what is/was the worst console rpg? (no spoilers please)

[pragmatic insanester]

heh. i've kind of slacked off in the rpg catagory. just wanted to hear some public opinion. remember, i haven't played as many of these as i have wanted to or have should. don't ruin anything for me!

[Daria]

So what are you just looking for a list to avoid without much information why?

Bad RPGs:
Hydlide (nes)

Bad But Not As Bad As Hydlide:
Lagoon (snes)
Quest 64 (n64)
Eternal Eyes (PSX)
Fatal Labyrinth (Genesis)

Of course there are other bad titles out there. But I consider these six the cream of the crap.

[sisko]

Personally speaking, Okage: Shadow King for PS2.

This one of the few games I bought for the graphics (very Tim Burton-esque). Almost everything about the game seemed great. Great graphics, great music, unique story, decent overworld handling....

Unfortunately, the battle system COMPLETELY sucked, and completely destroyed the game. It's one of the few games I traded in.

[Crush Crawfish]

I'm sure I will get burned at the stake for this, but I still attest that Golden Sun for GBA is the worst RPG I've ever played.

It's got boring, lifeless characters, an uninteresting plot, an archaic battle system (who's the genius that decided my characters won't auto-target the next foe after defeating a previous one? The only other game that does this is the original Final fantasy, and for good reason! It makes random battles even more tedious!), all wrapped inside a shell of beautiful graphics and sound. Yes, I'll admit I never finished the game, but I did give it far more time than it deserved (10 hours, about 1/3 its length) hoping to find some glimmer of redemption in it. And when you play a game for 10 hours without enjoying it whatsoever, you know there's something wrong.

I know lots of people love this game, so feel free to counter my arguements. Perhaps the game does get miraculously improved towards the end. Either way, there are much better RPG's to be played in the meantime.

/end rant

[pragmatic insanester]

sisko did a good job of what i'm expecting. if the plot is a negative aspect, try to work around using direct wording for it. i.e "wow, talk about total cliche in the department of the characters".

[slip81]

I'll throw in another vote for Quest 64.

[sisko]

I'm sure I will get burned at the stake for this, but I still attest that Golden Sun for GBA is the worst RPG I've ever played.

It's got boring, lifeless characters, an uninteresting plot, an archaic battle system (who's the genius that decided my characters won't auto-target the next foe after defeating a previous one? The only other game that does this is the original Final fantasy, and for good reason! It makes random battles even more tedious!), all wrapped inside a shell of beautiful graphics and sound. Yes, I'll admit I never finished the game, but I did give it far more time than it deserved (10 hours, about 1/3 its length) hoping to find some glimmer of redemption in it. And when you play a game for 10 hours without enjoying it whatsoever, you know there's something wrong.

I know lots of people love this game, so feel free to counter my arguements. Perhaps the game does get miraculously improved towards the end. Either way, there are much better RPG's to be played in the meantime.

/end rant

Hmmmm.... you've never even finished the first game? You need to play both of them to get the entire story, which gets better as the games progress. *stamps argument null and void*

No auto-targetting? It forces you to strategize. Do you make certain the monster is dead, or do you risk it and try to kill another on the same turn? Just because its not a dummy driven FF battle system doesn't mean it sucks :)

Archaic? I thought the Djinni system was awesome, and something I had never seen done in any game before. Though you would need to play past the first 1/3 of the first game to see the full potential.

*lights match* :D

[Daria]

Oh alright, although I personally liked Okage. But anyway...

Hydlide, lets see... the best word to describe this title is "unplayable". Yup, the game provides absolutely no direction, it dumps you off in the middle of a field with a dungeon entrance and no apparent destination, goal, or means of exiting that dungeon. Course now we have gamefaqs but as a child I was completely ticked off I wasted money on that piece of shit cartridge. And it wasn't like I hadn't already been accustom to RPGs like Ultima, Dragon Warrior and their ilk.

