Hello! My name is Pokk, and I'm a little bit obsessed with the Nintendo Entertainment System. In fact, it's just about the only thing I play at all. I am an avid collector of NES and Famicom cartridges and get more satisfaction out of gently caressing their crude but subtle game engines than most people generally do. "How could this possibly be useful to me?" you may ask.
Well, it is in my opinion that during a long-ago age when games were limited to four colors per sixteen pixel blocks and hexadecimal coding, most time and energy spent on producing a game was used on creating original features and an environment for fun and imagination, instead of on graphics and fine-tuning three-dimensional engines. To put it bluntly, I would say that when approached correctly, retro games are a whole lot more fun than modern games. I urge you to give 8-bit gaming a chance if you haven't or have only seen the most fleeting glimpse of it. And I'm going to make it easy for you. I'm going to sort out the gems from the slag in video-gaming's most masterful genre: The RPG. Several categories of RPG even. I'm just a nerd like that.
So here it is: The arguably-remotely-counts-as-an-RPG ultimate directory for NES!
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*NOTE* Using guides such as gamefaqs alongside games makes them unfun and unfulfilling. Avoid this at all costs. If you're stuck, it's time to do things the classic way and get unstuck yourself. Save-states in emulators also produce toilsome and unfulfilling experiences. cheater.
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Definitions of Categories:
Traditional RPG: A Text-based, Turn-based RPG with leveling, items and key-items, party members, etc
Action-RPG: A game combining a leveling system and items/powerups with action, real-time elements
Adventure-RPG: A real-time action based game where a character has to acquire items and powerups to grow stronger, barely arguably true RPGs
Strategy-RPG: A turn-based game based on capturing and controlling territories, going to war and usually managing a system of governance with lots of numerical variables and factors
Tactical-RPG: A turn-based game emphasizing strategy and preparation when confronting opponents and challenges, usually with a leveling system(Often a clear combination of Traditional RPG and Strategy RPG elements)
RPG-Flavored Action: Doesn't really belong here, but people throw their fits
Miscellaneous: Games so complex in form, or so unusual, that they do not fit into a specific category but definitely contain strong RPG elements
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Traditional RPGs
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Dragon Warrior IV
Truly a work of art, this game set the standard and possibly influenced the entire future of role-playing video games. Easy to learn and with a swift engine and storyline, this game has a combination of traits that almost no other NES game shares. It's the most cherished and beloved Famicom title in Japan for a reason. I actually cried, twice, because of how deep and emotional the story of this game is at parts. One of the first things you might notice about the Dragon Warrior series is that Pokemon may never have came to be without it's influence. The reason Dragon Warrior IV is the title I recommend is that it has the smoothest engine out of all of the NES titles, and is the beginning of a trilogy storyline-wise, so you aren't coming halfway into something if that's important to you (The first three Dragon Warrior games are considered a trilogy). This is the game to play if you are terrified of low-graphic gaming but don't need real-time action to keep you interested in something.
Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Pool of Radiance
This is my favorite Traditional RPG title for the NES. Vague, loose storyline aside, this game is massive, fun, imaginative and EXTREMELY challenging. There are not many turn-based games out there as difficult as this one. Not only are you required to crunch for hours upon hours to move forward in this very long, diverse and somewhat open-ended universe, but it was made during a time that undead creatures were associated with DE-LEVELING your characters and forcing you to regain basically entire sets of levels if you don't have a properly trained cleric in your party. This game combines elements of Dungeon-Crawling and tileset turn-based dueling, similar to more modern tactics-style games like Fire Emblem. This title takes dedication, but the rewards are grand.
Final Fantasy
The roots of a series that has grown into a massive tree of diversity in shape and style, it also happens to be a very fun game. Final Fantasy games have a reputation for being easy, forgiving, unchallenging, basically aides to a storybook that help you feel like you're interacting in some way. The original title for NES is not what gave Final Fantasy games this reputation. Travel a little bit too far without crunching enough, prepare to get slaughtered instantly. Take some steps out of order, prepare to get earthquaked repetitively by a boss you cannot beat until you retrace your steps and figure out what you've missed. Playing a remake for Gameboy Advance or something similar does not cut it, these remakes have added safeguards to keep children from getting frustrated and refusing to purchase more Final Fantasy titles. If you choose to attack an enemy with two of your characters and the first one kills it, your second party member doesn't automatically move on to the next enemy. That is the true Final Fantasy way.
