Top 10 RPGs of All Time

It is hard to argue for a better video game genre than the RPG. No genre before or after has instilled such wonder and nostalgia in the video gamer. When playing the likes of racing or fighting games, one is enveloped by the momentary pleasure of winning a fight or driving as fast as you can to finish a race. The RPG though is quite the opposite of these genres. Anyone accustomed to RPG's knows what they're in store for before the game even starts; Endless hours of game play, always-evolving story lines, and perennial character development. The RPG is for the tortoise, not the hare, and would always prove to bring the most satisfaction to the gamer who was willing to let the parables of patience surround their being. In this list, we go through the 15 greatest RPG's of all time with a focus on the games that were not just games, but timeless pieces of art.

[Big City]

THREE final fantasy games? REALLY?

[marcleary]

3 FF and niether are FF7, how was this list composed.

[BaronBullion]

Final Fantasy 1 was unnecessary. And where the hell are the Dragon Warrior games???

[Nicholas Cage]

it should be number 1 on the list.

[Danteh]

Amazing, I think they put a title from 1999 :O

Maybe in the next article they will even put a game from the last decade!

[halojunkie]

demons souls and zelda ocarina of time.

[Julie]

On my list i would add Morrowind , Ocarina of Time and KOTOR and for me Baldur's Gate SoA is close to number one with Morrowind , but of course this is a personal opinion :3

[DDP]

Ocarina of Time isn't an RPG. Its an adventure game.

[Darkstorn]

Good for them for remembering the original Diablo. I played the hell out of that game in 1996.
Oh, and KOTOR too.

[FragGen]

If you're not old enough to remember Ultima, you're not grown up enough to make an "ALL TIME" RPGs list.

I'm guessing the guy who wrote this is 25 years old max. He clearly only remembers JRPGs from when he was in middle school.

[Sky Sentry]

@FragGen - LOL! You speak my mind. We are truly of older times for I don't see too many mentions of the Ultima series. Granted, it is made during the early life of PC but I find its gameplay and storyline very deep and satisfying. I was very attached to the Avatar and was sad that it was over in Ultima IX. My personal favourite was Ultima V and Ultima VII. Ultima VIII and IX was disapointing, though.

[TotalPS3Fanboy]

[MountainMaverick]

What a badge of honor being older than 25. I guess the guy who wrote it should write about games he never played that YOU like, right?

[Son of Odin]

I'm over 25 and Ultima sucks. If you think that's better than Chrono Trigger then you need to grow up and start liking games that actually have storys.

[BigSwede]

Agreed. Ultima is NOWHERE near as good as Chrono Trigger or Secret of Mana. If you don't like those games, you don't like big stories. Pretty much means an unimaginative gamer who probably plays Joust for fun.

[vhero]

How the heck does Diablo keep getting in these things?? It's a very niche title.. FFVII is also missing.. the sales do not lie and you can't say it sold on it's name as the Final Fantasy name wasn't huge especially on playstation brand back then. FFVII launched the FF brand into a new stratosphere. Also no breath of Fire? No Suikoden? Terrible list..

The ironic thing is they even did a poll on the same site for top rpg of all time and guess which game has majority of votes?? FFVII.. out of nearly 300 voters too.. Just shows how bad it is.

[BigSwede]

Actually looks like Chrono Trigger is #1 on the poll.

[Stoneroses6300]

If you're going by sales, then Grand Turismo is better than the Legend of Zelda, New Kids on the Block is better than the Who, and hamburgers are better than Steak.

[TheThrills4Life]

Uh...the Sims has outsold FFVII. Just to let you know.

[Kriller]

I don't think Diablo is really an rpg. Good game though.

[destructomaximo]

You collect various item, and you level up. There are character classes. How is it NOT an RPG?

[Optimus Prime1]

Its a hack and slash. That's all.

[Walternate]

Chrono Trigger at #1 FTW.

[TheThrills4Life]

I liked the list a lot. No one can deny that all of these games are amazing.

[PrimordialSoupBase]

Secret of Mana should have been #1. But how are these games missing:

FF Tactics
KOTOR 2
Neverwinter Knights
WoW

[Elwenil]

* Neverwinter NIGHTS, not Knights...

[Tony240ZT]

Or what secret of mana so corny it distracted from the game play? I didn't even get to a point where I could make use of the monsters I grew/collected before turning it off. And being able to make your own map was cool, but also disorganized.

[JDPGamer2002]

Where's Ocarina of Time???

[Heroic Janitor]

I would have liked to see A ZELDA GAME on here. Link to the Past? Ocarina of Time? WTF?

[Rikitatsu]

Zelda = Action Adventure (With some minor RPG elements maybe)
It's not an RPG.

[Hixon4Life]

Zelda 2 is sort of an RPG. But yeah, I wouldn't put a Zelda game on a list like this. Dragon Warrior 3 though...hell yeah. Where the heck is that game on this list?

