Top 10 Lists : The Top 10 Underappreciated RPGs (Small Plot Setup Spoilers)

Quest 64 was the first full-fledged RPG for the Nintendo 64. The premise of the game was simple. Locate your father, save the world, pretty much standard play-book material for a RPG. The game itself wasn't exactly revolutionary, but it did manage to appeal where it mattered. The graphics, for the time were nicely done. The game itself was entertaining, whether it was traveling from one place to another, battling enemies, or just getting immersed in the game's plot. There were aspects of the game that could have been better, but can any of us really say that there is such a thing as the perfect game? Despite it's flaws, Quest 64 was a very nice game, one that I would play right now if my N64 still worked.

Back in 2000, Atlus released an interesting little RPG called Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure. The game appealed to die-hard fans of strategy RPG and to the younger set of game players, but it didn't do much for anybody else. Everything about this game just screams cute. The heroine of the game, Cornet, who can communicate with and control puppets, wants to meet the prince of her dreams. The game is definitely a musical adventure. There are several songs that are sung throughout the game, and there's even an option to have them sung in English or Japanese! While the game comes off as childish, and it seems to pander towards young females more than anything else, it's still a very nice and highly original RPG.

LandStalker, for my money iseasily one of the better RPGs created for the Genesis. While this game does have platformer elements, it is still a RPG, even if it is slightly an Action-RPG. The game revolves around a Forest Elf named Nigel and his Wood Nymph partner, Friday. The two go on a quest to find the treasure of King Nole. There is a strong sense of challenge with this game. Many of the puzzles require more than 10 seconds of looking at them, and they actually do require you to use your head to figure out the solution. Everything flows together well. I enjoyed every single second of this game, and again, if my Genesis worked, I'd probably be playing it sometime in the near future.

The Tales game that started it all in the United States. Americans didn't get an english release of Tales of Phantasia until the GBA port which was released a couple of years ago. This game centers around a young man named Stahn Aileron. He is stowing away aboard a flying ship called the Draconis. The ship is attacked by monsters, all of the crew members are slaughtered. Stahn then proceeds to secure a weapon so he can fight, since he knows that he's done for without one. Stahn finds a magical, sentient sword named Dymlos and he comes to realize that he is chosen by the sword. Stahn's journey then takes off from there. The graphics, like many other games were 2D, however there were some Anime-like cutscenes thrown into the game as well. This game is one of the more primitive action RPGs. The combat is 2D sidescrolling. The player controls one character, while his or her companions are controlled by AI, just like the other Tales games. This game is multi player, but the person who's playing has to locate special rings to enable that feature. The music in this game certainly fits well. It really adds to the atmosphere of the different events that occur throughout the game. Again, had this game received better promotion and went through a better marketing phase, it would have been considered one of the greats, but it just kind of fell off to the side in the shadow of some of the more popular RPG franchise names.

Crystalis is a unique game. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world in which the main character awakens from a 100 year sleep to find that he has no recollection of who he is or anything else for that matter. He is guided by four sages and realizes that the world is once again about to face a crisis. He has to find four elemental swords and combine them together to make a legendary sword, named Crystalis. The graphics, while simplistic, were nice for the NES age. But where this game really shines is the gameplay. The various elemental swords that the player collects during the course of their journey have corresponding elemental powers that aid you during your quest. The combat, while difficult at times, is engaging and entertaining. This game is considered a cult classic, but It should be praised as one of the finest specimens of NES gaming.

Arc the Lad II. While the game picks off where Arc the Lad left off, I wasn't really a fan of Arc the Lad, so I decide to only include part two in my Top 10 list. Arc the Lad II centers around a young man named Elc. He is a hunter, a person who takes on various jobs at the request of people for the sake of money. Elc hears about a hostage crisis at a nearby skyport, so he rushes there to stop the person behind all of it. From there, the game gets into one of the most deep, entertaining, and most important of all: enjoyable story lines ever fashioned for a RPG. Arc the Lad II is a strategy RPG. Players fight in a turn-based grid style battle field as they do in many other SRPGs. This game, while going the route of 2-D spritehood still managed to look very nicely done. The character models are fantastic, and they all seem to fit properly. Every character that you meet has a unique and interesting personality. There is not an ounce of staleness in the plot or the characters and their development. What makes the game even more interesting is one character that you get who can tame and control monsters. While this sounds Pokemon-esque, it's actually quite original. Players can play a sub-game called Arc Arena, which uses their save data from Arc the Lad II to battle various pre-set opponents for prizes and new monsters which can then be transferred back over to Arc the Lad II. Arc Arena comes as part of the Arc the Lad Collection. This game would definitely be considered one that fell through the cracks. I think that if it was released alone (with Arc Arena included of course), and marketed better, it would have become one of the more popular old school games of today.