Other Notable Traditional RPGs for the NES:
The Bard's Tale: Tales of the Unknown
The Ultima Series
The Wizardry Series
Swords & Serpents
Musashi no Bouken(Translation available)
Earthbound(Prototype versions are around)
The Digital Devil Monogatari Series(No translation available that I'm aware of)
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Action RPGs
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Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
So I should probably save the lengthy and well-practiced rant I have about how Zelda II is the only good Legend of Zelda title in the entire series for a separate thread, but the general idea of it is that this is one of the only LoZ titles requiring developed skill and talent to complete and that you aren't wasting your time between dungeons or wandering around because you LEVEL UP. That's right. A Legend of Zelda game where you gain experience from your mindless slaughter, and it's not easy to get either. When you lose your three meager lives, you lose all gained experience towards the next level-up you so desperately need to make it through the fifth palace. That's not an issue towards the beginning of the game, but later on when it takes 3000 experience to level up it's a real drag, unless of course you save-state like the little cheater you may be. Challenging aspects of side, this may be the most enjoyable game produced for the NES console. The battle engine is amazing compared to other games, very smooth and allowing of the development of skill, which some NES games lack a great deal of. A helpful tip: Talk to every single person in every single village, walking or in a house it doesn't matter. Sometimes little children know a lot more about dangerous demon-filled palaces than you'd expect.
Crystalis
This game is probably a direct response to the success of the Legend of Zelda titles for NES. It is very similar in style but also a unique game within itself. It's quite a bit more Japanese in layout and plot, with the whole starting out in some kind of futuristic time capsule and entering a feudal-period style village with the classic inn, weapon shop, armor shop and tool shop. And once you get past the field of man-tigers and the confusing windmill beginning quest, the appeal of the game becomes apparent with the steady leveling system and the ability to shoot magic deathbeams from your sword in a somewhat blocky but better-than-average engine. It's somewhat similar to the original Legend of Zelda game, plus leveling and an attempt at a plot. I'd argue that because of that it's a more worthwhile game to play, yet recieves way less attention. This game is really easy to get into for those who are less-inclined to play 8-bit games.
Radia Senki: Reimei Hen
Full-Blown Japanese Famicom title with a fan translation available for roms, here is title most undeserving of not being released in the US and Europe. A deep, passionate storyline paired with a unique and fun battle system(and really awesome music) make this a title that shouldn't be skipped over when investigating retro games to play. This game's battle system is very unique for it's time, where you have an unusual array of orders usually only seen in traditional-style RPGs if at all that you can give to your NPC allies, who will run around and fight monsters by themselves if you want them to. The graphics have some interesting characteristics not common in other NES titles as well, it's a much more beautiful game to experience than normal. I strongly recommend giving this one a shot.
Other Notable Action-RPGs for the NES:
Faxanadu
Willow
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
The Magic of Scheherazade
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Adventure RPGs
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Rygar
Oh heck yeah, most of you probably have given this one some time if you're over the age of twenty. A common, over-produced game for the NES with absolutely no save or continue functions, this game is famous for burning out the circuitry in the consoles of kids leaving their systems on for days on end trying to complete this game. So basically, you're this rad buff dude who uses a shield on a chain as a weapon, and you traverse this large world in platformer-view and overhead-view messing up baddies all to adventurous music that's different depending on which country the game was produced for. You run around collecting powerups eventually becoming a force to be reckoned with before getting game-over and having to start all over again. This game is fun and light-hearted and doesn't require immense time-investment like most of the games in this review.
Legacy of the Wizard
I. Adore. This. Game. It's massive, challenging, completely unique and very overwhelming at first, and on top of that it's a simple-engine action-based platformer. The game is pretty much impossible to defeat without using multiple characters who all have unique items to collect in random parts of the immense underworld dungeon below the happy little family home that you begin in, and the catch is that when a character dies, they are dead. Forever, as far as I can tell. Everyone but their dog dies pretty fast too. You get to pick from a nice happy family with some kind of dragon-creature-dog thing that everyone picks because monsters don't attack it, and you run through family members until everyoe dies and you lose. I haven't made it to the end of this game, but I enjoy the chaotic challenging levels and rapidly moving sometimes impossible to defeat enemies running all over the place and difficult puzzle-like structure to the whole thing. A video game master's challenge.
Gauntlet
Get a buddy and plug in a second controller, this one's action right off the bat. One of the only good two-player simultaneous titles for the whole console, this game lets you pick between a few medieval fantasy dudes and then you're plowing through hordes of ghosts and goblins looking for keys and exit portals to the next level. This game becomes mad-difficult towards the end, with about twenty levels without a continue, insanely low timers until instant death and unstoppable deathmobs of enemies flinging fireballs at you from every direction. This is all made up for by that second controller option, it's so rare and so awesome to be able to play a game like this with a friend. By yourself though this game sucks bad and is not a lot of fun.