And now it's time for work. :P

[Chainsaw_Charlie]

I'd say Drakkhen for the Snes. I really couldnt get into it despite the quality it had too much of a pc feel

[DDCecil]

I'll protect you Hydlide and Drakkhen, my 2 very misunderstood babies that only I like :D

Anywho...

I'd have to say the SNES version of Eye of the Beholder. Ugh.

[Avatard]

I actually kinda liked Lagoon.

However, my vote goes to Illusions of Gaia for worst RPG, I hated that game so much.

[Gapporin]

I'd say Adventure for the Atari 2600.

(Yes, yes, I'm kidding. Don't look at me like that!)

And, am I the only one who liked Quest 64? It's no Final Fantasy VI by a long stretch, but I personally enjoyed it.

[Chainsaw_Charlie]

I actually kinda liked Lagoon.

However, my vote goes to Illusions of Gaia for worst RPG, I hated that game so much.

I'll step in and defend Illusion of Gaia

Without giving away the plot it's among my favorite snes games and the gameplay and plot are top notch

[Tatsu]

I actually kinda liked Lagoon.

However, my vote goes to Illusions of Gaia for worst RPG, I hated that game so much.

I also vote for Illusions Of Gaia (or Illusions Of Time as the European title was). I finished it but I didn't like it much. Sometimes you just had to way to let the time pass until something happened, not exactly what I want to see in a game. I mean it's not like wating for the night or waiting to get older but just waiting. Or maybe I didn't really understand the game. Anway, I don't like it!

[Crush Crawfish]

I actually kinda liked Lagoon.

However, my vote goes to Illusions of Gaia for worst RPG, I hated that game so much.

I'll step in and defend Illusion of Gaia

Without giving away the plot it's among my favorite snes games and the gameplay and plot are top notch

I second the defense of Illusion of Gaia. It's a fantastic game, though I must admit I still don't have much of an idea of what was going on in the story. It wasn't translated all that well. :/ But where else do you get to beat the hell out of enemies with a flute?

[rbudrick]

Bad RPGs:
Hydlide (nes)

Bad But Not As Bad As Hydlide:
Lagoon (snes)
Quest 64 (n64)
Eternal Eyes (PSX)
Fatal Labyrinth (Genesis)

Yeah, Fatal Labyrinth was pretty bad, but I never really considered it areal RPG anyway. Hydlide is a very addicting game once you go up a few levels. It is very much in the same vein as Dragon Slayer, and even the first 2 Ys games a bit. Like Deadly Towers, it is just VERY misunderstood. Most people that hate the game have not gotten anywhere in it...one you get the hang of the game, it's pretty enjoyable.

Lagoon can hardly be considered the worst. I had a great time with it, granted I beat it in one night. It wasn't a BAD game, just short.

As for Illusion of Gaia...that's another game I beat in a night or two, but I thought it was an excellent game. I've never met a single person who disliked this game, so I find this rather surprising.

You wanna know the WORST rpg? The original Ultima for NES. Absolutely horrible. Great ending though!! LOL

-Rob

[unbroken]

another vote here for quest 64

[Ed Oscuro]

Well, if weak SNES graphics get you down, there's always the x68000 Lagoon (but then there's the language issue...)

[pragmatic insanester]

i was disapointed in the ps2 wizardry game. i only played about 90 mins into it, but having been a fanatic of Bane of the Cosmic Forge and Crusaders of the Dark Savant for the pc...it didn't fufill me.

[Cryomancer]

I couldn't figure out what the hell I was doing in Unlimited SaGa.

[machine.slave]

I'll probably get flamed for this as well, but I was never particularly fond of the Final Fantasy series of games.. they're OK, but way over-hyped, IMO. Don't give into the hype! Final Fantasy 7 was probably the best, but I liked Legend of Dragoon better.

