Hoping to make your life's design a bit more dynamic!

I've actually thought about this for more than a day. I am somewhere in the middle, but I am leaning closer to Recca's position. The 16-bit era, SNES and Genesis, has a certain feel to it I have never quite replicated. Some PSx came really close, but later, when characters and monsters started looking like puffy floating balloons and the low-grade cartoons in South Park that appear to be cut out of construction paper by kindergarten kids, much of the new material lost it with me.

I would rather help create the SFC games we've released, plus Slayers, Burning Heroes, Lodoss Wars, and many others, than play a lot of these new games and platforms, but I said I was somewhat in the middle. That means I have been enjoying the heck out of Luminous Arc-II. It's both fun and addictive, and pretty well written to boot but still doesn't quite have that special feel.

I understand how you feel there Bill. I too agree super-deforming characters and making them too cute hurts,
but that is a tendency most often seen in MMORPGs rather than console RPGs (something which I'm thankful for).
Due to varied circumstances, I could only really enjoy 8 and 16-bit era RPGs through emulation, so maybe
I have developed a sort of retroactive saudosism for these times but I'm still in the middle regardless.

I feel there will always be good RPGs to be found because creation is just that, its a core component of
the human soul, so there will be always diamonds to sparkle under the coal no matter the means and time
of creation. Just because something has a rather striking apperance doesn't mean its bad, as much as it
doesn't warrant its quality by itself.

Let's travel back some. Take Chrono Trigger. A lot of people consider it one of the best RPGs ever, and it did have awesome graphics and anime styled characters, so I don't see it as a fad or a sales improvement appeal, simply, it sold because it was good; hell the game was ported to the PS1 and DS unchanged, a game that survived far beyond its own generation without being forgotten.

For every CT on every system there will be lots of Dragon Views, Drahkens, Eye Of The Beholders and a slew of godawful RPGs, its just how things are.

I actually think the PS1 or PS2 are my favorite systems for RPG's. It would be a toss up as to which though. I really like having voice overs (even if most of them are horrendous.) Plus, my favorite company was never on the SNES. They were on the Genesis via the Sega CD and I actually am more fond of the Sega CD over the SNES simply because of Lunar I/II.

Did the SNES have some great RPG's? Sure it did, but I've never been as fond of some of them as others. For example: Chrono Trigger was a good game, but I by no means thought it was the masterpiece most people did. Final Fantasy VI (III US) was OK (up until the world change when it went to @#$%) but wasn't remotely as good as IV/II. Most people thought it was better, which I will never understand since the world change part was absolutely sleep inducing. V was mediocre as well. Square had a few other quality games/seriess, like mana for example, but also had some terrible ones, Secret of Evermore for example. I pretty much don't like most anything Enix did beyond the NES dragon Warriors and Terranigma so nothing they did on the SNES beyond it peaks my interest. Beyond Square and Enix, there were only other companies releasing here and there. Capcom with Breath of Fire (which Square brought over 1 to the US.) Nintendo with Zelda and other forgettable Mario and Earthbound RPG titles. Namco did start Tales on this system but again I think their best work was yet to come on the PSX. I haven't liked one incarnation of Star Ocean to date, and finally a game here and there by other producers (some of which were good).

The PSX and PS2 really had some new people come into the fold though. For example: Sony themselves produced as many or more RPG's than Nintendo did. Better ones at that. Kenami came on board. Capcom was still going. Square was there as well as Enix. Game Arts got in the act on the system. Namco was making waves, and then there was the little independent US RPG producer Working Designs bringing over great stuff we'd never have seen without them likely. Not to mention Atlus, which while they're stuff is 50/50 if I'd like it still earns respect in my book.

The PS2 brought more new faces to light. Working Designs went away but NIS America took up the slack. Sure, old friends might have bought each other out (Game Arts aquired by Enix and then the Enix and Square Murger) but they still produced a few quality games. Gust got in the RPG act with a great line of games. Not to mention Aruze and a superb couple of classics. Even the Koreans got in on the action.

