My Top Three RPG Picks.

1. Final Fantasy VII

Square

Publish by Playstation, Square(JP), SCE America(NA), Sce Eurupe(PAL),and Square(INT).

Windows, Eidos Interactive.

This is probally my favorite and greatest RGP(jRPG) of all time. I was 17 or 18 when this came out and can clearly remember almost every bit about the game. From the leaving of Midgar to the death of Aeris I wanted to keep playing and get to that next part in the storyline. There was always something going on. The story is probally one of the greatest all time storylines ever told in a video game.

The materia system was one of the best ways in any game for magic. It was a unique and you were always looking for the next big one. You slotted them into your weapons which had materia slots for you to use. You were always trying to transform current materia into better versions, as it leveled up.

The graphics are a bit outdated now but I believe there is a mod for the PC version that smoothes things out and makes it a little better. This should be a must have in any video game library.

2. Shining Force

Climax Entertainment

Sonic! Software Planning

Amusement Vision

Publish by Sega

This is probally the first rpg type game I have played. I was instantly hooked and probally put most of my days as a youth into this game. The vastness of this on a tiny cartridge is hard to imagine. Story is about a young squire who is instantly thrown into a long cycling story to defeat Darksol, stop him from resurecting Dark Dragon, and save the land of Guardania.

Shining Force was a Tactic Rpg that allowed your characters to move on a grid battlefield while fighting the armies of Darksol. You travel across the land to the eventual end of stopping Darksol. There is a varied number of characters you can ally yourself with across the lands of Guardania. They represent nothing to the storyline but do contain classes that you level up you fight your way through the land. At level ten you can advance your class to a prestige class of sorts up to games max level of twenty.

This is a hard game up until it was released on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It was also release on Wiiware in Japan and later in the US.

3. Mass Effect

Released in 2007

Bioware Edmonton (Xbox 360)

Demiurge (Windows)

Published by Microsoft Game Studios

Introduced by Bioware in 2007 with high expectations. It not only exceeded expectations but has been talked about since release and will be continued as one of the all time great western rpgs.

You start as the roll of Commander John Sheppard (main character) and quickly fall into a plot to help mankind start its role in a new galaxy. Humans considered the newcomers into the galaxy after finding Protheian technology on Mars move their technology to advanced levels and with the help of Mass Relays they can travel the galaxy.

Commander Sheppard than takes his story into the turning of Saren, a Turian Spectre who betrays the council and attacks Eden Prime, a human colony for lost Protheian Conduit. The story than spirals into a world of awesome.

The actual gameplay is a bit tedious but with all Bioware games the true greatness at least for me comes from the dialogue that takes place between NPCs and your crew. This is a brief look at a massive game and would recomend this for anyone to pick up and try before the next installment of Mass Effect comes out sometime next year.