Then again, I'm a die-hard Shining Force fan, but I've got to say that Shining in the Darkness (the first in the series) was really repetetive and without much of a story line. Also, the fact that you have to keep starting from the beginning of the dungeon (it's a dungeon crawler, like Ultima Underworld) everytime you leave it! Annoying.. also, there's a total lack of items / weapons / armour to choose from, and no back stories to the characters.

[8-Bit Master]

And, am I the only one who liked Quest 64? It's no Final Fantasy VI by a long stretch, but I personally enjoyed it.

Nope, I enjoyed it too. The story gets a little silly near the end but it was a pretty good game IMO.

I don't really like the old dungeon crawler RPG's, such as Wizardry for example. I just never can get into those types of games. I don't like most of the games in the Ultima series either. Those games just seem so slow paced to me. -_-

[SlayerOfFurbies]

I don't think i've played a completely bad rpg. I had bad experiences in some though.

Phantasy star: Great game but did they really need a random battle every 2 steps.... can you say death by Gel!

Final Fantasy 7: I spend a great deal of time leveling up aerith, becasue she was my best healer... then she dies (Great game though, this twist probably set me back 5-6 hours to get some one else nearly close to her

i'll add more as i can think of them

[Trevor Belmont]

Wow, I'm very surprised no one mentioned this game ... Beyond the Beyond.

I remember anticipating this game as a teenager before it came out. It was one of the first RPGs to come to the PSX, so for me, the anticipation level was very high. Then I played the game. The graphics were not so good, looking very archaic at times, and the story itself ... let's just say that something happens to a particular character that effectively ran the game straight into the ground for me. This certain occurrence was so frustrating that it still bothers me to this day when I think about it.

Just a frustrating game in all aspects, IMO.

[Raccoon Lad]

3 RPG type games I hated:

Legacy of the Wizard
Hydlide
Zelda 2

[Lemmy Kilmister]

Bad RPGs:
Hydlide (nes)


Hydlide may be bad, but Vitrtual Hydlide for saturn is even worse. That game made me want to rip my eyes out with a rusted spork the whole time I could actually mustard the strength to play it. Stay very, very far away from that game at all cost. It is truly grotesque.

[s1lence]

I'll second Unlimited Saga, terrilbe game. I couldnt tell where what and when I was supposed to be doing things.

[rbudrick]

Racoon Lad, Legacy of the Wizard took me years to figure out what in the fucking hell I was supposed to do....eternity. I kept coming back to it for the music. Once I took the pet and found one crown, I nearly shit myself....I was, after many years finally getting the hang of the game. I kicked myself after that...the game rocks the house once you know where to go and what to do....definitely a great Falcom game, that starts off....impossible (seemingly).

Once I knew what to do, I beat it in two days.

-Rob

[CreamSoda]

Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest

Yes I know I'm gonna get flamed for this, and I know it's made to be a "Beginners" RPG. But even when it was one of the first RPG's I played I hated it! LOL

Lame story, Boring characters, Forgettable music, Very simple dungeon design. Give me Final Fantasy 1 over this anyday!

Final Fantasy X

Once again I'm gonna get a beating...

But really all this game was is a giant cutscene, 10 minutes of play for every 30 minutes of boring cinema scenes!!!

I'm sorry I know everyone on the planet loved this game, but I personally felt I was cheated of my $50 when it first came out.

[digdug]

I KNOW i am the only person on this board that literally thinks ALL zelda games suck. Don't ask me why, they don't hold my intersest whatsoever.

I will have to say another terrilbe RPG game was the Jade Cocoon series.

Dig Dug

[Aussie2B]

Hmmmm.... you've never even finished the first game? You need to play both of them to get the entire story, which gets better as the games progress. *stamps argument null and void*

It's kinda ridiculous to suggest that someone not only COMPLETELY play through one RPG they're clearly not enjoying, but TWO, based on the promise that somehow he'll magically enjoy the experience when done, forgetting all the hours he was bored/annoyed with it. I mean, come on. o_O I've barely played Golden Sun, so I can't comment on it one way or the other (besides that I dig the Sakuraba music), but the reasons for his own personal dislike of it seem strong and valid to me. Maybe I'll enjoy the game, and clearly you do, but I don't think he ever will.

