I believe are the best because they take you to a whole new world immerse you into its world with its charcter with vibrant colors, characters with different backgrounds, a story plot that links the characters together through a beginning middle and end, which can last for hours upon hours. Rpgs are for me though i wish they would come up with games like in the past for playstation like ff7-9 or legend of dragoon classic rpgs well Dragon Quest is one but that just one and maybe a couple others. Nowadays rpgs are actiony and dont last very long, even FInal Fantasy is starting to lose its beautifully graphical designs, great story plotted adventures grip on me. So tell if you feel the same or if the games today are better.

Yeah I feel you on that but i can't help but feel that your stuck in the past. but every gamers feel like that with some kind of game. it maybe an Rpg or a 1st person shooter games. as games progress most of the time they lost some feature that made them fun in the first place but you still get more in return to make up for that. there are alot of games that I still find better in the older systems then the newer ones. Like for exmaple i perfer Smash bros and Zelda On N64 then on game cube. Time Crisis for PSONE then on playstation 2. this also goes for some sequels. like me and my friends like Xenosaga one better than 2 because the battle system was better and more simple. so as games and game consoles evolve every gamer going to have an in classic that they perfer playing better than the newer games.

well that all see ya around

As much as I love the old retro times of RPGs, sadly, this is reality, they are probably not going to bring back the past...well...except Nintendo games >>;

Sometimes change is a good thing, sometimes it isn't. Some of the games from the past are much better than the present, just as the present games are better than that of the past. It all really depends on what type of games you like.

I know my brother loves the old 2-D retro look, but he is getting use to the new ways of 3-D. I'm for both since there are good RPGs that are for the newer generation.

To me, there really is no comparison, because they all still have the great techniques of plot, characters and such, just graphics. And I think graphics is what gives people different opinions of the past and present. I know people who don't like old RPG games cause it's all 'old' looking and 'crummy' graphics. Sad but true. But I know some who respect it so much (such as myself), because most knew how it was like when actually 'crummy' graphics was known to be the 'greatest' graphics before.

Both have good qualities and both have bad. It just really depends on what 'you' choose in gaming.

Dont mean to sound too out of place, but i say now, there werent any mass multiplayer online rpgs like there are now. As for single player games, I have favoured Elder scrolls 3: morrowind, and now theres Oblivion commming out, and judging from morrowind, it will easily be my faiv RPG next to Front mission 3/4 of course... (again though, all new). Although i must admit, you dont see allot of strategy rpgs nowadays, which really sucks.

Though I don't think I have exactly played a good share of the newer RPGs, I can't help but feel that RPG's of the PS1 era are a lot better.
Ever since the Play Station 2 I really think that now a days the effort isn't in creating a good storyline anymore but simply to make it look good. The settings in games these days are so lifelike and characters are shedding more skin. Not to say that this is a bad thing to make it look aesthetically pleasing, but I haven't encountered an RPG game for the PS2 that I have really loved and wanted to replay over yet.
Though maybe the creative writers and developers for RPG's have come to a standstill or run out of ideas, or maybe I just haven't been looking hard enough but these days I find myself busting out my PS1 and replaying games like Suikoden 2, Legend of Dragoon and the like.

I'd have to say on the whole, old-school RPG's would have my vote. Nowadays, not just with RPG's, but with games in general, I feel like developers are concentrating too much on the graphics and sound and not enough on elements such as the storyline and the actual gameplay. Ever seen those incredibly flashy games that look great, but play like crap? Yeah. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, but to me they're not happening nearly often enough. Whereas the old-school era was filled with games like Legend of Dragoon, FF7, Suikodens I + II, Tales of Phantasia, etc. etc.

