Greatest game series of all time? [Archive] - Giant in the Playground Forums

Zevox

2018-08-11, 08:50 PM

Also, let’s say at least 3 games.
Well, wait for the release of Bayonetta 3 and that series will almost certainly qualify, considering the first two have both been at the very top of its genre.

Otherwise... hm, hard to say. Most of my favorite games of all time belong to series where each game is relatively independent, most notably the Persona and "Tales of..." series. Or there's series I enjoy but which have games of wildly varying quality, like Zelda, Devil May Cry, or Mass Effect.

Hmm.... BlazBlue, perhaps. Consistently quality, continuous storyline (one of the very few fighting game franchises where the storyline is genuinely a focus, in fact), probably my overall favorite franchise of its genre. Or maybe Ace Atorney, also a pretty strong series on the whole, despite the weird misstep of trying to replace Phoenix with Apollo in the middle of it.

Lvl 2 Expert

2018-08-12, 03:06 AM

Okay, let's throw out some titles just to see the larger field of what we have to work with. The Elder Scrolls games are nice. Unreal, Doom, HALO and Wolfenstein all have their ups and downs but good name recognition overall. Age of Empires had a pretty solid run. Is Warcraft and Starcraft a single series? Because that might work. Just Cause should be mentioned as well, and when we're in that genre anyway GTA has definitely been very influential, setting new standards constantly. Riptide GP might be a contender in the mobile segment. And of course there's Pokémon. The main series is a single line of games building on each others mechanics and lore, and even some of the side branches are pretty cool. That's the first batch I can think of.

Winthur

2018-08-12, 06:08 AM

Might & Magic. Anyone can find the games from the 3rd to 8th to be accessible, addictive and enjoyable (and 1/2 aren't bad either), and it also spawned the behemoth that is Heroes of Might & Magic.

LibraryOgre

2018-08-12, 08:46 AM

*Fallout. While it started as a semi-sequel to Wasteland, the series has built an impressively large and semi-consistent world that spans decades.
*The Elder Scrolls. Very similar to Fallout, though it started and mostly remained a first-person RPG, as opposed to Fallout's transition from 3rd person isometric to FPS/RPG Hybrid.
*Wizardry... though a bit dated now, wizardry 1-3, and 6-8 allowed the import of characters across games, and were technical marvels for their time.
*Sierra's "Quest" series... Kings Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, Quest for Glory. Several series, but they were brilliant adventure games, with QfG verging on being an RPG, and really helped define the genre.
*The X-wing Series... X-Wing, Tie Fighter, X-Wing v. Tie Fighter. Simply great series of flight simulators, drawing on the lore of the movie series.

*Gold Box Games: The "Gold Box" series included several different games... The Pool of Radiance-Curse of the Azure Bonds-Secret of the Silver Blades-Pools of Darkness line, the Savage Frontier Series, and the Krynn series. They were a brilliant implementation of the 1st edition rules in a computer setting and remain highly playable to this day (if still subject to an idiosyncratic control scheme by modern standards)
*Baldur's Gate (it's a bit shy of the "3 games" criteria, but I think it safe to include Icewind Dale and the other IE games in this) is much like that Gold Box, but for 2nd edition and with more modern controls.

Triaxx

2018-08-12, 08:58 AM

We can include at least Warcraft since it hit Warcraft 3 before stalling.

I'd say Civilisation. While they haven't all been top quality, it doesn't show any signs of slowing down.

Similarly, GalCiv is now through it's third title, and has had probably several million hours invested in it.

I will also definitely add the X-series to contention. X-4 was announced earlier this year, as the seventh game in the series.

Kish

2018-08-12, 10:09 AM

The Persona games are definitely worth mentioning here.

JNAProductions

2018-08-12, 11:05 AM

The Megaman Franchise. Starting with original on NES, all the way through ZX Advent for the DS.

BeerMug Paladin

2018-08-12, 07:16 PM

Star Control!

I can't really think of any others. That "has something to do with one another" kind of tosses out a big chunk of franchises.

Metroid Prime series?

Psyren

2018-08-13, 10:41 AM

Diablo for me. I love them all and have probably lost a decade of my life to them in hours played.

I would have said Mass Effect had they not kneecapped Andromeda to chase Destiny's coattails.

Resileaf

2018-08-13, 10:44 AM

Hmm, the Blizzard series are generally solid, so I'll put my vote for Warcraft (and some of WoW, but not all) and Diablo. I would consider Starcraft as well if the expansions can be considered separate games.

Less a series and more a franchise, I would add the Total War games to my list.

Knaight

2018-08-13, 11:14 AM

Metroid Prime series?

I'll throw in with this - those games are all masterpieces, for all that the first is better than the other two (we'll see how the fourth comes out, what with Retro Studios no longer being involved).

