The People's Choice Thread

[Exhuminator]

TEKTORO

Go finish Suikoden.

Seriously! Suikoden is such a fun little JRPG, and it's easily finishable in under 20 hours without a walkthrough. (Fun fact: Warren Spector listed Suikoden on his top ten list of all time favorite games.)

[Sarge]

Console
1. Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryuu To Hikari No Ken (Famicom)
2. Opoona (Wii)
3. Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)
4. Earthbound Beginnings (Wii U VC)
5. Dragon Quest (NES)

Handheld
1. Atelier Rorona (Vita)
2. Bravely Default (3DS)
3. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team Bros. (3DS)
4. Final Fantasy X-2 (Vita)
5. Final Fantasy Adventure (GB)

Console:

- Pass on early Fire Emblem. Just a little too old for me and SRPGs.
- Also a pass on Opoona. I haven't put a ton of time in, but the other games are much more solid.
- XCX is... well, I haven't put enough time in. I'd say go for something shorter, though, unless you're a huge Xenoblade fan.
- Earthbound: Beginnings is an excellent game, but others have made the point that your appreciation of that will be heightened by...
- ...Dragon Quest, which is probably the game to play if you want to experience the start of the genre. If you don't want to endure the heavy grind of the game, play the SFC or GBC remake. It also makes Dragon Quest III that much more poignant.

Portable:
- I know almost nothing about modern Atelier games. The last one I finished was Atelier Iris, and that was excellent, but the newer games seem a bit different.
- This is a hard decision, because Bravely Default is excellent. But I think I'm going to go with a "beginnings" theme here, so wait for my choice later!
- Dream Team is one of the weaker M&L games. Pass. (Still good, though.)
- It's FFX-2. Pass.
- I adored FFA. It's the start of the Mana series, so I think it's worth experiencing, and it's far better than the remake on GBA. Go with this.

[Sarge]

Console:
Miracle Warriors Seal of the Dark Lord - Master System
Blue Dragon - Xbox 360
Unlimited Saga - PS2 (I know, but the game intrigues me)
Aidyn Chronicles The First Mage - N64

Handheld:
Brave Story New Traveler - PSP
Fire Emblem Awakening - 3DS
The Legend of Heroes Trails in the Sky - PSP
Generation of Chaos - PSP
Gungnir - PSP

Console:
- Miracle Warriors isn't a game I put a lot of time in, but I feel like there's better... whoa. That's a... not so great list of games. Oof.
- Blue Dragon disappointed me tremendously. It's not terrible, but there's better out there.
- Unlimited Saga is a weird game that I feel hides a lot of depth, but it's a little too obtuse to really recommend. I still have that same fascination that you do for it, though.
- I actually think, if the tech weren't so iffy, Aidyn could be a good game. There are better WRPGs out there, though.

I guess I'm going to roll with Blue Dragon.

Handheld:

This is much better!

- If you want a straight-up traditional RPG, Brave Story is where it's at. It doesn't do anything amazing, but it's one of the best traditional RPGs on the system.
- It's a FE game with no permadeath. Worth experiencing if that's what turns you off from the series. For me, it's an SRPG that I bought a while back and only played like an hour. Yeah, I know. Don't judge.
- Trails is like a long-lost PSX game. In a good way. The battle system doesn't wow, but the characterization is top-notch. If you want a well-written RPG, this is the one to go with. Just be prepared for visual novel-level verbosity.
- Briefly played Generations of Chaos, there's better SRPGs. In this list, even! Pass.
- I love Sting's output, so Gungnir is probably a good one. I liked the little bit I played it... but then, SRPG. Sorry, folks, just not my usual genre.

[Sarge]

Currently thinking about taking on one of these.

Arc Rise Fantasia (Wii)
Blue Dragon (360) also have the 2 ds sequels
Demon's Souls (PS3)
Fire Emblem: Awakening (3DS)
Guided Fate Paradox, The (PS3)
Last Story, The (Wii)
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona (PSP) Have at least 1 version of every game released in the persona series so far, but I've never played them .
Shin Megami Tensei IV (3DS)
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (3DS)
Tales of Xillia (PS3)
Chrono Trigger (DS)
Valkyria Chronicles (PC)
Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii)
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht (PS2) Ready to try it again now that I have all 3
Ys I & II Chronicles+ (PC/PSP)

Easy choice here. If you haven't beaten Chrono Trigger, that's the right choice.

For all the other ones:

- ARF is Tales with a turn-based battle system and atrocious voice acting. Solid, but pass.
- I detailed Blue Dragon before, but with these choices, pass.
- Demon's Souls is good if you want a challenge. Still, in light of other choices, pass.
- FE, SRPG. Best choice if you love those. Pass from me.
- I know nothing about Guided Fate Paradox. This probably does not bode well.
- The Last Story is the game on this list that comes closest to Chrono Trigger. If you're in more of an action-RPG mood, play this. Set the combat to "manual" and enjoy.
- The original Persona is pretty rough around the edges. Pass.
- SMT IV is solid. I've got about 30 hours into it. Still, not my first choice.
- Soul Hackers is surprisingly good, and the first SMT game I've ever finished. No, really! It's got a few foibles considering its era, but I'd take it over the other SMT games here.
- Xillia is a Tales game. Not much more to say. It's one of the better ones, I like the combat.
- If you like X-Com-ish games, then this one's good. Just has a lot more anime-WWII flavor.
- Xenoblade is a long one. Good, though! I'd take the much tighter CT and Last Story, though.
- Xenosaga is good. Lots of cutscenes, but I remember enjoying the mess out of it when I played many, many moons ago. The sequel is disappointing, and the third rushes to finish things up. And I don't know that the story ever makes sense, and the religious terminology is hilariously misapplied at times.
- Ys is a game I want to like, but I still can't quite get past the bump combat.

[Exhuminator]

- Ys is a game I want to like, but I still can't quite get past the bump combat.

Have you played Origins?

[ElkinFencer10]

Here's what I'm debating:

The Witch and the Hundred Knight (PS4)
Final Fantasy X (PS4 remaster)
Moe Chronicle (Vita)
Final Fantasy Explorers (3DS)
Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters (Vita)

[Sarge]

- Ys is a game I want to like, but I still can't quite get past the bump combat.

Have you played Origins?

Oh, yeah. All three routes. Good stuff.

[Sarge]

Here's what I'm debating:

The Witch and the Hundred Knight (PS4)
Final Fantasy X (PS4 remaster)
Moe Chronicle (Vita)
Final Fantasy Explorers (3DS)
Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters (Vita)

If you never played through it, I'd go with FFX. Can't speak to the others at all!

[Exhuminator]

Alright homies, here are some RPGs I'm considering playing this year, give me the opinions!

Dragon Quest IX (DS)
Jean d'Arc (PSP)
Persona 4 Golden (Vita)
Radiant Historia (DS)
Rogue Galaxy (PS2)
Shadow Hearts Covenant (PS2)
Tactics Ogre Let Us Cling Together (PSP)
Tales of Symphonia (GameCube)
Xenoblade (Wii)
Ys Celceta (Vita)

[MrPopo]

Shit dude, that's quite the quality list.

I'll vote Radiant Historia because it's probably the most unique of all the games on that list. But you really can't go wrong with any of them.