Fantastic list. I'm stealing the idea at some point, but the thought of going back through and trying to remember all the CRPGs I played through in the 90's is a daunting one. What the hell ever happened to my copy of Darklands, anyhow? Why am I asking you? Where's Waldo?

@Mento: that sir is a grave injustice. I was unaware of that obviously. What sort of sick thinking leads Konami to localize the sailing snorefest that was Suikoden 4 but not light & fun Suikoden 3?

fwiw if you do ever move to the States there is perhaps no better place than the Bay Area where Giant Bomb is located. I've often heard it called the most European place in America (in terms of city design/walkability etc).

@PixelPrinny: Never released in Europe.

@Slag: Never released in Europe.

I don't like living in Europe much. I wonder if Giant Bomb wants to hire a JRPG guy...?

Suikoden III seems to be not on this list.

Great list. I laughed out loud a number of times.

But! No Xenogears?! Whatthehelliswrongwithyou?!

@TopSteer: TotFL is one of those interesting deliberate throwbacks that also attempted to simultaneously update the formula for the era it was made in, the kind of model that's currently all the rage if all these recent Kickstarter projects and slightly-less-recent Etrian Odyssey types are any indication. It also feels like a lost FromSoftware game, given how close it is to their King's Field games.

Honestly, I thought it was pretty good too. I have very little experience with the original Wizardrys but have played enough games that were directly influenced by them (like Final Fantasy, for one, but also western stuff like Dungeon Master and Might and Magic) to recognize where TotFL was coming from. The way it updated the combat with all that fun formation/tactics business as well as how dynamic they made some of the dungeon puzzles were a neat fit with the usual old-school harsh rules of "every chest is trapped" or "these two won't work together because of ideological differences" or "sometimes when you resurrect a guy, he just disintegrates instead". It was budget-y as heck, especially regarding much of the presentation, but it had some deft touches from people who were clearly familiar with (and fond of) the source material.

Man, I guess this list proves that JRPGs are my favorite genre since I've played most of the games on this list.

I'm curious to hear more about your thoughts on Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land as I don't think I've ever talked to anyone about this game. I've played a decent amount of Wizardry games but this one is probably my favorite, I really loved the atmosphere.

I really liked the Wizardry that was released on PSN last year as well.

Great list. I remember spending so much time on RPG games. 60 hours for Skies of Arcadia, 50 hours for Evolution Worlds (blasted Appraisal items collection which I couldn't complete it), about 30 hours for Fire Emblem, and over 200 hours for Pokemon Emerald/Leaf Green/Platinum.

Skies of Arcadia and Evolution Worlds are my first two RPG games. Then, I got a Playstation 2 for my little sister last January. It was a late Christmas gift with two Kingdom Heart Games, 1 and 2.

I'm new to the Playstation 2 and looking for games similar to ones that I have bought and enjoyed. These RPG games sound interesting to try. I'm trying to get Legend of Mana, but they're are expensive and lots of competition to get them.

Thanks for the recommendations!

This is one impressive list! I have a bad habit of taking too long a break from an RPG and then restarting it and still never finishing it. Out of playing 10+ Final Fantasy games, I only actually beat Final Fantasy X. I really need dedicate a whole year to this genre or something!

Thats a great List,  theres something about JRPGs and watching that playtime number getting fat , its like you´re winning but you´re lossing actually

This list just reminds me of all the games I have yet to beat, like Vagrant Story and Valkyrie Profile and stuff.