Beyond that there's always Starcraft. Between full big expansions that are practically new games and SCII being multiple games in and of itself it effectively hits that 3 game requirement, if weirdly. Meanwhile over a decade of being the biggest esport is probably an indication of quality.

Greatness is also a bit of a vague term. If the focus is just on excellence there are some candidates that get dropped if influence is also assumed necessary. There are some really good indie games well below even most indie radar, and while the series of at least three connected games disqualifies most of these there are still a few candidates. Most notably, there's DROD.

DROD is, at this point, an outright series of four games, one very minor spinoff that keeps the mechanics and the excellent puzzle design but follows a different narrative (I'd consider it effectively part of the series), and then one game that totally breaks the rules. Looking at just the main series to fit the thread leaves a tightly designed set of puzzle games that are some of the best the genre has to offer, firmly ensconced on the known rules and perfect information side of said genre. I'd strongly recommend any of them, though not necessarily to start with - the difficulty curve of the later games is completely ridiculous if you haven't played the earlier ones.

Hunter Noventa

2018-08-13, 12:44 PM

I'll second the Persona series, even just 3, 4 and 5 are pretty great, since they're radically different from the first two.

Suikoden is up there too, even if it fell apart. At least it didn't get fully Konami'd like MGS.

I'll put in Super Robot Wars as a franchise. Over a dozen games across multiple platforms, starting back as far as the original Game Boy. It's great simply because the amount of work that has to be necessary to be able to put Gundam, Evangelion and Getter Robo in the same game, and still have the plots all make sense with each other.

BeerMug Paladin

2018-08-13, 02:12 PM

I'm likely to be the only one to say this, but I just thought of another. Adventures of Lolo.

Kitten Champion

2018-08-13, 03:42 PM

I would say Persona as well. I'm never disappointed with a Persona game, even the PSOne-era ones with all their clunky mechanics are really silly fun with vibrant characters and an interesting overarching story. 3-5 though are just solidly made JRPGs, each sequel is refined to make the gameplay experience more intuitive and enjoyable all while delivering a strong self-contained narrative and maintaining the core aspects that people want from the games without being heavily derivative.

It's putting the effort into to making Persona something worthy of the expectations its fans put on it and the time they spend developing it. Which just is not a common thing in the gaming world where developers want sequels in narrower and narrower intervals, that even the more consistent ones in terms of quality come off as more of the same to the worst offenders of professionally licensed sports games.

ngilop

2018-08-13, 03:46 PM

Age of Empires is one of the best (IMO THE BEST) RTS series of all time. I am super stoked about AoE 4 and how cool it is going to be. I hope it does to the genre what 2 did.

MechWarrior/battletech: YES giant pilot-able robots and explosions and eplodings. So much fun, MechAssault kinda made the series take a hit in terms of reputation. But id rather play Mech Warrior 3, than 90% of most modern games ( by modern I mean the last 10-ish years)

Unreal Tournament: for me I feel this game defined what multiplayer FPS should be. One cannot deny how the original came out and changed the way the genre does things.

Resileaf

2018-08-13, 03:48 PM

Ooh, I had forgotten about Age of Empires! Yes, that series made my childhood! It was absolutely fantastic!

Zevox

2018-08-13, 04:52 PM

Have to say, much as I love the Persona series, it really doesn't qualify under the OP's terms. The games are largely independent of each other, like the Final Fantasy franchise he called out specifically. Less extreme than that since they all (from 3 on at least) plainly occur within the same world, but each game in the mainline series is completely self-contained and doesn't have anything directly to do with the rest.

Triaxx

2018-08-13, 07:00 PM

As much as I love Age of Empires, I can't say best RTS. Supreme Commander is just better.

Yora

2018-08-14, 03:49 AM

I throw in Legacy of Kain and Metal Gear Solid.

And more recently Dark Souls.

Eldan

2018-08-14, 08:59 AM

Difficult. I can't think of a series with three or more parts that actually has at least three parts I like.

Elder Scrolls, I suppose. Morrowind has fantastic worldbuilding, Skyrim has ok worldbuilding and thrilling combat and dungeon crawling, and Oblivion was diverting for a time when it came out and had a really good expansion.

Psyren

2018-08-14, 11:58 AM

The Megaman Franchise. Starting with original on NES, all the way through ZX Advent for the DS.

I'll second this but confess that I've only played the original series and X. No Battle Network, Legends, Zero etc. There's so much potential in this franchise but Capcom just seems blasé about it, and Mighty No. 9 utterly failed to fill in the gap.

JeenLeen

2018-08-14, 12:43 PM

I'd go with Suikoden. I just played I through IV and Tactics, and enjoyed them all (even if Tactics was subpar), and heard V is great. Cool growing metaphysics and story as the individual games go on, with enough character connections between games to keep it cool. Plus great gameplay.

