I may be alone on this, but I LOVED Legend of Mana for PS.
It was actually a pretty great game if you ignore the fact that have to replay it a few times to achieve all the different paths/quests. I hate a good renting it long ago, haven't been able to purchase it yet.
"A new take on the epic fantasy genre... Darkly comic, relatable characters... twisted storyline."
"Readers who prefer tension and romance, Maledictions: The Offering, delivers... As serious YA fiction, I’ll give it five stars out of five. As a novel? Four and a half." - Liz Ellor
Final Fantasy (insert any number here) SNES/PS/PS2
Legend of Legaia PS1
Illusion of Gaia SNES
Secret of Mana SNES
Secret of Evermore SNES
Super Mario RPG SNES
Chrono Trigger SNES
Lufia SNES
Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past SNES
Wild Arms PS1
XenoGears PS1
Tales of Destiny 1/2 PS/PS2
Crono Cross PS1
Edit: Although I love the original SNES Earthbound best, this was posted on the forums somewhere a while ago when the translation of Mother 3 (Earthbound 2) was finally completed and available. It's a great game (played it about 1/4 through I guess) before I went onto other things. Great game, translations are accurate, everything perfectly done.
Listen to this entire post; this fellow has refined tastes. I was going to come in and recommend Secret of Mana (it's multiplayer, even), at least, and was pleased to find someone had already done so. I've beaten both Mother 3 and Mother 2 (Earthbound 2/Earthbound, respectively) and thoroughly enjoyed both. I'd probably recommend Earthbound over Mother 3 if you're only going to play one, especially if you're more for backtracking; while the story for Mother 3 is amazing, it's also very linear (done in chapters). Both are definitely worth at least trying, in my eyes, though. Super Mario RPG is awesome too! It's very quirky and fun -- Paper Mario (N64) was a fine followup to it, despite the difference in overall style, I'd like to recommend it as well. Both games have a decidedly different feel to them when paralleled with the conventional RPG.
Also, while I concur with A Link To The Past being something you need to play (if you haven't yet), would it qualify as an RPG? I always thought of it and the rest of the series as the "Adventure" genre (though admittedly I have a very poor grasp on genre classification) more than anything else.
Also, seconding Golden Sun I&II (GBA) and Persona 3&4. The former has a captivating story and the option to transfer data from the first to second (since I bought a boot of the second in Czech I could never get this to work). While Persona is kind of stylistic, it's worth at least checking out -- it involves an element of socialising, which is a lot like a dating sim (if you've ever played one, idk) and that might not be to your tastes. Implementing socializing affects personas you can use/fuse for battles, so it's also mandatory.
There are multiple locations nearby with copies available, it's just the cost at this point which has turned me off for all these years to even bother buying it. I'll probably end up buying it at this game shop we have called Game Over, they are selling a great condition used one for like 60$ (which is why i've been skeptical for so long. I'm looking for a brand new one but I don't feel like paying 100$+ even if it was a great game. I love collecting originals just as much as the next guy but when Chrono Trigger gets priced at 100+ for SNES, I just remind myself how I have it for PS1 & NDS, so it would be a waste just to own a cartridge for that particular game anyway :P
ps. Svaz, great choice adding Paper Mario, I wasn't fortunate enough to play the N64 version but I do own a copy of the GC sequel Thousand Year Door and I enjoyed that very much. And the problem with A Link To The Past is it's a huge cross between Adventure/RPG. If it has a leveling system it'd lean towards an RPG, but since it didn't, it's more of an adventure where you only use tools/gadgets to progress. It's no different than any other RPG, minus the actual character progression.
WHEN do you think people die...?
When their heart is pierced by a bullet from a pistol...? No.
When they succumb to an incurable disease...? No.
When they drink soup made with a poisonous mushroom...? NO!!!
IT'S WHEN A PERSON IS FORGOTTEN...!!!
I meant 'expensive' by 'rare'. A lot of rare stuff is easy to find, but just costs a lot
"A new take on the epic fantasy genre... Darkly comic, relatable characters... twisted storyline."
"Readers who prefer tension and romance, Maledictions: The Offering, delivers... As serious YA fiction, I’ll give it five stars out of five. As a novel? Four and a half." - Liz Ellor
since when is chrono trigger 100+, it's 50 and below
earthbound on the other hand runs 70+ easily and that's a true pain in the ass
Earthbound where I come from is less appreciated than Chrono Trigger. Any given game store selling either one of those two games, Chrono Trigger is the most expensive almost always priced at 80+ and Earthbound 40+
EDIT: Also I have a few games to the list.
Tales of Phantasia SNES
Secret of the Stars SNES (it's not amazing but still fun)
Star Ocean SNES
Super Adventure Island II (Adventure RPG but amazing, easily one of my favorite games all time)
If I could add my own suggestions, I would say Lunar Silver Star Story Complete and Lunar Eternal Blue Complete for PS1. They're remakes of games from an earlier system with a slightly changed storyline and added characters as well as anime style cutscenes. I loved them both and was thoroughly depressed when it was all over sort of the way a really good story ends. No idea what kind of prices they are as i have copies that my dad bought when I was a kid.
PS Good suggestions everyone. I actually just downloaded Earthbound on an SNES emulator because i'm too cheap/poor to spend money on old games that way.
If I could add my own suggestions, I would say Lunar Silver Star Story Complete and Lunar Eternal Blue Complete for PS1. They're remakes of games from an earlier system with a slightly changed storyline and added characters as well as anime style cutscenes. I loved them both and was thoroughly depressed when it was all over sort of the way a really good story ends. No idea what kind of prices they are as i have copies that my dad bought when I was a kid.
PS Good suggestions everyone. I actually just downloaded Earthbound on an SNES emulator because i'm too cheap/poor to spend money on old games that way.
I know a place selling a box set collectors edition with both games, I'm hoping he'll still have it soon. Also the Breath of Fire's for SNES are amazing, it's fun once you get further into the story and get combine your characters.
If you're going to try out a lot of PS1 games, try out Jade Cocoon, it's pretty neat.
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