So, unlike my esteemed teammates, my favorite era is not the 8 or 16 bit era but the 32 bit era for RPG's. (Which is not the case for other genres which 16 bit is my favorite for almost everything else.) Just like my teammates, I'd much rather play a game on a console over a handheld any day. I've played many a game on DS and PSP now. I must say I much prefer the PSP over the DS especially for RPG's. But neither are a terrific way to play an RPG. it may not be long however until 2D RPG's can only be found on handheld platforms. And even 3D RPG's will be far more available on them simply because they're cheaper to produce that way. And they CAN be every bit as robust as their console brethren. Even on those cartridges. Suikoden Tierkreis had as much voice over and FMV as many CD/DVD based games and it was on a cart for example.

Anyway, I went off on a bunch of tangents there but long story short, I prefer the PSX/PS2 eras for RPG's personally, and while the handhelds feature similar hardware, they are not similar feeling playing the games no matter how good they may be, simply because that tiny screen takes so much fun out of the games.

Well, I prefer PSX/PS2 era for RPGs too, but I guess I'm biased.
For you to understand my opinion I'll have to talk a little about myself:

Just remember that I'm not american, I live on a third-world country, and everything electronic used to take a huge while to get here. Today is better, but we're still a little late.

I started my gaming life something like 1987, bought an ATARI, well, actually it was an ATARI clone, but I guess it counts, it's name was "Supergame".
I played it a lot, my favorite games were Berserk, Mousetrap, Montezuma's Revenge and River Raid.

I bet you guys don't know some of them. Berserk is basicaly what inspired games that are today known as "Dungeon Crawler"
Mosetrap is a Pac-Man clone, just easyer and funnier(don't complain, I was just a child)
And Montezuma's Revenge is like a Pitfall clone, just much better.
River Raid is widely known.

A couple years later, I bough a computer, just for gaming, it was an MSX Hotbit, known today as MSX 1.0
It was a huge improvement over my ATARI. My favorite games of this era were Knightmare and Bokosuka Wars.

Knightmare is a game very advanced for it's time, it had various weapons, warp zones and it even has bosses for each level.
And Bokosuka Wars is a little hard to explain, the most close famous game I can think of, is Dragon Force.

Then, another couple of years, something like 1991-1992 I bought a NES, well, it was a NES clone, it's name was "Phantom System". I had a lot of issues with the controls, it took almost a year to finish my first game, even though I played everyday. I was hugely atached to ATARI type joystick.
My favorite games were Super Mario 3 and Battletoads.

After some years, I don't remember it well, I bought a Genesis, known in Brazil as "Mega Drive", than a Super NES, and a SEGA CD. Still had issues with controls. Couldn't get used to directional buttons.
I used to play a lot of games on it. About RPGs, by that time I didn't even knew this genre existed. I ended up only playing FFVI(US III), Chrono Trigger, Phantasy Star IV, Shining Force 1 and 2. Much years later I finished more 16 bits RPGs, on emulators.
My favorite SEGA CD game was Final Fight CD, just because it's very close to the arcade version, what I used to play a lot.

Than, on 1997, a friend of mine called me to see his new videogame, it was a Playstation. When I got there I saw a game that I loved on the first sight, it was a japanese copy of Final Fantasy Tactics. On that same year I bought a PSX, but since FFT was still in japanese, I bought another game wich was a sequence of a game I liked a lot on Super NES, it was Final Fantasy VII. I get permanently hooked. But I still had issues with directional buttons.
I played a lot of RPGs and Strategy games, because they usually don't need too fast movements, and I could play even with issues with directional buttons.

Than, Sony launched it's analog controller. Finnaly I was in Heaven. Since I couldn't play well on directional buttons, the analog stick was the solution to my controller problems. But I was still hooked with RPG and Strategy Games. And I am untill today.



Lol, this was a pretty long post. But I hope now you guys understand the reason I usually prefer PSX/PS2 era for RPGs, even though I like 16 bits era RPGs too. It's just that I grew accostumed to it. I played and finished more than 400 games on 16 bits consoles(something like 98% were rented), but just a few of them were RPGs.

That hits the nail on the head, what creates that special feel I mentioned, what you first grow accustomed to playing that moves you beyond an occasional leisure time activity to an itch that doesn't go away. I started with Pong and Atari with Breakout and Dig Dug, etc., but the bug didn't really bite me until Dragon Warrior-I, my first experience with any form of RPG. Yes, and I forgot to mention the Sega-CD with its Shining Force and the Lunars, but to me that was just an extension of the Genesis platform that I sort of lump in with the corresponding NES/SNES era.