Have to say, much as I love the Persona series, it really doesn't qualify under the OP's terms. The games are largely independent of each other, like the Final Fantasy franchise he called out specifically. Less extreme than that since they all (from 3 on at least) plainly occur within the same world, but each game in the mainline series is completely self-contained and doesn't have anything directly to do with the rest.

I think the first Persona (where Nate was a main character... or whatever the rich kid's name is) links pretty well with <Innocent Sin or Eternal Punishment, whichever one had the Joker Curse and Maya as the main character>. Nate shows up again as rather important, as so a lot of the other characters from the first game, one of them even joining your team (if I recall correctly. Been years since I've played it.)

I reckon <Innocent Sin or Eternal Punishment, whichever one not referring to above> also had links, but it at least is linked strongly to the third game.

So at least those 3 games make a strong series. I prefer Suikoden's gameplay and story, though.

---

If I were more into live action games, I could see my vote going to some others (Megaman, one of the live action RPGs.)

Dienekes

2018-08-14, 01:48 PM

Hmm, difficult to answer.

Greatness is fairly difficult as a term to justify.

I'd personally say the greatest series of video games I've ever played were Starcraft, Total War, Dark Souls, Legend of Zelda, Super Smash Bros, Uncharted, or Witcher.

Starcraft might not count as technically there has only been SC 1 and 2. However, considering there's also Brood War as an expansion on the first and two was split into three sub-games I'd personally considering it large enough to satisfy the criteria. However, while the gameplay itself is fantastic and I believe the height of real-time strategy games. The story, especially by the second game took a spirally nosedive off a cliff into a sea of nonsense. It is easily my most beloved and played franchise, but that fact alone might cause people to discount it as the greatest.

Total War is similarly fantastic with its weird blend of turn based and real-time strategy. However, this is a series that has pretty much lost its way as it became more gamer friendly in my mind. The problems of rule where you have to deal with a misbehaving or even repulsive member of the family is really thematic and creates interesting challenges. Challenges that go away as soon as they make the new generals level up in ways you can decide. There are also so many bugs and cutting corners on these games as a whole that I probably shouldn't give them any grand title.

Dark Souls, is probably the greatest gaming experience I've ever had. I have no complaints about the world, the design, the atmosphere, the gameplay. Yet, we have to recognize that with the greatness of these games comes the ultimately regrettable DS2, and the retreading of old themes in not particularly interesting ways in DS3.

Legend of Zelda is probably the strongest contestant on my list. Usually an innovative and fun series, that is unafraid to try new things while still maintaining a coherent theme, if not a coherent story or timeline. Usually has the right blend of direction and exploration. However, the repetitive nature of the stories can be seen as drawbacks. And let's not kid ourselves the series is full of annoyances that hinder the gameplay. From over-explanation of simple things, to aggravating side characters that just get in the way of the game. There's a lot of small things that just add up.

Super Smash Bros. The most fun fighting game I've ever played. Not the most competitive though, or balanced. But to me it's just the best party game. Fun and frantic but without real depth or fulfillment I get when playing the other games on the list.

Uncharted and Witcher both basically go together as rather fun stories and characters tied to a mediocre gameplay experience. Uncharted is a rather boring cover shooter when the story isn't driving you forward, and the Witcher's combat just pales when I compare it to games like Dark Souls or For Honor. I figure something that gets titled "greatest game series" ever should you know be fun for the game, not just all the trappings around the game.

Then there are things that I personally didn't like at all, but I can recognize the greatness within them. Like, anything released by Bethesda, ever. I don't think I've ever played more than an hour in any of them. And I cannot stand how terrible the melee combat system is, and I have no desire to see what's over the next hill. I never have been motivated by exploration in video games. Which is odd, because I am in real life.

Velaryon

2018-08-14, 02:59 PM

I'd go with Suikoden. I just played I through IV and Tactics, and enjoyed them all (even if Tactics was subpar), and heard V is great. Cool growing metaphysics and story as the individual games go on, with enough character connections between games to keep it cool. Plus great gameplay.

Suikoden V is great, but has one glaring flaw: 99% of the battles are super easy. Even if you don't use the most OP characters, you can auto-battle your way through 99% of fights, including most boss fights. As a result, the few actually difficult fights can catch you by surprise if you're not careful, resulting in a party wipe and having to replay a fair chunk of stuff if you haven't saved in awhile.

I would say that IV and especially Tactics are the weakest entries in the series, at least among the ones I played. I still liked IV after the slow beginning finally got going. Tactics... not so much.
I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy of II, but that's generally considered the best one, and I never had much interest in Tierkreis since it's a) on a portable system I don't own, and b) not in continuity with the others.

