RPG's. Which Era Do You Prefer?

[Oberfuhrer Hamm]

Were you at home playing an RPG on an Atari in the pre-crash era?
Or did you like em better during the 8 and 16 bit era?
Or are more modern RPG's more to your taste?
Or are you against RPG's in whatever form?

Post your thoughts here.

Edit: I decided to add a PC RPG option in the poll to see how many people prefer them over console RPG's.

[AB Positive]

My favorite RPG era does have to be the 8/16 bit time. Phantasy Star series, some of the best in the Final Fantasy series, tons of Square and Enix gems... beautiful.

However, pre-crash did contain all those glorious infocom games. Hard call but I give it to the 8/16 bit era.

-AG

[calthaer]

I prefer the RPGs that appear on a PC over the ones on a console any day of the week. They usually feature a good story. Once in a while you get a Final Fantasy VII, but even that doesn't stack up to Planescape: Torment.

Console RPGs could more accurately be classified as SIAGs - Stat & Inventory Accumulation Games.

[Arqueologia_Digital]

I prefer 8/16 bit classic RPG´s

[chevy_chase]

8 bit / 16 bit, CHRONO TRIGGERs my favorite

[Oberfuhrer Hamm]

Unfortunately, I missed out on 8 and 16 bit RPG's back in the day. The only way I have played them was in an emulator, and everyone knows that that is just not the same. One of these days I will have to hunt down those old games and play them on my SNES.

[Drexel923]

8-16 bit all the way

[InfernalCheese]

This is a hard choice for me between the 8/16 bit era and the PC gaming. But i'll have to vote for 8/16 bit ( Shining Force anyone? )

[Stamp Mcfury]

I would have to say that the 8/16 bit were the ones i liked the most

Almost all of my favorite Rpg's were made then (Lunar, Final Fantasy, Zelda, Shining Force, Phantasy Star, ect ect)

Of course I did start gaming in the 8 bit era, so it might be a bit of nostalgia

[hezeuschrist]

I prefer the RPGs that appear on a PC over the ones on a console any day of the week. They usually feature a good story. Once in a while you get a Final Fantasy VII, but even that doesn't stack up to Planescape: Torment.

Console RPGs could more accurately be classified as SIAGs - Stat & Inventory Accumulation Games.

Yeah, and PC RPG's aren't all about that

I play RPG's for the story and sometimes the strategy. First and foremost, story.

[kainemaxwell]

8/16 bit era for me. To me the rpgs weren't about which has the best graphics, best quality sound or how much voice work you could fit in it, it was about the story and the characters.

[JMO]

I used to really like console RPG's, but lately I can't stand them. I mean, yeah, there's Chrono Trigger... and I guess Final Fantasy VI... and Earthbound... I just can't get interested in talking about these games.

My major beefs about CRPG's in general are that for all intents and purposes, the only reason to keep playing them is for the story, or the character uberizing, if you really have nothing better to do. The question for me is: Why don't I read a great book (yes, there are books with really good storylines out there... perhaps... even better than those in CRPG's... I know, I know, it's hard to believe) or play a game that doesn't consume 40 hours of my life without leaving me with that warm satisfying feeling I get after playing and conquering a difficult game.

And why do people praise the Phantasy Star series? I've played about 3/4ths through every PS except PSIII, and they're terrible, hideously monotonous and uninteresting games. Yes, Phantasy Star was one of the first games with a heroine as the main character, and Phantasy Star II was the first game to have elements of classical tragedy in its storyline. But who cares? Phantasy Star I & II are still painfully uninteresting console roleplaying games that are about as much fun to play as watching paint dry.

You can talk all you want about advancing the console roleplaying genre, but in the end, modern console RPG's have the same uninteresting and boring gameplay as their predecessors, just with hours of cutscenes in-between the combat.

As for computer RPG's, there are actually some very good ones that a lot of people seem to ignore. The Ultima series seems to get ignored by console gamers in general, and I have to ask... why? While the first 3 were about as generic as CRPG's get, Ultima IV had something that even RPG's today don't have, which is an original driving concept. Instead of building your character to demi-god status in order to kill Foozle, your job is to advance your character morally and reputation-wise until he becomes an/the avatar. Very few games since have opted to give the player a different goal other than to kill some big monster after hours of combat, and yet Ultima IV proved it was possible 18 years ago.

Ultima VI had some of the most monumentally open-ended gameplay in any RPG, and while I'm glad to see that this type of gameplay has spread into other games (the most recent example being something like the Daggerfall series), it was still done unbelievably well the first time around (although for all intents and purposes Ultima VI is a buggy mess). Why don't more people demand actual role-playing gameplay like that found in Ultima VI? I'm fairly convinced that it's because they don't know any better. Many console rpgers haven't even heard of the Ultima series, and it's a shame, because Ultima inspired/created almost everything in CRPG's today.

And... this has been a really long post. I think I'll see the flames I recieve after such a bloated and negative post, and respond accordingly. Although I'll probably end up forgetting I even made this post in the frist place.

[WiseSalesman]

I voted 8/16 bit, but there were some really good ones in the modern era as well, with Final Fantasy Tactics, Vagrant Story, and Grandia II topping my charts for those.

8/16 bit? Good lord, there's a ton of great ones I've played.

Final Fantasy II/ Final Fantasy III
Chrono Trigger
Secret of Mana (or is it an adventure game? You decide.)
Super Mario RPG
Lufia/Lufia II
Robotrek
Illuision of Gaia
Soul Blazer
Tales of Phantasia (import)
Terranigma (import)

Hell, I'm sure there are more if I were to think about it a bit.

Problem is that, much like the above poster, while I used to classify RPGs as my favorite genre, I've recently been completely unable to play them. I got bored with just issuing commands to my characters and waiting for them to perform. I want to actually CONTROL what they're doing. I might be able to play a game like Secret of Mana or even Vagrant Story now, but not a traditional rpg. I'm hoping that the upcoming FFXI and Tales of Symphonia will be able to bring me back to my favorite type of game once more.

[Neonsolid]

Gone.

[Neonsolid]

Gone.

[EnemyZero]

I think the 32 bit era, on playstation was the most abundant generation. Def. had alot of amazing RPG's....next would be 16 bit days then 8...and modern gen in dead last

[suppafly]

I chose 8 and 16 bit era. Because RPGS now feature only gay male characters and girls who look like "Charlies angels"... SCREW SQUARE

[Raedon]

It would be 8-16 bit computer RPG's..

Pool of Radaence, Bard's Tale etc.

[slip81]

8 and 16 bit had the best RPG's, and most of em' were on the SNES and PC. Though Sega had a few good ones as well.

[Half Cab Leroy]

8 and 16 bit for sure. So many of my all time favorites are from then.