Lunar Threads

Suikoden II
Lunar 2
Dragon Quest VIII
Grandia
Mother 3
Chrono Cross
Persona 4
Odin Sphere
Final Fantasy Tactics
Xenogears

My favorites on games tend to switch quite often too. XP

For now, my top 10 are:

1. Lunar 2
2. Tales of Rebirth *see signature* ^_^
3. Tales of the Abyss
4. Kingdom Hearts (It's technically an RPG...)
5. Final Fantasy IX
6. Super Mario RPG
7. Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne
8. Final Fantasy VI
9. Kingdom Hearts 2
10. Lunar

Ahhh. Stress. Okay. I'll start this process because it means not starting dinner.

First, I'll list some RPGs I like particularly strongly. Hmm.

Lunar 1 and 2
Dragon Quest VIII
Phantasy Star IV
Earthbound
Skies of Arcadia
Grandia 2
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Growlanser 2
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Neverwinter Nights
Legend of Mana
Legend of Legaia
Chrono Cross
Final Fantasy IV
Xenosaga Episode III

Now I fuss over the list a little, trying to narrow down to ten. I choose to include both Lunars together, since that seems to be common practice. The next 5 must make it on the list. Then Legend of Mana and Chrono Cross should be there. Oh no, only two spots! Um... Oblivion and Growlanser 2, you're in.

Then I try to order the list. I start assigning colors in the order of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Lunar 1 and 2
Dragon Quest VIII
Phantasy Star IV
Earthbound
Skies of Arcadia
Grandia 2
Growlanser 2
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Legend of Mana
Chrono Cross

Now I try to sort between the associations.

1. Skies of Arcadia
2. Lunar
3. Earthbound
4. Dragon Quest VIII
5. Oblivion
6. Phantasy Star IV
7. Chrono Cross
8. Legend of Mana
9. Grandia 2
10. Growlanser 2

I'll pretend that's right. Whew.

Oy! Okay, off the top of my head:

1. Lunar 2
2. Lunar 1
3. Final Fantasy Tactics
4. Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
5. FFIX
6. FFVI
7. Super Mario RPG
8. Tales of Symphonia
9. Earthbound
10. Pokemon Red/Blue (I know, I know, but I can't deny the impact it had on me)

1. Lunar Eternal Blue. SEGA CD
2. Albert Oddysey Gaiden: Legend Of Eldean SEGA Saturn
3. Lunar: The Silver Star. SEGA CD
4. Dark Savior SEGA Saturn
5. Shining The Holy Ark SEGA Saturn
6. Dragon Force SEGA Saturn
7. Golvellius: Valley of Doom SEGA Master System
8. Tales of Destiny 1 PSX
9. Morrowind XBOX
10. Shining Wisdom SEGA Saturn

HM: Alundra, Breath of Fire III, Shining Force III, Vay, Beyond Oasis, Legend of Oasis.

If you consider Shenmue as an RPG then it would be #1 but I count it as an adventure game with RPG elements.

Sonic, why is Phantasy star 4 on your list? I never got to play it, which will change next week when the SEGA Collection comes out. I always thought it looked like an intresting game, but never got a chance to play it.

Blue, Tactics number 3?? I stopped playing after 20 minutes playing the game and I love strategy RPG Games. Did I make a maistake?

1) Lunar SSS
2) Lunar EB
The rest are in no particular order
Phantasy Star IV
Tales of the Abyss
Xenosaga III
Final Fantasy VIII
Zelda A link to the past (if it counts)
Tales of Symphonia (only because of it's replay value)
Paper Mario
Baten Kaitos

Just off the top of my head I'd probably make a new list next week.

Sonic, why is Phantasy star 4 on your list? I never got to play it, which will change next week when the SEGA Collection comes out. I always thought it looked like an intresting game, but never got a chance to play it.

Well, I'd played it before many years ago, but I finally beat it on the Sega Genesis Collection for the PS2.

Why do I like it? Well, I enjoy the characters, and how (at least then, and perhaps even now) they didn't easily fall into categories, and seemed to really have personalities (for a while, both Alys and Hahn were my favorite characters in any RPG). It was one of the first games I know to give a face to the main characters' dialogue, and it had cutscenes in glorified 16-bit rendered manga cels. The battle system is classic but well-done (though now it's helpful to have a sheet in front of me telling me what the techs do). There are some side quests, but not enough to lose sight of what I'm supposed to do next. The theme (sci-fi with fantasy elements) is fitting, the storyline engaging and, at least in parts, unpredictable... and, to cap it all off, it felt like a perfect complement to Phantasy Stars 1 and 2 which I'd played before.

