RPGs of The Decade

December has always been a month for list with me, starting back in 2006. Every year I get together with my roommate and we make a list of our favorite games of the year. I also make a little list awarding my favorite anime of the year. Those are still coming in the next couple weeks. In the meantime, I've decided to jump on the bandwagon and create a list of my 10 favorite games to come out in the last decade. Yeah, after this a measly game of the year list might seem anti-climatic. However I've seen sites posting their decade list before their year list - so I think it's okay.

You'll notice that the list is called "RPGs of The Decade", this is because it just so happens that my 10 favorite games to come out this Decade all happen to be RPGs. After some feedback I decided to change the name of the list to reflect on this. So now it doesn't seem like I'm quite so biased since the only games that will qualify for this list are RPGs. Still, if you're reading this - then you know how I really feel. Oh well. I might take the time to come up with another list of 10 games that came out this decade that I liked that weren't RPGs. But that really depends on how bored I get, and if I get my other list out of the way first.

Speaking of other games I thought of, I thought up 44 games that I loved that came out this decade. That's not even counting other games in the same series. And speaking of that, I've decided to only include one game from each series in this list. It made for some tough choices, but I thought it was only fair. Finally, I didn't count any game that was re-released in the past decade that originally came out more than 10 years ago - sorry Final Fantasy Tactics.

Let's begin.

10. Diablo 2 (PC) 06/29/2000

Let's start off with the definitive loot whore game. Diablo 2 is a game that is hailed by many as being one of the greatest games this decade - not just by me. It was an improvement on it's predecessor in just about every way, and many games have tried to copy the magic of Diablo 2. Like many people I was addicted to Diablo 2 when it first came out, despite the fact that I didn't even have a working sound card I still played the shit out of the game. Later on I was finally able to hear the sounds of Diablo 2, and well - that only helped the experience.

The main reason Diablo 2 is on my list is because even ten years later, I can still go back to Diablo 2 and crack out on it for a few weeks. Like I said, many games have tried to recreate that said digital crack that is D2, but somehow they always fall short in some way or another. However there's still room in my heart for another loot whore game. More on that in a bit.

9. The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (PC) 5/1/2002

Morrowind was the first game in The Elder Scrolls series that I played, and ironically my favorite, out of the two I played at least. Aside from Diablo 2, this was one of the first Western RPGs I really got into. The world of Morrowind is massive, with an incredible story that could be played out in very drastically different ways depending on how you played it. I remember spending plenty of hours with the character creator alone, and when I finally found the character(s) I wanted to use I ventured out into this crazy world. Morrowind is a massive game that can take hundreds of hours to complete if you just go out and explore the world and try to do all the side quest. One of my finest memories of Morrowind is stealing a house in Balmora and filling it with various sets of armor I had collected.

The reason I picked Morrowind over Oblivion, the other TES game I played is mainly because of a first love thing, but also because I think Morrowind is the better game. People might disagree with me, especially considering Oblivion isn't nearly as fucked up, but the story isn't nearly as good either.

8. World of Warcraft (PC) 11/23/2004

I could praise World of Warcraft for being really successful, or for being extremely influential. But really, it's the 6 months of actual hours played that puts it on my list. And honestly, that's pretty casual by some people's standards. I shouldn't need to tell you about WoW, it's the biggest game in the MMORPG genre, a genre I've been known to get extremely addicted to from time to time. It just celebrated it's 5 year anniversary, and it's still going strong with another expansion on the horizon.

I've done a little of everything in WoW, from hardcore raiding to ranked arena matches and everything in between. I even have a Figure Print made of my Tauren Shaman that sits no more than a few feet away from me. There are so many great memories I have of this game. Like being pulled into a Molten Core run in progress for my very first time raiding, or causing someone to log out of the game during PVP. Though my fondest memory would probably be the first time I finally got to play the game in open beta. It was easily one of my most anticipated games of all time. And I loved it.

7. Phantasy Star Online (Dreamcast) 1/29/2001

Years before World of Warcraft came out, or even before I had even gone online with Diablo 2 - my first online gaming experience was with Phantasy Star Online. I remember seeing video about the game, and everyone ranting and raving about how awesome it was. I finally caved in and hooked my Dreamcast up to the internet, got a keyboard and jumped online with what would become my first real gamging addiction.

Oddly enough I had never invested much time into the older Phantasy Star games, much to my dismay at this point since it's a little too late for me to get into them. However I was instantly attracted to the futuristic setting of PSO, the stylized anime inspired look, the catchy music, and the loot. Oh god, the loot. Sure I had played Diablo 2 already by this point, and as I've already established Diablo 2 was the better game. But, Jesus Christ if I wasn't madly addicted to PSO.

