Top 5 RPG's this gen

[ANDYBALLINA]

This gen has seen some pretty epic RPG's, so whats you top 5 and why?

Mass Effect - Epic in everyway. It took me awhile to get into, but I love it. Stunning story, characters and dialogue make this a favourite.

Dragon Age: Origins - This is my all time fav fantasy RPG. It's got an amazing, epic feel to it. The moral choices are in depth, as are the character dialogue, quests and the world.

Fable 2 - This is an excellent game, so many options. I love the fact that its a real rag to riches tale. The Brittish voice acting is brillant, as is all the options around owning business and marriage/family etc.

Oblivion - I love the freedom in this game. The lush open world and combat make this a hit with me. While it lacks abit in story, its certainly rich in quests and guilds etc. You can wander for hours.

The Witcher - This game is fantastic, I love the dark fantasy theme to this game and it plays great. The lore seem so rich and deep and the combat is spot on.
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PSN: ANDYBALLINA1

[dloiscute]

Valkyria Chronicles- Not one thing in this game annoyed me. Everything pleased me.

Demon's Souls- This is harsh, evaluate me

Lost Odyssey- A jrpg doing what a jrpg does best.... everything from epic endings to seemingly inappropriate cleavages.

Mass Effect- Great stuff. I didn't know what to expect based on the trailers. End result is win.

FFVII: Crisis Core- Hadn't played an FF since XII. This brought all the FF love back.
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☑Tekken

[EnriqueOrgazmo]

Not sure if I should reply here, since I've only played a few RPGs on the current gen, but here goes:

Valkyria Chronicles - entertaining, innovating, engrossing, captivating

Fallout 3 - massive world + exploration + combat system = good fun

Demon's Souls - no doubt has gathered a legion of fans for its brutal difficulty and unique play style

Folklore - gameplay is shallow and repetitive, but has interesting story with alot of mysterious/twists

[bobboblaw]

Valkyria Chronicles - I really like the way it's presented as a story book (with a great story and characters), and the great blend of strategy with 3rd person shooter combat. But it's the timeless are style which made the game look like a painting come to life which is the most memorable aspect of the game.

Fallout 3 - Despite all the glitches and lack of polish, this is one of the most immersive and atmospheric games I've played. You really get lost in the world, and put yourself in the shoes of your character. It was a close call between this and oblivion though.

Mass Effect - Deep and amazing sci-fi universe, epic and cinematic storyline, and great voice acting across the board. Only thing I would've liked to see was a proper futuristic city to explore. I cannot wait until the 28th for ME2!

Folklore - It's an RPG! Incredible art style, with many memorable character designs. Some may call it repetitive seeing as you essentially go through the game twice, but the changes in story and folks you get to use/fight was enough for me to enjoy. Definitely one of the most unique games out there.

Penny Arcade Yada Yada Yada Ep 1 & 2 - Bought both episodes on a whim, and was very surpised by how enjoyable they are. The humour is what really makes these games. Obtaining an item called an 'invisible box' to use against mimes is just one example of the countless hilarious things in the game.
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Steam: bobboblaw

[TamTam79]

Fallout 3 - It's brilliant. Pretty simple really. Second best RPG I've played in the past five years.

Dragon Age - Lots to like about this and some annoying things as well. But overall, this covers so many of the bases that I look for in an RPG and if it wasn't so glitchy, I'd probably have found it even better.

Oblivion - I was blown away when I first played this. It's probably not as good as Morrowind, but then again it doesn't have to be to rank among the best of this generation.

Demons Souls - Hard. Brutally so. But easily the single most rearding experience I've had with ANY game of this generation; RPG or otherwise. It's brilliant and even though it's got a cult following...maybe this isn't enough. It's that good.

The Witcher - It annoyed me to no end struggling with this game until it was eventually fixed...but to judge it on the sem-finished product that it is, it's great. Really great in fact. Falls just behind Fallout 3 and Demons Souls for me.
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[Kyle Clarthy]

Updated to include handheld

Hmm ... I'm trying hard to think of five RPGs I actually enjoyed this gen. Quite a lot of them were decent, and some were really good, but there were also a lot of disappointments or things that didn't deliver. So, I'll just mention the ones I liked.

