Discussion: what's your favorite RPG?

Fighting games are fun, MOBAs are mad, and strategy games are sublime, but sometimes you want to dive into something deeper. To step into someone else’s shoes and into another world. For those times, there are RPGs. What’s your favorite.

Thomas: One of my firm favorites that really came out of nowhere was Etrian Odyssey. A first person dungeon crawler? With turn-based movement? And random battles? The concept doesn’t exactly sell itself very well to someone who is too young to remember Wizardry or Ultima. But after a friend persuaded me to try, it wasn’t long before I was hooked.

The series has slowly grown in popularity, with the fourth in the series being a strong success on the 3DS. It’s no longer as niche as it once was, due to improvements to the interface and UI over each subsequent installment. Now a lot more people have discovered what I have about the series: the depth and freedom in the character creation and customization systems. The feeling of exploration you get as you fight or figure out your way through the labyrinth. The quiet relief that comes with a minimalistic narrative in an age when too many JRPGs would rather shove thousands of poorly-written lines at you to get their bad plot across.

Etrian Odyssey is a series that knew what parts of JRPGs are worth keeping, which needed refinement, and which needed throwing out with the garbage. In an age when JRPGs are known for bloated narratives, tedious grinds, and shallow mechanics, the series is a blessing.

Rishi: Yes, I liked Mass Effect. It was awesome. Quite possibly the best thing modern-day Bioware’s done. Sure, the story was reminiscent of Babylon 5, and the way the trilogy ended was a perversion of justice, but that doesn’t mean the first game was the cause. No, far from it. Delve past the clunky combat and even clunkier Mako driving and you have one of the better RPGs around. It sports a rich atmosphere and fantastic characters, there’s a sense of nuance to the proceedings that very few games can match. From your opening mission all the way to the 24-esque endgame, it’s an absolute blast. It wasn’t just a great game, it was a great universe to hang around in. After all, how many games let you punch a reporter in the face in the name of saving the galaxy?

Jing: After all these years of gaming, it’s hard to pick a favorite. More recent titles like South Park: The Stick Of Truth have been very entertaining, and I also had tons of fun with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim back in 2011. But if you ask me which RPG game will stick in my mind forever, it has to be Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars on the SNES.

Not only was it the first game that allowed us to we explore the franchise’s universe, it also did a spectacular job of giving life to its characters. Our mute hero, Mario, would communicate through gestures, which added to the many layers of humor in the game. Our damsel in distress, Princess Toadstool, continued to play her part, but even acts as a playable character later, complete with a wacky list of skills. Bowser joins the player’s party as well, but not before we see a more gentle and vulnerable side to the misunderstood fireball-breathing reptile. Of course, a cast of other unique characters were introduced as well; who could forget Frogfucius?

But aside from the loveable game world and cast of characters, Super Mario RPG also amazed me with its innovative battle system, which put Final Fantasy games at the time to shame. You definitely won’t survive if you just keep pressing the attack button, but why would you want to when each character’s moves and skills look so cool?

All in all, 10/10.