Anyway, I'm gonna get burned at the stake for my choice too, but out of all the RPGs I've played, I've honestly found Phantasy Star 2 the most unpleasant. Yep, even Quest 64 was more enjoyable for me. o_O It's not because it's so old-school either; I can easily play RPGs older than it, even for the first time without nostalgia. Phantasy Star 2 is just... bad. x_x I'd go in-depth, but after writing a long review on it a few years ago, I really don't care to even think about the game anymore. O_o If anyone cares that much to see me back up my opinions, you can just go read the review on my site. :P

Oh, and you can count me as another Drakkhen and Hydlide lover. :) Definitely unusual, hard to get into games, but rewarding in time. I'm looking forward to watching my brother-in-law play through Virtual Hydlide this Sunday. It's become a Greek Easter tradition for us. o_O

[machine.slave]

Final Fantasy 7: I spend a great deal of time leveling up aerith, becasue she was my best healer... then she dies (Great game though, this twist probably set me back 5-6 hours to get some one else nearly close to her


I'd have to say that's a bit of a spoiler... :/

[Aussie2B]

Forgettable music

O_O You can say anything else about Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, but "forgettable music"? o_o Did you ever get to the end of the game? The final boss music ROCKS, and the final dungeon music kicks ass as well. There are so many other awesome tracks in that game too. Heck, even the normal battle music is so cool.

I prefer the Mystic Quest soundtrack over most of the soundtracks of the normal numbered Final Fantasy games.

[syd]

I'll vote for Lagoon on this one. That game was so bad that I returned it after I rented it and got, yes, Illusion of Gaia.

I can't believe there are people bad mouthing this great game! Illusion of Gaia is one of my favourite RPG's. Sure it was short, but the storyline was good and the gameplay was awesome!

I'm probably the only person who thinks this, but I liked Zelda 2 WAY more than the first Zelda. Probably because I didn't have a clue what to do in the first Zelda... :/

[davec]

Super Hydlide for the Genny was a travesty, not to mention that I paid fifty clams for it way back when. Teeny, tiny indistinguishable graphics and horrid clink clank sound.

[Deranged Crow]

Well I know for sure Ill be burned at the stake and all the other cruel stuff you guys can come up with. but my vote is almost all the Final Fantasy games expect tactics and FF9 .

[Lone_Monster]

A lot of these games mentioned... I actually like them. But anyway, my vote for worst console game, which I can't believe no one else mentioned, is definitely Time Stalkers for the Dreamcast. This game could be SO good. Especially for a person who is very into games like this, dungeon crawlers that also let your capture monsters (Azure Dreams is one of my favorite games).

But they just did a terrible job. Ugh, not even worth the 7 bucks I paid for it a long time ago.

[pragmatic insanester]

has anyone ever played squaresoft's "tom sawyer" for the famicom? heh. i bought it on ebay way back when, though i haven't found a convertor for my nes yet. aside from the laugh out loud depictions of a black character, it was supposed to suck.

[Gapporin]

I'd have to say that's a bit of a spoiler...

I don't think that could be considered a spoiler nowadays. :P


But anyway, my vote for worst console game, which I can't believe no one else mentioned, is definitely Time Stalkers for the Dreamcast.

I enjoyed that game, too... :/

[kainemaxwell]

Quest 64 and Ultima for the NES both sucked. Especially the fact I had no idea what to do in Ultima!!

[Fuyukaze]

I would say Beyond the Beyond for the PS was the worst game I have ever played. The graphics were horible, the story was predictable, and the battle system was lame. Every single aspect of the game had been done over and over before in games that came before it on older systems. Big difference was they did it better and they did it on older systems. Instead of this lemon, they should have released Arc the Lad.

