Board 8 > Haunter ranks 101 games he's played over the last decade, with write-ups.

(+) Yeah! (+)

It's intriguing that, after a lot of heavy-hitting titles, you put a Gameboy Advance game in the bronze spot. I have never played this series, but you've certainly piqued my curiosity.
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Yeah, a Gameboy Advance game should be in the #1 spot, not the #3.
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I actually played it on an emulator on a PSP ;\

Does Mother 3 fix the dumb super limited inventory system of Earthbound?
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Blows my mind that mother 3 never got a VC release. Lucas was in Smash ffs.
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LordoftheMorons posted...

Does Mother 3 fix the dumb super limited inventory system of Earthbound?

IIRC it doesnt.

^ Important items have their own section in the menu. So plot-related objects, or things like Duster's tools don't take up inventory space. And the game has a more traditional storage system, rather than Earthbound's where you have to wait for that delivery guy who can only move three items at a time.

update soon.

-Shit Tier-
101. Angry Birds
100. Adventures of Mana
99. Bravely Default
98. Suikoden Tierkreis

-Absolute and Utter Meh-
97. I Am Setsuna
96. Tokyo Xanadu eX+
95. Star Ocean 4
94. Super Mario Run
93. Star Ocean 5
92. Tales of Xillia 2
91. Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
90. Candy Crush
89. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
88. Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy
87. Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
86. Cosmic Star Heroine
85. Final Fantasy XV

-Revel in Mediocrity-
84. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
83. n+
82. Skyborn
81. Radiant Historia
80. Cuphead
79. Mario and Luigi Dream Team
78. Tales of Zestiria
77. Brutal Legend

-It's Not Half Bad-
76. Rock Band 2
75. Arc Rise Fantasia
74. World of Final Fantasy
73. Indigo Prophecy
72. Horizon: Zero Dawn
71. Ninja Gaiden Black
70. The Wolf Among Us
69. Skyrim
68. Resident Evil 5
67. Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction
66. Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
65. Shadow Complex
64. Echoes of Aetheria
63. Final Fantasy XIII
62. Uncharted 2
61. LA Noire
60. Undertale

-Here Comes the Good Stuff-
59. Rock Band
58. Diablo 3
57. Battlefield 1
56. Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
55. Ratchet and Clank
54. Ys SEVEN
53. Dust: An Elysian Tail
52. Grand Theft Auto 4
51. Tales of Xillia
50.75. South Park: The Stick of Truth
50.5. Borderlands
50.25. Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
50. Ninja Gaiden II
49. Ara Fell
48. Metal Gear Solid 4

-Here Comes the GREAT Stuff, or How to Fill a Tier With RPGs-
47. Mass Effect 2
46. Xenoblade Chronicles
45. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd
44. Bioshock Infinite
43. Magna Carta 2
42. Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
41. Call of Duty: World at War
40. Final Fantasy Tactics A2
39. Grand Theft Auto 5
38. Crisis Core
37. Tales of Berseria
36. Valkyria Chronicles Remastered
35. Last Scenario
34. Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together
33. Donkey Kong Country Returns
32. Fallout 3
31. Final Fantasy Dimensions

-Awesome and Addicting-
30. Final Fantasy XIII-2
29. Super Smash Bros Brawl
28. The Last of Us
27. Ys: The Oath in Felghana
26. Devil May Cry 4
25. Final Fantasy IV DS
24. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
23. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
22. Okami
21. Grandia II

-All Killer No Filler-
20. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA
19. Final Fantasy V
18. Fire Emblem Awakening
17. The World Ends With You
16. Stardew Valley
15. Exit Fate
14. Lost Odyssey
13. Mass Effect 3
12. Persona 5
11. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

-Top Ten-
10. Persona 3 Portable
9. Tales of Vesperia
8. Yakuza 0
7. The Last Story
6. Red Dead Redemption
5. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC
4. The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Zero
3. Mother 3
2. ?
1. ?

