synre is a good admin. im gonna talk about my 5 favourite games, 3 of which were on his list.
CHRONO CROSS
a masterpiece. like, if i were to show the storytelling power of an rpg to anyone who didnt play games, i would use this (but they would have to play trigger first so maybe as a self-contained 'best story' it doesnt really work). visually it is one of the most astonishing things the gaming world has ever seen. the graphics haven't aged all that well, but you get some really striking moments, like
when you wake up here and
this is playing and suddenly nothing else in the world fucking matters. it makes me feel things not yet lexicalized. sometimes i play the game just to get to this place. the single most salient moment in my video game career.
i have trouble separating cross from trigger in some ways though. like, cross is so much more ambitious and brilliant than trigger was, but only because it was able to build upon the clever and tragic world that trigger bequeathed unto it. cross's gameplay was unique and interesting, and didn't have too much broken shit (but the fact that weaker elements become obsolete as you progress was kind of dumb). pulling off combos felt good, and the elemental field thing was such a cool concept. it was bulging with sidequests, some of which even granted some catharsis to trigger veterans.
most of the characters were extraneous, but i don't really find that to be such a negative thing. like, you've got a handful of characters with proper development, and then a bunch that don't. you're given the option of only using important characters, so you can pretend that the game just has like 7 real characters like trigger or something. or, you can have a slightly different gameplay/dialogue experience and use retarded gimmicks like turnip. i don't see how the game would be better if the only playable characters were *SPOILERS PROBABLY OK* serge kid glenn viper karsh norris (as a porre envoy hes kind of important ok) riddel fargo lynx harle and leena. it's like games where you're allowed to use monsters in your party; if you dont like their lack of development, then use the real characters.
also, as synre said, best soundtrack of any game ever. absolutely no contest. orphanage scene with kid while
the girl who stole the stars is playing? that hurt. it fucking hurt. that's what it feels like to get clocked in the jaw.
all things considered, the game is resplendent. it is overwhelming. and if you guys know me at all, you know that i'm a sucker for a game with a needlessly complex story that rewards painstaking studies of outside sources. my only real qualm is that it undeniably has pacing issues. after a whole lot of nothing you are inundated with so many plot revelations that it's almost impossible to keep up. while that annoyed me on my first couple playthroughs, i now understand the plot about as well as anyone can, so it's not something that bugs me anymore.
MONSTER RANCHER 2
monster rancher 2 has taken (not wasted, of course) more hours of my life than any other game. i'm guessing over a thousand, probably much more considering i've had it for over a decade. i remember constantly waking up 2 hours early before school so i could play it in the morning.
i really don't know where to begin in terms of describing its charm. it presents to you this beautiful world, but what i think adds to the charm is that it isn't a universe constrained by its premise like pokemon is (just because pokemon exist, it doesn't mean everything needs to be solved with a pokemon battle). not everything is monsters. when you go into town, you see people doing things that regular people do. i found that much more immersive. the scenery town area is quaint but still bustling:
the ranch, a bucolic fantasy land.
this ducken is about to embark on a wonderful journey! anyway, scenery aside, the gameplay is addictive as hell for anyone who likes micromanaging, minmaxing, and cute mons. the learning curve is fucking grueling; if you jump into it not knowing anything, you will not get very far, and you will struggle like hell to beat even the easiest opponents. over time, though, as you learn the ins and outs of stress and fatigue and start to understand life stages, you'll start getting the hang of it.
battles require quite a bit of strategy and quite a bit of luck. you basically have to distance yourself and pace your guts (stamina) consumption. all in all, they're a lot of fun. i don't think the game even has 50 screens of content (maybe a bit more if you count seasons) but the replay value is the greatest i've ever seen. there are 400 and some monster variations, and to be honest most of which can hold their own in different ways, thanks to there being so many more contributing variables to a mon's usefulness than there is in pokemon. furthermore, the game has such incredible depth that there's still so much we don't know about it. i think breeding was just fully figured out 4 or 5 years ago, but things like the lifespan hit of battling, the effects of certain items, and a number of unknown variables surrounding technique acquisition are a complete mystery. this also has one of the best soundtracks in any game. each song is a perfect match to its corresponding area/event. the seasonal ranch music is so evocative that i sometimes hum the winter tune to myself when it's snowing outside.
