Story and flow—that's my simplest way of summarizing the greatness here. The first requires little explaining. Each character—while much smaller than the FF VI cast—you control is unique and compelling, possessing remarkable depth and emotion. Flow. Unusual by the genre's standard, you won't find any jarring random battle segue ways that interrupt your adventuring. Instead, upon stumbling into enemy sprites you seemlessly launch into battle without any transition. Chrono Trigger moves between exploration, plot development, and battles with remarkable fluidity. In this sense, you have an oscar worthy sprite action-adventure / drama.

I still remember the opening of this game so clearly; it was so cinematic—the opening scene, the music, the scrolling credits. Square presents you with an amazing array characters, yet the way chapters break up the plot and focus on certain missions (i.e. Locke's escape) ensures that every personality remains distinct, and at the same time makes managing your large squad of allies, well, manageable. It's no wonder that the next Final Fantasy would up the ante with full motion video. That said, do not discount Final Fantasy IV. It is quite excellent and would have made this list were there enough space.

I grew up with this game, so rating it in third place is a painful exercise in objectivity. The cinematics and voice acting cannot be matched in length or quality. On top of that, the graphics and music take excellent advantage of the medium, and the gameplay from the already top-notch Lunar: The Silver Star has been tweaked to an even higher level. Did I mention this is the best Sega console RPG of its time? The best reason to own a Sega CD!

Starting with a Sword in the Stone motiff, you might underestimate how good and original this title is. It's an action RPG that incorporates multiple characters fighting at once. There's even the possibility—a preferable one, given the limits of artificial intelligence—of having three humans play at once. Consequently, this is the best multi-player RPG in the list. Another interesting break from the traditional formula is that there isn't any overworld map between towns, caves, and what not. Rather, you need to constantly traverse the enemy-infested wilderness. This game has made numerous best of lists, and it's easy to see why after playing for even as little as five minutes.

The graphics are not the eye-candy that RPG fans are used to, opting for an unusually abstract, cartoon look. And the setting of real world meets science fiction isn't the typical medieval environment either. Get over it. You don't face the annoying typical random encounters here; battles are decided by sprite-to-sprite contact with the enemy. And you probably won't find a more humorous RPG anywhere, thanks to the amusing depictions of American culture and parodies of the RPG genre in general. When you're not digesting subtle cultural references you'll probably be fighting hippies and punks.

Let no one say otherwise, this is the best RPG you can find for the Genesis. Returning to the fine roots of Phantasy Star II, PS4 improves upon it drastically with brighter graphics, memorable music, and a storyline that is easier to follow. Atmospherically, the anime style and sci-fi setting are a great change of pace from the typical medieval, fantasy-themed RPG. While the battle system is a little shallow, it offers the awesome feature of macros, pre-programmed action plans for your characters—a welcome time saver for random battle fatigue.

Easily the most unique title in this list. No random battles, no shops, no magic points. And you can tackle the first seven chapters of the game in any order you choose. Each of these chapters focuses on a different character in a unique setting, from the American Old West to a cargo ship in outer space. There's even a chapter without any text at all, where cavemen communicate via pictures. With the all-too-typical burden of shuffling items and weapons between characters absent, it's even easier to immerse yourself in this collection of disparate stories that just might blend together in the final chapters...

It was the first Square partnership with Nintendo and interestingly also marked Square's break from Nintendo platforms. Nevertheless, Square went out with a bang. Like Chrono Trigger, all of your enemies are visible, and contact initiates the battle sequence. Outside of the battles, most of the game plays out like an isometric platformer, taking Mario back to his roots. Having five different playable characters adds great depth to the gameplay, and at the same time makes things more RPGy. On top of all these great features, you'll also find some of the finest 3D graphics ever on a 16-bit console.

How can a title with understated graphics and a strange battle system that depends on literally slamming into enemies at odd angles still play so well 20 years later? A well-told story and one of the best soundtracks of the era go a long way. The strangeness of combat actually ends up being a redeeming feature after all these years, providing a unique feel that sets it apart from the hordes of RPG imitators. An astonishing use of the then new CD-ROM medium.

Armed with a whopping 48 Mbits worth of data and the "Flexible Voice Driver" sound engine, this game features myriad streaming audio clips. Tales is also notable for its action RPG-style 2D battle system. This shocked my traditional RPG tastes at first, but once I got the hang of carefully timing sword swipes and setting tactics for the other characters this approach really grew on me. Namco really came out of nowhere with this original approach to the genre. You've got to give them credit for challenging the mighty Square empire.

I have to admit that I always struggled to get immersed in the 8/16-bit Dragon Quest games. Maybe it's the interface. Having to hit two buttons (one for the menu, and another to talk) in order to interact with all the NPCs drives me crazy. Once you get beyond the simple graphics, you'll find a surprisingly large and immersive world. For the first time in the series, you can actually create your own characters, from the Wizard to the Merchant to the Goof-off. This is also the final installment to the original Dragon Quest trilogy and it has never been released in Europe. Considering the state of the RPG market back in the late 1980s, I give Enix a lot of credit for shipping this to the USA.

For a change of pace, this action RPG was published in Japan and Europe, but not in North America. Go Figure. The Quintet + Enix combo doesn't disappoint. Wonderful graphics and the story of an earth resurrected to the present day makes for a memorable adventure. Interestingly, the battles feel very close to Zelda-style combat, so I give this game the strange honor of RPG that most close skirts the action-adventure classification. The action-based approach works well, though, and from the double dash attack to the constant interactions with townspeople this RPG does just about everything right.

Genesis

C&E

Turn-based

2006

SMS

Capcom

Turn-based

1994

TG-CD

Laser Soft

Turn-based

1991

NES

Chunsoft

Turn-based

1986

NES

Chunsoft

Turn-based

1987

SNES

Chunsoft

Turn-based

1993

NES

Chunsoft

Turn-based

1990

SNES

Chunsoft

Turn-based

1992

SNES

Heart Beat

Turn-based

1995

TG-CD

Falcom, Hudson Soft

Turn-based

1991

TG-16

Atlus, Hudson Soft

Real-time run 'n gun

1989

TG-CD

Hudson Soft

Real-time run 'n gun

1993

Sega CD

Strategic Simulation Inc.

Turn-based

1994

NES

Square

Turn-based

1987

NES

Square

Turn-based

1988

NES

Square

Turn-based

1990

SNES

Square

Turn-based

1991

SNES

Square

Turn-based

1992

SNES

Quintet

Real-time Zelda-style

1993

TG-CD

Falcom

Real-time walk-into-the-enemy

1994

TG-CD

Falcom

Real-time walk-into-the-enemy

1995

NES

Konami

Turn-based

1991

SNES

Neverland

Turn-based

1995

Sega CD

Game Arts

Turn-based

1992

NES

Nintendo

Turn-based

1989

SMS

Sega

Turn-based

1987

Genesis

Sega AM7

Turn-based

1989

SNES

Square

Real-time Zelda-style

1993

SNES

Square

Real-time Zelda-style

1995

Genesis

BlueSky Software

Real-time shooting

1994

Sega CD

Group SNE

Turn-based tactical RPG-style

1996

SNES

Beam Software

Real-time shooting

1993

Genesis

Japan Media

Turn-based

1995

Sega CD

SIMS

Turn-based

1993

TG-CD

NEC

Real-time Zelda-style

1994

TG-CD

Falcom

Real-time, side-scrolling

1991