Favourite Non-Final Fantasy RPG?

I'm shocked and apalled that so few of the 16-bit era classics have been mentioned. Damn kids need to get back to yer roots, that's where the true games are at. None of these fancy whistles and bells like voice actin and FMV. :p

Oldman routine aside, I'm really surprised Chrono Trigger hasn't been mentioned at all. Those familiar with Final Fantasy will love it - it's by Square, it's on the SNES, it's one of my favourite games of all time and it never saw a release in this country. Bastards. The PS1 sequel, Chrono Cross, remains the most expensive game I've ever bought.
There's also the Mana series. Secret of Mana was great back in the day, and while the sequel Seiken Densetsu III was never released outside of Japan, it was one of the first games to get a fan translation.

Other RPGs I hold in high regard include Skies of Arcadia (one of only two decent RPGs for the DC), Neverwinter Nights (fantastic when played with friends), Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (great game, but I didn't like the second one, it just felt much too rushed), Deus Ex (bloody brilliant) and System Shock (oh dear god it's scary).

I also love Zelda to death but I can't class it as an RPG; it's much more of an action/adventure.
 
Sir Haggis said:
Other RPGs I hold in high regard include Skies of Arcadia (one of only two decent RPGs for the DC), Neverwinter Nights (fantastic when played with friends), Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (great game, but I didn't like the second one, it just felt much too rushed), Deus Ex (bloody brilliant) and System Shock (oh dear god it's scary).
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Neverwinter Nights I had forgotten, thats a pretty good RPG, I barely looked into it online but enjoyed the one player mode and its expansions as a sort of dumbed down Baldurs Gate.

Deus Ex I never finished as various elements of it irriated me a great deal, but it certainly had its moments from time to time.
 
Sir Haggis said:
Oldman routine aside, I'm really surprised Chrono Trigger hasn't been mentioned at all. Those familiar with Final Fantasy will love it - it's by Square, it's on the SNES, it's one of my favourite games of all time and it never saw a release in this country. Bastards. The PS1 sequel, Chrono Cross, remains the most expensive game I've ever bought.
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Chrono Trigger is one of my favourites as well, I liked Chrono Cross too (although it wasn't particularly expensive when I picked it up). In fact, the most expensive game I've bought must be Suikoden- in fact, the Suikoden series deserves to be mentioned in this thread too, the first two games were brillaintly addictive (still working on the third, and haven't picked up Suikoden IV yet.

Other games high on my list include the aforementioned .hack and Grandia games, as well the criminally underexposed Arc the Lad series, which, while far from perfect, deserves at least a passing mention.
 
I don't actually like Final Fantasy. I like RPGs where I'm in control, not where I press a button and the character does a built-in move. I tried playing various versions of FF and hated them all!

My fave RPGs are Phantasy Star Online (Gamecube version) and I almost defeated the Ruins boss on Ultimate, but just before I was able to build up my character a little more to try again, I lost the memory card :cry: I started again, but it took over a year to get my first character to that point and it's gonna take ages with the second one!

I also like Animal Crossing and Pikmin. I prefer the original Pikmin to Pikmin 2 and even though you don't have the time limit on Pikmin 2, you have an awful final place with some gruesome monsters and I fled in fear :lol:

Pokemon of course! and I have to admit to really enjoying Coliseum (Gamecube). It was fun to play Pokemon on a TV screen, although only being able to steal them rather than catch them in the grass etc, was a bit disappointing. I loved the wonderful bike the character got to ride around on though :D
 
Miaka-chan said:
I also like Animal Crossing and Pikmin. I prefer the original Pikmin to Pikmin 2 and even though you don't have the time limit on Pikmin 2, you have an awful final place with some gruesome monsters and I fled in fear :lol:
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I never played the original, but even without an overall time limit the day limit on Pikmin 2 was a pain, it seemed like just as I got everything set up for the day's work and exploration, it was coming up to sundown. Probably not a problem for more efficient (read better) gamers, but it really dampened my enjoyment once the easiest sections of the game were past.
 