[Norwegians R Dumb]

Crazy.... no Soul Blazer? What about Lagoon? Anyone ever play that?

[ClSmooth]

Replace Chrono Trigger with Chrono Cross and take out Final Fantasy 1 and Replace with FF7 and the list is a win.

[Mike Jones ST]

You, sir, are FAIL.

[Son of Odin]

Where's WOW?

[Gun_Senshi]

wow is not an rpg lol its a life!

[ClownBelt]

No Persona game? Fail list.

[Swedenborg]

Zelda Link to the Past should have been #1.

[Epedemic]

list = automatic win with CT being #1.

[DDP]

Agreed.

[Gun_Senshi]

Sorry to break it, but FFVII is no where near the gems of FFVI and IV (stupid american names)

Chrono Trigger takes the price, but I wanted to see Xenogears on list

[Captain Tuttle]

No FAllout 1 or 2, No Planescape Torment means the list fails.

And Diablo isn't really an RPG, it's more of an adventure game.

[Aphe]

He also puts the first Baldurs Gate when the second one is far superior. A very strange list, although I do think Chrono Trigger deserves to be in any rpg top ten.

EDIT:Lot of disagrees in here for no reason :\

[Alcon Caper]

Fallout 1 is the greatest sci-fi (post apocalyptic) rpg of all time.

What a dumb omission...

[CLOUD1983]

title say it all..

[BeaArthur]

hahah, I knew it was old-wizard as soon as I saw the title. Learn to do something other than top 10 lists.

[wollie]

FFT must be on the list! best rpg of all time.

[Miraak82]

Where The F%$# is xenogears?????????

[Malebaria]

No sight of Planescape Torment makes me sad.

[-MD-]

Disagree with this list greatly.

[DDP]

can't disagree with secret of mana or chrono trigger.

[jagstatboy]

Where's Borderlands? (j/k....sort of)

[Cenobia]

I tried playing Borderlands with no internet...

That game is sh!t without co-op (assuming co-op is actually fun, since I haven't played online).

[Tony P]

"Where's Borderlands?"

Probably on a list of best shooters somewhere. It doesn't have very much in common with real RPGs.

[DeMoose]

Gee. Another top ten list full of games from 1985. I did not expect that. Not. At. All.

/sarcasm

[Gun_Senshi]

but I have yet to play any rpg that is better then Xenogears and/or Chrono Trigger.

[distorted_reality]

Wouldn't that tell you something about the standard of modern RPG's?

[despair]

its strategy rpg but I thought Valkyria Chronicles is one of the best RPGs ever. Just because games are labeled classic or retro doesn't make them the best. Some newer rpgs are exceptional as well.

My top 5 are(*special mention Demon's souls)

Chrono Trigger
Valkyria Chronicles
Secret of Mana
FFIII
KOTOR

[-Gespenst-]

Disagree with Illusions of Gaia; Terranigma should definately take it's place.
FFVI and Chrono Trigger were always going to be high up, happy to see them there.
But where's Xenogears and Final Fantasy VII? They should defintely replace Final Fantasy I and II.
And perhaps Persona 2: Innocent Sin should have taken the place of Secret of Mana (Though that's only for me, I don't really dig SOM..)

[DDP]

How can you not dig a THREE PLAYER RPG????? I have no idea why there aren't more 2 player rpgs. if Chrono Trigger was 2 player it would be the greatest game ever made.

[xaviertooth]

where is aaron? its the greatest RPG ever.

btw, RPG stands for Retarded Pig Greenberg? amirite?

[Jerk120]

Wow, that was lame.

[chak_]

baldur's is #1

there is no other options

[LittleBigSackBoy]

FF7,8,9 and 10 would be in my list.And KH2, I liked Xenogears and Crono but I didn't think they were amazing.

[Jerk120]

I'm GLAD Final Fantasy VII wasn't on the list. FFIV and FFVI are far better FF games.

I do agree they should've added Terranigma instead of Illusions of Gaia seeing as Terranigma is the latest and best installment of the Soul Blader (Soul Blazer) series.

Is Diablo really an RPG? I always categorized it as something completely different, not that it wasn't good, it's just something else in my eyes.

Baldur's Gate was an AMAZING PC RPG, I'm surprised that it's not higher than KOTOR and higher on this list in general.

I do agree with Chrono Trigger as number 1, as it's personally my favourite RPG.

As for a few suggestions made on the commenting of the list. Golden Sun, although one of my most valued games, and it pains me to say this, is not BEST RPG material. I mean it's GREAT, but it doesn't quite fit in there.

It COULD work for Mother 2.

[ian72]

I have only played one game on that list.
That game was Deus Ex, and its one of the best (if not the best), game I have ever played.

[ApocalypseShadow]

phantasy star 1,2 or 4.doesn't have xenogears or skies of arcadia.or even golden sun or persona.or anything on pc like icewindale.no shin megami on it.

whatever......

