Seriously. There is no other game that even comes close to the excellence that Xenogears delivers. With its deeply immersive and philosophical story in addition to great gameplay, graphics & sound, no title is more worthy of being #1 on this list. The word “epic” is thrown around a lot today, but you don’t know what “epic” is until you’ve played Xenogears.
Xenogears was published by Squaresoft and released in 1998 for the original Sony PlayStation. Because the game made controversial statements involving religion, it almost didn’t get released in the US. It was originally planned to be the fifth chapter in a series of six games. Unfortunately, this never came to be, and although it can be argued that the Xenosaga series, which came much later on, ties into the story of Xenogears, those games never quite reached the heights that Xenogears did.
The game opens up with a spaceship drifting through space on an unknown mission. All seems to be going well when suddenly, all the systems on the ship start to go haywire. The security system turns against innocent people on the ship as the message “You shall be as gods” flashes across the computer screens. Unable to avoid the imminent disaster, the ship crash lands on a nearby planet. Having somehow survived, a mysterious lone female figure rises up from the burning wreckage, and our story begins.
In the wake of Final Fantasy VI‘s success, Squaresoft released yet another RPG epic for the Super Nintendo console that to this date is widely regarded among RPG fans as a golden classic. That game is Chrono Trigger. By taking common RPG elements and throwing in a unique battle system for the time along with a story centered around time travel, Squaresoft created a fan favorite that has stood the test of time and is talked about even to this day.
Secret of Mana, or Seiken Densetsu 2 as it is known in Japan, introduced to me many of the RPG concepts that I was very unfamiliar with at the time I played it. Being the very first RPG to enter my life, it’s safe to say that this game was my “gateway drug” into the world of video game RPGs. When the game came out, I decided to buy it because it looked like a Zelda game, a series I was (am still am) a huge fan of. However, I soon came to realize that, unlike Zelda games, Secret of Mana is more than just an adventure game – it’s an RPG. Using terminology I had never heard before such as HP, MP, and EXP, this game was one that took a while for me to really get into. However, to this date, it remains one of my favorite RPGs of all time.