2011
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC

2017
The Witcher 3

oy lazare lazare
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so no more rankings? ;_;

2. The Witcher 3 + Hearts of Stone DLC
Original Release: 2015
Year Played: 2017
Developer: CD Projekt Red
Platform: PS4
Favorite Romance Option: Shani

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prvAdHXUvbs" data-time="

The term "open world" meant "vomit" to me when it kept getting thrown around after Skyrim's release. Honestly, at that point I never even bothered to try to play an RPG with an open world simply because I didn't like Skyrim. I also don't like the idea of having a million sidequests available to me with no guidance or course of action. This mindset lasted until I saw Final Fantasy XV's previews and trailers. The game looked amazing! Finally, an open world that is done right! Of course, we all know how that turned out.

But Final Fantasy XV ended with me yearning for more open world, because in the end FFXV's open world was small, shallow, and absolutely pretty lame. I felt like I was played, that I came into the game ready to immerse myself in a large, seamless world but ultimately did not get that at all. I wanted the perfect drug. So, Witcher 3 kept getting namedropped around this website when it came to open world. Also, at some point, Tabata actually mentioned Witcher 3 when doing one of the previews or ATRs or whatever. I don't remember the exact context of what he was trying to say, I think something about the dev team playing The Witcher 3 during FFXV's dev cycle (well that might explain why it took so long to get made). So, shortly after being done with that, I jumped in and bought the complete GOTY edition of TW3. I have not played any of the previous games in the series.

Man oh man, the moment the game started in White Orchard I knew I was in for a wild ride. The fact that I came into the game knowing what I would get and looking forward to that very thing made it even better. I may not have felt the same if I played it back when it first came out in 2015. TW3's world is large and immersive, divided into a few different regions, all of which are brimming with detail and things to do. Velen is one of the coolest regions in any game ever. On the surface, Velen, also known as No Man's Land, is a shitty swampland with a few downtrodden villages, lots of monsters and beasts, and both armies at each other's throat. I wanted to explore every "?" and nook and cranny the moment I started there, and to do that I had to level up, and to do that I had to do various sidequests, many of which are well written and interesting at the very least. I also love the open-ended feel of the quests in this region. The overarching story involves the Bloody Baron looking for his missing wife and child (who hate him and left him) and Geralt decides to help him out, leading him into an adventure with a fellow sorceress and also to the so-called leaders of Velen, the Crones. Oh, the Crones. These three were deplorable pieces of shit and I couldn't wait to kill them. They were well designed monsters that could give anyone nightmares, and I was happy to finally be rid of them near the end of the game.

Luckily, CD Projekt Red knows how to keep me interested because the next region of the game (Novigrad) was widely different than Velen. It's now mostly farmland and at the center of it all lies a massive city for where you'll spent most of your time. I couldn't even imagine the amount of work that went into designing it, and spending a good deal of time there and meeting all the different faces was as much of a delight as the storyline in Velen. Geralt's journey into finding Ciri later leads him to Skellige, which I wasn't a big fan of but fortunately it was beautiful and the scale of this area was amazing. Later on, Geralt goes back to Kaer Morhen for a brief amount of time and then finishes business up in each of the regions before facing off against the Wild Hunt.

The story is probably not the game's strong point. Basically, Geralt looks for Ciri and the Wild Hunt is a supernatural army who's out to kill everyone. It's the getting there that's the fun part. Some of the main quests, however disconnected they may be, are spectacular. I still have memories of exploring that abandoned island in Skellige searching for the king, or the Crones, or getting drunk with my friends at Kaer Morhen. It's all wonderful. The third act wasn't the greatest, in that it attempted to wrap up some of the story arcs in a hurried manner, but it was still interesting. I should also mention that I played Hearts of Stone, and a small part of Blood and Wine but never got around to finishing it. HoS has some fun and inventive quests and probably my favorite love interest out of all of them. It also had a creepy and devious villain, who is much better written than the actual game's villain.

