Justin W: Our next discussion this evening is on one of my favorite topics: forgotten games. What obscure RPG do you wish more people had played, what got you into that specific game, and what do you think future RPGs could learn from the way that game did things?

Alex: I had a blast playing one of Working Designs earlier tactical RPGs, Vanguard Bandits. The story was pretty decent, and I really liked the fact that you the game wasn't too long, so that you could play through it a couple of times to get the different endings. I have to add, I was totally pissed when I got to the end the first time through and got the bad ending.

Justin H: I wish more people would go play Super Mario RPG. That game rocked so very much. And while Paper Mario was nice, I would kill for a true sequel or even a GBA port of that game. It was simplistic to a degree, but there were a lot of extra things one could busy oneself with if they had the inclination.

Chris: I really enjoyed the Lufia & The Fortress of Doom series. The storyline was incredible, and while the graphics have always been on the 16-bit side, the game itself is very innovative with its battle system. That, and the music ranks right up there with some of the best. You should all go out and get a Super Nintendo and Game Boy Color/Advance to play the Lufia games. You'll be happy you did.

Justin H: I also remember a game called Soul Blazer for the SNES, which combined a somewhat Zelda-ish gameplay with the sensibilities of a dungeon hack. Best of all, it ended right before it would've gotten really repetitive.

Justin W: I really liked the SaGa games for the original Game Boy. There was so much customization and randomness that eventually transformed your party into something completely different that it made every time playing through that game different.

Justin H: Now the SaGa games I couldn't stand. Not the basic game mechanics, but the fact that equipment keeps breaking. It always made me feel like it took forever to get anything done in those games. As in: "Gee, I'd like to do something new, but I have to go buy more equipment." It's a neat idea, but the novelty wore off for me real fast.

Justin W: Ah, yeah, it was annoying to have to buy multiple swords and things for the game, and it did get kind of repetitive. But I had a lot of fun transforming my mutants and monsters into different things to come up with completely different abilities.

Cortney: I haven't encountered many people who are familiar with Illusion of Gaia. I played that game extensively on my SNES back in high school (eons ago, seemingly). Aside from a botched translation, the game had the interesting thread of ancient ruins based off the ones found in our world - the Pyramids, the Great Wall of China, the Hanging Gardens, and so forth. I'm not sure if developers should attempt that again, however, at the risk of being cliché. Remember Freejia? The game addressed the cold reality of slavery while contrasting it with the flowery, carefree atmosphere of the town.

Justin W: I, too, was a huge fan of Illusion of Gaia, even though a lot of people weren't. I think it was the towns that made that game for me, they just seemed so alive, and there was so much to do in each of them. I miss that in current towns which, for the most part, seem kind of plain.

Cortney: Of course, the starving village in IoG was rather heartbreaking as well. IoG really addressed some difficult issues. Games today would do well to continue to bring attention to social and political issues as well.

Justin W: That's true. I'd like to see some more games that focus more on the world around the heroes than the heroes themselves. I haven't played it, but I've heard Dragon Warrior VII does that really well.

Justin H: It absolutely does.

Cortney: It's good to reflect on what an RPG can teach you about reality. I've seen some excellent ethical issues addressed in games, such as mercy killing, just war, and suicide.

Alex: Unfortunately, too many games are content to just rehash the same-old-same-old.

Justin H: That's really the meat of the game's story, its world and the people who inhabit it. Your characters are always sort of less important than the story of whatever town you're in.

Cortney: It's about humanity -- who we are and what we face. It's not only self-discovery, but human interaction.

Justin H: It's unfortunate that games like with these sort of themes haven't, for whatever reason, been as well accepted.

Cortney: Back to "the masses are asses" theorem. It works on so many levels.

Justin H: Unfortunately, yes. At least 50% of the people I deal with in a given day are asses.

Alex: I think that the main reason that we are stuck with crappy storylines is because of the traditional RPG play mechanics. The genre is harming itself by not knowing how to evolve without alienating its core audience.