I would add the .hack series to the list. While it was an ok series at the begining, by the time I reached the final volume of it, I wanted no more to do with it. It just kept draging on and on always adding new charcters but never realy expanding the storyline enough. By the time I finished it, I was happy I had bought them all for 20$ a peice, but had wished I had bought something else instead. The bonus DVDs were nice, but that is about as nice as I can say.

[slownerveaction]

I can't believe no one here has mentioned Paladin's Quest. To those who might not know about it: the graphics are horrendously ugly (they use almost all pastels), the story is generic, and the battle system is absolutely no fun. Enix left two Dragon Quests (more if you count the remakes) in Japan in favor of this?

And you Illusion of Gaia haters suck. :) It's at least decent (not as good as Soul Blazer though).

[AB Positive]

Wow, I'm very surprised no one mentioned this game ... Beyond the Beyond.

I remember anticipating this game as a teenager before it came out. It was one of the first RPGs to come to the PSX, so for me, the anticipation level was very high. Then I played the game. The graphics were not so good, looking very archaic at times, and the story itself ... let's just say that something happens to a particular character that effectively ran the game straight into the ground for me. This certain occurrence was so frustrating that it still bothers me to this day when I think about it.

Just a frustrating game in all aspects, IMO.

we have a winner. Dear GOD I hated this game, it's like taking the Super Mario RPG battle system and making it 5x as difficult and unwieldly. Argh. Such a sad sad game.

-AG

[Melf]

Super Hydlide for the Genny was a travesty, not to mention that I paid fifty clams for it way back when. Teeny, tiny indistinguishable graphics and horrid clink clank sound.

No way! I loved Super Hydlide. The weight and rest systems added some realism to the adventure, and the soundtrack was godly. It also boasts one of the more unique final boss battles in gaming.


My vote goes to Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday. To say this game sucked is an understatement and a disservice to humanity. Any RPG that had no manner of letting you revive dead party members deserves a nail through the cartridge. I had a character killed at the beginning and had to drag his corpse all the way to the final boss battle. :angry:

[Daria]

Super Hydlide for the Genny was a travesty, not to mention that I paid fifty clams for it way back when. Teeny, tiny indistinguishable graphics and horrid clink clank sound.

But it has such nice cover art! XD

[jdc]

Granstream Saga for the PSX was bad enough for me to bail on....so was Star Ocean for the PSX. The most impossible RPG to even PLAY has got to be Ephemeral Fantasia for the PS2. I've handed that one around to a whole circle of seasoned hardcore RPGers.....and every one of us gave up. No one could play it. It's WAY too tough.

[Lone_Monster]

I can't believe no one here has mentioned Paladin's Quest. To those who might not know about it: the graphics are horrendously ugly (they use almost all pastels), the story is generic, and the battle system is absolutely no fun. Enix left two Dragon Quests (more if you count the remakes) in Japan in favor of this?

And you Illusion of Gaia haters suck. :) It's at least decent (not as good as Soul Blazer though).

Ah yes, I forgot about this piece of crap.

This game is terrible. The game was so slow it was just unplayable for me.

[FlufflePuff]

I wish I could come up with different titles than most already have, but I can't.

Hydlide
Virtual Hydlide
Drakkhen
Wizardry (NES)
Eternal Ring (early PS2 RPG that could have been much better, but got mired in bad graphics and crappy story)
Evergrace (see above)

Wild Arms 2 also sucked, but it's not in the same category as any of the above RPGs.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

Wild Arms 2 also sucked, but it's not in the same category as any of the above RPGs.

Agreed, but mostly because of the crappy map and sonar system. What the hell was Sony thinking making you have to use a stupid little sonar to find every town in the game?

[LAGO]

Eternal Ring (early PS2 RPG that could have been much better, but got mired in bad graphics and crappy story)
Evergrace (see above)



boy did they ever. I remember buying Eternal ring when my cousin came up to visit for some all night rpg goodness. This is the only game I can think of that actually put me to sleep.

