Top 5 RPGs

[TheBrick]

Topic says it all. It doesn't matter whether it's action RPGs, strategy RPGS, JRPGs, WRPGs, or even if they're actually good. Tell the world your favorite role-playing games. One entry from each series, please.

Mine:
5. Parasite Eve/Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (tie!)
4. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
3. Shin Megami Tensei IV
2. Final Fantasy III
1. Pokémon FireRed

[Ben]

This is a really tough one, and as much as I love Sega, 3/5 are PSX games.

1. Xenogears. Flawed, some would argue unfinished (at least the Perfect Works book is out there and has been translated, though). In spite of that, my favorite videogame score of all time, Mitsuda outdid himself on this one. Plus, fantastic anime cutscenes by Studio I.G. and some spartan CG that rivalled FFVII at the time. On top of that, unbelievably well rendered 3d (for the time), the in game Gear cutscenes still blow me away to this day given the limitations of the hardware. Takahashi took RPG story telling to a new level that I don't think has been reached since.
2. Final Fantasy Tactics - As much as I love the Ogre games, this is Matsuno's best work for me. The unbelievably in depth job system, beautiful maps, character designs, and soundtrack, I can't say enough good things about it. My only criticism was that too many characters (Agrias!) were introduced and forgotten about. Then you add on the replayability with the extra characters and side quests, and this stands out as the best SRPG for me.
3. SMT: Devil Summoner - Sadly left in Japan, my favorite Saturn game and a truly great RPG. Battle system, music, all great, but what made this stand out to me was that it was the first RPG with a horror setting in the modern world that I had played. The mood and atmosphere created by the graphical style is truly creepy, coupled with the dark soundtrack and it's one of the greats.
4. Shadowrun: The best Sega CD RPG IMHO (and I loved Lunar, don't get me wrong!), this one was left in Japan. It had inferior ports on other consoles, but none did this one justice with the anime cutscenes and CD quality soundtrack. There's an English patch for it now though, and it runs great on Kega-fusion or Gens-Gs.
5. Kartia: What, you might be saying? An obscure SRPG by Atlus that got little love on the PSX and had Amano's notoriously androgynous artwork (that I love, personally)? This is the hardest pick for me to explain, but I love this game. It had a medieval storyline, but avoided so many cliches that the Final Fantasy games loved to recycle. The battle system was okay, nothing to write home about, and it's short with almost no sidequests. And yet, there's something about how memorable the characters are, both in terms of personality and design, coupled with the great soundtrack and pacing that make me keep coming back to this one.

[MrNash]

I can't really put them in a specific order but Final Fantasy IV, Phantasy Star IV, Dragon Quest VIII, Super Robot Taisen OG Saga, and Wizardry I tend to hover in my top five constantly.

[CavZee]

It would be near impossible for me to pick 5, and you can forget about me ordering them. But if I had to I'd probably come up with these:

-Final Fantasy VI
-Dragon Quest VIII
-Xenogears
-Valkyria Chronicles
-Persona 4 or SMT IV

These were honestly just some of the first ones I came up w/o much thought so take that as you will. There's certainly many great ones I've yet to play or have only experienced bits and pieces as well.

(In other words, this list means nothing. )

And crap, already forgot the Mario RPGs. >_<

[Opa Opa]

Ikaruga
CoD MW2
every Zelda
AD&D Heroes of the Lance
Crash Bandicoot

[CavZee]

Ikaruga
CoD MW2
every Zelda
AD&D Heroes of the Lance
Crash Bandicoot

I hated grinding in Crash, ruined the game for me. Agree 100% with MW2 though.

[dunpeal2064]

Final Fantasy 7
Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core
Final Fantasy 7: Before Crisis
Final Fantasy 7: Drige of Cerberus
The 7th Saga

[alienjesus]

My top 12:

Romance of the Three Kingdoms XII
Final Fantasy XI
Might & Magic X
Dragon Quest 9
Ultima VIII
The 7th Saga
Ys VI
Suikoden V
Phantasy Star IV
Mother 3
Wild Arms 2
And a partridge in a pear tree

[Ack]

Secret of the Stars
Super Ninja Boy
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Shadow Madness
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time

What?

[BoneSnapDeez]

Final Fantasy 7
Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core
Final Fantasy 7: Before Crisis
Final Fantasy 7: Drige of Cerberus
The 7th Saga

Glad to see at least one good game on that list.