Other Notable Adventure-RPGs for the NES:
Magician
River City Ransom
Wizards & Warriors III: Kuros: Visions of Power
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Strategy RPGs
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Nobunaga's Ambition II
Here it is, my all-time favorite game in existence. I have never met anyone who understands why, it seems very few people even put in the effort to learn how to play this game in the first place. Produced by KOEI late in the NES days, it is a rare title outside of Japan. The idea is that you are a governer over a territory in feudal Japan, and you are meant to expand your territory and conquer the whole nation. Each territory has a turn in which you can invest money in various things like farmland, town, castles, trade, military, governers, etc etc or even spy on other territories or go to war with them if you please. It's an ancestor of the very popular real-time strategy games of today such as Starcraft and Age of Empires, and probably the most comfortable turn-based strategy created for the NES. It's a slow start, but once you catch the mood of this game it's impossible to get rid of.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms 2
Also produced by KOEI, this game is basically a more complicated but less well-rounded version of Nobunaga's Ambition II, which relative to the Nobunaga's Ambition series has it's strengths and weaknesses. This game is much more challenging, it was a long time before I learned how to avoid getting wiped off the map very quickly by either my bloodthirsty neighboring governers or my disloyal angry peasants, and it's a game that's much more inviting to someone who enjoys meddling in the more political aspects of strategy games as opposed to building massive armies of cavalry and flattening the map in huge waves like most people choose to do in other games. This is a game requiring lots of dedication to learn, speaking of which...
Shingen the Ruler
This title is so unforgiving that they actually have to have a key straight up on the game cartridge explaining what the various abbreviations mean in the game interface. Building skill in this game is all-the-more rewarding however, the learning curve is steep and it never fails to be challenging. It's a bit rougher than the above titles, but sometimes it's good to play a difficult ugly strategy game once you've gotten so good at the prettier ones that they've almost become pointless to play. This one is definitely the game to go with in that category, you have to worry yourself with some unusual variables and getting sucker-punched by enemy territories left and right. Prepare to devote an entire afternoon to simply learning how to spend one turn in this classic example of NES brutality.
Other Notable Strategy RPGs for the NES:
Bandit Kings of Ancient China
Genghis Khan
L'Empereur
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Tactical RPGs
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Destiny of an Emperor
If you're into open-world games, this title hits it close. You're dropped into a world where you really can choose to go whichever direction you want and tackle problems in various orders, oh and there are like five hundred generals you can choose to recruit into your party each with unique names, personalities and militaries. Every single map I've recieved with a copy of this game has had crap written alllll over it by previous owners of the game, no exceptions. I have almost half a dozen maps of this game covered in little notes, points, labels and city names from different people. Be prepared for fights that last multiple hours though if you travel too far without training properly. I'm serious. Seven hour fights happen in this game. This gives you the perfect chance to use something that people have almost stopped associating completely with video games: imagination. You can look at your little men on your screen and think of them as nothing but numbers and commodities, or you can imagine your badass general and his last four men standing running a death spear charge at an opponents army of hundreds, the bravery, the songs to be sung, the widows created. Whichever you feel is best.
Fire Emblem
I'm going to be honest, I have barely played this game, or Fire Emblem Gaiden for that matter. Both were released only in Japan, but thorough fan translations are available. I mention that it exists here because not everyone is aware that there were actually Fire Emblem games made for the Famicom, and from what I can see they are just as unenjoyable as the rest of the series. Yes, I am opinionated. If you like Fire Emblem, for whatever silly reason, you should probably see what ugly chute that freakish hunchback of a child was birthed from. If someone can properly review these games feel free to.
Bokosuka Wars
This game is a huge headache but that is redeemed completely by how historical it is. This is basically the origin of Strategy-RPGs, Real-Time Strategy games, Tower Defense games and anything somewhat similar. This is quite literally, the first one. In this game, which is similar to Fire Emblem but more fun and immensely more difficult, you have to move your limited units against enemies in real-time attacking strategic points and defending your weaker or defenseless units from harm, rescuing and, losing allies along the way. This is a frustrating game and not meant for people with a weak heart, it might kill you. It's just, unfair. It's an unfair game. You're doing well and then you get messed up and there's nothing you can do to stop it. Nothing. But, historical it is, and it's mentioned mainly for that reason.
