Editorial

RPG Masterpieces

July 3, 2000

Since RPGs are my favorite games, it is not surprising to me that, as the years go by, these are the games that I remember the most. These are also the games that, on my opinion, end up justifying the purchase of a console.

Let me explain. For example, Phantasy Star IV, Beyond Oasis, Light Crusader, Shining force II, and Landstalker justified the purchase of my Genesis. Phantasy Star IV, especially. I played Phantasy Star IV 11 times already.

While it's true that I overpaid for my Sega CD ($300 at that time was a lot of money), Lunar 1 and Lunar 2 justified its purchase. Other games like Sonic CD, Popful Mail, Vay, Snatcher, and Eternal Champions were the icing on the cake.

Also, Dragon Force and Panzer Dragoon Saga justified the purchase of my Saturn. Dark Savior, Albert Oddysey, and Shining the Holy Ark helped, too. Who said the Saturn was a failure? Also, the Japanese Saturn ended up with the best shooters I have ever seen in any system (my second favorite type of game). The only exceptions were Lords of Thunder and Silpheed for the Sega CD, which were also excellent.

Although I like my Dreamcast very much and I have several games for it that I enjoy immensely (SoulCalibur, Dead or Alive 2, Crazy Taxi, Space Channel 5, and House of the Dead 2), I consider them the icing on the cake too. Believe it or not, Berserk came close. While I consider this an action game, the plot gave me a similar feeling that what an RPG does.

I'm still waiting for a few RPGs that justify the purchase of my Dreamcast. I usually wait before until there are "enough" RPGs for it before I buy a console. I bought the Dreamcast a month after it was released because I considered it very reasonably priced, and because all my co-workers had one and were already playing SoulCalibur. While Evolution was not a bad game at all (as a matter of fact, it was actually fun), it doesn’t reach "masterpiece" status, like the other RPGs I mentioned earlier.

Some people say that the games for the Dreamcast will stop coming in 2001. Up to a point it depends on how well the Dreamcast does this Christmas (it will do well, I believe). However, if Shenmue, Skies of Arcadia, Grandia 2, and Phantasy Star Online come out before the Dreamcast dies and they are as good as people say they are, they will justify the purchase of my Dreamcast.

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