1. Tales of Vesperia

I know that not everyone enjoyed it, and I also know that it's not a "complete" game, but it was really the RPG I was looking for. I was getting so frustrated with the release dates as I'm sure a lot of people can remember. I enjoyed the characters a lot and really grew to love them all, even the ones I thought I'd dislike. I had a lot of trouble choosing who to use in my party in the end because I'd end up missing someone too much. There wasn't much of a story, but we all know that Tales games aren't about stories, but more about characters, and the interaction in this was great. The amount of things to do was almost too much, but I was glad to have it all there if I wanted to find all the titles, costumes, weapons etc. Plus the battles were always a whole lot of fun. It was just a great overall package and it just showed that you don't have to be "epic" or awe inspiring to have a lot of fun and character.

2. Mass Effect

I'm not much of a sci fi fan, only really having watched the Star Wars movies, but I knew enough to know that this would be a good RPG to play. If it was merely a shooter, I wouldn't have been interested. Having said that, I loved this game, despite its nuances such as the Mako ... I know there's a lot of people out there who hate certain characters, but I really liked them all and they all felt quite realistic to me, which made a certain decision quite hard for me at one stage, considering I'd decided long before that I'd use a specific party combination. The game had a few clunky parts, but not enough to worry me. The ending was amazing, and it left me wanting more, so I'm playing through again just before the sequel is released. One thing, though: why do we need to always have some blue skinned mysterious feminine alien chicks? Not much of a fan of those, sorry.

3. Dragon Quest 5

I know a lot of people would have probably missed this release, but I think it's a shame, because it really stood out as a solid game even today. I don't think I've played any game that has allowed me to marry a girl of my choosing, battle with her in my party, and then have my children battle alongside us as well. Also, the monster collecting was extremely fun, because you never knew just when one would join you, and it makes for almost endless party combinations. The trademark humor was there and it has such a charming feel to it.

4. Lost Odyssey

Again, you'll probably notice, the characters were what made me enjoy this game more than anything. That and the dreams. Amazing stuff. The gameplay was alright, but I would have preferred it to be a little bit more fast paced. In the end, I kept on using the Gamble spell to do most of my work. It was a fairly cheap spell, but hey, it worked ... so yeah, I do blame myself that the battles got a little boring and tedious, but sometimes it was faster to just use Gamble than to try and work out what the weakness of a bad guy was. Plus, there were too many magic users. The ending was really bittersweet for me, but perfect. I really did enjoy that game and I will be watching to see if a sequel is made. Hopefully it will be with entirely new people, though, because you shouldn't mess with a good ending like that.

5. Dragon Age: Origins

At first I was put off by the actual appearance of the people in this game ... they all looked really quite ugly ... But eventually I got used to it. There was so much to do and my ending was entirely different to other people's I have spoken to. I really enjoyed playing this, but I admit that I ended up turning it on to easy because I couldn't manage to play it on normal in the end! Even with it turned on to easy, I just got lost in the world. Unfortunately, it was really easy for me to actually get lost, and sometimes I'd have no real idea what this band of people was doing attacking me. Again, most of the characters were memorable, especially Alistair and Morrigan, and their banter really made them stand out as more than just a pair of legs with special powers. I am sure that I will play through this again in the near future, as soon as I clear a bit of my backlog and the memories aren't as fresh. I've never played a computer RPG before, so all the talk about the console version being inferior or whatever was lost on me in the end. It played just like any other Bioware RPG, which is both a good and a bad thing. I think that's what made this get such a low number: you end up knowing what to expect now, and you know that when you are about to witness a character walk away the very same way that they do in Mass Effect, or pace the same way, or have the same quest, merely modified, there needs to be some sort of a change.

Also, I should mention Borderlands and Persona 4.

I agree that Borderlands is a lot of fun, but like I mentioned, I haven't played enough to have it on the list.

As for Persona 4, I've played about 20 hours of it, and I was hooked. I loved it and it had such a different feel to any other RPG I'd played until that point. It basically got me to look at all of the other Shin Megami Tensei games which I'm thankful for. I loved the characters, the setting, the persona fusion, but I stopped playing it to play Persona 3 first. So, I also don't think it's qualified to be put in my list of games. I also wasn't aware that we could put PS2 games in the list, but oh well.
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[Sin Ogaris]

Easily Borderlands, it's absolutely no contest in my opinion, the only thing that comes remotely close is Dragon Age: Origins, but even it pales in comparison, anyhoo this is my list:

Borderlands
Dragon Age: Origins
Lost Odyssey
Mass Effect
Fallout III

That being said there's a tonne of RPG's I haven't played, for instance I could pretty much gaurantee that The Witcher would take my number 1 if I played it.

[Kyle Clarthy]

Yeah, I'm sure my list would be different if I could actually play a few of the other games mentioned.