I remember meeting a bunch of friends on there, including the one guy who pretty much taught me everything about the game, and the deaf guy who told me an interesting story about how he had to touch the speakers on his TV to feel the vibrations in order to solve a puzzle in one of the Resident Evil games. Regardless if that was true or not, it was still interesting.

As a testament to how much I loved this game, I remember getting my character - a HUcast to max level - 200 hours of gameplay. One night the VMU fell out of my controller and erased all of my data. What did I do? Started over, and got back up to max level again. Sure, there might have been more complete iterations of the game, but this will always be the version I remember.

6. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (Wii) 11/11/2007

Before Radiant Dawn I had dabbled in the first Fire Emblem game they had released here in the U.S. on GBA. I thought it was neat, but ultimately too hard for my taste, or patience at the time. My roommate had played the Gamecube predecessor of Radiant Dawn though and picked this game up back in 2007. I didn't think too much of it at the time, still looked too difficult for me to get into. Then for whatever reason I decided to pick the game up again sometime in early 2008. I was hooked.

The reason I like Radiant Dawn so much is probably another case of first love, but again, after playing all the games they released here I'd still say it's the best one. The story is awesome, with a much cooler cast of characters overall than the other games. And I thought this even before playing the original game - so I was missing half of the story. I eventually went back and played Path of Radiance though and loved this game's story and characters even more. Nephenee - the game's most overpowered character is one of my favorite video game characters.

The only bad thing about Radiant Dawn is the fact that I played this game several months too late to include it in my Game of The Year list for 2007. Thankfully, I'm finally able to give the game it's due with this list.

5. Persona 3: FES (Playstation 2) 4/22/2008

The original Persona 3 was my Game of The Year in 2007, and FES is a better version with extra content for the original game, and a whole new second story to play through. The whole Persona series is an interesting take on the JRPG genre, doing away with fantasy or sci-fi and taking place in modern day Japan. This was also the first game in the series to add a whole non-combat portion of the game where your character could build up relationships with friends outside of the dungeon crawl.

It was a tough decision trying to decide if I liked Persona 3 or Nocturne more. In the end I went with Persona 3 based on it's characters and the daytime exploration and activities that set it apart from other JRPGs. As for Persona 4 - yeah, it's the better made game, and I love that game too, but not as much as I loved Nocturne or Persona 3.

I don't really have any memorable stories to tell about my time with Persona 3, but I have played through the original story three times since the game originally came out in 2007, that's several hundred hours of gameplay mind you. I also adore the characters, the story, and especially the music. Yeah you haters can keep on hatin' Lotus Juice, but Mass Destruction is one of the coolest, and catchiest battle themes in any game. And don't even get me started on Burn My Dread, or FES's Opening Song.

4. Suikoden 3 (Playstation 2) 10/24/2002

I imagine I'm beginning to sound like a broken record with these "first taste" affairs, but I'm afraid that's what this is again. At least I don't have to justify why I like Suikoden 3 more than 2 on this list. Actually, much like Fire Emblem, I had played a Suikoden game before 3. I rented 2 for a weekend back when that came out, but didn't make too much progress into it.

Hell, I didn't even like Suikoden 3 at first. The first time I tried playing the game I hated it. I can't really remember why at this point though. Something to do with the battle system I think. Which is fucking ridiculous, because I love Suikoden's battle system now.

Suikoden 3 is the black sheep of the series though. It's quite a bit different than the rest of the games, well to an extent. In the end it's all the same, but instead of playing as a mute unnamed hero (Yes, I know they all have official names) , you get to play the game from the perspective of three different main characters. One of them will eventually take over as the leader of the army, but it's still a change of pace. Personally I enjoyed this system more than the fixed perspective of the one hero in the other games.

The other thing I like about the game is the "strategy battles" that are a staple of the series. In this game you build up your characters to be automatically controlled in battles against the enemy. I don't really know why I like this so much, but I do. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you can use a few tricks to really destroy the enemy at everyone of these strategy battles? I don't know. Oh yeah, I also like Chris a lot too, she is after all one of my favorite characters.

There's not much else I can say about it really. I've played the game through about once every year since it's come out, and it made me fall in love with what is now one of my favorite JRPG series. Now I just hope Konami will release Suikoden 6 at some point.

