There are definitively games that are brought back again and again when it come to the best rpgs ever made:
Baldur gate 2
Kotor
The elder scroll III:Morrowind
The elder scroll IV:Oblivion
Planetscape:torment
Fallout
Earthbound
Dragonquest VIII
Suikoden 2 (yes,suikoden 2 was an awesome rpg which lasted 60 hours and it was a refinement of what the first one did and had one of the most merorable bad guy outside of Kefka
![Stick out tongue [:P]](/emoticons/emotion-4.gif)
)
Final fantasy VI
Final fantasy IX(a back to the basic FF where each class had their specific role and probably the most polished and balanced FF in the playstation era)
Chrono Trigger
Outside of these,you will get a lot of controversial choices which could or couldn't be worthy of being considered among the best rpgs ever made.
Mass effect is still fresh off the shelves,and could be included in this list or not,since it's flawed enough to not even be worthy of a game of the year award.It's japanese cousin is probably Vagrant story which also got great reviews,but it was also a game with a broken battle system(what a dumb design choice).
Chrono cross is viewed as one the most overrated rpg of all time,and it's one flawed game that I still find worthy of being among the best rpgs of all time but many will also hate it.
The numerous others Final and Dragonquest could be included or not,but they all have their flaws while FF VI was truly one step ahead of everything else when it was released.Dragonquest VIII is the classic DQ formula refined and polished to perfection,so I think it's the best overall DG among the franchise(let's be honest,most games in the franchise played the same and were all about insane grinding while DQ VIII added a big dose of charm and personnality thanks to character depth which was badly lacking up to DQ VIII).
I wanted to include Xenogear,but I have to admit that the game is flawed beyond belief.Especially the second disc where Monolith ran out of time and money,which nearly destroyed the game.
![Sad [:(]](/emoticons/emotion-6.gif)
I'm sorry,but a character standing on a chair for half an hour and recapping the story up to that point is unexcusable.
![Angry [:@]](/emoticons/emotion-12.gif)
Too bad,since the story was incredibly ambitious and they had all these great concept like the fighting system+gear battles which were poorly executed.
One thing is certain as far as I'm concerned,and that's the fact that Bethesda and Bioware will probably battle it out as far as the best rpg developer in the world right now(the japanese are still making solid rpgs,but they are at a point where it's mostly flash,style and virtually no substance outside of rare exception).
Bethesda is becoming bigger and bigger,and it's going to be interesting in seeing what they do with Fallout 3 and Elder scroll V.
