Non-Final Fantasy RPGs

[Zuulghast]

Looking for some good titles.

What are your top 5 favorite non-final fantasy RPG titles?

If possible, leave Chrono Trigger out of the list. Nothing against Chrono Trigger.

[Andromeda]

Excluding any Square Enix developed or published games, it is still leaves the question of platform. As a general list.

Suikoden II
Dark Souls
Persona 4
Tales of the Abyss
Ar Tonelico 2

By platform

PSone

Suikoden II
Suikoden
Vagrant Story
Lunar
Lunar 2

PS2
Persona 4
Tales of the Abyss
Ar Tonelico 2
Xenosaga III
Odin Sphere

PS3
Dark Souls
Valkyria Chronicles
Demon Souls
Atelier Meruru
Tales of Graces f

I can get in some pretty lengthy reasons why, but I'll leave that to another post if necessary.

[Xanatos]

1. Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal (GBC) - I'm pretty sure you're familiar with Pokemon games (Pokemon in general), if not, to summarize, highly addictive games with huge amount of content and second generation just happens to be the best one (fact, not an opinion).

2. Dragon Age Origins (PC) - while the story may not be the very best, setting, characters (lore in general), dialogue, gameplay, music, customization, make up for it. Best part though, decisions and their impact on you and the world of Origins.

3. Mass Effect (PC) - impressive universe to say the least. First Mass Effect is miles away compared to other two as far as RPG element goes, it's also my favorite in the series and one of the most exciting games I ever played.

4. Chrono Trigger (SNES) - I know, no Chrono Trigger if possible, thing is, no list should be without Chrono Trigger. Played it recently for the first time and it's the sheer embodiment of a game that lived up to it's hype.

5. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (GBA) - this may seem as a rather weird choice to some of you, as for why I went with it next to original Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, well... you can't get away with simply mashing button X in this one. Battles required more of a strategic approach, assembling your ultimate deck is somewhat challenging, though fun. Overall, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories doesn't fall far behind, if at all compared to it's console brethren.

Honorable mention:

- Fable: The Lost Chapters - fun game that had huge potential, shame though Peter Molyneux went crazy and shit.

- Star Ocean: Second Evolution - the story picks up quite late in the game I'm afraid, it's still fun to play though.

- The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion & Skyrim - The Elder Scrolls series is not known for it's story, gameplay and soundtrack on the other hand are superb, vast open space to explore, all sounds great, though for some strange reason I got tired of both games rather soon.

- Ys Seven - way too cliched for it's own good, nevertheless, it's still an enjoyable game.

There are always games that rely heavily on RPG elements but don't quite pass as RPG's, such as Diablo II and Torchlight, if you love Diablo II be sure to check out Torchlight.

[SuperSabin]

Ys I & II (if you can find any copies bundled together) they go hand-in-hand because together they make the full story. Its the best of its series storyline wise and very enjoyable. The addicting part of the game is that you get to ram into your enemies.

Ys Origin is a great prequel to the game, it features the game engine where you can actually do the hacking and slashing and you have 3 characters to play as and each have their own story.

Terranigma is an action RPG for the SNES and you go through the game resurrecting life on the earth and its got a deep, intriguing storyline, and it is really in depth.

Secret of Mana is a great title, its an action rpg with a ring weapon system where you can use different weapons in combat and you learn new skills with your weapon as you keep fighting with them and it has a 3 play co-op feature.

I would keep going on with this list, but it should come to an end soon, so here's one last honorable mention.... Super Mario RPG! the first mario rpg ever made and it was done well, has a good story, cast of characters, good battle system, and good character development.

[Alpha]

Jade Cocoon: Legend of the Tamimayu (PSX)

It's like Monster Hunter (which I've never played, so maybe Pokemon), except way more awesome. I've always had a thing for monster breeding, but the more traditional RPG elements are just as cool. Badass music.

[Lacquer Head]

Top 5? Depends, still working on playing more lol but at the moment...

Golden Sun 1+2

Breath of Fire series

Threads of Fate

Tales of Phantasia

Dragon Quest series, but I LOVED 8

Some honorable mentions: Super Mario RPG and Legacy of Goku (deal with it)

I hate current gen gaming, in case you didn't notice

I've yet to play, but Secret of Mana is supposed to be pretty good. Earthbound as well.

[ZantetsukeN]

If we are going RPGs in general...(and in no particular order)

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: The sheer size of this game is the reason I chose this. It's a game where it's so easy to become immersed in its world. There is no shortage of things to do.

Dragon Age: Origins: Story is the big factor here I think. DAO has one of the best written stories in recent memory, and is a nice throwback to what RPGs used to be.

Fallout: New Vegas: A lot of people prefer Fallout 3 over NV, but I found myself getting sucked into NV more than F3. I think the environments, probably Bethesda-published games' strong point, really shine here. The characters/NPCs you find too are very interesting themselves, making them the real reason I love this game so much.

Nier: One of my favourite game ever made. While the gameplay itself was not entirely original, Nier had such an amazing story and such wonderful characters that more than made up for it. It's worth experiencing for the story alone.

Mass Effect 2: No list of my favourite RPGs would be complete without a Mass Effect game. I know ME2 is a bit more of a shooter than the first one, but the RPG elements are all still there. ME2 is probably my favourite game of all time, definitely for this generation, because of the story, characters, gameplay and the amount of things to do. To me, ME2 is the perfect game.

[Angantyr]

So many RPGs, so little time.

I have a bad habit of starting them but never finishing them:

Atelier Totori (Currently playing)
Hyperdimension Neptunia (MK2 improves a lot but I haven't gotten to it yet).
Dragon Quest VIII
Diablo 2
Baldurs Gate

I'm not really interested in modern Western RPGs, the Skyrim clones don't interest me. Though I might give DA another chance when I get a new PC.

My next purchase will be Tales of Graces F Day 1 Edition which I'll probably play once I'm done with Atelier Totori. I'll be getting Meruru after that most likely then HDN V, Ni no Kuni and of course Atelier Ayesha when they get localized.

[KainsBro]

Dragon Quest VIII
Kingdom Hearts
Chrono Cross
Golden Sun 1,2, and Dawn
Tales of Symphonia

LOTS of others, but there's 5...

[Sean]

It depends. "RPG" is too blanket of a term. Do you want MMO, do you want FPS RPG, western, JRPG, classic, recent?

As far as Final Fantasy style RPGs go, nothing lately can top Lost Odyssey. Great story, fun gameplay. As far as I'm concerned Final Fantasy stopped existing after IX, Lost Odyssey is what X-XIII should've been (sans XI)

[loaf]

Chrono Cross because it got a better rating then Trigger.

Secret of Mana because it's probably very very unnoticed and underrated.

What else? Tales of Phantasia, Tales of anything really. Blue Dragon for your 360. That's like Chrono Break!! LOL

[Cyanist]

(Super Nintendo) Secret of Mana ('Secret of Evermore' was less interesting story-wise and much more annoying)
(PS2) Grandia 2
(PS3) Grandia 3
(PS2) Drakenguard
(PS2) haven't played Drakenguard 2 yet, but it's waiting for me on the shelf.