Fanboys Anonymous

I don't mind aging myself here a bit, because this is a topic of deep love. The role playing games (RPGs) of the mid '90s and those in particular that enjoyed success on the first PlayStation (PS1) platform were some of the best games ever made. Final Fantasy VII (FF7) made the PS1 what it was to become, the breakout gaming platform of the century. Everything changed after that game came out. It had innovative graphics requiring a ridiculous three discs of space because the amount of information was so huge, and it was a giant story that could take an average player up to 100 hours to finish. Even if you rushed through it, you couldn't expect to get done before at least 50 hours went by, it was that deep. It's such a great journey, however, that it is worth the effort, no matter how long it takes.

FF7 was a massive hit critically and financially. That was the RPG to own for PS1 owners and probably pushed more units of the console than anything else except maybe Resident Evil. Where to start with this gloriously addictive, sprawling, massively epic game? There were tons of great characters, a level of interactivity, and such gameplay mechanics that it's hard to really narrow it down to what made it so great. I think it was the combination of storytelling, deeply drawn characters, and the large scale that made it so incredible. FF7 had Cloud Strife leading a small band of freedom fighters against the powers that be, and it really felt like you were there with him all along. FF7 was a watershed moment and the greatest video game RPG of all time.

Another that comes to mind is Breath of Fire 3 (BoF3), where you take the role of a tiny dragon boy named Ryu and fulfill your destiny as hero of the world. What I loved about this game was the immaturity of the characters (they are all kids, basically) and the ability to customize both your characters through mentors and the different dragon gems you could find, giving you a plethora of different dragons to fight with in battles. This was a really fun game that allowed players to explore the world and had tons of fun side quests/games as well; I particularly loved the fishing game. BoF3 was well rounded, had a great story with some neat twists, and and had strong replay value as well.

One that I recently dusted off and started playing again is Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete. It's actually an updated version of an older Sega CD game. The graphics are dated, for sure, especially during the battle scenes, but it's got a great story, a fully fleshed out world to explore, and some of the greatest anime cut scenes ever produced for video games. It's worth it for this reason alone. The main quest, where you play Alex, the soon-to-be Dragon Master, is pretty much fantasy cliché, but it works well enough. The fun is in the journey.

Lunar has some great voice acting as well to go along with the cool cut scenes and some nice music. Admittedly, the music is a bit quirky and silly at times, but that's anime, isn't it? It's all so much fun you don't mind it. Some of the innovations with this game included the ability to run past enemy critters instead of getting slammed randomly while crawling through a dungeon. Remember that? You're just scrolling along through a evil forest or something and bang! You get hit by the bad guys. It's not so bad when you are leveling up, but when you have to get across the room to the next section, it's annoying. Lunar also had a sequel called Lunar: Eternal Blue that took place 1,000 years after the events of the first game. If you liked the first, you'll like this one.

So what are some of your favorites of this game type from this era? What do you consider an all time best RPG? Sound off below.