Top 5 groundbreaking RPGs - Top5 biweek

[Prpl_Mage]

I though I'd give this thing a try.
I've never been a big fan of polls so just go ahead and post what you think are the top5.

This biweeks topic is Groundbreakign RPG. Things that made your view of RPGs change forever.


5.
Final fantasy X (not X-2, that's a different story) - One of those games, that you looked at the early art, some screen shots and thought "Man, this is gonna be swell!". Turns out that the ATB system is gone and the world map with it. Two very important parts of an rpg (if you ask me). But what did FFX have that made it so different?
Well, it had some new sort of turn based system where the speed determined the order in battle. There wasn't a "choose what your BLK mages should do and watch it play out" like the first FF games. This game made something new. It reminded me a bit of Pokémon or something like that, but the truth is that I simply couldn't hate it. Also, the Sphere grid was used as leveling up and gaining new skills. This was a neat way to avoid the whole class-mania that some of the previous games had.

4.Chrono trigger - not only did it have dual techs and triple techs - it also had several endings and different time eras. It proved that an RPG could be more than hunting down crystals. Battles where made fun without the traditional blurr of screen and larger more fierce character arts. And no random encounters where placed in it, instead the enemies were walked on at the overworld. Loved this game from the beginning to the end with plottwists and characters, side quests and messed up parts with Nuus. Up till this game I'd pretty much played the FF series with some exceptions.


3. Septerra core - There's always the ATB system in any classic rpg. Septerra Core took that and gave it a twist. You can stop the bar 1/3, 2/3 or 3/3 to full. Damage and available skills change depending on how long you wait. Items remain the same. Also it used magic as in Tarot cards. With the cards you could create new interesting effects. For example you could use the Summon card with a Healing card to summon the godess of love. Of course you needed 2 characters . one for each card. Also the battle system took advantage of character placement in battle like Chrono trigger did. Some attacks goes in lines, some in a circle area - which affected when you would use certain skills. Also, the game was a point and click kind of game, which works well for the PC.


2. Paper mario (And the thousand year old door). A super mario game that was an rpg, booged my mind. This game is turn based but used an active button press system. Timing a button press increased the damage dealt and another one could get you more sylish points. When the enemy attacked you could press the A button to guard or the B button to counter. It was all about timing and skills. Marios arsenal is pretty much the hammer and the shoes, smashes and stomps. But he had companions (1 optional) with different abilities as well as overworld abilities.  Great game that gets dusted off from time to time.


1. Earthbound 2 - I only knew Ness from the Super Smash bros. games and stumbled across this game. Not only did I start questioning the sanity of the makers - but also what an RPG could be. Whacky and disturbing world, cute graphics, angry cabs, seriously messed up storyline (especially the end) - this game truly changed the way I looked at games in general. Nintendo -  the people who made Mario and Kirby cooking up this pot of messed up game turned a world upside down.
Earthbound starts as a pretty modern-based rpg. You're a kid, you're name is what you type. Then you decide the names of the people around you - your favourite food and your favourite thing. Game starts and after 15minutes you're not sure if you're supposed to take this serious or whatever. After playing through about half the game you kinda get used to the overall WTF moments and just embrace it. Turn based battle with tons of factors playing. Not just attack defense and guard. Enemies could do completely worthless moves, your characters could fall under all types of odd statuses. And even when an attack killed you - you could win the battle before the hp ticked down to 0.




So what are your top5 RPGs that changed the way you looked at RPGs forever?
Just picking 5 is kinda hard, but you can do it. Also, please don't kill me for placing CT at a 4th.

[zuhane]

I wholeheartedly agree with 2 and 5. Haven't played the others

[HobomasterXXX]

Does posting Deus Ex five times count?

[WarxePB]

In no particular order...

-Chrono Trigger: Same reasons as Prpl - lots of replayability in this one thanks to the multiple endings and New Game+, and a really fun battle system.

-Final Fantasy 7: Yes, it's a 'boring' choice, but it was the first really popular JRPG in the West and a huge genre definer everywhere else. An epic plot, memorable characters and a really awesome skill system.

-Ultima IV: There's still lots of combat in it, but I like this game because it's not just about killing the Big Bad du jour - it's about enlightenment and inspiring others. The world is huge for the time, and you pretty much have to explore every nook and cranny to complete the game, which I really enjoy. It has a huge influence on pretty much every western RPG that came after it, and even some eastern ones too (I seem to recall the minds behind Final Fantasy citing Ultima as an influence).

-Planescape Torment: This game is definitely worthy of being called a 'roleplaying' game. Pretty much everything can be done with dialogue options alone, and I think there's only two or three required fights in the entire game. Again, there's a lot of memorable characters - in particular, the party lineup is one of the most unique among RPGs, and hardly any character is typical.