Other Notable Tactical RPGs for the NES:
Destiny of an Emperor II(Better than Destiny of an Emperor apparently, but ONLY JAPANESE and nearly impossible to translate)
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RPG-Flavored Action
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The Legend of Zelda
Grab that wooden sword from that cave and you're ready for adventure! This game has loose RPG elements to it, such as the ability to gather tiered items, key items, money and larger health bars, but in reality it's just an action-adventure game with swords and magic. I feel ridiculous reviewing one of the most-played nintendo games on a nintendo forum, I doubt that there's anybody here who hasn't given this game a stab. One thing I do like about this game is that you can stumble upon dungeons in goofy orders and that there are almost no clues to where you have to go next, forcing you to explore the whole map which isn't so bad but would be a whole lot better if you could LEVEL UP. I despise Zelda games that aren't the second. I also have to say, the engine for this game is pretty shabby, enemies can sneak up on the left and right of your sword which is why in later overhead-view zelda games you slashed horizontally instead of doing the stupid thing which is stab at everything. It's not really a skill thing either, the controls are too unresponsive. If you're going to invest time in a Zelda game, play the sequel.
Arkista's Ring
Here's a fun little light-hearted game of no devotion. You're an elf, and you shoot stuff, and you get funky one-time-use items and keys and stuff from enemies, used to progress further in the game in a somewhat linear, somewhat maze-like fashion. This is one of those frustrating NES titles that no matter how much you play, you still get messed up by some enemies unavoidably because they move faster and in larger numbers that you're little peashooter could possibly handle. At the same time, it's instant action and fun enough that you don't really mind dying and just keep whacking at it again and again, almost like a typical platformer. Worth a shot if you're bored.
The Immortal
Though I'm not about graphics, I am stunned by the detail that's gone into this game. Isometric graphics were not commonly used this way until the Super Nintendo/Sega Genisis days, and in this game they were used somewhat well. The battle system is, I hope there's a learning curve to it because if there is it's simply that I suck at it, but I would also say it's well ahead of it's time(though that time never came to pass. Perhaps it's just unique). It's really hard to explain, this is one of those games that you have to explore for yourself to find out, and it's definitely worth it if you're a retrohead like I am. There's no leveling in this game, but there is looting and item collecting, and that gives it enough of an argument to be listed here. You're also a wizard dude and wizards are heavily associated with role-players.
Other Notable RPG-Flavored Action games for the NES:
The Wizards & Warriors series
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
The Metal Gear series
The Star Tropics Series
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Miscellaneous
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Pirates!
I cannot emphasize enough how much you need to play this game, whoever you are I do not care. This is not a game that you should live out your life without playing. You're a captain, you begin your adventure in the carribean, and then you can do whatever the heck you want, which nine times out of ten is pirating spanish settlements and ships. This game mixes all kinds of action, role-paying and strategy elements all over the place, and is awesome, awesome fun. You're going from raiding and looting a city to fighting dreaded privateers at sea, canonfire or colliding ships and duking it out with real-time swordfighting, starving out at sea and getting marooned by your crew and finding a suitable wife to retire with all of your treasures gained as a successful pirate captain. No one-paragraph review can do this game justice, you need to find out for yourself how truly grand Pirates! is. It's a Sid Meier game if that helps convince anyone.
Times of Lore
Here it is, the original open-world game. This game is massive, in content and explorable area. It's a mashup of all kinds of RPG-adventure-action elements, and in general is worth putting in the time to learn the engine. I am not completely sure, but I would say that this is probably the largest game on the NES when it comes to explorable area, I definitely have not seen half of the map in this game and I've played it quite a bit. It has some pretty cool features for any RPG-like game too: You can kill essential NPCs if you're ignorant enough to or just feel like it. Need I say more?
Uncharted Waters
Basically, you take Sid Meier's Pirates! and any KOEI game, collide them inside a particle accelerator and this is the outcome. You're a pirate captain, just starting out but this game contains a lot more of the turn-based elements of KOEI games and is a lot rougher to learn and isn't as instantly enjoyable, but like all KOEI games once you figure out what you're doing the game becomes important to you and extremely addictive. You're basically going from port to port, raiding ships and ports as you choose and defending your crew, in a much more text-based sense than Sid Meier's rendition of pirating. To call either game better doesn't really work out, they are different kinds of games, two stabs at the same general idea. Sid Meier's version I would say is easier to get into and have fun with, but the pleasure gained from KOEI's Uncharted Waters is much more bountiful once you figure out what you're doing exactly. I can't get enough of the character portraits either, they help along with the imagination and give the characters in the game a lot of personality.
Other Notable Miscellaneous games for the NES with RPG elements:
Princess Tomato in Salad Kingdom
Some of the Dragon Ball series(Released in Japan)
Shadowgate/Deja Vu/Uninvited
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Well, I hope someone benefitted from this! I'll probably be posting more NES related stuff in the near future, it's just what I do. If anyone has questions I very well may have answers, or let me know about any games that you think should be here that aren't here!