I forgot about the gameboy pokemon games, i mean when pokemon was in its prime everything pokemon was awesome! I suppose, even now, that Pokemon RED (;)) is one of the better RPGs i have played because of playing it at the height of the Pokemon phase.
 
i also used to play pokemon red alot back in the day. i trained up like 15 different pokemon up to level 100 (no cheating too) and was working on a charmand which i was going to give lots and lots of drugs to make him super
 
Digital Devil Saga, and Nocturne/Lucifer's Call definatly. Shadow Hearts II as well. Suikoden II, Tales of Symphonia, Xenogears/saga, Chrono Trigger, Phantom Brave, Jade Empire, Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana, Star Ocean 3, Disgaea...

Final Fantasy is a great series, but there are many other RPGs as good or better that don't get as much coverage or sales.

Edit: Split paragraphs, added a couple more picks
 
Red XIII said:
Miaka-chan said:
I also like Animal Crossing and Pikmin. I prefer the original Pikmin to Pikmin 2 and even though you don't have the time limit on Pikmin 2, you have an awful final place with some gruesome monsters and I fled in fear :lol:
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I never played the original, but even without an overall time limit the day limit on Pikmin 2 was a pain, it seemed like just as I got everything set up for the day's work and exploration, it was coming up to sundown. Probably not a problem for more efficient (read better) gamers, but it really dampened my enjoyment once the easiest sections of the game were past.
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You always have the nightfall time limit with Pikmin. In the first game you only had 30 days to find 28 pieces of the spaceship and the final area took 4 days to complete, so you had to try and find 2 or 3 pieces in each place, each day to give yourself time! I succeeded on the 5th try to get everything. I had to quell my desire not to have any Pikmin die and just sacrifice as many as it took - boy that was hard :lol:

In the second game it's just them gathering rubbish, but with the same nightfall time limit. I must admit I love the white and purple Pikmin in Pikmin 2.
 
Planescape: Torment, without a doubt. Although having said that, it's my favourite RPG period, not just favourite non-FF RPG. Probably the best written story and dialogue in any game I've ever played, and the setting and atmosphere is brilliantly used. What I loved most about it though was the choices it gave me, even within the very linear framework of the storyline, to choose my own morality and to see the effects of this. It's a lot more intelligently done than most games I've played.

After that, it's probably Fallout 2. Incredibly open-ended RPG set in a 50's / 60's inspired post nuclear holocaust world. The game itself is mature with lots of swearing and violence, but it never takes itself too seriously, making good use of parrody and dark humour to go with the setting. Again, you are free to be as good or as evil as you want to be, and see the results of those actions in the world. Unlike Planescape though, it doesn't have a strong central storyline, and instead opts to give the player freeform play in this world and essentially do what they want. In some ways I would call it a spiritual successor to Ultima VII.
 
valha said:
i also used to play pokemon red alot back in the day. i trained up like 15 different pokemon up to level 100 (no cheating too) and was working on a charmand which i was going to give lots and lots of drugs to make him super
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Lol :oops: i admit i used the rare candy trick :oops: but either way i stil put about 40 hours into the game!
 
Star Ocean till the end time, because i love all the interesting characters, enjoyable story and the anime style to it. And i also really like Kingdom Hearts.
 
Golden_Moon said:
Star Ocean till the end time, because i love all the interesting characters, enjoyable story and the anime style to it. And i also really like Kingdom Hearts.
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They're 2 of my fav's aswell. still no where near finishing them though :lol:
 
necromancer_1983 said:
Golden_Moon said:
Star Ocean till the end time, because i love all the interesting characters, enjoyable story and the anime style to it. And i also really like Kingdom Hearts.
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They're 2 of my fav's aswell. still no where near finishing them though :lol:
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I've finished both, although Star Ocean 3 decided to break somewhere in the Shrine of Kaddan and I had to get a cheap new copy.

Kingdom Hearts, despite the evils of camera angles that plagues many an action RPG, was a pretty fun game, and it made me respect Disney for the first time in fifteen years; Hollow Bastion and Halloween Town made up for any painful experiences swimming in Atlantica.

Star Ocean 3 was a very good game, although Shadow Hearts II managed to overshadow it and as a result it was abandoned for a while. The all-powerful Nel, gun-wielding Maria and bishounen-swordsman Abel formed my major party, since those three were powerful and fun to play as, as well as being less annoying than Fayt, Sophia, Cliff, Peppita, Roger et al.
 
