I got this for Christmas shortly after it came out, but didn’t play it for two months as I also received Link to the Past. I think that easily qualifies as the most bang for buck Christmas ever as a child. Other than Tecmo Super Bowl, I have never spent more time playing a video game. While this no doubt influenced the ranking, I can’t help but feel nothing but love for this game despite all of its obvious problems.
I heard how awesome this game was for five years before I finally put some serious cash down for it on eBay. It blew away all expectation I had. While the characters are only about average as far as RPGs go, it has my favorite battle system and an incredible plot that spans multiple timelines with significant choices the player can make to alter events.
The last RPG I played, I consumed it during a one-month period in 2011 when I was unemployed. I rejoined the workforce completely satisfied. Getting away from the futuristic, steampunk atmospheres from the previous two games, Square returned to its roots with classic characters and a classic battle system that is the most user-friendly since Final Fantasy IV.
Developer: Square Publisher: Square Year: 1991 Platform: Game Boy
It’s hard to say a game with a Final Fantasy name is unheralded, but in 1991, there had only been two games released in North America with the name. Those two were the original game for the NES, and the dreadfully dull, long, and difficult first game in the Legend series. Square had yet to release Final Fantasy II in America (also, not much of a loss). So the name in 1991 wasn’t an automatic gold mine. It wasn’t until IV and VI came out that RPGs became a huge thing in America, and then of course with VII things really exploded.
Despite hating the first game in the series, I loved RPGs and asked for this game anyway. And I’m very glad I did.
I got this game for Windows shortly after it came out, but my computer wasn’t strong enough to handle it. So I returned it and bough a bunch of You Don’t Know Jack games. Yeah.
Anyway, I eventually borrowed this game from a friend and the Playstation from my brother and fell completely in love with the game. I’m a sucker for anti-heroes, and Cloud was a perfect character to express my teen angst. I’ve fallen out of love with it a little bit over the years due to the poor graphics and the poor final chapter of the game. Continue reading 9. Final Fantasy VII→
I never finished Chrono Cross thanks due to a bug (either with the game or with my disc) that left me perpetually stuck in one area. I thought about not ranking this game, but from what I played, I know I would rank it at least this high. Perhaps if I finished it (which I won’t, I’m sure) it would rank higher. Regardless, it’s a nice follow-up to Chrono Trigger that excels in everything except that I never felt fully engaged with the story.
Developer: Square Publisher: Square Year: 1993 Platform: Game Boy
The third and final game in this series makes some significant improvements in game mechanics, making the game more user-friendly. It also has a time-travel plot, which should be golden. Unfortunately, a rather dull story weakens an otherwise solid game.
Billed as an RPG for beginners, Mystic Quest provides an experience so simple that my cat could win it if you gave her plenty of catnip and a turbo controller.
Developer: Square Publisher: Square Year: 1989 Platform: Game Boy
The first game in the SaGa series was the first ever handheld RPG and sold incredibly well, thanks in part to rebranding it as a Final Fantasy game stateside. However, there is really no reason other than nostalgia to play this game, partly due to its difficulty but mostly due to the general ennui the game elicits.
Death By Troggles 
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