also worth noting is that nothing in the world satisfies me more than seeing the lightbulb when you get a new tech. ahhhhh i need to play this right now. synre, if we ever meet at a smocon, we are playing this all night.
ps yeah, the translation starts out ok, just oddly localized. as you progress further in the game you realize that they just assumed nobody would make it this far and they really just don't even bother. some scenes (like the alien one synre mentioned) really have to be seen to be believed, and even then you will probably think your disc is malfunctioning.
DIGIMON WORLD
digimon world. holy fuck, this game. i couldn't possibly say if i like it more than mr2. this game is so engrossing, so confusing, and so weird that nothing really compares. you train your mon. you feed your mon. your mon has to poop, so get him to a toilet lest he make a big fucking mistake. you manage his discipline and happiness. you battle other mons, and sometimes when you win you learn new techniques, but nobody really knows why or how. it is a mystery.
your goal is to recruit guys to join the city and restore it to its former glory. the game is in some ways an interesting allegory for babel (PROBABLY UNINTENDED), as they have lost the ability to speak their native tongue. they have drifted off into the wilderness, forgetting their former, civilized existences. sometimes you have to fight them to remind them. sometimes you have to perform confusing and recondite tasks.
this is how the city starts out:
this is what the city develops into once you start doing your fucking job:
i've heard comparisons to dark cloud, but i've never played it. anyway, this game is horribly rushed, full of glitches, and translated in a way that makes you wonder if the game is even supposed to exist in this physical plane. yet, it's endearing to no end, full of replay value, endlessly interesting (mr2's unexplored mysteries pale in comparison to this game, which is nowhere near being understood), and sates any exploratory desires you might have.
the battle system is simple, but not particularly engaging. you sort of tell them what to do, but they sort of don't listen. for some reason, though, they're a lot of fun. the environments are beautiful and eerie; most backgrounds are bizarre amalgamations of mechanical parts and nature. it's a really pretty world, and one that you will feel good about saving. the whole thing is extremely quirky and gimmicky, but if you like raising mons and exploring in a way that pokemon can't possibly offer, i would recommend this gem.
i highly recommend jumping into this game and playing it without a walkthrough. it is so overwhelming and confusing without being all that frustrating that you will find nothing but whimsy as you press forward. numemon isn't much fun so maybe try to raise a few of your stats beyond 100 and dont let him poop on the ground and manage his tiredness to avoid him. that is the only tip i will give. as i said in a past thread, it is set up in a way that while you can keep playing a single game file for months if you'd like to get everything, it is also the kind of game that you can play fervently, get bored of a week later, and replay six months later with the same enthusiasm you once had. this cycle has lasted me over ten years with no signs of breaking.
they are 'kind of' remaking this game for psp, but it's more so a new digimon game that harkens back to the mechanics and tone of this game due to overwhelmingly positive fan reception of this game. i didn't like any other digimon world games i played, but this one is just beautiful. the soundtrack is really impressive too. not as much as the prior games i've mentioned, but the
file city music is the perfect reminder that you are in a simpler, kinder world. really inspires you to go out and get shit done. also meat grows on a farm. why aren't you playing it right now?