So I can't really leave this here without talking about the game's characters. Most of it - the writing and especially the acting - is done well. Many of the characters quickly grew on me, except for maybe some of the ladies that were introduced way too late in the game. As I mentioned earlier, I hated the Crones from the moment I met them, not because I just didn't like their characters, but because of how despicable they were. It takes a lot to evoke that kind of emotion from me and I felt TW3 wrote their characters in such a way that allows its players to do so. The good guys grew on me as well, and even some of the shady motherfuckers in Novigrad like Dijkstra had their moments. Geralt himself was static, which can be explained by the fact that Witchers don't really have emotions, but fellow Witcher Lambert had much more character to him than Geralt for some reason (at least, he was mostly angry). Still, Geralt is acted well and has some cool/funny quips here and there. Also, Ciri is actually a fun character to play.

The game also is extremely simple to pick up and play. It easily marks the main quests on the map for you as well as the recommended levels for all the quests. I was never really lost. If I wanted to get on with the main story I'd go do the main quests...if I wanted to just venture out in the unknown and find new places to explore or loot, I'd go and do that too. Enemy levels are clearly marked. The lack of dungeons in the main quests was actually a breath of fresh air after Skyrim's intent on getting you to do that stupid clifftop dungeon which is shittily designed early on (don't get me wrong, there are many dungeons). There's plenty of loot to find and you have a ton of inventory space. The menus and interface are easy to explore and on top of it all, the game is beautiful. As for the combat, I've heard many who think poorly of it but I enjoyed the rather simple combat. Many of the signs were useful enough to give most of them a try.

The Witcher 3 impressed the shit out of me. Me, who doesn't think highly of WRPGs in general, and me, who isn't a big fan of open world (Skyrim, FFXV, and Horizon Zero Dawn are all of this list and ranked pretty low). TW3 also made me hate FFXV even more, but let's not get into that. It's simply beautiful. I laughed, I shed a tear, I was angry, I was excited...there were a lot of emotions involved. I spent maybe the first third of 2017 glued to the television playing it and I wouldn't take any of it back.

uca champion for dear leader

1. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky First Chapter
Original Release: 2011 (2004 jp)
Year Played: 2011, 2014 on Steam
Developer: Falcom
Platform: PSP/PC
Favorite City: All of them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8dxPoNvWqY" data-time="

I'm going to get sentimental here. FC is #1 after all, and it would be right to give it a proper, lengthy write-up explaining the reason why.

Let's backtrack. The year is 1996. I'm an avid player of Super NES video games, mostly platformers like Mario or Donkey Kong Country. I don't know what the term "RPG" even means but I keep seeing it mentioned in the Nintendo Power mags I had my dad buy from the local EB. So naturally, being a big fan of Mario, I start reading about something called "Super Mario RPG" and becoming interested in it, though not really sure what it would actually be. It certainly looked odd from the screenshots, with the isometric view and all. I figured it would play that well and Mario would jump on Goombas from that perspective and it'd be pretty much like any other Mario. So we went to the local Blockbuster and I decided to play it. Initially, I was entirely confused as to what the hell I was doing...why am I going into a separate screen to input commands? Why can't Mario just jump on this Goomba or Koopa? I don't get it. Shortly after these realizations, I had my ass handed to me by the Hammer Bros. boss. But, having nothing else to play, I continued to fight around the first area and thought, "Well, they are dropping coins so that's good, and this Exp Points thing is good." Pretty soon I managed to get past the first boss only to get my ass handed to me by the second. Also, I think I was 8 or 9 at the time so reading wasn't a strong suit of mine. But hell, I was into this game. I loved the fact that my characters could get stronger any time I want by actually spending time with them and then being able to defeat the next boss and move on to the next cool area.

But the thing about it is that SMRPG managed to give Mario a personality, despite being a mute. Before this, I thought of Mario as nothing more than a sprite or pixel on screen. Here, despite being mute, he actually has character. So does Geno, so does Mallow, so does freaking Bowser and that was awesome. I also loved that there was a plot. I had never played any game prior to this that had an actual storyline. The most plot of any game I played was, "Princess is in another castle" or "Bananas got stolen." Here, we start off with a new enemy taking over Bowser's Castle. Simple enough, but there's a whole world to explore and Star Pieces to get. Along the way, lots of things happen. And I loved it. I wanted to experience it all.

