A KICK ASS STAT SYSTEM!!!! Right Keith? :p

Seriously, the RPGs that stand apart for me are the ones where things are done differently. I liked Breath of Fire 3 becuase of the way you learned skills, I liked Suikoden because you had a fortress that was built and changed. Also, I wanna play as a bad ass if I''m gonna be fighting a lot (most RPGs), so characters like the male hero in Legend of Mana (don''t get me wrong, looks like a great game) and Claude in Star Ocean 2 bother me.

-------------------------------------------
"What's the story with your face, son?!?"

Personally, I think the perfect example would be FF3; They put so much stuff in only 3Mb: a large amount of characters which all have their own personality and background, an awesome artwork and soundtrack, a captivating and non-linear storyline, many places to explore, a well-balanced experience/level/magic/skills/battle system, and in the overall, so many things to do that you could spend your whole life playing that game over and over

Also, FF3 does a great job of showing characters feelings. I mean, that''s only ugly 24x16 sprites in 16 colors, but it kicks FF8''s hi-color, 3D-rendered, motion-captured sprites anytime. FF3 sprites looked so alive, while FF7 and FF8 sprites are like puppets; they have no facial expressions, and their gestures aren''t really convincing to me. I think that is what makes the difference, along with character development and background.

i think that the whole package that counts. well it be more easy to explain with a few exemples of rpg that i think that is BAD.

FF8
have: good grapics, caracters that only works a slots for juction, uninteresting story.
lacks: a reason to play , with exeption of see the graphics

Thousand arms: +- grapics, absurd caracter development. bad story( like it haved a story...)
lacks: a fighting engine. a story

soikoden 2: snes grapics, no caracter development ( with exception of the main trio). story??
lacks: a bit of everyting

now a realy good one

crono triger: -+ graphics, -+ caracters development, -+ story
lacks: nothing!!! is the best RPG of ever!! it don´t have the best of everithing, but is interesting and keep you want more( i already finish it 7 times )

see? is not only with rpgs but also with every type of game, the "whole" is that counts. there games here that have great graphics, or great music, or great gameplay, or even great story but it feels that something is missing



=========
Nothing is perfect.
I´m nothing.
So i´m perfect.

Gee, alchemist, you sum up soo much that I have been trying to say by your comparisons. I say that graphics are not required to make the game good, they need only be average and only allow for the required information to be given. The gameplay and the story hold the weight. You may not even need a story, just gameplay. As long as the gameplay is intriguing and you can create a story (this also counts as a strong story attribute) you should have a reliable game

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
-Chris Bennett of Dwarfsoft
"The Philosophers' Stone of Programming Alchemy"
IOL (The list formerly known as NPCAI) - A GDNet production
Our Doc - The future of RPGs
Thanks to all the goblins over in our little Game Design Corner niche

Im so happy you guys feel the same way I do about RPG''s...

Thanks for the info and im glad you all like the same type of RPG''s that I have enjoyed.

Im surprised I got so many responses!

Any way I think its cool to see so many people that understand the power of the RPG!
This will help me in my game I''m designing.
Later...

Keep conjuring the undead, my friends...