Grandia was the bomb back in the day.. great storyline ...interesting battle system(who didnt just run round monsters you couldnt be bothered with)

Also the cast of characters were great...Justin was a likeable hero not the stroppy outcast most of RPGs heros tend to be, the love story between Justin and Feena was beliveable aswell as well as it being heartbreaking when Sue had to stay behind :-(
 
Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate 2 and the BG2 expansion disc, Throne of Bhaal, have to be my all time favourites. A total of ten CD-ROMs worth of absolute, distilled AD&D goodness from the same studio that made Jade Empire and the first KOTOR game. The moment about halfway through the first game where you find out that you are the offspring of a dead god and your uber-evil nemesis is your half-brother (well, okay, in hindsight it was a bit of a Darth Vader moment... but still cool) made me go 'wait, what the...? This game just got elevated from 'good' to 'inspired' ' Plus, well, it has Elminster. And a grumpy Drizzt, which made me smile.
The second game did it all over again, but better, with your party members acting like individual characters with their own goals and side quests. And love interests, which actually blew me away as it was the first time I'd ever seen romance built into a game so cleanly.
And the very end of Throne of Bhaal is the only video game moment to ever make me come close to tears. I kid you not.

Chrono Trigger (I love emulators) and Planescape Torment tie for second place, just because they're such a blast in differing ways.

The first Deus Ex was a whole lot of fun and cooler than 24 and Alias put together. The second one... nothing like as cool.

Sudeki is a lot of fun (I got the X-Box version just after it was released, 'cuz it was on offer). Those of you with X-Boxes (or PCs, now that it's out on PC) might want to give it a try. It wants to be Final Fantasy so much it hurts, but it's got a few new twists. Realtime combat, a genuinely interesting story and some decent puzzles, etc etc. Plenty fun.

Also, Golden Sun is enjoyable (Mmm, emulatorrific goodness) but I wouldn't want to, well, buy a GBA to play it or nothin'.

One game I desperately want to play is Kingdom Hearts. But no PS2 :roll:
 
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Lets see
The D&D's were good, Baulders Gate 1&2 (prefered 1 much more off quest exploring that can be done), Icewind Dale (finally being able to build a dream team), Neverwinter (Being able to almost totally customise you charatcer). Pitty none of them so far has mamanged to mix all my favourite bits.
Kotor was fun, pity there wasn't much in the way of exploring or being abole to have different speices of main charater.
Deus Ex rocked, l loved being able to create custom weapons (upgraded that little crossbow so it was more lethal than a sniper rifle). Also the nano mods and being able to ugrade skills that you want to use.
Morrowwind is great, but still learning the ropes on it. Also keep wandering into areas which i'm not ready for and die rather frequently.
There were a coulpe of other games that were cool in thier day but have dated really badly (and computer will not let me play them any more as they are so old). Game like Arcanum,
 
I love Gradia 1 and 2. The second one is not often given much credit as the exploration bits weren't so hot. But the fighting system is *perfect* and the dialogue is really, really funny!

I also like the Suikoden series (apart from 3 as it never came out here), Zelda on Gamecube (am I the only who thinks that the original NES one sucked?) and Kingdom Hearts!
 
hopeful_monster said:
Lets see
The D&D's were good, Baulders Gate 1&2 (prefered 1 much more off quest exploring that can be done), Icewind Dale (finally being able to build a dream team)
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If you liked BG 1 &2, then I seriously urge you to track down a copy of Planescape: Torment. Trust me, you won't regret it. You can't customise your characters or your group as much (you don't actually create a character to begin the game with as such. Most you do is allocate his beggining stats.), but this is far more story based. You don't actually choose your starting alignment, it's more the case that your alignment is molded around the actions you choose to take. And the characters and the storyline really are great.

As for Arcanum, yeah, I found that quite dissapointing to be honest. Deus Ex though, is brilliant. You might want to try the shifter mod for Deus Ex if you've already completed it. It features quite a few enhancements and changes to the game which you might find interesting.
 
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