I didn't think about putting down Borderlands, though. I guess that's because I haven't actually had much time to play it and it seems that once you play co op you can't really go back to single player. But yes, from what I've played, it's been a lot of fun.
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[UWSguy]

I've actually been pretty disappointed by console RPGs this gen mainly because I'm a fan of the JRPGs which have been pretty disappointing so far (especially compared to last gen). Hopefully 2010 is different.

5) DA: O

Great game, lots of enjoyable characters. The lore was so detailed made you want to know more about the world.

4) Mass Effect

Similar to DA:O. I really enjoyed this though I thought the Geth weren't quite a strong enough enemy. Still, great gameplay.

3) Valkyria Chronicles

My favourite console rpg though I wish there were towns etc instead of just cutscenes and menus.

2) Jeanne D'arc

Fantastic game, closest thing I've played in years to a Shining Force game.

1) Dragon Quest V

I was close to the end and it got stolen but from what I played it blew everything else out of the water.

[Kyle Clarthy]

Oh, I didn't realise that handheld RPGs could be used as well ...!

Oh, and by the way, why am I seemingly the only one who liked Tales of Vesperia that much?
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[Sin Ogaris]

I haven't played the full game, though I didn't mind the demo to be honest.

[Kyle Clarthy]

Please try it out, then! I mean, sure, it might not be for everyone, but the battles sure are fun.
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[Pagan's Mind]

1. Etrian Odyssey
2. The World Ends With You
3. Tales of Vesperia
4. Mass Effect
5. Lost Odyssey

I don't know if we can include newish PS2 games but if we can then Persona 3 and 4 would be at the top of my list, awesome games.

[Charly]

[Afty2]

there are so many to choose from...i will choose from 2009
1. Dragon Quest IX
2. Final Fantasy XIII
3. Tales of Vesperia
4. Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
5. Steins Gate

[Skruggz]

I honestly haven't played that many RPG's this gen, but I shall try.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: The game that took many hours of my life. I think Bethesda did a phenomenal job making this game accessible to newcomers of the series, yet still maintained the classic elder scrolls feel. Combat and Magic got a huge upgrade from Morrowinds dice roll gameplay, allowing for more fast paced battles with a great deal of mobility. And while it lacked the overall map size and guild/quest content compared to its older brothers it was still a beast with a lush world, compelling quests and stayed true to elder scroll lore.

Persona 4 : It may have been a PS2 title, but it was released this gen so to me it counts. As a huge fan of Persona 3 I was very excited for this game, and it lived up to all of my expectations, and then some. When it comes to combat, it plays identical to Persona 3, just a little more simplified (Just 1 physical ability for example), but the game really shines in the story/character area. I won't go into detail for those that may not have played it yet, but the mystery kept me on the edge of my seat constantly, and the sheer number of twists and turns blew my mind, the game pulled of a crime/drama tone that very few games could compete with. I noticed that time management was a lot more complex this time around, no longer could you have a whole month free to do stuff, you were restricted by the weather and had to plan your month around the weekly forecast, a daunting task at first but you eventually get into the swing of things. I found character interactions were pulled off beautifully, every character brings something to the table, be it humor, anger or drama all of which bounce off of one another in some of the best social links and conversations I have ever seen in a game.

Mass Effect: I had a great time with this one. I see very few games with such a thick atmosphere (no pun intended) and lore. It did a fantastic job immersing the player into outer space using a mixture of music, camera angles and 'traditional' space age technology, I will admit however that I began ignoring the Codex half way through the game as it was just uninteresting walls of text to me. I can't think of much to add for this game, I enjoyed the overall gameplay, but will admit the story didn't excite me much.

Fallout 3: I love this game for much the same reasons as Oblivion. Unlike Oblivion though I cannot compare this to earlier titles as I have yet to play Fallout 1, 2 and Tactics. I loved the skill point system in this game as it was restricting, you couldn't really be a hybrid as you had only so many points to distribute, it made you pick one path and stick to it, unlike Oblivion in which the Warrior class can end up playing the same as a Mage. I also found exploration and questing to be more enjoyable and worthwhile then Oblivion as it could earn you some genuinely useful items and a pocket full of bottle caps. I will say one negative thing though, and that is the game world is so incredibly bland, it is essentially rock after rock, destroyed building after destroyed building, it really made traveling a bore.

Fable 2: Let me get the negatives out of the way first. It had a terribly short storyline and quests and despite the good/bad system I found the choices had very little impact on the game. Luckily the game itself is fun. The quests were good for a laugh, and pretty much the whole game is good for mucking around in. The amount of family's I created and/or ended were amusing as was your little companion which I honestly think brought more to the game then just a treasure finder. Overall I found it a fun, but shallow experience.