It's an old-school RPG done right, but not in the way Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest were right. So I hope you play it and enjoy it.

Blue_Sycro wrote:Blue, Tactics number 3?? I stopped playing after 20 minutes playing the game and I love strategy RPG Games. Did I make a maistake?

I recall it was sort of difficult to get into, but I forced myself to keep going, because I've given up on so many Final Fantasies and I wanted this time to be different. I think the main thing I liked about it were the characters- they were like real adventurers, not all gothy and crippled by their inner strife like I feel is present in certain FF heroes (*COUGHcloudCOUGH*). The drama didn't descend into melodrama. And the story gets quite good, IMHO, especially the second half. Who knows, maybe I just liked it for no good reason at all, but I'd recommend giving it another shot if you think you can stand it.

Edit: Might I also add that I didn't put these in any specific order - I pretty much put them down as I thought of them.

Some notes:

-I didn't bother ranking the games on my list, they're just presented in alphabetical order. For the record, my absolute favorite is Growlanser.

-I imposed a "one game per series" rule on myself so that the list would be as diverse as possible. Note that I don't really consider FFT to be a Final Fantasy game, so I did include both it and FF4 on my list.

-Since this is a list of favorites and not of "the best," I didn't really try to be too objective.

Now on to the list itself:

Chrono Trigger (Square, SNES) - I replayed this game somewhat recently and was pleasantly surprised to see how well it has held up after all these years. I think where the game really succeeds is in the atmosphere. The time periods are all well crafted (especially 12000 BC) and it's a lot of fun to see how events in one time affect other times.

Final Fantasy IV (Square, SNES) - I wouldn't necessarily consider FF4 to be the best game in the ]Final Fantasy series, but it's still my favorite. A lot of it is nostalgia for a game that was my favorite when I was young, but a lot is also how influential of a game it was. Many conventions that really made the FF series what it was can be traced back to FF4.

Final Fantasy Tactics (Square, PS1) - I'll always remember FFT as the game that introduced me to the SRPG subgenre. Despite some issues such as poor translation and questionable balance there's still a lot to like about it it.

Grandia (Game Arts, PS1) - The complete lack of challenge is disappointing, but the battle system is still a lot of fun. The battles are fast paced but still give the player time to think and I also like the idea of being able to anticipate and plan for your enemy's future actions.

Growlanser (Career Soft, PS1) - This is just an amazingly well made game. The developers managed to get all of the major things right, and even most of the minor things. The game manages to incorporate all kinds of features I'd always wanted to see in an RPG. I especially love the tactical flexibility afforded by the battle system and the dynamic mission structure.

Langrisser IV (Career Soft, Saturn) - I like the large scale of the battles as well as the decent amount of challenge. The story and characters are also among of my favorite from any RPG. The lack of an English language version is unfortunate, even if there is a translated script available online.

Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals (Neverland, SNES) - I thought most aspects of this game were pretty well done, but what really elevates it are the puzzles.

Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete (Game Arts, PS1) - I don't suppose I have to say much about why I like this game so much on this forum. I would like to play the Sega CD version some day.

Riviera: The Promised Land (Sting, GBA) - I think the stripped down gameplay works surprisingly well. There's a deceptive amount of depth to the game's seemingly simple systems.

Secret of Mana (Square, SNES) - SoM is one of the first games that I ever played through multiple times, and it still holds a special place in my heart.

In no particular order:
-Lunar
-Lunar 2
-Earthbound
-Pokemon Silver
-Pokemon Red
-Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
-Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword
-Phantasy Star IV
-Golden Sun
-Jeanne d'Arc

This is from top of my head so I might have forgotten some. Haven't really played a lot though.
And I didn't include PC games with RPG elements like Diablo 2(probably even in top5) or Heroes of Might and Magic(III to be precise). Also MMORPGS (WoW, GW, Lineage 2).
I tried a couple more, mostly popular ones like FFVII, Chrono Trigger, Breath of Fire but couldn't get into them. Maybe one day...