That is the story of how I got into RPGs.

From that point on up till the last inch of the SNES life cycle, I rented and experienced various different RPGs that I never paid attention to before SMRPG got me into them. Breath of Fire 2 was the second one I played, and the more grown up plot and more "mature" (or should I say edgy) feel had me hooked. I'll admit I don't remember the third RPG I played, I think it was either FFVI (FF3 back then) or Chrono Trigger...or Lufia 2 or Secret of Evermore. I played the majority of RPGs on SNES and loved them all. But I didn't get to play much else after that as I owned the Nintendo 64, a system that had like zero RPGs. I knew nothing of the PSX up until a friend asked me to come over one day to play his older brother's Final Fantasy VII. The only thing I knew about FFVII was a few commercials which showed nothing but cutscenes and no actual gameplay. I didn't think FFVII was even RPG anymore, it looked vastly different from 2/4 or 3/6. But that time I spent watching my friend play it made me want to come back and watch it more. The story was phenomenal, I couldn't stop thinking about it. This game was something else.

To me, FFVII was a "milestone" RPG. Many RPGs came before that and after that, but FFVII was one of those timeless classics for me, a game I will never forget. A game that fits the definition of why I love video gaming and RPGs as a whole. The next "milestone" RPG that came after that was Suikoden II, which told a story like no other. FFVII's story was well thought out and developed, with many characters and two main overarching plots that develop into something bigger and a quest to save the world. But Suikoden II told a story about a country's struggle to defend itself from an outside force and the war that erupts within. It told a story filled to the brim with tragedy and other moments that tug on your heartstrings. It was fucking deep and I could not stop playing it. It also teased a much bigger world that I was highly invested in after playing the first two Suikodens. I believe the next milestone RPG was FFX, because of its tight pacing and absolutely fun gameplay.

I loved these moments. I loved this history of RPG'ing. It wasn't something I was ready to forget. That moment I first played a Tales game and realized that action RPGs do actually exist outside of Secret of Mana/Evermore. That moment I played FFT, that moment I bought the newest four-disc game. It's a shame that most of the PS2's life cycle had decent enough RPGs, but nothing at any point EXCEPT for maybe Suikoden V actually wowed me. There were also a few RPG Maker games that had amazing characters and well-crafted storylines. That was the most exciting part for me: Super Mario RPG was unforgettable for me because it was the first game that told a story. After that, I wanted more, and after FFVII and Suikoden II's detailed stories I wanted even more.

I was waiting for that game that would make me fall in love with the genre once more. Mother 3 came and I loved it. Persona 3 had some great moments to it. I liked the Baten Kaitos games too. But really, I yearned for more.

So the year is 2011. It was a dark time for me. I lived on my own in a shabby one bedroom apartment and didn't even make enough money working two jobs to pay rent. I had earned a license in a particular field but had no idea where to even start looking for a job. I spent most of my time indoors and I was extremely depressed. I never wanted to go out, never wanted to meet new people, I just had more fun playing a game or watching a TV show or movie at the time. I self-diagnosed myself with anxiety and depression at the time and also started to smoke. Didn't seem like anything was going right.

One day, while surfing the RPGs: Everything Else forum, somebody mentioned that some game called "The Legend of Heroes" was coming out in the west and sounded excited about it. I had no idea what this was but checked out XSEED's site for it and was impressed by the artwork and the time they spent on it. There was a map of Liberl and I was curious because it looked quite detailed. The characters all sounded interesting and the cities looked really cool. Then somebody linked to a song from the series and I knew I would want to try out the game after listening to it. That song was:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUFqkmB5SSA" data-time="

Okay, it wouldn't come until the third game but it was still part of the series. So anyway, I bought the game and started to play it. There's a lot of information thrown at me early on and the game starts off like any other RPG for the most part. Nothing much is going on, I play as Estelle and Joshua and apparently they have a badass dad and they want to become Bracers. This is pretty typical storytelling for most JRPGs I've played since 1996, and I've played a lot, so for me it wasn't anything I would complain about as I was already used to something like this. The town of Rolent had a bunch of NPCs who knew Estelle and were all super friendly...yeah whatever.

