, it is a sequel. I was more deliberating on why I chose the SNES game, when the 64 sequel is probably a better game overall.

[Kuruwin]

My quick top 10

1. Arcanum
2. Might And Magic 6
3. Divine Divinity
4. Baldur's Gate 2
5. Morrowind
6. Diablo 2
7. Disgaea (DS or PSP version)
8. Persona 4
9. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
10. Lost Odyssey

EDIT: Seems like one of the games i deleted while swapping places was Persona 4 so i edited Atelier Escha & Logy out.


Honorable mentions (first three games might or might not count as RPG)

Demon's Souls
Nier
Odin Sphere
Ni No Kuni
Atelier Escha & Logy
Dark Cloud

[Jagosaurus]

So the point of this thread was for me take your recommendations & generate a 10 or 15 must play list... yeah 10 isn't going to be doable even 15 will be tough.

I have a few random RPGs that I'm drawn to for some reason although they have been deemed mediocre (Evolution & Robotrek for example). Including those will bump my list to around 20 games... sooo a few years worth

Appreciate the great recs so far. I've beaten some of them, played a decent amount of others, but many I haven't experienced yet. I'll update OP after I decide on my personal to play list. Thanks again. Feel free to keep them coming. Love the variety.

[laurenhiya21]

This is definitely not the list of RPGs that I think everyone should play, since there's too many classic RPGs that I have not played yet (also I have weird tastes haha), but these are the 10 that I can say are probably my favourites currently. Unfortunately most of them are more modern, but that's just what I've played so far

In no particular order:
Ar Tonelico
Atelier Ayesha (or maybe Atelier Escha & Lodgy)
Criminal Girls: Invite Only
Fable: The Lost Chapters
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Nier
Persona 5
Suikoden
Utawarerumono (the whole series is good, but Mask of Truth is the best)
Ys I & II Chronicles

If we're counting Zelda as RPGs (sometimes I do, sometimes I don't), LoZ: Twilight Princess and LoZ: Breath of the Wild are my two favourite ones.