[Aussie2B]

If it makes anyone a little more forgiving of Super Hydlide (at least as far as graphics go), it's actually a port/remake of Hydlide 3 for Famicom. Sadly, they didn't improve how it looked much for Genesis.

[felix]

I know im going to get hell for this but I HATED dot hack.
Quest 64 is a close second.. I dont know how nintendo had such GREAT rpg's on the SNES and then totally flopped almost every rpg for the n64.. I always have wondered what FF7 would be like on the N64.. hmmmmmmm...

[Aussie2B]

Less bloated with FMV? ;)

[Tatsu]

Or on 37 cartridges and as expensive as a small car... :D

[Tron 2.0]

Wow, I'm very surprised no one mentioned this game ... Beyond the Beyond.

I remember anticipating this game as a teenager before it came out. It was one of the first RPGs to come to the PSX, so for me, the anticipation level was very high. Then I played the game. The graphics were not so good, looking very archaic at times, and the story itself ... let's just say that something happens to a particular character that effectively ran the game straight into the ground for me. This certain occurrence was so frustrating that it still bothers me to this day when I think about it.

Just a frustrating game in all aspects, IMO.
Nuff said i can't beleave i took time to finsh that..... peace of crap to begin with x_x

[rbudrick]

has anyone ever played squaresoft's "tom sawyer" for the famicom? heh. i bought it on ebay way back when, though i haven't found a convertor for my nes yet. aside from the laugh out loud depictions of a black character, it was supposed to suck.

Is this different from Seta's NES release of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer? I know, that's an action game...but a Tom Sawyer RPG?

Odd...this ever been translated?

-Rob

[Lemmy Kilmister]

has anyone ever played squaresoft's "tom sawyer" for the famicom?

No, but I have unfortunately played Young Merlin for the SNES.

[WanganRunner]

The first Saga Frontier game was garbage...

I own Eternal Eyes, got it for like $.30 at TRU, still haven't opened it yet, guess I wont' after reading this.

I didn't much care for Golden Sun either, I put maybe 10 hours into it and got very bored.

I also really really hate Earthbound...


















Just Kidding.

[pragmatic insanester]

http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=26

squaresoft's tom sawyer game.
its the second famicom game i own. that and hokuto no ken (which is also blasted on somethingawful, although the rom's immortality glitch is not present on the cartridge).

i think the racism presented in that game might have something to do with the actual story, since i've seen the game's poster and there's at least one other black character without the exaggerated blackface features.

[Damaramu]

Yeah, I gotta agree with Saga Frontier being pretty bad. Beyond the Beyond also made my eyes bleed.

[Vroomfunkel]

I simply CANNOT let pass anyone trying to suggest that Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday is a bad game. It rocks!!!

So you can't bring your dead character back to life? Well Boo-Hoo! Welcome to one RPG that actually attempts something approaching realism! Yeah, you do have to be careful here - cause if someone dies, they are .. well ... dead. Really dead.

There were some truly amazing side missions in the game, and the whole business of cruising around in your ship, attacking another ship, taking out it's engines and then boarding it and taking down the crew level by level until you took the bridge ... fantastic!

That abandoned spaceship section was truly creepy too. Mmm, just an all round kick ass game.

I will second Ephemeral Fantasia for a diabolical experience. It's about 30 minutes at least before you actually get to play anything, and the entire intro is so stomach churningly bad it is almost unbelievable. Then, when the game starts, it is unwieldy and poor. Oh, and at least half the characters are so irritating it would be impossible to play the game any longer than 10 minutes without smashing heavy objects over your head in sheer frustration.

Vroomfunkel

[Melf]

I'm sorry, but Buck Rogers just sucked. Try remembering that realism when you lose a character or two halfway through the game. Having to constantly reload your save just to be able to play the darn thing is simply not fun.

I liked the space travel and ship boarding. Heck, I played all the way through to the final boss. It was just such a horrendous oversight to not let you revive anyone (I don't think the developers planned it that way. If they did, they should be kicked in the head). It pretty much killed the game.