3. Ragnarok Online (PC) 6/01/2003

Oh boy, Ragnarok Online. I don't even know where to begin. Phantasy Star Online might've been my first addiction, and World of Warcraft might be the better game, but there is no doubt that I got hooked on Ragnarok Online harder than any game - ever. And I will probably never experience anything like those days gone by ever again.

I can't remember how it all started. All I can remember is picking up the Alpha for this game. Yes- the fucking Alpha. I got a few of my friends to join with me, as I made a Swordsman and embarked on my first true MMORPG adventure. I played the Alpha for as long as it was around, but dropped out of the game when the first Beta hit. I would eventually pick it back up when Beta 2 came around. And kept playing until about a year after launch. Ever since then I've had an on and off relationship with the game. I've long since quit playing on official servers due to the fact that it's so ungodly slow to actually progress in the game. But I still find myself playing on private servers from time to time.

Honestly, there are many problems with RO. It is a Korean MMO after all. They're a dime a dozen anymore, and none of them have really changed. The game is also pre-WoW, so a lot of things WoW revolutionized were either never there, or are still missing from the game. But that's not the important thing. What's important is that it was amazing at the time. I would play the game for hours, upon hours. Barely taking a break to eat or sleep. And it's the friends I played with, and the friends I met. It's the porn phenomenon that the game's cute style surprisngly lends itself well to. It's the addictive nature of collecting a bunch of useless, albeit cute hats.

Ragnarok Online will always hold a special place in my heart, and that's why it's on my god damn list.

2. Xenosaga: Episode I - Der Wille zur Macht (Playstation 2) 2/25/2003

Xenogears would rank pretty high on the decade before last's list. And Xenosaga is no different in this decade. Still, while KOS-MOS and crew might not make top honors, Xenosaga is still one of my favorite game series.

The hardest part was deciding between Episode 1, and Episode 3. Both of them are awesome in their own ways. For instance, Episode 3 has better Mech combat, and I like KOS-MOS' design better in that game. It also has T-elos. Ultimately though, I've played Episode 1 way more than is healthy, probably largely in due part to it's awesome combat system and higher production values. Oh - it's also the only one to have an anime made after it - if that counts for anything.

Why do I love Xenosaga so much though? It was just amazing for the time. It was one of the first JRPGs to feature that much voice acted dialogue, huge cinematic cut scenes, an awesome story that's a prequel to one of my favorite games of all time, and one of my favorite characters of all time too. Sure, a lot of people give the game shit for the cinematics, but I play these games for the story just as much as the action - so I'm all for it. Also the series tends to dip into some really ridiculous religious nonesense, but again - I'm all for that shit.

Let's just try and forget Episode 2 ever happened though - k?

1. Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (Playstation / Playstation Portable) 9/29/2000 / 7/18/2006

Before we begin with this, my personal Game of The Decade. I just wanted to point out that I'm considering that remake for PSP the best version of the game. This still qualifies though, because amazingly enough the original game did come out this Decade. Honestly though, aside from the new CG cinematics, and a cleaned up script - the games are identical. Anyways...

Valkyrie Profile is easily one of my favorite games ever. It would rank in my top 5 out of everything, from any decade. And I have played this game so many fucking times, getting every character, and every ending, and every item, and every...THING. Seriously. This game also caused me to become obsessed with Norse mythology, and most of all Valkyries. Needless to say - Lenneth is another one of my favorite characters.

So why is this game so great? Why is it such a classic? Everything. For starters the battle system is simply amazing. It does away with the traditional turn based menu selecting in favor of a more action oriented system. Where you tap the character's assigned buttons in an effort to juggle the enemy and build up massive combos in order to unleash an uber special attack. That alone was enough to set the game apart from any JRPG back when it came out ten years ago.

The other thing, as you might imagine is the story. It was surprisingly deep for the time, especially for a JRPG. Most JRPGs to this day still have very linear story lines. In Valkyrie Profile you're able to go through three different story paths, and get a new selection of characters with their own stories on each path. You can "beat" the game on each path, but the ending will be radically different. In the true ending, you end up rebelling against Odin - the fucking King of the Gods!

So while I may really like Persona, Suikoden, and Xenosaga. Valkryie Profile did a lot of interesting shit with JRPGs. They continued to do this in the following Valkyrie Profile games -changing up the standard formula everytime. And all of them are good games - Silmeria was my GoTY in 2006, and Plume... well keep an eye out for this year's GoTY list to see what I think about that one. Still, the original game, or rather the remake "Lenneth" is easily my favorite game this decade.