RPG Ranks: 100-91

Continued from the previous post.

100. Phantasy Star III (#71)

The ugliest entry in the series by far, PS3 shoehorns what we know of in the previous entries and does, uh, even I don't know. Graphics and music are both ugly, while gameplay is actually a little easier. That's a good mark for it, but dammit, grinding for money is still a thing in this game, despite being worse in other games. I think what really set the bar was the whole "generations" aspect, each with different endings. I had to get them all, but most play out the same way.

99. Romancing SaGa (#61)

The first Romancing SaGa was a nice return to form that Final Fantasy Legend III avoided. With the random stat gains back, it felt like a SaGa game again. But on the flipside, randomized stat gains may not always work out. Grind too much and extremely strong enemies make short work of the party. Character intros are pretty decent, but having to do several events in time is a problem since it's possible to be locked out of many good ones before you can reach them.

98. Dragon Quest III (#89)

You know I don't mean to crap all over this series, but barebones RPG again. Still, I liked this one the most of the ones I played so far, probably because I played the GBC version instead. Still, customization is key, getting character classes helps many characters in the long run, and there's some workable mini-games too. Plus, the world map is our real world! How many games have that?

97. Princess Crown (#126)

The game that basically led the way to Odin Sphere later on in the list. Sadly it never got an official translation, especially given its platform on the Sega Saturn, but bits and pieces are translated, and as light-hearted as it starts out, Princess Crown definitely deals with royalty issues, demons and possession, and does all this with a combat system that locks the player into battles that feel like a hard fighting game. It's unique, but the fun value comes in spades.

96. Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge (#147)

Starts off the mini-series of Wizardry games centered around this "Dark Savant" is the game that, actually doesn't feature that big bad guy at all. However, the name should clue you in, there's this Cosmic Forge, and it's a very special item that can make anything you write come true! Given that this starts off a new trilogy of Wizardry games, you cannot import characters, but why bother when you got more fun dungeon-spelunking to go by! That is, if you can get by the nasty difficulty of Wizardry games as usual.

95. Breath of Fire (#9)

Again, being a barebones turn-based game is a mark off for games like this. It does make the characters very unique though, both gameplay-wise and story-wise, and gives bosses a second wind so those hope spots are cleared. Plus it started a semi-successful RPG series with a main character turning into a dragon, and who doesn't enjoy that. Not to mention it was the first RPG game that I played when I got back into playing these games.

94. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (#75)

With one of the greatest soundtracks to a SNES RPG, how could Final Fantasy Mystic Quest be so bad? Oh that's right, the gameplay. While I wouldn't go to lengths to consider it piss easy, they made it that way, while at least trying to make navigation interesting. Still, once you get your bearings, the game is mostly a breeze. Just watch out, your party will only have a maximum of two.

93. Wizardry: Proving Grounds for the Mad Overlord (#141)

Do you REALLY want a classic RPG? How about the original Wizardry! You get to create up to six characters to go dungeon crawling, each with a specific job class, a specific alignment, specific armor classes, and an interesting way to gain up stats. It's one of the hardest RPGs ever created too, but if you ask me, the experience of playing something as classic as this eclipses most of the sequels. Well worth it to look at some of the roots of RPGs here.

92. Phantasy Star (#3)

Just like before, Phantasy Star the first manages to be rather charming, and is pretty much the single best game on the Master System. Somewhat difficult to get started and still grindy in regards to money, it does do many things well in contrast. Good female protagonist, 3D dungeons are enjoyable, vehicles are fun to use. Fighting one type of enemy at a time is a bit lame though. Enjoyable music.

91. Dragon Quest V (#104)

Finally a Dragon Quest game I liked, well, actually, for its story. It still follows the boring turn-based combat, which kinda sucks, but has one of the most persevering heroes to date in any RPG I've played. One who loses his father and then most of his life to slavery or stone, also with a wife and kids. Not to mention recruitable monsters and a nation to run. This guy had it all and still wanted to find his dear mother.

Continued in the next post.