Anyway, I'd definitely like to mention some of the longest-running game franchises that have had some truly amazing games: Mario, the Legend of Zelda, and Castlevania. All have had some less-than-stellar entries in their series, and the continuity from one game to the next is often convoluted, but they've all had staying power as series over the years.

Zevox

2018-08-14, 07:25 PM

I'll second this but confess that I've only played the original series and X. No Battle Network, Legends, Zero etc. There's so much potential in this franchise but Capcom just seems blasé about it, and Mighty No. 9 utterly failed to fill in the gap.
If you've got a DS, or 3DS model that can play DS games, I'd highly recommend the Mega Man Zero Collection. All four MMZ games in one cartridge, and it's quite the strong set of games. The ZX games are good too, but I'd favor the Zero games over them.

Battle Network I enjoyed the first couple of entries in when they first came out, but they're very different from the mainline games, and I sort of lost interest after they started splitting the games into multiple "versions" ala Pokémon.

Aotrs Commander

2018-08-14, 08:21 PM

How have we got this far with no mention of Command & Conquer?

Hell, aside from the C&C 4 (which wasn't a terrible game, if it was a terrible C&C game) and possibly RA3 (depending on one's taste, some folk, I understand thought it was too silly), the series (not counting the not-proper-RTS stuff that has come out since C&C4) all of the entries have been all really good, which is more than you can about, say, Civ.

Pokémon probably ought to count, considering hours expended and games played.

deuterio12

2018-08-15, 02:29 AM

I'll put in Super Robot Wars as a franchise. Over a dozen games across multiple platforms, starting back as far as the original Game Boy. It's great simply because the amount of work that has to be necessary to be able to put Gundam, Evangelion and Getter Robo in the same game, and still have the plots all make sense with each other.

That's extremely generous from you. A lot of the time they just add a bunch of cheap time/planar travel to try to try to justify things, and it's beyond stretching credibility that humans would still be locked into wars with each other because of some old grudge when there's half a dozen alien races all lining up to conquer/destroh/assimilate Earth. How exactly is the Federation military still buying Blue Cosmos anti-coordinator propaganda and wasting resources fighting ZAFT when the Radaam and Zondar are right there eating up the planet bit by bit?

And sometimes they don't even care like in Super Robot Wars W they just throw Getter Robo's plot out the window with just the titular mecha showing up out of nowhere and not a single of their villains in sight.

Then there's the actual SRW gameplay, with balance not being a thing as main protagonist units are plain better than sidekick units, then whichever series was the developer's favorite at the time being plain better than other series, AI being almost mindless, barebones maps, little objectives besides "destroy X, maybe you have a turn limit", bosses having astronomical HP values because they couldn't figure other way of making them challenging, bugs everywhere including whole basic mechanics not working at all and obscure secrets that you have little to no hope of finding out without a guide.

Anyway, my addition to this thread will be Touhou Project, which I can't believe hadn't been mentioned until now. Great gameplay, great music, great characters, great graphics, great plot, lots of titles, great spin-offs, inspired enough art, comics and doujin games to last a lifetime and all main games done by one drunk dude.

veti

2018-08-15, 03:42 AM

No love for building games? Caesar/Pharaoh/Zeus kept me entertained for a very solid time, before being supplanted by Tropico. And who can forget SimCity? (Practically everyone, apparently.)

Aotrs Commander

2018-08-15, 06:00 AM

No love for building games? Caesar/Pharaoh/Zeus kept me entertained for a very solid time, before being supplanted by Tropico. And who can forget SimCity? (Practically everyone, apparently.)

Probably because the most recent version was so objectively broken and terrible (and mishandled so badly) that it soured people - and the third party near-contemporary (Cities: Skylines) the opposite, I fear. (And SimCity 4, as I understand the previous highwater mark, was quite some time ago.) I mean, C&C4 was risible as a C&C game, but it, at least was a functional game and not a broken, buggy mess; though perhaps it was merely the warning sign of EA nose-diving off the cliff.

Hunter Noventa

2018-08-15, 07:05 AM

That's extremely generous from you. A lot of the time they just add a bunch of cheap time/planar travel to try to try to justify things, and it's beyond stretching credibility that humans would still be locked into wars with each other because of some old grudge when there's half a dozen alien races all lining up to conquer/destroh/assimilate Earth. How exactly is the Federation military still buying Blue Cosmos anti-coordinator propaganda and wasting resources fighting ZAFT when the Radaam and Zondar are right there eating up the planet bit by bit?

And sometimes they don't even care like in Super Robot Wars W they just throw Getter Robo's plot out the window with just the titular mecha showing up out of nowhere and not a single of their villains in sight.

