Most Important RPGs Of All Time
A pretty ambitious title for a concept that’s only been around for a few decades, but as an RPG maniac, who am I to argue? Gamasutra held a vote to answer the question, “Which RPG over the entire history of the genre do you think has made the biggest ‘quantum leap,’ and why?” and then posted the results in an admirably thoughtful feature. Any of my fellow self-respecting RPG dorks out there should make their own quantum leap right now and read the whole beautiful thing, but for the rest of you, make the jump for a quick rundown of some of the honorable mentions and the big winner:
A pretty ambitious title for a concept that’s only been around for a few decades, but as an RPG maniac, who am I to argue? Gamasutra held a vote to answer the question, “Which RPG over the entire history of the genre do you think has made the biggest ‘quantum leap,’ and why?” and then posted the results in an admirably thoughtful feature. Any of my fellow self-respecting RPG dorks out there should make their own quantum leap right now and read the whole beautiful thing, but for the rest of you, here’s a quick rundown of some of the honorable mentions, the four runners-up and the big winner:
Dragon Warrior: Because it came first. Or first-ish.
Final Fantasy IV: Took a graphical leap and brought real epic storytelling into the genre.
Neverwinter Nights: Great game on its own merits. Better game on your own merits.
Everquest: First MMORPG that reached a wide audience. There would be absolutely no Azeroth without it.
Baldur’s Gate II: (My personal favorite.) This game brought story, characters, humor, action, graphics and a sense of discovery and wonder that hadn’t been seen before. Score.
The Ultima series: Presumably just for being around for some d*mn long. Whichever of these games you played/loved/experienced, as a whole they gouged a deep impression into the genre.
And now for the winners:
5 – Chrono Trigger: Innovative battle system, and just freaking fabulous. No argument here. Plus, avoiding fights!
4 – Deus Ex: Ok, I guess. (grumble.) This game did introduce RPG elements into an FPS…but it’s still an FPS to me.
3 – Oblivion: I think maybe Morrowind should be alongside this title, but Oblivion definitely kicked it up a notch for everyone who likes their RPGs pretty, long, and hugenormous.
2 – Planescape: Torment: YES! No game has ever had such an original setting, premise, or darkly fun adventure. The development of the main character alone would land this game on the list.
And the winner, the MOST IMPORTANT RPG EVER…according to Gamasutra’s readers – don’t blame me!
1 – Fallout: A financially successful RPG with not a single wizard or unicorn or elf in sight. Open-ended, high quality, replayable in a serious way…plus mutants. Come on.
What do you think? What did Gamasutra’s readers miss? What do you think is the most important (not necessarily best) RPG in the history of the universe? Let us know, pretty please.
tiny dancer
Posted to Video Games on 7 October 2006
· Comments (3)
Other stuff like this: baldur's gate, chrono trigger, deus ex, dragon warrior, everquest, fallout, final fantasy IV, neverwinter nights, oblivion, planescape: torment, rpgs, ultima
Name: Dave
I started playing Fallout recently. I passed over it when it first came out, and I just found an OSX version that is stable on my Macbook. (The Win95 version is pretty flaky under XP, and besides, the low resolution graphics look better on a smaller screen.)
It’s nice to know I picked a winner!
I’m normally not a big CRPG buff (although I play tabletop RPGs constantly). I tend not to have the attention span to stick it out all the way through them, even when I recognize that they’re great.
I guess I should make a special effort this time, so I know what all the hub-bub is about.
Fallout is the only game I’ve ever played that I could consider perfect.
...final fantasy 4…2…whatever the fack you want it to be. It was the best ever made and taught me horrible english! go cecil and kain!