Oh shit, typed more then expected.

[Nietzsche]

If handhelds count.

1. Fallout 3. My favourite game since GTA3. Pure awesome in a slow sombre way. The game has lots of little moments and the world is sculptured in thousands of little tiny ways. The end is quite awesome with a giant anti-communist Robot, throwing mini-nukes and using his laser eye canon to defeat all obstacles. Plus my favourite part in any game Minefield which is perhaps the saddest thing I have seen in a video game. The story is mostly junk but pretty much all the side quests are great and every town and building has little stories that you can figure out if you look hard enough. I know this game isn't for everyone but I just love the feeling of exploration in it.

2. Mass Effect: I liked it a lot but the reason why I like it so much is the epic ending that blows anything else away. I like all the characters except Garrus who I find meh. The games story is great and the graphics are really really really good. The shooting is quite poor though and the mako is so horrendously bad. The thing that stands out in this game is the cohesiveness of everything. There are multiple side-quests involving science gone wrong, the theme of man vs machine is predominate and sorrow told on both epic (the Protheans and personal scale (the saddest is the girl who was a captured slave if you were a colonist)

3. Borderlands: Shotgun that shoots rockets! Plus the vibe of this game is great. The comedy in this game is a bit off but still funny. The co-op online is really fun and solo is really satisfying. This game is a completionist dream as everything is doable but there is just craploads to do.

4. Chrono Trigger. I played it this gen dam-it. This game is awesome. One of the best RPG battle systems and it was made a long long long time ago. There are so many cool ideas in this game that I find crazy that they haven't been done in other games. Things like past influencing the future. When JRPG's were king

5. Oblivion: There are so many wrong things with this game. The repetitiveness, the lack of a good story, the magic system is just crap but I put in hundreds of hours into this game cause its awesome. The leveling up system is satisfying, some side quests are great (especially like the Assassins Guild questline), the world is just so massive it feels like a real place. I don't know what it is but this game does so many things right. Although Fallout I feel perfects most of the flaws of Oblivion but this game is still great. Would be higher up on the list if Fallout didn't exist.

[JackSlack]

[shinhawk]

1. Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice: Sure its not graphically up to par like most current gen RPGs, but the gameplay is very much improved from its predecessors and the characters are just as lovable as the first game. The numerous DLC cameos are just wonderful as well and its great seeing various NIS characters interact with each other.

2. Cross Edge: Again most would consider this not graphically up to par nor did most people like this game. I however found a lot of enjoyment since its been one of the more difficult games to play which requires quite a bit of planning and strategy when trying to soundly defeat enemies. As I said with Disgaea, its always interesting seeing how the writers make characters from different games interact. I was particularly interested in seeing how Morrigan interacted with the likes of Etna.

3. Valkyria Chronicles: Honestly, I kind of got tired seeing the typical 1st/3rd person rpg mix, but Valkyria Chronicles staff took that formula and combined it SRPG (my favorite genre). Once again, the characters were lovable and the gameplay was always really fun.

That's all I can list for the time being. I would like to honorably mention some PS2 RPGs that have been released alongside current RPGs such as Ar Tonelico II and the Mana Khemia games.
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My Play-Asia affiliate link.

[Ryvenor]

In no particular order:

Valkyria Chronicles
Lost Odyssey
Tales of Vesperia
Folklore
Cross Edge


The Reasons i like these RPGs have pretty much been stated above already .

[Jahanzeb]

Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3

This is what a modern JRPG ought to be like, It certainly has a lot more freedom.

Eternal Sonata

An underrated gem of a game in my opinion. Vibrant and colourful graphics, stellar art direction, a breathtaking soundtrack and a really fun battle system.

Shin Megami Tensei Persona 4

Pretty much improved upon everything that made Persona 3 so awesome, My GOTY 2009.

The World Ends With You

Another great example of what a modern JRPG ought to be like, this game was the reason why I bought the DS. It plays unlike any JRPG I have ever played.

Blue Dragon

A lot of people seem to hate this game but I love it and maybe its because I played the game long before the PAL and American release, back then the game gave me my 'next gen' RPG fix. Blue Dragon is pretty much a classic 80s JRPG for the current generation.