Then there's the actual SRW gameplay, with balance not being a thing as main protagonist units are plain better than sidekick units, then whichever series was the developer's favorite at the time being plain better than other series, AI being almost mindless, barebones maps, little objectives besides "destroy X, maybe you have a turn limit", bosses having astronomical HP values because they couldn't figure other way of making them challenging, bugs everywhere including whole basic mechanics not working at all and obscure secrets that you have little to no hope of finding out without a guide.

Anyway, my addition to this thread will be Touhou Project, which I can't believe hadn't been mentioned until now. Great gameplay, great music, great characters, great graphics, great plot, lots of titles, great spin-offs, inspired enough art, comics and doujin games to last a lifetime and all main games done by one drunk dude.

True, not every single SRW game is a gem. Don't get me started on how badly everything was woven together with J. Or rather, not at all. Though I was more thinking about how much work went into actually getting all the rights-holders to agree to it.

Being someone who just really loves mecha anime helps, because yes, the gameplay isn't super fancy. But sometimes, it doesn't need to be. At least the OG games are all together, and have done a couple more unusual things with the gameplay, but not a ton. It all comes down to preference and what you think a 'great' game is really.

Eldan

2018-08-15, 07:30 AM

Brookshw

2018-08-15, 09:39 AM

Gotta admit I was a fan of the Dead Space series, 1 & 2 especially. Good story (bit of a question mark on the 3rd maybe), did a good job for what it was.

ngilop

2018-08-15, 10:46 AM

Age of Wonders for the turn based strategy game that is good other than Heroes of Might & Magic. Looking soo forward to their Futuristic game.

Both Earthseiges, Starseige, and Tribes is wonderful as well. (yes, the game do all fit together in case ya did not know)

GloatingSwine

2018-08-15, 12:28 PM

Metroid Prime series?

As long as you limit it to Prime and quietly sweep Hunters under the carpet cause that one's a bit rubbish. Otherwise you have to contort your brain around the fact that Other M and Federation Force exist.

Any series that runs long enough is likely to end up with more guff than gold in it.

The Glyphstone

2018-08-15, 12:37 PM

Does Masters of Orion 2's awesomeness sufficiently counterbalance MoO 1 and 3?

Knaight

2018-08-15, 12:38 PM

Does Masters of Orion 2's awesomeness sufficiently counterbalance MoO 1 and 3?

What's wrong with MoO 1?

Aotrs Commander

2018-08-15, 12:55 PM

Does Masters of Orion 2's awesomeness sufficiently counterbalance MoO 1 and 3?

Having played 2 and 3, I prefer 3, actually. I remain somewhat geniunely mystified as to what people saw in MoO2. Everyone raves about how great it was; but I found it very forgettable (but I came to it very late, like long after 3 and after stuff like SotS and Sins).

The Glyphstone

2018-08-15, 12:56 PM

What's wrong with MoO 1?

Mostly that it isn't as good as 2.

Callos_DeTerran

2018-08-15, 03:45 PM

For me?

Mass Effect, full stop. Andromeda was a weak entry that I can't say that I enjoyed, but it was still a competently made sandbox game...its just not what I wanted from Mass Effect but even then it doesn't dim the love I have for the Mass Effect series and how amazing it was.

Some runners up? Hmm...

I'm very fond of the Dead Space Trilogy even as it turned from space horror to psychological horror to action horror.

I had a lot of fun with the most entries of Gears of War but I only played the three main titles so I don't know if the other entires drag down the series as a whole.

I don't really know if the Sims qualifies considering each entry is essentially the same game but with more but its worth pointing out.

Hmmm...I'd love to say Dragon Age because I loved Dragon Age 2 but I really can't say I liked the first one and I never finished Inquisition to my great regret.

EDIT: Holy carp, how did I forget the Arkham series of games?! It doesn't unseat Mass Effect as the best series but it does come in second rather easily!

deuterio12

2018-08-15, 07:03 PM

True, not every single SRW game is a gem. Don't get me started on how badly everything was woven together with J. Or rather, not at all. Though I was more thinking about how much work went into actually getting all the rights-holders to agree to it.

It helps greatly that in Japan most mecha rights are actually held by a few companies, plus japanese companies are a lot more open about crossovers (Phantasy Star Online 2 comes to mind making crossover material with all sort of animes all the time).

However in America and Europe the mecha rights are spread all over the place and that's the main reason why we don't see any actual western releases besides that couple OG ones.

Being someone who just really loves mecha anime helps, because yes, the gameplay isn't super fancy. But sometimes, it doesn't need to be. At least the OG games are all together, and have done a couple more unusual things with the gameplay, but not a ton. It all comes down to preference and what you think a 'great' game is really.