[Redempteur]

uber fail list ...even if he left the obvious popular titles like ff7

FF1 the game is unbalanced like crazy and suffer from serious lack of story ( corrected afterwards )

no tales of ?
no shin megami tensei ?
no xenogears ?

diablo2 improved on everything diablo 1 had ...

and why use the fake america names ( ff2 , really ? ) why not say ff4 like any logic would tell you to ?

[Darkstorn]

No, Diablo was superior to Diablo 2.
The second one took out all the scary stuff and gore. I'll admit that Diablo 2 had far better multiplayer, but it wasn't as charming a game. There's just something about that original Diablo...

[DDP]

I like how every time someone uses the american numbering system for final fantasy, some n00b has to correct them so they can appear like they are more "cultured" or "international". Or to feign a superior knowledge of video games. so pathetic.

[Bodyboarder_VGamer]

shut up DDP.

The american numbering it's plain wrong. We have a FFVII but where are IV, V and VI? When I first saw II and III on the list I was like: "are these people mad? those are two of the worst FF games and games in general (specially the third)". But to my surprise the doughbags were talking about IV and VI...

[OldWizard]

http://old-wizard.com/top-1...

To quote ourselves:

"Final Fantasy 3. Final Fantasy 3, yes 3, is one of the greatest RPGs ever made. We here at OW refuse to adopt the Japanese numbering order. If anything Japan should have to re-write their numbering to fit the order of release here. You see OW bleeds red white and blue. And as every true American knows we are the greatest country ever. If you don’t think so we’ll invade you and force our culture on you. Japan should truly decide whether the numbering they use is worth it or not. We’ve invaded bigger countries for less."

[Redempteur]

@ddP

it's nothing like that .. it just about using logic a little

Renaming titles is plain dumb ... when everyone know that a mistake was made ,everyone hsould use the normal , corrected version ..

I see ff4 on ds , not ff2

it's tales of eternia , not destiny 2 and there are many other exemples like that

it's just plain logic ..everyone ( even square enix ) corrected the name now ..why use the incorrect version ???

@darkstorm
i didn't say superior , i said "improved "
diablo 2 is huge compared to 1 , more spell , more of everything , more balance patches ( even 2 months ago ), more effects on screen ..overall it's a bigger game .

Anyway you can't deny that diablo 2 had more influence on Battle.net/online than the first.

[Quadrix]

Mother 3 > All those.

[AKS]

The list is obviously missing Golden Sun and especially the Mother/ Earthbound games, but Chrono Trigger, FF VI, and Secret of Mana definitely belong, as do the PC selections.

[Darth Gamer]

Oblivion or The Legend of Dragoon. Two of my personal favorites as well as Demon Souls FF8, FFX. I am also loving FF13. it is a really good game for the first 20 hours and then it just gets incredible.

[Darkstorn]

Morrowind > Oblivion

[Saryk]

Some of them I agree with, but Diablo (which i still own and Diablo 2) shouldn't be on the list. Diablo was not a true RPG, it was a hack n slash.

[MountainMaverick]

How so? You level up. You get new items and weapons. You go through dungeons. You pick your character class. Am I missing something?

[sealion88]

The writer left out FF7 is a little bias. The game was popular for a reason. And Pokemon red/blue isn't one of the best RPGs?

[Xristo]

seriously....not in the top 10?...so much better than Baldur's Gate

other awesome RPGs (not saying top 10):
Planescape: Torment
Eye of the Beholder Series
Might and Magic 4+5 (World of Xeen)

Ok maybe I'm PC heavy here....how about:

Dragon Warrior Series
Wizardry Series

[HorriblePanda]

first off i liked seeing ff3/ff6 on there and it took the 2nd spot and thank god ff7 was not on the talk about a over hyped game.... ff6 was wwwaaayyy better......(god is the flame gonna burn forever now)but were the hell is grandia 2? how about earthbound or mother 3 those deserve being on there what about fallout 1&2? or mass effect 1 i could do with out the ff1 and ff2/ff4....and i wanna know why so many damn ppl feel ff7 was the best rpg ever? i mean really if you have a good reason i wanna hear it (oh and before i here ff6 had a clown get it right kefka was not a clown and before you even say ff7 is better think about how most of ff7 was a clone of ff6 and the fact that ff7 was gonna be ff6 2)

[Nikuma]

No Xenogears. Fail.

[Knightofelemia]

I am surprised FF7 is not on that list but what the author forgot was Xenogears and Xenosaga to that list hell Mario RPG for the SNES was also a great game.

[lightningsax]

I'm not so bugged by his selection for the list. Whatever, it's his choice. However, I am bugged by his blatant use of a thesaurus. There are sections of the article that just break out into big words, but they don't fit the rest of it. It's as if he got bored and decided he'd try to sound smarter for a few sentences. Weird.

[Kingdom Come]

A worthy winner of Best RPG, a Superb Game.