EDIT

Odin Sphere deserves a very honourable mention! A gorgeous 2D action RPG with excellent story telling.
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Now Playing:
Sonic Generations

[eckymosis]

In order

1. Mass Effect
An absolutely epic masterpiece of a Sci-fi RPG. Everything was excellent from the characters, the story, soundtrack and the gameplay. I know a lot of people didn’t like the Mako parts but I loved using the damn thing to scale near 90 degree slopes and using the boosters to jump off massive cliffs. I also thoroughly enjoyed reading up information on the planets and admiring the map of our Milky Way, looking at the constellations while enjoying the map music. I have to admit that the game does have its faults such as the inventory system and it would be better if there were greater consequences for the decisions you make in the game but it’s good enough for me. Not only is this my top RPG of the gen but easily in my top 10 games of all time. That’s probably why I’ve finished it 6 times and clocked more than 200 hours playing the damn thing!

2. Lost Odyssey
This game is what a true JRPG should be. I know a lot of people aren’t fans of the turn based system and complain that it’s too slow. But I personally enjoy it. It allows for a very tactical approach on how to go about winning fights, or at the least a different tactical approach as opposed to faster paced RPG systems. I really loved the character development, the story, gameplay and of course, the music. I have to say that Nobuo Uematsu has not lost his touch as the music was fantastic. The Dreams were also excellent and gave you a deeper understanding of Kaim’s character. Again, the game has its faults like not enough customisation and the mortals were fairly limited with what they could do unless you equipped certain rings. But just like Mass Effect, it wasn’t nowhere near enough to deter me from the game’s greatness.

3. Eternal Sonata
I’m surprised that not many people have mentioned this game. Just like Lost Odyssey, it was a solid JRPG. I especially loved the battle system in that it effectively incorporated both real time and turn based elements. Furthermore, the ability to link characters attacks to one massive ass whopping was brilliant. The story was solid, the music was great and the characters were enjoyable albeit a bit annoying at times. The game got pretty challenging once you got to that tower dungeon at the end of the game but I welcomed it. Brilliant game.

That’s pretty much from my list and it’s surprising that I’ve only played 3 RPG’s to completion even though I love the genre so much. I just don’t have the time to commit myself like I use to. I played and finished Blue Dragon but there are much better RPG’s than that out there. It was good but I wouldn’t include it on my list. I’m really eager to find time to play Fable 2, Tales of Vesperia, Star Ocean but with Mass Effect 2 out in less than 2 weeks, they’ll have to take a back seat.
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[Scrav]

1. Persona 4 - No one wants to hear me talk about this again.

2. The Witcher - I only got this recently and it pretty much blew me away in the world/lore and game play, with difficult choices having to be frequently made, many times with no right answer.

3. Eternal Sonata - I enjoyed this one quite a bit minus "the scene" and perhaps Polka at times.

4. Dragon Age - A mixed game, but it was on an epic scale.

5. Suikoden Tierkreis (or however it is spelt) - Nothing ground breaking here, but it did have some great music.

[Quin]

Tales of Vesperia (PS3)

Despite costing an arm and a leg to bring the currently Japan-only PS3 version of ToV to the UK, I'm not regretting any of the money I burned on it, and the time I spent waiting for it to show up (Over a month, had to request a reshipment). Tales of Vesperia takes the advances made by Tales of the Abyss and makes everything better. Certainly my favourite of the console Tales Of games now, edging out Abyss from the former top-spot.

Super Robot Wars Z (PS2)
A PS2 game on here? Madness you say. Bear in mind SRWZ was released in September 2008, with the Special Disk released in March 2009. Some of the best 2D spritework this side of Disgaea. Speaking of which...

Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days (PSP)
Disgaea 2 was excellent. The PSP port just makes everything better, not least by incorporating elements and characters from Disgaea 3.

Super Robot Wars OG Saga: Endless Frontier (DS)
More of this, you say? Well, Endless Frontier did take the series in a markedly different direction. A solid RPG, though, and enough for ATLUS to actually bother translating it for American audiences. The sequel, due for release in Feburary, is already looking like a winner.

Mass Effect (PC)
I have a changable relationship with Bioware's games, but to me, this is the best one of their games. My pre-order is already in for the sequel.
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[admeister]

In no particular order:

Cross Edge - very unique, challenging, great mix of characters.
Ar Tonelico 2 - great story and battle system.
Persona 4 - awesome.
Lost Odyssey - epic.
The World Ends With You - one of the best soundtracks in a game ever (made even more impressive by the fact that it's a DS game). Addictive gameplay.

Many happy hours were spent with these games. I hope we see lots more that are just as good.
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"The first person to prove that cow's milk is drinkable was very, very thirsty." - Fact Sphere.