Being someone who just really loves mecha anime is pretty much the only way you can enjoy the non-OG SRW titles. If you didn't care about Gundam/Mazinger/Getter and whatnot in the first place, the gameplay and mixed plot are not really gonna save the day.

OG ones aren't bad per se, and have some memorable characters and good moments, but there's a reason why we only saw that couple english gba OG releases in the west, and it was because they sold pretty poorly outside outside of Japan, in particular when they had to compete with tactical strategy gems like Advance Wars.

Which reminds me the fan translation patch for Lord of the Elementals came out recently and that game had stuff like unit facing where you get bonus for attacking enemies from the sides/back. Which is completely absent from modern SRWs. Why Banpresto, why?

Hunter Noventa

2018-08-16, 05:46 AM

It helps greatly that in Japan most mecha rights are actually held by a few companies, plus japanese companies are a lot more open about crossovers (Phantasy Star Online 2 comes to mind making crossover material with all sort of animes all the time).

However in America and Europe the mecha rights are spread all over the place and that's the main reason why we don't see any actual western releases besides that couple OG ones.

Thankfully that's changed recently, as the mainline games are getting English translations, though only for the Southeast Asia reason, so you still have to import them.

Being someone who just really loves mecha anime is pretty much the only way you can enjoy the non-OG SRW titles. If you didn't care about Gundam/Mazinger/Getter and whatnot in the first place, the gameplay and mixed plot are not really gonna save the day.

OG ones aren't bad per se, and have some memorable characters and good moments, but there's a reason why we only saw that couple english gba OG releases in the west, and it was because they sold pretty poorly outside outside of Japan, in particular when they had to compete with tactical strategy gems like Advance Wars.

Which reminds me the fan translation patch for Lord of the Elementals came out recently and that game had stuff like unit facing where you get bonus for attacking enemies from the sides/back. Which is completely absent from modern SRWs. Why Banpresto, why?

The Masoukishin games are kind of the red-headed stepchild of the SRW wheelhouse. Personally I found the graphical style of them a huge turn off.

Though, speaking of robots, I would love to see a new Front Mission game, another great series, but it died when it moved away from turn-based strategy to whatever the heck Evolved was.

Eldan

2018-08-16, 09:16 AM

Actually, would people count the Black Isle D&D games as close enough? Because then, we could count Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II and Planescape Torment as one series.

LibraryOgre

2018-08-16, 09:25 AM

Actually, would people count the Black Isle D&D games as close enough? Because then, we could count Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II and Planescape Torment as one series.

I mentioned it upthread; I certainly consider them to be close enough to count. While, ostensibly, three separate sets of games (BG 1&2, IWD 1&2, PS:T), they take place in the same universe, using mostly the same mechanics (even IWD2, which was 3.0, in theory), so I'm good with calling them the same series.

heronbpv

2018-08-16, 09:26 AM

A classic that's very dear to me is the Phantasy Star series. Not counting the portable spin-offs (PS:Gaiden and the text adventures based on the PS II characteres), which I never played, every single entry has been amazing. The only one I didn't beat was the first, because I only got a cartridge without the batteries to play, making the game unable to save.

There's also the classic Sonic games for the Genesis (plus the very recent Sonic Mania!), which I may have played for countless hours, particularly on the versus mode against my friends. Good times!

Still on the Genesis, there's the Shinobi series (Shadow Dancer, Revenge of the Shinobi and Shinobi 3), which were always fun to play, particularly with friends (passing the controller around after each stage or after dieing, of course).

Then, there is the new Shadowrun series of games, for a more modern one. I've yet to finish Hong Kong, but oh boy, the amount of fun I had with all of them (and Dragonfall in particular) is amazing. Wonder if the mod for Dragonfall that tries to adapt that Shadowrun game from the SNES (which I also greatly recommend) was ever finished, as that would guarantee another 30+ hours of gameplay, at least!

hajo

2018-08-16, 02:22 PM

* XCOM (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-COM) (Enemy Unknown, TftD, Apocalypse ...)
* Master Of Orio (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Orion)n (personally, I wouldn't include #3 )
* Diablo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_%28series%29) (dito)
* The Sims (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sims) (1..4)
* Civ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization_%28series%29) (1..5, Alpha Centauri)
* Might&Magic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Might_and_Magic)
* Heroes of Might&Magic

Kish

2018-08-16, 03:12 PM

* Master Of Orio (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Orion)n (personally, I wouldn't include #3 )
* Diablo (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diablo_%28series%29) (dito)
If you don't include 3, each of those falls below the threshold to be considered a series.

You could say Master of Orion I, II, and the remake are a three-game series, I suppose.

PhantomFox

2018-08-16, 03:28 PM

No one has mentioned Mario? He's in the conversation for a slew of categories.