Little did I know that this particular town was the starting point of one of the biggest, best RPG series I've ever laid my hands on. It's Trails of the Sky FC that completely warped my viewpoint of RPGs. Another milestone. What FC did was raise the bar extremely high when it comes to storytelling, worldbuilding, and characterization. If you've been reading up to this point, you'd know that I play RPGs for the story and characters, not for the gameplay (although bad gameplay can still ruin a game) and FC nails it. I mean, it was seriously difficult for me to go back to regular ol' RPGs after this, because FC showed me what JRPGs are capable of when it came to storytelling, when it came to dialogue, when it came to the world it is set in. Who knew this series which starts off with a boy and girl training to be Junior Bracers would turn into a large, interconnected adventure involving ancient floating continent, giant mechs, magical artifacts that can alter space and time, infernal castles and metropolitan cities?

People oft complain that the game's plot is minimal and doesn't really start until halfway through the game. I tend to disagree. I feel that keeping the player in the dark about what's going on behind the scenes is intentional. I was patient enough to endure maybe 20 or so hours of mostly worldbuilding and character crafting while the game fed me bits and pieces of foreshadowing and Chekhov'ing. Some people say, "Play until the play" because it's around that time that the story kicks into high gear. For me, Chapter 1 is when the story really came together. I wasn't exactly too excited about running around doing meaningless errands early on in the Prologue, and Rolent was my least favorite town in FC, but I do think that the Capua theft was when the plot truly started. When I reached Bose and met Olivier is when I realized I bought a damn great, finely crafted RPG. Oh Olivier, you and your lines. I laughed hard at mostly everything he said here and for the majority of Chapter 1 he stole the show. But it was the scene at the docks where Kyle and Josette meet with a mysterious masked man where I became extremely curious about the story. And it paid off.

Every piece of dialogue is well written, every NPC is named and has their own routine. Sometimes they are travelling on their own journey while you do yours. It's nothing like I've seen before. They change their dialogue after almost every event, and side missions are all mostly relevant and help develop not only the NPCs but the main characters. They'll even remember you and what you did when you check in with them in SC. Towns are huge and you'll spend a great deal of time in all five of the big ones.

I grew to like all of them and the game wants you to do this as it'll lock you out of them permanently once you reach a new chapter. Don't worry, if you liked that one particular town, you'll be back there in SC. When Joshua and Estelle reach a new town, the game goes on into story mode and basically let you explore the city and show/tell you what it's all about. It's all fun and games for Estelle and Joshua up till the final chapter. See, at the end of Chapter 3, Joshua and Estelle, along with fellow party members Agate and Tita and her grandfather Professor Russell, stumble upon a conspiracy involving corruption and a coup d'etat in Liberl's military. All of these scenes were done with great care and a bit of foreshadowing so it's not like they were pulled out of their ass. Reaching the capital city of Grancel, with its happy music, felt different. For Bose, Ruan, and Zeiss, the party was happy to be in a new city and ready to meet new friends and take on new Bracer gigs. With Grancel however, the mood is completely different. Joshua and Estelle know exactly what's at stake now, and are on a timeframe to attempt to solve this crisis that nobody else knows about yet before it's too late. I absolutely loved it.