In the old days? how long ago would you put "the old days"? I mean can you really mark a moment in time when rpgs changed? I don`t think so, yeah the graphics have improved, the gameplay has evolved into something more "interactive" than a plain menu but the essence is still the same, at least thats the way I see it.
There are some rpg´s that mix elements of other genders like action or even shooters but there are also rpg´s that remain with the old standars and I cannot say that old rpg´s like dragon quest were better than not so old rpgs like suikoden or more recent ones like valyrie profile or shadow hearts, they all came out at it`s time using to the fullest the tools they had and were awesome games then, it`s even unfair to compare them.

I´m happy with rpg`s the way they are now just as I was happy with rpg´s back in the days when I began to play them.

My opinion on this lies somewhere in-between, quite honestly. The way I see it, it's not necessarily "black or white" (thus, old or new), but lots of different shades of gray -- you know how those old sayings go, I'm sure.

What I mean is, there were good previous-generation RPGs, just as there are good current-generation RPGs. And of course each generation had their fair share of bad, broken, glitched, flawed (or what have you) RPGs. The same applies to everything though, not just RPGs or video games, so that's none too surprising. I think, for the most part, people tend to favor the older games and such, because they either grew up with them and enjoyed them a lot back then, or their memories have simply given the game a more "special" feeling to it. I, for one, have noticed that's happened to me a few times. I've got lots of fond memories of things like Galaga, Dig Dug, Pac Man, and so forth, and while they're still great games, playing them now -- even the original Atari carts -- I can see that they're not nearly as good as my impression of them were. But, perhaps it's just me... I am a little weird.

I will say one thing about current generation RPGs though: The vast majority of them are uberly story-driven. Having played some older RPGs myself, I'm familiar with the whole process of pressing "A" (Or "X" or whatever.) to read through text a lot. But even then, something like the Final Fantasy or Tales of series (and no, we don't need to mention the Xeno series; that's bloody obvious) seem to be extending these scenes more and more as time goes on. Essentially, gameplay really doesn't matter that much any more. There are still RPG fanatics who track down something like Dragon Quest to get a decent challenge, but for the most part, "mainstream" RPGs are more like interactive novels now than they are actual video games. That trend seems to be moving to other genres now, as well. Everything from God of War to NBA 06 has some sort of story-driven element to it.

What happen to just chasing Dr. Robotnik because he was evil, or hunting down Bowser because he kidnapped the Princess for the umpteenth time? Heh...ah well. I don't really mind, I guess. If the game is enjoyable, that's enough for me.

Well, games now and games back then aren't exactly different, just the graphics are upgraded and the sound system went boom. I don't exactly have a preference, but new games are just as enjoyable as 8bit FF3.

MMORPGs tend to be where the market is going, which IMO is sad because they are just level grinds without good stories (usually), and the story is what makes the RPG game great

my favorite RPGs are definitely not ones made in the past 5 or so years. i think FF9 was the last RPG i liked, with earlier ones being baldurs gate and fallout. i also liked pokemon (laugh if you like, but its an rpg of sorts and it was good when it was original and not all over-sequaled)

I would have to say definetly now because the better the systems and technology get the more the possibilities that are opened up are endless. Take for example something like xenosaga it is the greatest rpg to come on ps2 ever in my opinion because of the realness of it , the creativity, and how original it really is. New generation games and gamers rock!!!!!!!

I prefer rpg game, is the best, more dificults , more long , i´m playing now lineage2 c3, is my prefer game rpg online, i can know por people and sell my items, other game excellent is ff7 for ps one, but is more dificult, well is all

RPG's were much better in the old days. The latest FF games have been really boring, and most games try to focus more on the graphics more than on the gameplay itself.

The best RPGs were the ones for SNES. They were the most memorable. What RPG gamer who deservers to call himself that hasn't played Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana or Final Fantasy 3?

I agree with the topic starter, RPGs now are not as good as before, mainly because everything's just commercial now. Feelings have been lost.

I also agree, rpgs have like weaker stories nowadays, nd o
xenosaga wasnt that good imo, but hey the graphics were good
lol see thats a point proven, more emphasis on graphics den anything else
old rpg makers should come back nd go retro, but keep the graphics of today
that would make for an awesome modern rpg with the old school feel