I started on the pong and Atari too. Then got the Odyssey II (all at the end or past their life cycle). I was a kid when they were actually hot items but I couldn't afford them until they became super cheap. The first new Atari I got was in either '86 or '87 and was $59. If that says anything. I had a slightly messed up used one with minor color issues I got about 6 months before that for like $5, but it worked good enough to play games on. The odyssey 2 was after that for $20 with a few games. Man was KC Munchkin fun. Pacman couldn't hold a candle to that fun game. And it actually allowed you to create your own levels. One of the coolest things EVER at the time. At some point I picked up a used Intellivision and it was more fun than the atari. Not that atari didn't have some good games but they were turning out so much crappy ones that you were afraid by this point anything you bought would be horrible.

Although, I did play my fare share of Realsports Football on that thing, as well as Ms. Pac Man (a game they didn't mess up as bad as Pac Man.) As well as Pole Position, Yars Revenge (probably the best Atari game of all time), Galaxian and more. Fun times.

Then later when I was in 11th Grade, my best friend got an NES for christmas. I was instantly hooked on Super Mario Bros. Though, I wasn't very good at playing it. It would be another year+ before I got my own NES though. Again a messed up one someone gave me with brightness issues but it played heh. This was 1990ish. I then got an IBM PC XT in 1991 and started on the road to PC gaming (and other PC stuff). I graduated in 1991, and I got the SNES ect early in their life cycle because at this point I was finally out of high school and could make some money. I'll wrap this up here since I'm just dating my somewhat old self.

Talking about NES and Master System, it took me a while before I could decide wich of them I would get. Both had some games I liked.

Bought a NES(well, a NES clone), because(you'll not believe this), it got Double Dragon. I'm not meaning DD2 or DD3, I mean the first one.

I used to play it a lot on arcades. Strangely enough, I ended up never playing Double Dragon from NES...

Another strange thing. When I bought it, I used to think Ninja Gaiden II was the best NES game, just by looking at their screenshots. But, now, I prefer Super Mario 3 and Battletoads.

Strange, the directions life throw you.

My gaming mileage is pretty high too.
I started with the Atari. At the 8-bit jump, instead of choosing Nintendo I chose Sega,
so I had Master System, Game Gear, Genesis, Saturn, even the ill-famed 32x.

During the 16-bit war I remember me and my cousins always had heated arguments over which was better,
Sega or Nintendo; the Snes was much more expensive than the Genesis back then (it was called Mega Drive here, as in Europe)
so I always felt they had a Snes because they were stuck up (and because they were).

Ironically I never had a Dreamcast, arguably the best Sega system along with the Genesis, also had a N64, but thanks to living in Brazil, carts were hard to come by, so most of my N64 experience came through emulation, same for the Snes.
After that I got PS1 and 2, skipping the Game Cube (it was never too popular here).
Currently I have a DS and plan on getting a 360.

Whew! that was long, but there you have it, a rough sketch of my gaming background.

I know how you feel, but that's like a rule on every generation.
"There'll allways be a series of great success on a generation that'll not move to the next one."
When you change companys, it only gets worse.

On 16 bits era there were some series of great success that did not move to PSX nor Saturn.
For example: Phantasy Star and Lufia
I would love having a classic Phantasy Star on my PSX, but it never happened.
But this feeling vanished, because of the new series(Suikoden, Wild ARMs, etc.)

Now that you moved from PS2 to X360, there are a lot of series that'll not get into it.
You just have to "look outside the box"***, just like people did when they first played Grandia, Digimon Worlds, etc.








***: Lol, just created it, I hope you like ... lame

I do not believe this list. On gamefaqs i found much more jRPGs.
Year 1994
Year 1995
Year 1996
Year 1997
Year 1998

Of course some of these games aren't JRPGs, but for example you didn't listed Community Pom which is Zelda-like Action jRPG. And you didn't listed many others. And please Lalakoboldslayer, don't treat my post like offense. I'm just big PSX fan =).