RPGs that still hold up pretty well

[Retronomy]

The entire Earthbound/mother series is still fresh. Especially Mother 3, which is easily my favorite in the series. The plot is phenomenal.

Super Mario RPG was ahead of it's time, although is stupidly easy. It's a nice game to go to if you just want to lose yourself in pure unadulterated fun. And it's villian is easily the darkest entity to ever bless the mushroom kingdom.

Pretty much the entire Grandia series holds up very well.

[skyknight]

I would say the majority of SNES and Genesis RPG's hold up, I mean look at the market for 16-bit RPG experience!

As for the 32-bit era, there's a lot of mixed feelings, you have early 3D RPG's that don't look great now, and 2D RPG's that weren't much better than 16-bit.

That's just my opinion.

[8BitMagic]

I've been replaying Final Fantasy VII and I have to say despite the blocky graphics it is such a deep game on so many levels it still holds up really well for me. The themes at work in this game are incredible from the start.

Others I'd consider would be Skies of Arcadia and Phantasy Star IV


"Holding up" today is kinda of hard for us retro gamer to gauge I think. We all have nostalgia tinted glasses

[WallCrusher]

Personally I think the original Dragon Warrior/Quest games dont hold up very well today. Its just way to old fashioned and boring combat with way too much grinding.

I dunno, I still find the original DQ to be a blast to pop-in and play every now and again. There's nothing overly complicated about it, since every battle is 1-on-1, and the world is pretty small in comparison to the sequels, so you can beat it a lot faster.

Of course, IV is and always will be my favorite.

[dunpeal2064]

I've tried a few times to get into the original DQ, and I know that once I hit a stride with it I'll probably fly through it, but as of now every time I have popped it in, I've ended up shutting it off before getting too far.

WallCrusher, since you seem to have some experience with the series, would you say the first game is a good place to start. or is it more enjoyable once you have experienced the better DQ games, to come back and enjoy its beginnings? Also, does the story pick up more, or is the meat of the game more in leveling and exploration?

[BoneSnapDeez]

dunpeal2064

If you want to play the DQ series in order without getting too deep into it, go for the best ports. Play 1-3 on the GBC and 4-6 on the DS. 7, 8, and 9 are all exclusive to one console - PS1, PS2, and DS respectively.

[dunpeal2064]

I played DQ3 on the GBC and really enjoyed the little of it I did play, but I find it nearly impossible to get into handheld gaming nowadays. Usually, when the gf is taking breaks from making crazy crafts, she wants to watch me play whatever I happen to be playing. On top of that, my neck just starts killing me after maybe half an hour.

I have considered emulating the GBC versions on the Wii, but I was worried that the jump from playing 3 on the GBC to 4 on the NES might alter my experience with the 4th game, which I have heard really good things about.

I really REALLY wish the Wii had a DS-Player.

[MrPopo]

For the DQ series, 1 is completely bare bones, 2 added party members and threw enemy balance out the window (I'd call it the hardest DQ game), and then 3 was the first to start really having story come into play. The overarching story was as simple as ever, but now the towns in between got characterization.

The jump from 3 GBC to 4 NES shouldn't be too bad; the graphics in 4 will be noticeably worse and one of your party members won't do you much good in the final chapter (likes to spam Death spells which rarely work), but on the whole the NPCs are pretty fleshed out.

[prfsnl_gmr]

The jump from 3 GBC to 4 NES shouldn't be too bad; the graphics in 4 will be noticeably worse and one of your party members won't do you much good in the final chapter (likes to spam Death spells which rarely work), but on the whole the NPCs are pretty fleshed out.

I agree entirely. I played through both DQ3 (GBC) - which I absolutely adore - and DQ4 (NES) relatively recently. I thought that both games have held up well, and - as I stated earlier - I absolutely loved DQ3 (GBC).

[BoneSnapDeez]

I played DQ3 on the GBC and really enjoyed the little of it I did play, but I find it nearly impossible to get into handheld gaming nowadays. Usually, when the gf is taking breaks from making crazy crafts, she wants to watch me play whatever I happen to be playing. On top of that, my neck just starts killing me after maybe half an hour.

I have considered emulating the GBC versions on the Wii, but I was worried that the jump from playing 3 on the GBC to 4 on the NES might alter my experience with the 4th game, which I have heard really good things about.

I really REALLY wish the Wii had a DS-Player.

The GBC version of Dragon Warrior 1&2 (both games are on one cart) is one of the black cartridges - it's compatible with a Super Game Boy (and a Game Boy Player of course). I played it on a television.

The original versions of Dragon Quest V & VI never left Japan - they're Super Famicom games. There are translated ROMs available, if you don't mind playing them on a PC of course.