Aotrs Commander

2018-08-16, 03:43 PM

You know, I have never played a single Mario game (nor am I ever likely to). Nor a Sonic game for that matter. Nor Tetris. Or Legend of Zelda.

Am I, like, the only one?

Triaxx

2018-08-16, 05:08 PM

Yes, you are. And it's a shame. Everyone should play all those.

Magic_Hat

2018-08-16, 05:12 PM

"Has anyone mentioned Bubsy yet?" I ask already knowing the reason why.:smallwink:

danzibr

2018-08-16, 05:18 PM

More Phantasy Star mention, yay!

I think BG itself counts. ToB is like its own game.

deuterio12

2018-08-16, 11:18 PM

Thankfully that's changed recently, as the mainline games are getting Engrish translations, though only for the Southeast Asia reason, so you still have to import them.

Fixed that for you. Shu is supposed to have multiple PhDs and he calls one of his attacks the "Distorion cannon". :smalltongue:

Also you need a PS4/Vita for said imported translations titles, so yeaaahhh, here's me waiting for SRW Switch and/or PC.

The Masoukishin games are kind of the red-headed stepchild of the SRW wheelhouse. Personally I found the graphical style of them a huge turn off.

C'mon, it was like the 2nd game they made, what did you expect graphics wise?

(also just me or is the whole Masoukishin plot basically Magic Knight Rayearth? People from the modern world being summoned into fantasy land to bond and pilot elemental-themed mecha gods, that sounds a bit too much coincidence. I've heard rumors that CLAMP refused to license their first anime to SRW so Banpresto just went ahead and made their own version, and the grudge has held to this day)

A classic that's very dear to me is the Phantasy Star series. Not counting the portable spin-offs (PS:Gaiden and the text adventures based on the PS II characteres), which I never played, every single entry has been amazing. The only one I didn't beat was the first, because I only got a cartridge without the batteries to play, making the game unable to save.

Phantasy Star's pretty boss definitely and has held pretty high in the quality department. Even the "black sheep" of PS III innovated greatly with the generations mechanic which would go on to be used by many other great games.

Which makes me wonder why exactly has Sega suddenly stopped releasing PS in the west with literally all titles since that DS one being Japan/Asia only.

LibraryOgre

2018-08-17, 09:08 AM

Then, there is the new Shadowrun series of games, for a more modern one. I've yet to finish Hong Kong, but oh boy, the amount of fun I had with all of them (and Dragonfall in particular) is amazing. Wonder if the mod for Dragonfall that tries to adapt that Shadowrun game from the SNES (which I also greatly recommend) was ever finished, as that would guarantee another 30+ hours of gameplay, at least!

I've always been more partial to the Genesis Shadowrun game, myself... though a bit limited, it was very much an open-world Shadowrun game.

Another classic, practically antedeluvian to you whippersnappers? Phantasie, especially I and III. The first is a total Tolkien rip-off (there's even 9 Black Riders who menace you if you get too close to the bad guy's lair), but it was a party-based RPG back when that meant pretty much no Role-Playing... you built a party of characters and went around reading text and fighting monsters. In Phantasie III, you had some choices to make, and could, IIRC, even choose to side with the bad guy in the end... but you could also power-level your priest until he got Healing III, which would restore lost limbs, including heads and torsos, so your party became immortal... so long as at least 1 priest survived.

Kitten Champion

2018-08-17, 02:49 PM

I've always been more partial to the Genesis Shadowrun game, myself... though a bit limited, it was very much an open-world Shadowrun game.

Another classic, practically antedeluvian to you whippersnappers? Phantasie, especially I and III. The first is a total Tolkien rip-off (there's even 9 Black Riders who menace you if you get too close to the bad guy's lair), but it was a party-based RPG back when that meant pretty much no Role-Playing... you built a party of characters and went around reading text and fighting monsters. In Phantasie III, you had some choices to make, and could, IIRC, even choose to side with the bad guy in the end... but you could also power-level your priest until he got Healing III, which would restore lost limbs, including heads and torsos, so your party became immortal... so long as at least 1 priest survived.

Phan-ta-sie, is it? And you played this on some kind of computer?

Hunter Noventa

2018-08-17, 03:06 PM

Fixed that for you. Shu is supposed to have multiple PhDs and he calls one of his attacks the "Distorion cannon". :smalltongue:

Also you need a PS4/Vita for said imported translations titles, so yeaaahhh, here's me waiting for SRW Switch and/or PC.

C'mon, it was like the 2nd game they made, what did you expect graphics wise?