SUPER METROID
super metroid. simply astonishing. the ambience, the cyclical exploration ('maybe now i can open that door back there'), the mysteries (what the FUCK is that orange geemer doing above the haunted ship). words fail me on this title. my favourite platformer of all time. this game's soundtrack is the perfect partner to a spooky alien world.
you are somewhere you should not be.
you shoot space pirates and you try to get the baby metroid back. pretty straightforward, right? turns out zebes is a fucking labyrinth housing more than one minotaur. as you improve your toolset and your reflexes adapt to the controls, you'll find you can explore most places. with super quick fingers you can get basically anywhere due to some tricks. one of my favourite pastimes is watching super metroid TASes, if only because it showcases the incredible complexity of the game engine.
there are a lot challenges that can be done in this game. beat the bosses in the reverse order (extremely difficult), acquire as many treasures as possible without fighting any bosses or mini-bosses, beat the game eschewing some important 'mandatory' upgrades. so much of this is only made possible by little quirks in the game world that are honestly too perfect to not be programmed in intentionally. an example, norfair, the fiery depths of zebes. too hot for samus's regular suit, she takes damage just being down there unless she has the varia suit, received after defeating kraid. however, if you do a bit of sequence breaking and get some energy packs, you're able to survive norfair long enough to get to this one weird, bubble-filled room that, for some reason, doesn't damage you. this is the only thing that allows for the earlier challenge runs i mentioned.
the game has a perspicacious and inspired community, and new things are being discovered every year. way ahead of its time, super metroid is basically a proto-sandbox game, and the exploratory elements put a lot of modern games to shame. i really can't do it justice. you just have to play it.
STAR OCEAN THE SECOND STORY
star ocean 2. i wish chaos were here. this game is just... perfect. i don't know how else to describe it. it's a poorly translated jrpg with a rather interesting but awkwardly executed plot, but what it does right will make you wonder why you didn't play it 12 years ago.
star ocean 1 was never released over here due to it being one of the last super famicom games ever, and they barely had time to rush out the unfinished japanese version before the system was obsoleted. it was the spiritual sequel to tales of phantasia, having many of the same developers. you'll notice several aesthetic similarities if you've played them both.
thankfully, you don't need to have played so1 to enjoy this. it took the clever but inchoate mechanics introduced in the first game and refined them. item creation. the skill system. private actions. friendship/romance values between characters.
her name is celine what the fuck guy. anyway, haven't you ever played an rpg and thought 'man i wish my characters had more aesthetic sense'???
the crafting system is incredibly deep and you have no hope of mastering it without outside help. it's not needed to progress, though, so maybe you're better off waiting until a second or third playthrough to give it a shot. this game has multiple difficulty settings, the highest of which is actually really challenging to all but the most wizened veterans.
the character development is... interesting. as i said, it's really poorly translated. well, no, it's more like it's poorly localized. much of the dialogue is rigid and awkward. however, you have things like private actions, wherein you can enter any city by yourself, your teammates each wandering the city by themselves. you can strike up scenes with them which can positively or negatively affect your relationship with them, depending on your choices, and it can open up gameplay changes both major and minor.
you can play as a dude from future-earth or a girl from a rather undeveloped planet (play as the dude your first time, it makes the game easier to understand). after an accident on another planet, you're thrust into the world of expel, the home planet of said girl. you arrive in a forest, and this is when the soundtrack hits you.
shingo forest take me awayyyyyyyy. the moment you step into arlia village, you will never want to leave.
honestly, this game just tugs at my heartstrings and my min-maxing gamer strings. it has towns and villages that i have spent years wishing i could live in, it has battle mechanics that make random battles endlessly enjoyable, and it has superbosses that are seriously fucking hard. it delivers on both ends of the spectrum, and i think that's why it's so close to my heart. there's just something about it, it's the kind of thing you have to see for yourself. if you like games with a hell of a lot of dialogue, this is for you. the first hour or two you will find that you've accomplished virtually nothing, but the world is basically yours after that.
also it's notorious for having the worst voice acting of any game ever (its only in battles so it doesnt ruin the atmosphere). some of these have to be heard to be believed. i can't even pick my favourite ones, there are just too many.
that's been my top 5 for like, 10 years. the mega man battle network series comes dangerously close but since i can't even pick my favourite game from the series, i'll probably have to do a followup post where i just talk about the games in general.