Top ten PCE/Turbo RPG's (CD or HU)...

[nectarsis]

What do you consider absurd?

[nodtveidt]

What do you consider absurd?

A shooter is not an RPG. A straight platformer is not an RPG. A pinball game is certainly not an RPG. Tetris and other games like it are so far from RPGs that it's not even funny. Yet these four types of games are often called RPGs by certain types of weirdos.

[awack]

Legend of xanadu 2, from the opening music to the last boss fight, this game is just awesome.

Anearth fantasy stories, the only thing i have to say about this is non linear.

Dungeon explorer 2, does a good job of making you feel like your on an adventure and one with allot of action.

Ys IV

Exile 2

Bloodgear

Ys III

Cadash

[nectarsis]

LOL....very true. Farthest I usually stray is strategy games.

[nat]

Since I know you've all been dying to hear my picks, and I want to make sure you can all sleep well tonight:

1. Dungeon Explorer - The most fun ever packed into a credit card-sized game cartridge.
2. Anearth Fantasy Stories - Delegated to #2 only by the nostalgic attachment I have for DE.
3. The Legend of Xanadu I - Just started playing this, I'm a good few areas into it, but from the spectacular graphics, cinemas, gameplay and killer PSG tunes this is surely one of the best the system has to offer.
4. Dungeon Explorer II - One of those rare cases a sequel is of almost the same caliber in most areas as it's prequel, and superior in others.
5. Beyond Shadowgate - Love this game. ICOM at it finest.
6. Shape Shifter - Sidescrolling action with RPG elements, a hybrid. Another ICOM classic.
7. Ys III: Wanderers from Ys - Don't believe the lies, this is actually the best Ys game on the Turbo.
8. Wonderboy in Monsterland (Bikkuriman World) - Another platfomer/RPG hybrid. Best console port of the arcade classic save for direct emulation despite the changed boss characters.
9. Wonderboy/Dragon's Curse - Picks up directly where Monsterland left off, literally. Probably technically superior to Monsterland, but I personally like Monsterland better. More platformer/RPG hybrid goodness.
10. Ys I - Part one (Book I) of the series deserves an honorable mention, though it's not as spectacular as many will lead you to believe. Still, a fine game definitely deserving of a top 10 spot.

[Keranu]

nat you really need to play through Ys II if you still haven't yet! Ys I is a decent game by itself, but it's not truly appreciated until completing it's second part .

[Joe Redifer]

People who deliberately go all stupid with the RPG label are really irritating. RPGs are my genre of choice for both playing and developing, so it's really annoying as f*ck when someone decides to be a gimpyass with the label.

Yet you have games like Exile, Exile 2 and Cadash on your list?   

[Keranu]

People who deliberately go all stupid with the RPG label are really irritating. RPGs are my genre of choice for both playing and developing, so it's really annoying as f*ck when someone decides to be a gimpyass with the label.

Yet you have games like Exile, Exile 2 and Cadash on your list?   

That's what I was thinking, though I was more concerned about Neutopia since I generally refer to Zelda-like games as "adventure" instead of RPG.

[nodtveidt]

Yet you have games like Exile, Exile 2 and Cadash on your list?   

Since I haven't played 10 true RPGs on the console, I had to throw in some "games with RPG features". All of these are hybrids.

Exile and Exile II both fit the description of an RPG. Cadash and the Neutopias don't, but they are close enough to be labeled hybrid-genre.

[Necromancer]

6. Cosmic Fantasy (PLAYED ONLY BREIFLY WISH I HAD IT)

I couldn't get very far into this one.  It's too damn primitive looking and the language barrier doesn't help, but I really enjoy Cosmic Fantasy 2, so I'll probably try to tackle it again someday. 

[nat]

nat you really need to play through Ys II if you still haven't yet! Ys I is a decent game by itself, but it's not truly appreciated until completing it's second part .

I already did, I finished it a little while back. I see them as seperate games linked by a "bridge cinema".

Book II had overall a much stronger soundtrack, but the desgin of Solomon Shrine was atrocious. That pretty much killed it for me right there. There was a time near the end of the game when I knew where I needed to go back to, but it took me like 3 hours (literally) to find my way because of all the over, under, through, around, back bullshit.

[rag-time4]

nat you really need to play through Ys II if you still haven't yet! Ys I is a decent game by itself, but it's not truly appreciated until completing it's second part .

I already did, I finished it a little while back. I see them as seperate games linked by a "bridge cinema".

Book II had overall a much stronger soundtrack, but the desgin of Solomon Shrine was atrocious. That pretty much killed it for me right there. There was a time near the end of the game when I knew where I needed to go back to, but it took me like 3 hours (literally) to find my way because of all the over, under, through, around, back bullshit.

Haha we just talked about this in chat... I totally agree with nat here... I thought the last area of ys II was boring as hell.

Ys III has much better flow to it and for me was much more enjoyable overall.

[Joe Redifer]

Exile and Exile II both fit the description of an RPG. Cadash and the Neutopias don't, but they are close enough to be labeled hybrid-genre.

So what makes an RPG an RPG?  Games that let you buy shit at stores?  That would seem to be the deciding factor, as Cadash has levels and experience.

[nodtveidt]

So what makes an RPG an RPG?  Games that let you buy shit at stores?  That would seem to be the deciding factor, as Cadash has levels and experience.

Cadash and Neutopia also let you "buy shit at stores". But those aren't technically RPGs.

What defines a console RPG:

1. The story is focused on the characters and how they change, with secondary emphasis on the environment and situations around them and how they change. The video game equivalent of a novel, as opposed to a short story.
2. The player characters experience permanent growth; it can never be lost once gained except under certain exceptionally rare circumstances.

There are other minor factors involved as well, but these are the two real deciding factors. For a game to be classified as a console RPG, it must have a strong grasp of both points. Cadash and the Neutopias fit the second criteria but fail the first (Neutopia II almost matches the first but not quite). Shooters fail both criteria. Exile and Exile II meet both criteria, though their representation of the first criteria is somewhat weaker than normal (Exile has a much stronger representation than its sequel).

One minor point of note is that the player characters normally have to be directly involved in dialogue. That is to say, they can't generally be mute characters...it usually hurts the first criteria. The original Final Fantasy is a prime example of a violation of this minor criteria. That game in particular sits on the border between what is and is not an RPG...the only thing that pushes it over to the RPG side of the fence is a liberal interpretation of "character change".

[GUTS]

I don't get how anyone who plays video games can NOT be clear on what a console RPG is, it's pretty obvious that there are straight console RPGs (like Cosmic Fantasy, Dragon Slayer, etc), action-RPGs (Ys, Neutopia II, Blood Gear, Exile), and action games with some light rpg elements (like Cadash).