>>4076369
Baldur's Gate
Baldur's Gate 2
Fallout 1
Planescape Torment
Morrowind(You could switch it for Oblivion and be mostly okay)
Everquest or World of Warcraft
Diablo 1
Diablo 2
Path of Exile
Dragon Age: Origins
Fable
kotor
Ultima 1
M&M 1
M&M 8
Kingdom Come Deliverance
Gothic
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord
Deus Ex

This is a conservative list, and only the essentials, take it as a minimal requirement. Like you should probably play Fable 3, Skyrim and Fallout 2 as well, but to keep it as short as possible it should like this. Like I would find it weird if a supposed rpg fan haven't played Neverwinter, but it's not as historically significant or innovative as the rest.

I've been an RPG fan for decades, and I can say that I've played the majority of these >>4076475
and some of these >>4076369
Take that for what it's worth, I guess.

>>4076369
no, what a ridiculous notion lol. just play whatever you think is interesting

>>4076369
CRPG addict has one on his blog sidebar

>>4076369
>*essential* RPGs that a fan must play to be considered well-read?
RPG is the genre for pretentious kids fr

>>4076369
>Chrono Trigger
one hundred percent
>- Xenogears
sure.....
>- FF3 - FF12
I would add tactics and maybe FF7 remake series
>- DQ 3, 5, 8
sure, sure, might want to add 11 as well.
>- KH 1 and 2
good titles, but I wouldn't you aren't well-read if you don't play them.
- Persona 3-5
>- Trails: Sky -> Ao?/Cold Steel IV?
>- Suikoden 2
wouldn't say you aren't well read if you didn't play these ones
>- Super Mario RPG
one hundred percent
>- Star Ocean 2
I would add three as well
>- Xenoblade 1
never got around to this one
>- a Pokemon game
we can skip this, it's trash. There are better monster titles
>- Lunar (no idea which version, PSX?)
new PC version, we can play it with Japanese audio now.
> Lufia 2
we can do without with this one
- Valkyrie Chronicles
> Phantasy Star IV, I guess
we can skip on this an Shining series
>- Live A Live
Play the remake, subbed voice acting and better music.

No Arc the Lad? No Megaman Battle Network? No NIS titles?
No Baktai? No Mana series?

>>4076369
Your list has a lot of entries that are popular and well received not because they're outstanding but because they were massive deals when they came out. You could still play them if your list seeks to find the RPGs that had the most cultural impact and not games that are the best in the genre.
Just in the DQ entries you have 3 instead of 4, which is the superior NES entry and more innovative but 3 refined the formula from DQ1-2 and put the series on the map. 8 is likewise not that great but it gets gassed up because it had a fantastic presentation for its time while being a lot of people's first entry into the series or their first 3D JRPG.

>>4076369
>- FF3 - FF12
>- DQ 3, 5, 8
Saying every FF is essential but not DQ is absurd. How can you say youre "well-read" if you played pokemon emerald but not DQ2?

>>4078043
>>4078049
(I'm not OP, but since you guys mentioned it, and I'm pleading with you guys here. I need answers, because I actually want to like this series)

Y'know I've never actually managed to beat a single DQ game.
My first entry into the series was DQ7 on the PSX. I do grant you that compared to FF7 at the time, it was hard not to see the lack of 3D graphics in DQ and be a bit disappointed, but even then it didn't matter *that* much to me. More JRPG is just more JRPG, and yet I tapped out right after beating the mechsoldier scenario. I think what it was is that as a kid I couldn't find a missing shard piece to continue, and the game wasn't so compelling that I cared if I got back to it or not.

The next DQ game I played was 8, and sure it had pretty 3D graphics... but again... I tap out. I recruited Angelo... got the ship... defeated Dhoulmagus... Got Jessica back... and I just remember scaling this tower for some reason... was just bored out of my mind, decided to exit the dungeon and get back to it some other time and I just never did.

Now, granted, neither of those two games were offensive. DQ11? God damn, I hate this game, and I'm hoping someone can help set me straight so I can finally see the appeal:

People praise DQ11 and so when I tried that one I was pretty excited...
The first sour note was Gallopolis. No, I didn't expect to just get the Rainbough for helping the prince, but the framing of how this scenario goes down is stupid. The prince didn't even bother to check that he had what you guys needed before you invested so much time in helping him out. A better way to write the ending and have the same effect is just have the rainbough stolen the night before. There's just something stabbingly frustrating about that level of incompetence on the part of the prince.

(cont.)

>>4078043
>>4078049
The next sour note is in Octagonia where the villain of that scenario is, literally, sacrificing his competitors in order to make an elixir that gives him strength--to juice, in essence. This guy has been conspiring with that demonic monster for years, so many lives lost. A villain that fucking evil needs to either die or be imprisoned for life. Neither happen, he's just redeemed. Does the villain go through the right beats to earn a redemption? No. Does the villain even go through any beats to be redeemed? No, the loose justification that he was using his prize money to support an orphanage is doing an awful lot of heavy lifting, and really, the way the scenario ends before you leave it comes off as more of a "sorry... (... that I got caught)!" because it's not like the villain would've ever come willingly clean at all ever of his own accord.

The last sour note that really took the wind out of my sails was in Sniflheim where we have this ice witch reigning terror, who again would've never stopped of their own accord, who again gets "redeemed" in an instant without any beats of redemption or of earning a redemption, and a sealed terror like that should probably be slain.

... I dunno, man. Maybe I'm too old school. Back in my day, my video games weren't afraid of killing off saturday morning cartoon villains. I remember Legaia and Zeto was a fun villain. Killed him at the first Mist Generator. BoF3 had Balio and Sunder and we killed them off after the Arena. Fucking DQ8 allowed you to kill off Dhoulmagus which was functioning as the central villain at that point... why are these DQ11 villains so special that they survive? Why?
I don't get it. What am I missing here? Why is DQ11 so damn good? I'm struggling here.

