My Top 10 RPGs of All Time

1) Baldur’s Gate
Need I say more? If you’ve played this game, you know why. This is one of the only games that I still replay every few years because it doesn’t take too long to beat and doesn’t get boring. And who doesn’t get excited exploring the city of Baldur’s Gate when you finally get to it?

2) Elder Scrolls Oblivion
There are few games out there that push the next gen consoles to their limits and this is one of them. The world is so detailed and expansive, players can get lost for hours and hours just exploring and finding new dungeons and towns. I have this on PS3 and the graphics are matched by few games. The only reason this isn’t at the top of my list is because once you experience as much of the game as you can and beat it, unless you have another lifetime to spend, there is too much to do over again, and many of the dungeons and caves get repetitive. But it’s still worth being in your game library.

3) Final Fantasy VII
Of course this game is on the list; no game has a more convoluted and deep storyline, with characters that have become a household name, like Vincent and Cloud, not to mention having the coolest villain ever: Sephiroth. Turn-based RPGs are becoming a thing of the past but tons of gamers every year revisit this game to experience the story all over again.

4) Final Fantasy IX
This game doesn’t get as much praise as it should. One thing I liked about was it leaned more towards a medieval theme than FFVII, so there were a lot castles and flying boats and dragons. The story was not as interesting as FFVII’s, but the game was still very fun to play.

5) Chrono Cross
This game was another one that flew under the radar and didn’t get as much attention as it should. Interesting characters and innovative game play kept the turn-based battles relatively fresh. It actually makes it fun to play again after you beat it because you carry over your stats and weapons to the beginning.

6) Gothic 3
Luckily I have a pretty good computer to handle this game, but if you don’t, forget about it. This game was cool because the area was HUGE, dotted with settlements of both humans and orcs and many places to explore. You could join with the humans, or betray them and work for the orcs or vice versa. The graphics are amazing and it was really fun rummaging through forests hoping to stumble across lost ruins and monsters.

7) Wild Arms 3
I’m a fan of the Wild West genre games and while I don’t really care for cell shaded anime inspired characters, this game is as close as it’s going to get to a good western themed game. It isn’t really set in the West, the planet is just slowly dying, but the game is fun and there are few things as enjoyable as shooting a goblin in the face while on horseback.

8) Breath of Fire II
Whoever came up with the idea to have a protagonist who can turn into a dragon deserves a medal. This is a classic old-school turn based RPG so people without patience and a long attention span should probably forgo playing it. While very similar to the first installment of the Breath of Fire series, this game’s story is a little more grownup, with themes that involve sacrifice, religion, and love.

9) Final Fantasy III
If the graphics were better, it would be higher on my list. The game introduces more playable characters than most RPG’s but does well to give each character a deep back story and likeable personality, making players able to identify with them. This game really put role playing games on the map so it definitely makes the list.

10) Skies of Arcadia
Everyone has a little part of them that wants to be a pirate, burning and pillaging, sailing the high seas and looking for treasure. This game allows you to do that, to a degree, but in the air instead of in the water. Dreamcast games don’t get a lot of attention, but Skies of Arcadia is one of those must have games for the Dreamcast owner.

If you haven’t played some of the games mentioned in my list, I highly recommend that you do because each game contains an experience not worth missing.