Ten Fantastic RPGs You’ve Forgotten

In the mid ‘90s, after only a small amount of Japanese role-playing games hitting systems like the Sega Genesis, Nintendo and Super Nintendo, the American gaming populace began to love the art of the genre. Soon enough, when the Japanese gaming companies realized Americans finally got it, they sent floods of these types of games to America. Soon enough, obese, pimply-faced teens were spending hours of their time leveling up characters in games they never thought existed.

A decade later however, the younger, more fickle demographic has yet to be swayed by the RPG, preferring the first-person-shooter more than anything else.

Regardless, they were so many RPGs released in the mid-‘90s and some even as recent as a few years ago, that it was too easy to for forget many of them. Here are a few you might have missed that deserve your time.

Alundra: With a fantastic story, “Alundra” is definitely recommended for the “Legend of Zelda” fanatic that wants to go somewhere else for a while.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3: Even though it was re-released on the PSP a few months ago, “Persona 3” is an old-school RPG with new-age graphics and a quirky story that could have never been pulled off 15 years ago when RPGs were sweeping the country.

Dark Cloud 2: Another game for the Zelda fan, this game is hybrid adventure/RPG that captivates with brilliant cel-shaded graphics and a story that will induce tears.

Baldur’s Gate Dark Alliance: the definitive hack and slash RPG, this game, with an intuitive level up system and expansive story, has influenced countless other titles. While some of them are fantastic in their own right, none measure up to the original.

Parasite Eve: Squaresoft’s adventure/RPG has an awesome soundtrack and a wild story that even Persona could have problems keeping up with. Any questions?

Beyond the Beyond: This game’s biggest problem was it was released at a time when the Sony Playstation didn’t have a great track record with RPGs. With a cute story and a host of cool characters and difficult puzzles, it was a game worth playing.

Wild Arms: A game that was released shortly before Final Fantasy VII, the game was the talk of the system for a month and then faded away into oblivion. A host of lesser sequels made it that much easier to forget about. Nonetheless, the adventures of Rudy Roughknight here are classic.

Vagrant Story: Heralded at one time as one of the best games of all time, a decade or so after its release, no one talks about it anymore. With a battle system semi-borrowed from Parasite Eve and a cool story and plenty of interesting dialogue, “Vagrant Story” is a tale that holds up well today.

Lunar Legend: This game has been re-released on so many other systems for a reason, yet it’s never spoken about. Even during the days of the Sega CD, this game was the type to inspire awe. Setting the standard in graphical cinemas, music and storytelling, it’s another game that is a classic.

Threads of Fate: A fun adventure/RPG with two separate storylines, this was another Squaresoft title that suffered from a lack of promotion. In spite of that and its relative easy difficulty, it’s still a high-quality title.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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