To take everybody back to the golden age of RPGs, we arrive at this game: The 7th Saga. This game was genius. When a player starts the game, they are given the option to choose between seven different characters, each unique in their own way as their main character. The player is then sent on a quest to collect the seven runes in order to become the ruler of the world. Each character has their own personal motive behind their quest. This game really beings back the memories. The music was catchy and it seemed to fit the game very well. The battle system was entertaining, but it was very very difficult. If you didn't know how to play the game, or you were under equipped, you and your partner (Another of the 7 main protagonists) would get wiped out in no time. This game is for the more skilled sector of the RPG fanbase, but it is undoubtedly a timeless classic.

Now we move on to the more known, but still unappreciated, underestimated, diamond in the rough RPGs. SaGa Frontier 2: Easily one of the most enjoyable games I have ever played in my entire lifetime. The game has multiple stories, so I can't give too much of a description. I will talk about one though, and that is: Gustave XIII. Gustave's story, which is more or less the beginning story of the game, revolves around...you guessed it, Gustave. When Gustave is unable to focus his Anima, or magical skill into the Firebrand, a sacred sword of his kingdom, his father denounces him and he and his mother are expelled from his birth kingdom. The story then follows Gustave as he grows up, matures, and then finally returns home. I won't say anything else about his story though. The graphics in the game are fantastic. The backgrounds are hand drawn, watercolor works of art. The character models are nicely done. Note in particular how characters change as the game progresses and they age. Squaresoft really put a lot of time into coming up with the numerous character designs. The music in this game is top notch. With multiple battle musics, boss musics, town musics...every music, the player won't ever feel like the music in the game is repetitive. The battle system is done nicely as well. Characters are able to use arts to inflict more damage upon their opponents. The game also uses a LP, or Life Point system in battle. A character can be incapacitated during battle, but as long as he/she has Life Points, they will be revived and ready to go for the next battle. They can even sacrifice a Life Point during battle to get a full HP recovery. However, once their LP runs out, they are for lack of a better word, dead. No, not dead forever, but out until the next scenario. This game warmed my heart. I loved every second of it. It's really a shame that it was rejected by the public at large, just like the original SaGa Frontier.

Soul Nomad & the World Eaters. This game is relatively unknown to anyone besides fans of Nippon Ichi. This is a strategy RPG, based around a character named Revya. (The name of the main character can be changed and it can be a male or female. It's up to the player) Revya becomes possessed by the spirit of a God, who's name is Gig. Revya has to track down three massive monsters, called the World Eaters, who used to be servants of Gig, and destroy them before they can, you guessed it; destroy the world. This game was just...astounding to me. The graphics were fantastic. I am a huge fan of 2D sprites. The music was enthralling. The gameplay was flawless, well...it takes a bit of getting used to but it's still fantastic. Instead of one on one unit battles, ala Final Fantasy Tactics, or even Disgaea, units are referred to as squads. Squads can contain up to 9 characters who get into minature duels with the enemy squads. Should the leader of either squad fall, that squad is eliminated. There are multiple classes for your characters, which are selected upon character creation. All essential plot characters have their own individual thing going, so they don't get to go down the road of any of the generic classes. This game...it even made me get emotional at times. Full of rage one moment; teary eyed the next. If this game was promoted better, and was played by more people, it wouldn't be on this list. I am almost willing to go as far as saying that this is my all time favorite strategy RPG, and I have played a ton of them.

The most Underappreciated, underestimated and unloved game of all time: SaGa Frontier! I have absolutely no idea why in the world people bagged on this game. This is not only the game that should have been a God to everybody who likes RPGs, but it's the game that is my all-time personal favorite game. I guess I just don't like to cling to main stream games. Anyway, SaGa Frontier has 7 different stories. They range from a magician who has to go on a quest to learn all of the world's magic, then find and kill his twin brother, to a robot who wants to learn of his own existance. This game just oozes perfection. The graphics were great at the time. Sure, some of the character models looked a little silly, but that was just another piece of this game's charm. The music was absolutely and without a doubt some of the most perfect compositions ever thrown together for ANY game, not just a RPG. The battle system was fresh and innovative at the time as well. You had up to three different parties, each of which could hold a maximum of 5 characters. There were different ways to fight. One character could use martial arts, the other could cast magic, and another could shoot his or her opponents with guns. The possibilities were endless. Characters could even combine their attacks together, release them at the same time and do massive amounts of damage to their enemies. I love this game with all of my heart, and it's fantastic that the game is starting to pick up some notoriety on the Playstation message boards, but this game still was, and is the most Underappreciated game of all time. Anybody who has a Playstation, Playstation 2, or Playstation 3, loves RPGs, and wants to experience something that will make them see the light, so to speak, should give this game a try.

These games span across generations of game consoles. They are all gems, diamonds in the rough so to speak, and should be played at least once by everybody, not just RPG fans. I hope that those of you who read this will take my advice and show these RPGs the love that they so rightfully deserve.

List by Harrison776 (03/03/2008)

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