RPG Ranks: 70-61

Continued from the previous post.

70. Final Fantasy V (#65)

The job system from Final Fantasy III makes a return in V, allowing for more customization aspects and gaining of ABP. Neat! Now if only the characters had more depth to them and the villains too. Well, Gilgamesh is fun. It's just this game could definitely see a load of improvement if it had a story that could match Final Fantasy IV's. And with that, we are halfway done with the RPGs.

69. Romancing SaGa 3 (#83)

We take the premise of Romancing SaGa 1, but this time with a better English translation, Romancing SaGa 3 offers much of the same, except with better characters, intertwining introductions, and plenty of interesting events to tackle. Again, don't grind too much, but don't grind too little. A balancing act which can make the game pretty stressful. And screw that war battle minigame.

68. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (#140)

One of the most revered classic RPGs ever made, and it barely squeaks into the top half of this countdown. Why? Well think about it. Take out all of the familiar Mario assets. Take out the humor. If it wasn't for those things, Legend of the Seven Stars would be a horrifically average turn-based RPG. Sure enough, giving the funny humor and the familiar Mario characters saved this RPG from being average, along with the timed hits systems and other unique tidbits that every single future Mario RPG used.

67. Mystic Ark (#137)

Mystic Ark is an enigma of a game. A very strange premise, and simplistic systems reminiscent of The 7th Saga already on this list, and made by the same developers, you're bound for some slow-paced action in Mystic Ark. That being said it's offering a lot when it comes to uniqueness. Playable allies have their respective niches, and areas are themed rather interestingly. Might need a guide to get through it all though, and keep your main character alive! It's game over if you die!

66. Dragon Quest VII (#127)

Yes the Dragon Quest series of games is getting better, but also it is getting longer. A heavily milked franchise with tons of spin-offs, the best games still remain the mainline ones, and VII showcases that exceptionally. It's almost world-building, in a way, getting fragments of the forgotten past (that's the game's DS title) and rebuilding the world and exploring it as it is. Lots of skill grinding to deal with, lots of sidequests to do. So much time was wasted and in the end you go up and kill the devil. Wow.

65. Wild ARMs 2 (#24)

Man, my overall review went too far with this game. Guess I was a bit obsessed with it at the time. But Wild ARMs 2 does the setting a TAD better than the previous game as well as the gameplay a tad better. It's a pretty weird clash of organizations in Disc 1, culminating in stopping Filgaia-ending outworlds in Disc 2. Plus this game shares a lot with Xenogears, having a demon inside the main character as well as a wasteland of a world.

64. Dragon Quest VIII (#138)

Slowly yet methodically, the Dragon Quest series of games gets slightly better each time. Now in glorious Playstation 2 3D, the worlds are bigger, the battles are bigger, everything just feels bigger. Surprisingly the party size remains the same, as does the core aspect, but maybe this is what gives the Dragon Quest series its main charms? Do be prepared to spend a lot of time playing it though, it's a long one.

63. Thousand Arms (#69)

No relation to the Wild Arms series, this standalone game combines a dating sim aspect with minigames included to an RPG with a surprisingly original battle system. Quite slow though, and bosses have way too much health than necessary, plus a lot of stuff is me sidetracking to increase relations to make weapons stronger! Rough around the edges, but still something unique.

62. La Pucelle: Tactics (#117)

A simple tactics game that Nippon Ichi started out with, and it was okay for the most part. Gameplay is Shining Force-esque, but done better, and purifying stuff, getting monsters to join you, and several attack combinations make things more enticing. The gameplay is sort of flat otherwise. The plot however is quite nice, yet another example of churches playing major parts, plus dark sides, amnesiacs, and chapter-driven plot make it quite fun in between all the possible grinding you'll do.

61. Threads of Fate (#1)

My first ever RPG reviewed was the fun action RPG known as Threads of Fate, yet another game with two intertwining stories, one serious and the other not as serious, but with a nice amount of comedy. Different gameplay mechanics for both protagonists makes it unique, amazing music also helps out too. One of Squaresoft's more underrated treasures.

Continued in the next post.