The final chapter also succeeds in bringing back the rest of the party members together to save the country from the coup and the payoff is completely worth it. I spend a great chunk of the game getting to know Liberl and its history, so by the time I was midway through the final chapter I was ready to fight for this country that I felt like I knew so well. FC also sets up new plot threads and mysteries that are revisited in SC. The final reveal after the ending was out of left field but if you think about it, it makes sense and was foreshadowed. Same with all the other intricate plot details, like Kurt being "K" and his brainwashing being extremely relevant to the plot. I loved the final plot twist, and I was sad the game ended right there. Those of you who played this game more recently or when SC was already out didn't have to endure the long wait for the English localization of the sequel. I did, and it sucked. It sucked having to wait 4.5 years, more than half of those not even knowing if SC would get localized. I wanted to know what would happen and that information was readily available for me online but I had to force myself not to look at it.

Then there were all the other sequels -- TC, Zero, Ao, CS1-2. Luckily, I've now played almost all of them in English. So why is FC #1 on this list when SC is regarded by many as the clearly superior game? Fans will often say that FC is the weakest entry. Well, to me, this was more than just a game in the Trails franchise. It changed my view of RPGs and in some ways it changed my life. Just knowing that my favorite genre is capable of producing such quality releases like this left me with a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Yes, the sequels were great, sometimes way better than the game it all started at, but they never replicated that feeling I got when I was playing through FC. I was more than highly invested. I even played this game again in 2014 when it released on Steam (Turbo mode is fantastic).

Thank you XSEED and thank you Falcom, you've done an admirable job. Like SMRPG, FFVII, Suikoden II, FFX before it, Trails FC joins the ranks of my favorite, "milestone" RPGs. It took all but ten years for me to find another one of these, just as my interest was waning. In 2011, shortly after playing through this game I was able to get my life back on track and finally start a career and become financially stable. I know, I know, this game probably had nothing to do with it, but playing it through that depressing period definitely helped prior to the transition. It renewed my interest in video gaming and JRPGs as well.

And that's my story. What's yours?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaMkiLPa-NA" data-time="

-Shit Tier-
101. Angry Birds
100. Adventures of Mana
99. Bravely Default
98. Suikoden Tierkreis

-Absolute and Utter Meh-
97. I Am Setsuna
96. Tokyo Xanadu eX+
95. Star Ocean 4
94. Super Mario Run
93. Star Ocean 5
92. Tales of Xillia 2
91. Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
90. Candy Crush
89. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
88. Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy
87. Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
86. Cosmic Star Heroine
85. Final Fantasy XV

-Revel in Mediocrity-
84. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
83. n+
82. Skyborn
81. Radiant Historia
80. Cuphead
79. Mario and Luigi Dream Team
78. Tales of Zestiria
77. Brutal Legend

-It's Not Half Bad-
76. Rock Band 2
75. Arc Rise Fantasia
74. World of Final Fantasy
73. Indigo Prophecy
72. Horizon: Zero Dawn
71. Ninja Gaiden Black
70. The Wolf Among Us
69. Skyrim
68. Resident Evil 5
67. Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction
66. Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
65. Shadow Complex
64. Echoes of Aetheria
63. Final Fantasy XIII
62. Uncharted 2
61. LA Noire
60. Undertale

-Here Comes the Good Stuff-
59. Rock Band
58. Diablo 3
57. Battlefield 1
56. Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World
55. Ratchet and Clank
54. Ys SEVEN
53. Dust: An Elysian Tail
52. Grand Theft Auto 4
51. Tales of Xillia
50.75. South Park: The Stick of Truth
50.5. Borderlands
50.25. Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
50. Ninja Gaiden II
49. Ara Fell
48. Metal Gear Solid 4

-Here Comes the GREAT Stuff, or How to Fill a Tier With RPGs-
47. Mass Effect 2
46. Xenoblade Chronicles
45. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd
44. Bioshock Infinite
43. Magna Carta 2
42. Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
41. Call of Duty: World at War
40. Final Fantasy Tactics A2
39. Grand Theft Auto 5
38. Crisis Core
37. Tales of Berseria
36. Valkyria Chronicles Remastered
35. Last Scenario
34. Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together
33. Donkey Kong Country Returns
32. Fallout 3
31. Final Fantasy Dimensions