>>4078115
>People praise DQ11 and so when I tried that one I was pretty excited...
>he fell for the fake astroturfing marketing again

>>4076369
At least Earthbound is essential reading for how relevant it was to the current indie RPG scene. Mother 3 is also very relevant and Earthbound Beginnings is good for context.
I must note I'm talking about influence, not personal preference.

>>4078236
Damn dude. Does that mean all the DQ games are a waste?

>>4078115
If you went nearly 2/3 the way through DQ8 and weren't having fun I don't think you like the series. It is what it is man.

>>4076369
the notion of "having good taste" is a bunch of bullshit
you should just play games that interest you and if someone thinks you have "bad taste" based on what you like they can go suck off the devil in hell

>>4078631
Perhaps that's simply it, the series isn't for me.
Damn though, I wish I could put my finger as to why... because I didn't hate DQ8. I just put it down and didn't pick it back up and I don't know exactly why.

... maybe I was just more invested in the hunt for Dhoulmagus...? And with him gone the thrill of the chase lost some of it's sparkle? Hmm...

>>4078115
you're not alone in your experience. I pretty much agree with your assessment.
DQ is a series that makes a point to go down the list and hit every trope and textbook requirement of the jrpg series, and does so in a safe an inoffensive manner. It's for people that want a consistent experience above all else.

>>4076475
>M&M 8
>not 3 through 7
>8
right into the fucking trash with your list

>>4079604
>>4076475
>m&m
you should actually play zero games from this series, for every extra m&m game you play you're considered less well read when it comes to the rpg genre

>>4076475
>>4079604
>>4079638
Only Eastern Europeans play this kind of game.

>>4076369
Niggas really started treating video games like books lol these are toys not literature

>>4078115
>>4078631
>>4078661
Holy shit you people are retards. Who goes into Dragon Quest to actually invest themselves in the story? The games have the most interesting to explore worlds of all JRPGs, but you don't seem to care about that and actually try to criticize the throwaway shounen sub-plot plots like they're supposed to be taken seriously or something.

The Japanese have so much better taste in RPGs than westerners for actually right reasons.

>>4084395
Hey. >>4078115 and >>4078117 here.

>Holy shit you people are retards. Who goes into Dragon Quest to actually invest themselves in the story?
Evidently, me?
I mean the whole reason why I got into JRPGs in the first place as a kid is because I thought it was just so cool that a Mario game could actually have a story attached to it. Before SMRPG:LOTSS, there was maybe a premise to the games. "Go hunt down King Koopa, beat up his koopalings, and go rescue Princess Toadstool." Not exactly a lot of meat on those bones. SMRPG twists that immediately out of the gate with the rescue attempt going awry with the inclusion of a new enemy, the Smithy Gang.

I've been hooked on JRPGs ever since, and I've especially loved twists and revelations in stories.

It just gives the "doing things" in the game a sense of purpose. Meaning. Some method to the madness. And, y'know, it's not like I can't get through a Mario game and have a good time without a more engaging story to go along with it, I didn't immediately tap out of DQ7, 8, or 11. I got some ways in. It's just that I could play other things that were more engaging to me.

>The games have the most interesting to explore worlds of all JRPGs-
...?
I didn't find the exploration of DQ7 all that compelling. In fact, all the obstacles sitting in the way of just getting on with the first chapter of the story, let alone getting into some combat with some basic slimes, makes the beginning of the game kind of a slog.

DQ8? Well I did enjoy hunting down named monsters and world map chests, but the terrain of the areas weren't exactly wowing me. There was some fun to be had there, I admit.

(cont.)

>>4084395
DQ11? I'm torn. On one hand the night monsters on the world map are neat, the resource points are cool, and I like the whole gimmick of crafting gear? I absolutely fucking hate the towns. They are so big. There are so many nooks and crannies to check for loot, so many NPCs to churn through to see if they say anything interesting or are part of any sort of other thing... yeesh...
I miss the quaint, and smaller sized, villages and towns of DQ8.
So, IMO, it's like 2 steps forward, 2 steps back.

>but you don't seem to care about that and actually try to criticize the throwaway shounen sub-plot plots like they're supposed to be taken seriously or something.
... how did you get that impression? I called some of these villains "saturday morning cartoon" in caliber and am pointing out that not too long ago it was more that acceptable to slay them and am simply asking why these characters are oh so special as to survive when a character like Dhoulmagus is killed so early?

I'm not asking for the Foundation in terms of writing here. I'm asking why I'm being denied the satisfaction of killing saturday morning cartoon villains.

>The Japanese have so much better taste in RPGs than westerners for actually right reasons.
... I... a-anon...
I referenced Breath of Fire 3 and Legend of Legaia as counterpoints of slaying villains. I even referenced DQ8 in regards to Dhoulmagus. Since when were these western RPGs? What are you talking about? Do you not see how in these games over here the villains are allowed to die and in DQ11 they're allowed to survive?

Grandia should be on there.

>>4076369
>chrono trigger
gay as fuck

>>4084395
>Who goes into Dragon Quest to actually invest themselves in the story?
I tried to stop, but it just wouldn’t take no for an answer

>>4089280
>>chrono trigger
>gay as fuck
I don’t say this often, but: you’re brown.

>>4076475
>no fallout 2
my nigga.

>>4076369
Konichiwa dude!

Terranigma
System shock 2 (imsim with heavy rpg mechanics)
Golden Sun
Arcanum
King of dragon pass
Avadon the black fortress (play any spiderweb software games, really)

>>4076475
Id add Ultima UG2 and NWN2:MotB

>>4076369
>>4076475
Never-ever going to play like half of those.