-Pokemon Gold, Silver, Crystal: The first games set out the formula, but GSC refined it - new mons, new moves, a day/night system and a ton more depth in the battle system. The Pokemon series in general has a ton of replay value and the social interaction is a huge draw, but I think GSC is the best in the series.

[zuhane]

5. Pokémon Roby/Sapphire. My favourite game of the franchise despite what people may say.
It had this tropical atmosphere and some really exciting places to travel. I just loved it way above
any of the other Pokémon games for unexplainable reasons.

4. Jade Cocoon 2. One of the strangest games you'll ever play, but the monsters are just absolutely
brilliant. Since I'm a sucker for games with tropical/beach/jungle settings, this game won me over
almost instantly. I get chills from the soundtrack! You can morph monster types together to create
the weirdest concoctions ever.

3. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. Just brilliant!

2. Final Fantasy 10. I pretty much agree with Purple. I'd also like to say that I've yet to experience
something as powerful and atmosphere-conjuring as this game. It's beautiful in every manner. The
soundtrack is a masterpiece.

1. It has to be Disgaea 1/2. This game is just absolutely masterful in every sense. The storyline,
characters, dialogue and voices are just laugh-out-loud funny at points. It keeps you fully engrossed
throughout. The music is quirky and catchy and loveable, the spritework and character art is also fantastic.
However, what really won me over was the unbelievably deep gameplay. It can take up to 40 hours to
learn absolutely everything, but you'll have a blast doing so. I've invested a good 400 hours in both Disgaea
games and loved every minute.

There's SO much replay value. In fact, completing the game is just the very beginning. You can level characters
to level 9999, then you can reincarnate them into stronger bodies, changing their base stats and stat gain curves
so they're more powerful at the same level. You can level up items, then add millions of different augmentations
to make them cause status ailments, defenses or more. You can do team attacks, merge enemies, catch monsters,
play over 40 completely unique classes, change Geo Panels, appeal for new items in court, kill everything in court
if they disagree, unlock hidden characters and steal moves from other characters to make the ultimate badass. Throw
this all on an isometric grid system, add some awesomely cool special moves and you have yourself the most well-planned
tactical RPG game ever created in the history of ever. The best bit is that the DS port is almost the same as the PS2 version,
just dimmed down graphically with no voice acting. Awesome!

An example of the different 40+ classes each with 6 tiers:

[SaiKar]

If Chorno Trigger didn't make it on the list, I was gunna choke a bitch.

Septerra Core was a truely awful RPG engine. The whole 1/2 2/3 3/3 bars thing mattered less when the attacks did, get this, x1, x2, or x3 damage depending on when you stopped it. So the true advantage of waiting until 3/3 bars was so your characters would be making less attacks and battles would end faster. Cards were also pretty awful. It was cool being able to combine effects, but they just cost too much MP to use.

Best RPG story ever though, oddly enough.

[Prpl_Mage]

Septerra Core was a truely awful RPG engine. The whole 1/2 2/3 3/3 bars thing mattered less when the attacks did, get this, x1, x2, or x3 damage depending on when you stopped it. So the true advantage of waiting until 3/3 bars was so your characters would be making less attacks and battles would end faster. Cards were also pretty awful. It was cool being able to combine effects, but they just cost too much MP to use.

Well, each step unlocked different moves as well. Like Maya's Heat seeker, beam, grenade, sharpnel ect. Each useful for different things. And you didn't have to wait for the whole bar to fill up to finish off an enemy with little hp. It made it difference; and why I liked it a bit more than the classical version.
Cards where interesting with mixing Barrier, Fire and All. Everyone got a fire barrier. Then we had the mirror card and summon card that gave even more possible combination - some more useless than others. And yes, MP was a huge problem when you didn't bring a character like Grub along. His only usefulness was the MP added to the party. MP is shared in the party and not individual.
And well, the fact that the game was different was what made it so ground-breaking to me, they took a pretty traditional thing and turned it into something more.


And I love Chrono Trigger. Gonna say that it's better than FF6, same console different thing. The soundtrack and everything about that game rocked.


Also, as Warxe mentioned - one of the pluses with pokémon was that a lot of people played it. I love Septerra core but so far I only know of 3 people who've played it. 2 on this site. And pokémon became like 300% better with G/S/C especially Crystal which added the battle tower, animations, colours and some more story. not only were the types balanced, but new moves and hold items made this groundbreaking to the series. R/S/E followed in the footsteps but added the double battles, tons of type combinations and a bunch new uses of HMs and bicycles.