-Awesome and Addicting-
30. Final Fantasy XIII-2
29. Super Smash Bros Brawl
28. The Last of Us
27. Ys: The Oath in Felghana
26. Devil May Cry 4
25. Final Fantasy IV DS
24. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
23. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
22. Okami
21. Grandia II

-All Killer No Filler-
20. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA
19. Final Fantasy V
18. Fire Emblem Awakening
17. The World Ends With You
16. Stardew Valley
15. Exit Fate
14. Lost Odyssey
13. Mass Effect 3
12. Persona 5
11. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

-Top Ten-
10. Persona 3 Portable
9. Tales of Vesperia
8. Yakuza 0
7. The Last Story
6. Red Dead Redemption
5. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC
4. The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Zero
3. Mother 3
2. The Witcher 3
1. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC

Just wanna give a shout out and thank the readers in this thread. I've been wanting to do a ranking list for a while and didn't really know how to go about it. I don't think there were many people that followed this, but thanks to all those who did. It feels as if it was something I needed to get off my chest. I've loved reading everyone else's ranking topics so I got the crazy idea to one of my own, with 100+ games! It was a wild ride. I don't think I'll do anything like this again, at least for a few years, but it was still a blast to write and share with those interested.

What does everyone think? Do you agree with some of my rankings, do you disagree? Let me know! :)

I have been reading since the start of the topic but I barely post these days.

It was a good overall read and I have my fair share of disagreements but the #1 entry write-up was probably the best #1 entry write-up that I have read here on this board.

Trails in the Sky FC is easily the weakest game in the series from the ones I have played (FC, SC, and Cold Steel I and II very recently). Normally I would never even understand why anyone would have it as their favorite game in the series let alone their #1 game but your write-up made me totally get where you are coming from and even, dare I say, look at FC in an all new light.

You have to admit a write-up is great, when my initial reaction of "way too ****ing high" went all the way to " I can see where he is coming from. Maybe the game deserves more credit than I actually give it".

I myself enjoy great stories and characterization in video games but consider gameplay equally important, if not even slightly more so. An amazing game has to have the right balance of both IMO so I respectfully disagree with the Trails games being ranked at the top of the list even though I really did enjoy the games myself.

I can totally get on board with FFVII and Suikoden II as the very best the JRPG genre has to offer though. These two are still in my Top 10 after all these years.

Also, Cold Steel II is my favorite Trails game and I generally think Cold Steel is better than Sky. So you can take all that I have said with a grain of salt.

Hell of a #1 write-up. May be the best the board's ever produced. Bravo.

Also what are the odds all of the trails games get a bundle/box set release so I can just lock down and play the entire series continuously for a year?
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Nelson_Mandela posted...

Hell of a #1 write-up. May be the best the board's ever produced. Bravo.

Also what are the odds all of the trails games get a bundle/box set release so I can just lock down and play the entire series continuously for a year?

Give me FC, SC and 3rd Evolution along with the two Cold Steel games on PS4 and I'd pay any price.

While we are still on the subject of Trails games. I would like to emphasize how much Cold Steel's gameplay is better than Sky's and that made the games more fun for me to play. Like it is not even close.

Sky overall has the better story and more fleshed out characters but Cold Steel has better group dynamic and bond between the main party. And more importantly the sub arcs are way more interesting in the Cold Steel games.

Also CSII is the best Trails game because it has by far the best gameplay in the series, has much better pacing than CS1 and my god that final dungeon and the boss fights there was epic. Not Reverie Corridor. I mean Infernal Castle.

Glad someone is here to hold down the fort for FC. It's not my favorite Trails game, but all the Sky games are basically equal ranking for me anyways so it's really damn close. Also I do think it's given an undeservedly bad rep sometimes from fans who think its paced too slowly (something I strongly disagree with) or dismiss it because it's a lot of setup for the larger scale conflicts that come later. (So what? Also the stakes are pretty high by the end of FC anyways.) One thing I will point is that the story/writing of SC by itself could have been pretty much as good as is humanly possible, and I still would not have enjoyed segments like the very beginning of the game or the ending to chapter 6 nearly as much as I did if not for how good a job they did with FC.

