If you are like me, then you love old-school role-playing games. These are what we older gamers grew up on. We learned to play hard games and figure out puzzles back when games came out fully completed. When we paid fifty of sixty dollars we got all the content we would ever get and we were fine with it. What games made our list?
The number one title on my list for a remaster is Legend of Dragoon. This RPG introduced us to Dart a hero who didn’t know he would be quickly put in the middle of a conflict that would seal the fate of the planet. He would become a protector of the people and of the future. He brought enemies together to work as one to fight against his own father. The combat system in use was called the Addition system. Additions were attacks that were successful or non-successful based on hitting a specifically timed marker that was spinning on the screen. Sometimes enemies would throw up a defense and you would have to change the button used to have a successful defense break. This iconic system still feels good today.
The story is what seals the deal for me. It is a heartfelt tale of two people wanting to be together and one having to find and save the other from utter chaos and ruin. This puts it above any Final Fantasy game for me.
Rogue Galaxy is another title that I don’t think got enough attention from PlayStation 2. I don’t know that I ever heard much about it but I bought it one day and couldn’t put it down. This third-person action RPG places you in control of Jaster, a would-be space pirate who longs to fly around the galaxy. You will spend around fifty hours playing with the story-quests and there are well over one hundred hours of total content with weapons and side-quests to be had. Discover the galaxy as you hack and slash through enemies as you travel through portals and search for lost treasures.
One last pair of titles that should be updated for newer systems is the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Return of the King. These are not the traditional style RPG but they had elements that allowed you to level up your characters such as Gimli, Legolas, and Aragorn. The hack and slash combat felt very good and sometimes difficult for a title of that era and that is what made it fun. These two titles brought us into the world of Middle Earth and let us relive some of the moments from the movies as if we were involved in them. Scenes from the movies in fact were used in direct relation to the story of the games.
These are a few of my top titles that deserve a new facelift while still keeping true to the combat systems and stories of the originals. If you have any RPGs that you liked as a kid and want to see them remade let us know which ones did it for you.
Catherine Daro
With the SW: KotOR getting a remake, the top of the list for me is undoubtedly Dragon Age: Origins and, by the virtue of it, Dragon Age 2. It is not at all bad looking, especially if you pump it up with mods, but Mass Effect Legendary Edition got me thinking. Highly unlikely, but one can dream, right?
Chris Bowman
I love KOTOR and I am waiting for it. Dragon Age: Origins is my favorite of the DA series. I couldn’t get into 2 or the last one.
Catherine Daro
I’d also love to see remasters of Divine Divinity/Beyond Divinity and the first two Dungeon Siege games.
The recent releases like Pathfinder, Pillars of Eternity or Divinity: Original Sin have spoiled me with graphics, quality of life features and more and I can no longer play the oldschool cool titles.
Arkady Random
Legend of the Dragoon is one of my all time favorite RPGs. It’s great to see another fan of the game. I would love to see a remaster.