This list is not as long, because since I discovered review magazines and websites, I was careful about the games I chose to play. However, this didn't stop me from playing some crappy games. These are the RPG's I don't recommend you play.
It's a shame, because this game had a lot of innovative things about it. Released on the Sega Genesis by Naughty Dog, (yes the Uncharted guys) Rings of Power featured an open world. You could talk to and interact with anyone in the game. You could have conversations with them, and depending on the choices you made, determined if you gain that persons help, trust, or if he or she decided to kill you off. The game looked and played pretty much like a PC game, and that was the problem. Rings of Power was slow, sluggish, and very difficult. The combat gameplay was bad and boring. After playing with the open world, I got bored quickly and moved on to other games.
It wasn't until Final Fantasy II for the SNES (Which I later found out was really IV) that I became a fan of the series. However, I did play the original Final Fantasy on the Nintendo and I wasn't impressed. The game was too slow and too difficult for my taste. To it's credit the game had some of the best graphics and sound on the Nintendo, but the gameplay was too tedious for it to be enjoyable.
I was part of the small percentage that really liked the first SaGa Frontier. Unfortunately the sequel dropped the ball. However, it wasn't the gameplay or the difficulty that caused me not to like this game; It was the very badly written story. Apparently, the makers of SaGa Frontier 2 was moved by Final Fantasy Tactics, because they would try to tell a story like it. SaGa 2 told a story about war, politics, social class, and betrayal, but while Tactics story was epic, SaGa's story was completely forgettable. Unlike the first game which let you pick a character at the beginning, Saga 2 dropped you in the roll of different characters as the story progressed. However, the story moved far too fast, and the game introduced many characters which turned out not to be really important to the overall story. Because of this, I was often confused and didn't understand what was happening or why. Pretty soon I stopped caring about the story all together. I did finished the game. Fortunately, all the technical aspects in this game was top notch. Beautiful graphics, great soundtrack, and enjoyable gameplay. However, RPG's that try to tell a story, are suppose to tell a good story, and for that reason I can't recommend SaGa Frontier 2.
After the much praised Xenosaga: Episode I, the sequel was a huge let down. The game continued where the story left off, and if you're really into it, the game is worth suffering through so you won't get lost in Xenosaga: Episode III. This was a classic example of, "if it's not broke, don't fix it." Gameplay changes made the combat very slow, sluggish, and not really fun. Also the game's bosses were ridiculously difficult, if not out right cheap. What's worst is the game hardly had many enemies to grind on in the dungeon sections to make your characters stronger. The main reason the game is cheap, is because like the first game, it's not very long. It'll take you 20 hours or less to finish it. However, the top notch production of the story telling is still in the game. The cinematic are great and worth watching like the first game. I wish I could tell you to skip directly to Xenosaga: Episode III, which is just as good as the first game. However, if you're really into the story and must see everything, I recommend you cheat device your way through the game and be done with it
This game just didn't do it for me. In fact, this game reminded me a lot of Final Fantasy, but with 16-bit graphics and the battles taking place over head. The one good thing about the game was it's catchy music which changed depending on the situation. You're given a basic fantasy story for why heroes must save the
world from Goblins. You create a party, adjust their stats and hope for the best. The game was just boring and repetitive after a while, and after playing it for hours, I never felt a true sense of progression. Because of these faults, I gave up on it