In any case my experience pretty much mirrors yours. Not in the specifics, but in the fact that FC pretty much single-handedly rekindled my love for a genre where I thought I'd already seen everything it had to offer. I still remember generally enjoying the game in a pretty standard way during the early bits, but then in one moment during the epilogue of chapter 1 (the scene with Schera and Oliver) it just dawned on me how...well..ambitious an undertaking this game/series was and how they seemed to be succeeding in spades with it so far. And then chapter 2 was amazing completely independently of that for all sorts of reasons and well the rest is history.

One thing that struck me about FC even in comparison to the other two Sky games (and definitely in comparison to the Cold Steel games) is how overflowing with love and charm it was no matter where in the game you decided to look. I don't really know a way to express that which does it any sort of justice, but I don't think I've ever played a game where the writers' passion and dedication shone through in the way that it did to me with this game. And at least part of that probably has to do with my storytelling philosophy being somehow very well aligned with the creators of this series, but well this is how it is for me.
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The Final Chapter of FC was probably my favorite part of either of the first two games.

Except for the dozen or so chest monsters in the final dungeon. Those got old pretty fast.

Anyways, great list.
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tag

I hated the chest monsters enough to not enjoy that dungeon. Also Richard was a pretty awful villain.
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Bray loses the ultimate deletion and stops becoming a cult leader. Then Braun and the bludgeon brothers return to Bray as champs, and Bray wants nothing to do with them but cant get rid of them.

Up4

scarletspeed7 posted...

I went to the Pro Wrestling Board for the first time today.

I will not make that mistake again.

I havent been in years, maybe a decade. what happened?

"They don't like the storyline that that Roman Reigns lost at Wrestlemania!?"

They had to speed through it but at least they tried to talk to everyone. Its how its done, survivor

Mac Arrowny posted...

I hated the chest monsters enough to not enjoy that dungeon. Also Richard was a pretty awful villain.

Richard was one of the better villains, and a bunch better character than Weismann.

XIII
Haguile/GTM
Nee
Tom
Maniac
ZSig
eaed
Hype/david

Ringworm posted...

it just means that whichever of the other two bonded better with the goat gets the win

If you knew that was a possibility, then you should've tried to win the jury 6-4 or something, or you know, bond better with the goat

The last few episodes have surprised me but I guessed I saw the pagonging for today. Could've still went either way today.

<a class="img_container" target="_blank" href=""><img src="" alt="ZcoyqZDcWvhOI13IXl"/></a>

Haunter12O posted...

Mac Arrowny posted...

I hated the chest monsters enough to not enjoy that dungeon. Also Richard was a pretty awful villain.

Richard was one of the better villains, and a bunch better character than Weismann.

Maybe if it hadn't turned out that he'd been mind-controlled the whole time and none of what he did was by his own will. Doing that to all the FC villains was ridiculous.

You should probably turn off the auto-bumper btw...
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Mac Arrowny posted...

Maybe if it hadn't turned out that he'd been mind-controlled the whole time and none of what he did was by his own will. Doing that to all the FC villains was ridiculous.

That isn't what happened. His specific plan was informed by Ouroboros, but he went through with it entirely of his own volition.
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tag

a bit late to tag there buddy
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How do I turn it off?

I mean, GTN is a ... bot? There's a lot I don't know.

you should be able to figure it out
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It's #unbump#
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gtm are you ready to splat with me next month

I want to have dominos with gtmsistah again

god I seriously miss pizza back home, it absolutely sucks ass everywhere here
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Use my webbing to try and retrieve the Glowing Locket, whilst looking about if any elementals were alerted to Rex's barking.

UltraMana posted...

Use my webbing to try and retrieve the Glowing Locket, whilst looking about if any elementals were alerted to Rex's barking.

RIP Joe ;_;
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Thanks Yankees

Whatcha want?

Cash.

If those were both bots then I think we have the best way to close the topic.
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