My top 10!! I know I'm forgetting games, but, meh!

1. Lunar: Eternal Blue - Sega CD
2. Suikoden II - Playstation
3. Dragon Force - Sega Saturn
4. Lunar: The Silver Star - Sega CD
5. Suikoden III / V - Playstation 2
6. Valkyrie Profile 1 & 2 - Playstation 1/2
7. Phantasy Star IV - Genesis
8. Mass Effect - XBox 360
9. Chrono Trigger - SNES
10. Star Ocean 2 - Playstation

Near top ten: Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne (never got to finish, but REALLY cool game), Odin Sphere, Alundra, Puzzle Quest (okay, so the story is a joke, but I can seriously play this game on PSP for 8-10 hours without looking up), Disgaea, Tales of Symphonia, Breath of Fire III.


Dark Fairy: Whooo! Another Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne fan!! XD

uhhh let me think... my all time favourites:

1.chrono trigger
2.final fantasy 3
3.final fantasy 7
4.earthbound
5.lunar sssc
6.breath of fire 2
7.secret of evermore/mana
8.terranigma
9.tales of symphonia
10.suikoden

but there are many many more games i love to play

My List:

1. Tales of Symphonia
2. Final Fantasy VI
3. Lunar: The Silver Star (whatever version)
3. Lunar 2: The Eternal Blue (whatever version)
4. Secret of Mana
5. Chrono Trigger
6. Golden Sun
7. Golden Sun: The Lost Age
8. Super Mario RPG
9. Final Fantasy X
10. Kingdom Hearts

My top 10 JRPGs

1 ) Lunar: Eternal Blue (Sega CD)
2 ) Grandia (Saturn/PSX)
3 ) Final Fantasy VI (SNES)
4 ) Lunar: The Silver Star (Sega CD)
5 ) Dragon Quest VIII (PS2)
6 ) Chrono Trigger (SNES)
7 ) Final Fantasy VII (PSX)
8 ) Secret of Mana (SNES)
9 ) Wild Arms 5 (PS2)
10 ) Panzer Dragoon Saga (Saturn)

Games from the Sakura Taisen and Disgaea series' would be up there, but I'm counting those as Strategy RPGs.

1) Lunar 2
2) Chrono Trigger
3) Lunar 1
4) Skies of Arcadia
5) Final Fantasy VI
6) Suikoden V
7) Suikoden II
8) Suikoden
9) Final Fantasy X
10) Suikoden III

If we're counting Action/Strategy RPGs...

1) Lunar 2
2) Chrono Trigger
3) Dragon Force
4) Lunar 1
5) Zelda: Twilight Princess
6) Zelda: A Link To The Past
7) Skies Of Arcadia
8) Final Fantasy VI
9) Suikoden V
10) Secret of Mana

Hm.. my top 10 eh?


10. Final Fantasy IX - Ps1
09. The Bouncer - Ps2 (Fighting RPG)
08. Golden Sun - GBA
07. Lady Sia - GBA
06. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - GBA
05. Lunar: Silver Star Story - Ps1
04. Dark Cloud - Ps2
03. Final Fantasy Tactics - Ps1
02. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue - Ps1
01. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the 7 Stars - SNES

In no order

Riviera: The Promised Land
Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete
Grandia 2
Wild Arms 4
Parasite Eve
Persona 2 & Persona 3 (I really enjoy them both even though they're completely different)
Final Fantasy 7
SMT Nocturne
Phantasy Star 4

In no order here as well (except for the Lunars )

Lunar: EB Sega CD
Lunar: EB Saturn/PSX (yes, I got the import Saturn)
Lunar: TSS Sega CD
Lunar: SSS Saturn/PSX (import Saturn here too)
Phantasy Star IV
Phantasy Star II
Xenogears
Chrono Trigger
Wild Arms
Wild Arms Alter Code F
Wild Arms 3
Sword of Vermilion (my first RPG, mostly for nostalgia)
Dragon Force
Starflight
Star Control 2

I got Skies of Arcadia Legends few days ago and I really like it so far. I'm only few hours into it but still, its awesome. Definitely belongs somewhere in top 10.

Yeah, it's a great game. It's up there with Lunar and Chrono Trigger for me. I'm sure you'll enjoy it!