(also just me or is the whole Masoukishin plot basically Magic Knight Rayearth? People from the modern world being summoned into fantasy land to bond and pilot elemental-themed mecha gods, that sounds a bit too much coincidence. I've heard rumors that CLAMP refused to license their first anime to SRW so Banpresto just went ahead and made their own version, and the grudge has held to this day)

Yeah, Moon Dwellers has issues. But V included the phrase 'Gundam Weeaboo' and it was perfect. And X turned a bunch of puns that only work in Japanese into Dad jokes.

And I was actually thinking of the newer Masoukishin games on the DS and PS3(I think), they have 3D Graphics but they just look...wrong.

And I too hope for an SRW on Switch, but it's never going to show up on PC. Too niche and it wouldn't be on Steam for the same reasons it only comes out in the Southeast Asia region for PS4/Vita.

Voidhawk

2018-08-17, 06:48 PM

Personal choice: the Homeworld series. On story alone they’re fantastic, managing to be poignant, heart-wrenching, horrifying and uplifting at different times, and made me truly care for the fates of the tiny spaceships under my command. No mean feat in an RTS that doesn’t show a single face for almost its entire run.

HW1 is a classic that I believe anyone with even a slight interest in space-RTS should play. HW:Cataclysm is the surprise entry, which starts off quiet but then whiplashes you into a horror movie. And while HW2’s story is arguably the weakest emotionally, when taken as the capstone to the series it fits nicely as a declaration of “what we have earned, we shall not surrender” (and it has I consider the most polished gameplay).

Erloas

2018-08-17, 08:18 PM

You know, I have never played a single Mario game (nor am I ever likely to). Nor a Sonic game for that matter. Nor Tetris. Or Legend of Zelda.

Am I, like, the only one?

I've played some of all of them, but none of them mean anything to me. Sonic and Mario are just not my style of games, I've just played them because... well I'm not sure how you don't. Well at least if you're old enough, couldn't even buy a system without getting one of the games with it for a long time. I'm sure it would be much easier to not play them if you're younger.

Twisted Metal is a series I have to toss out there. They've been a bit hit-or-miss on the story aspect, but they've all been fun.

The hardest part is really finding a series that kept being good by the time it hit the 3rd one. So many good games only hit 2, or the 3rd+ are essentially copy/paste games, or they've changed so much as to not really be the same game except in name. It is a hard balance to find.

Aotrs Commander

2018-08-17, 09:16 PM

I've played some of all of them, but none of them mean anything to me. Sonic and Mario are just not my style of games, I've just played them because... well I'm not sure how you don't. Well at least if you're old enough, couldn't even buy a system without getting one of the games with it for a long time. I'm sure it would be much easier to not play them if you're younger.

Dude/dudette/dude-small-creature-from-Alpha-centauri, I'm, like, nearly forty.

I didn't buy a system; my first console was the PS2. Afore that, 'twas the PC, and afore that (when I left school) it was the Atari ST and before that the Spectrum. (And while we had it, no, I didn't even play JetsetWilly...)

Erloas

2018-08-17, 09:48 PM

Dude/dudette/dude-small-creature-from-Alpha-centauri, I'm, like, nearly forty.

I didn't buy a system; my first console was the PS2. Afore that, 'twas the PC, and afore that (when I left school) it was the Atari ST and before that the Spectrum. (And while we had it, no, I didn't even play JetsetWilly...)

I'm also nearly 40. I guess if you're first console was the PS2 then you would have got Crash Bandicoot instead, which is of course the PS version Mario and Sonic.
Pretty sure the all the Nintendo systems until the Wii came with a Mario game.

Aotrs Commander

2018-08-18, 05:06 AM

I'm also nearly 40. I guess if you're first console was the PS2 then you would have got Crash Bandicoot instead, which is of course the PS version Mario and Sonic.
Pretty sure the all the Nintendo systems until the Wii came with a Mario game.

Nope; I think I got a disc with random junk demos (like you used to get on the PC magazines) - I bought it from Game when Game was still good - which I had half a look at anything that vagely interested me for thirty seconds and then started playing Final Fantasy XI (as I'm basically got the PS2 shortly before the release of FFX). I wouldn't have touched Crash Bandicoot even if I HAD gotten it. I am fairly confident, though, it might have come with the demo for FFX.

I didn't get anything with my Gamecube, but I got that second hand and the only two games it ever saw were Colosseum and Gale of Darkness.

(Likewise, my GBA, DS and 3DS I bought for Pokémon and didn't come with any games, as given the option, I didn't want anything offered.)

I bought my consoles, basically pretty much exclusively for JRPGs (and a few games which were close to them) and - Pokémon aside - I have more or less stopped playing them now.

(I am, in fact, deeply relucatant to get a Switch when the next mainline Pokémon game comes out for it, since its an awful lot of pennies to sink into to something that's basically only going to have me playing Pokémon on it, since nothing else I've seen on it appeals (and if it did, I'd have gotten it on PC like-as-not).)