1. Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen
Dragon Quest as a series is what drove me to RPGs in the heady days before school, before even knowing to read. The original Dragon Warrior release on NES drove me to learn to read. And it was my continued history with the series that caused me to branch out and discover an entire genre of similar games. But it was Dragon Quest IV that really made the series my own. It gifted me with a love for anthology stories. A love of tragic antagonists. A love of ensemble casts. Even a love of characters who look like a caster but are actually the physical powerhouse of the whole dang party because Alena is the best. Dragon Quest IV is one of my favorite games of all time, because it taught me that RPGs are home.
2. Shadow Hearts: Covenant
Shadow Hearts: Covenant ticks a lot of boxes for me. It’s one of few games to meld humor and horror in an RPG box. It’s got incredibly unique character designs. It’s got a unique battle system where positioning matters, but isn’t a big deal to manage. Really though, this game is on my list for one reason, and one reason alone: it was the first time a game made me cry. And I’m not just talking big emotions; I’m talking straight-up ugly crying, getting my shirt wet, hoping nobody comes home because I don’t know how to explain this crying. I won’t spoil the moments that did me in, but suffice it to say, it’s a high I’m always chasing, and often finding.
3. .hack//GU
I love framed narratives, but sometimes, the frame isn’t a narrator. Sometimes, it’s framed in an entire experience. It’s sold on your desktop, in forums, and in learning about the real lives of fictional characters. The first .hack series played many of these same tunes, but the .hack//GU trilogy really immersed you. You could learn about players and then find them in game. You could download fanart to use as desktop backgrounds. Websites, message boards, and news videos feed into the feeling of a bigger world. And if you wanted to go deeper, the surrounding media properties told even more about the world and the personalities living therein. It’s a type of storytelling that always excites me, rare though it may be.
4. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
You might read this list and see a lot of Japanese games. And in all honesty, if it weren’t for Knights of the Old Republic, those might have been all I ever played. See, KotOR had a lot of things going for it for a console gamer like me. It felt like it belonged on a controller. It featured my then-all-time-favorite franchise. The characters were rich and worth knowing, and the combat felt simple but not overly easy. BioWare earned my love almost immediately, and with time, other Western developers got their shots, especially when they started learning lessons from BioWare. Some of my favorite games of all time were made outside of Japan, but KotOR is absolutely what opened that door for me.
5. Tales of Eternia
The Tales series is jam-packed with nostalgia for me. It’s not because the games were the best RPGs (I don’t think they are, even if I love ’em), nor was it because their characters resonated with me (although this one holds true). It was because it had one glorious function that has become a staple of my life ever since: multiplayer. Ever since pulling an all-nighter with a friend to finish Tales of Eternia, the series has been the one RPG I could always share with friends. The Tales series has let go of its multiplayer past, but my love of experiencing a story-rich game with friends has persisted. Other games have taken up the torch, and (non-massively) multiplayer RPGs remain a joy I share with friends (or my kids!) whenever I can.
Non-RPG 1: We ♥︎ Katamari
Much of the time I spend playing games is for some combination of story and characters, using them to experience stories in a way unique to gaming. Sometimes there’s a sense of progression that combines interesting growth opportunities with lovely art direction to make your character the focus of the game. But every once in a while, a game comes around that I play just for fun. And the Katamari series has a lot to do with the fact that I still love games for the pure joy of it. There is a lot to be said about the design of these games, but they all seem geared toward one goal: making the player happy. Whenever I decide to step outside the world of story-driven games, I think of Katamari first and foremost.
Non-RPG 2: Amplitude
Music has always been a high point of any game for me. A good soundtrack can take a game to heights beyond what its gameplay might imply. I’d always loved music in games, but Amplitude (alongside its predecessor, Frequency) taught me that sometimes, music was the point. In this case, not only did I find a lifelong love of rhythm games, but I found an instance where a soundtrack truly elevated a game beyond its first entry. These days, rhythm games and RPGs overlap pretty regularly, but it was Amplitude that kickstarted my love for musical video games.
