What Is the Best RPG game you ever played!

I'm going to have to go with Golden Sun. I've never ever before or after found an RPG that had such a thrilling storyline and such a rewarding exploration system. I literally beat both games 3 times just to be able to get absolutely every secret dungeon and Djinn, so i could unlock the absolute superdungeon hidden near the end of the 2nd game (which would only unlock if you had found all 56 Djinns across both games, insane!).

No other RPG ever got me so hooked up on its combat and puzzle elements, i really tried to max out the effectiveness of my team by distributing and shifting the power of my Items and Djinns so every Party Member would fullfill a role with a purpose. And the unlockable Djinn Combo Attacks as the ultimate rewards for the dungeons were REALLY worth unlocking, they also made those bosses show up in the ultimate endless monster mode afterwards, overall i got over 200 hours out of 2 Game Boy Advance Titles, unparalleled value up to today.

I was really sad to see how lush the third title (on DS) was done, how loosely it was bound to the original, with the original cast being nothing but the parents of the new heroes and my savedata and preserved 27 page passwords being pretty much useless. Needless to say i was not surprised to see the 4th one cancelled in its development. It's a shame how much the new development team failed to deliver on such a great basis, plus they made the plot SO dumbed down that you could basically see through it before everybodies identity was even "revealed". It felt like a lackluster attempt at reviving the series on a new platform, unworthy of its predecessors.

Only positive point of the first two parts being GBA Titles: It's easy and cheap to obtain them nowadays and they would play on TV with the game cube game boy adapter

 

Too bad I don't have a GBA. Any chance I can get this on an emulator?

 

Coolroms is great for emu and rom

The best rpg I've played is going to have to be table top dnd 3.5/home brew. The story lines are limitless and the game is always. Fun.

 

Planescape Torment, Arcanum, FF7 and Fallout (1&2)

 

two of my favorite games ever, tho not my favorite rpgs, they were well worth the whopping $30 on release that i paid.

 

FF Tactics.

Baldur's Gate.

Heck all the old DnD RPGs. The original pools of radiance, etc. Loved em. Heck, loved the spin offs too like Buck Rogers. Fun

 

Old D&D games were awesome. Would love to see more D&D games in those lines.

 

Going to back in the day, I still have fond memories of the original Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy text adventure on my Commodore 64 (yes I am that old).

 

Not *the* best rpg I've played, but I am really enjoying the Mass Effect Series right now!

 

I started off Part 1 and got a little bit confused and i saw a LOT of the rumour about the ending flying around the net, got curious what got hundreds of thousands of people mad enough to vote EA the worst company of the year over BP and eventually spoilered the ending to myself.

(Minor Spoilers about ME 3 DLC ahead)

i'm not going to say the game itself is bad, but the combat is nothing too special and since i know just how much the story would disappoint me with its stupid "EA bought BioWare, get this thing out on the market!" forced ending contradicting all the previous unfoldings, i didn't bother to continue playing it. Everybody i asked said they were massively desillusioned and disappointed by the ending and the fact that EA even created some paid Day 1 DLC just to press Money out of the people before they turned away from the series by adding a character of a race that was held extinct and mysterious the entire time and then putting him in as a Day 1 paid DLC for like 10 bucks. That killed it for me.

 

Baldur's Gate

Legends of Terris (Old Text Adventure MMORPG - emphasis on the RPG)

 

One I haven't seen mentioned in this thread is my fave: Okami.

Originally for the PS2, redone for the Wii, and now re-released in glorious HD for the PS3.
It owes a big nod to the Zelda games, and, like them, was just out-and-out fun from the get-go.

 

1. Hero Quest (on good old Amiga 500)
2. Gothic 2
3. Fallout Tactics

 

Fallout Tactics over Fallout 1 and 2? I liked Fallout Tactics, but I think the original Fallout games are still better.

 

I am not a fan of the the Fallout series (it's ok, but nothing fancy), but the tactical part of this game was f**** awesome.

 

I enjoyed it myself pretty much too, but I had this weird bug that whenever I shot something with the Browing cal. 50 MG, everything behind it received a lethal amount of damage.
I have to try it sometimes again, I guess there are some patches nowadays.

 

I rather use the term favorite. So my nostalgic favorites are Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy on NES. I remember just being amazed that a game could have such scope after playing Super Mario Bros and other NES games. Also, the Nintendo Power Final Fantasy strategy guide is probably the sole reason I got into video games in the first place. I need to see if I can track down my copy.

Currently my favorites are probably something like Planescape, Fallout series, and Morrowind/Skyrim. Too many games, too little time. Especially since I am not very picky.

 

In the spirit of IshidaTsukis comment that the first Final Fantasy you actually play/finish will probably remain in your memory as the best one I have to pick the one that hasn't been mentioned yet:
Final Fantasy VIII
(and yes, I know, the Draw System is, well lets just say controversial, but I still love the hell out of it)
other than that I will go with Wizardry 8 (love me a gadgeteer) and Deus Ex (first one only, of course)

 

For me it was Planescape Torment.

 

Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer. At least on the RP part, the G isn't very good due to the source material. Still, they did well with what they had.