Didja know that the best RPGs are on the 360?

by Dustin Burg { Feb 28th 2008 at 3:15PM }

Microsoft just launched a new marketing campaign whose main aim is to get you trained so that when someone mentions the letters RPG your instant response will be Xbox 360. The Best RPGs Are On Xbox 360 is the campaign's name and highlights some of the best of the best RPGs that grace the Xbox 360 including Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Mass Effect, Oblivion and of course Fable 2. Simply head to Xbox.com to get the dish on these super RPGs and if your interest is piqued, make your way to Gamestop. There you will find a free retail disc that comes packed with information on these "Best RPGs" as well as never before seen videos of Fable 2 and the complete Sci-Fi channel "Sci vs Fi" episode featuring Mass Effect. Now how can you not agree? The Xbox 360 is hands down the best place to find RPGs ... just none that are on the Playstation platform.

Tags: blue-dragon, fable-2, lost-odyssey, mass-efect, oblivion, rpg

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Ranus Studios @ Feb 28th 2008 3:22PM

I agree, but probably only for the time being. Playstations love their RPGs; we're just waiting on a good one.

This is kind of a stretch, but it's sort of like how the only real RPG on the N64 was Quest 64 until Ocarina of Time came out. And even then, Zelda isn't much of an RPG.

Roto13 @ Feb 28th 2008 3:30PM

Zelda isn't an RPG, even by the loose definition of video game RPGs. :P

But yeah. The PS3 will probably end up with more great RPGs than the 360 when it's all said and done, with games like Final Fantasy XIII and Disgaea 3.

Edge @ Feb 28th 2008 4:05PM

For the record, Zelda, Secret of Mana/Evermore, Kingdom Hearts...all of these action oriented properties are more distinctly defined as "Epics". In fact, it's a label I would easily apply to Elder Scrolls as well, due to its action focus. Maybe "Action RPG" could work but that kinda stretches what I think of an RPG.

Of course, just my opinion...

CB @ Feb 28th 2008 7:18PM

It's definitely an action-adventure.

AoE @ Feb 28th 2008 7:29PM

Edge, I agree... except the Elder Scrolls series shouldn't be lumped in with the rest. It's got more hardcore stat management and behind-the-scenes dice rolls (basically for every action you take... kinda like in a pen & paper rpg) than just about any other RPG on the market. In Oblivion they did their best to put as much of this "behind the scenes" as possible... but at the end of the day Oblivion is still a classic western-style computer RPG based on dice-rolls and stats.

NATO_Duke @ Feb 28th 2008 3:31PM

I would agree too for the time being - yet we all know that the PS3 will hit rpg's hard in the future, and will have some great one's to enjoy.

Larry @ Feb 28th 2008 3:33PM

Too Human is shaping up to be a nice action RPG in the Diablo style.

ZenGaijin @ Feb 28th 2008 3:35PM

I still think PS2 has 360 beat I mean BlueDragon wasn't something I consider a must play RPG but Losy Odyssey seems amazing.

And one game does not make a console the best at RPG's.

Tony @ Feb 28th 2008 3:36PM

I think at this stage the only RPGs the PS3 has in the US are Folk Soul and Enchanted Arms, so it's not exactly a false statement. When stuff like FFXIII and Disgaea 3 and whatever else hit here, then maybe it'll be worth re-evaluating.

I think even then, the 360 has more in the pipeline right now... people seem to forget those two Atlus published titles.

eugene @ Feb 28th 2008 3:38PM

Isn't this kinda like when a parent calls their only child their favorite child?

Raheem @ Feb 28th 2008 3:41PM

Don't worry, you're still their favourite.

LesbianHam @ Feb 28th 2008 4:58PM

I'm an only child and aren't my parents' favourite :(

JakubK666 @ Feb 28th 2008 3:41PM

If two JRPG's and two ARPG's (plus one dumbed down RPG) are the best they can offer, I'm pretty sure that PC will remain the King of RTS's and RPG's.Some genres just don't go along with consoles.

Imo KOTOR and its sequel were the only great CRPG's I came across on consoles.

James @ Feb 28th 2008 5:23PM

Obviously the PC is king of every genre, if you go by sheer quantity (and possibly quality in most of them, frankly). Between consoles, though, the clear winner is the PS2 -- they're *still* getting more and better RPGs than any new-gen system.

Tony @ Feb 28th 2008 3:48PM

I don't know, it seems obvious that the best CRPGs would be on a computer given that word is part of its acronym.

danny. @ Feb 28th 2008 3:52PM

The DS objects... I love me some Lost Odyssey though.

Neuromancer @ Feb 28th 2008 3:59PM

I'd love to get a Dragon Quest on the 360.. Dragon Quest VIII rocked! I'm going to stop by Gamestop on my way home... I'm jonesin' for some Fable 2 footage!

Adam @ Feb 28th 2008 4:00PM

There the best in the shooter area too.Hell there the best all around period.

John McPoop @ Feb 28th 2008 9:36PM

More idiot banter Adam. The should be the best for shooters considering the majority of 360 games and great exclusives are shooters. I mean all of the must have 360 games are shooters other than maybe the highly anticipated Ninja Gaiden 2.

Bioshock
Halo 3
Gears Of War
Battlefield

I suppose you can call Frontlines a 360 exclusive now but the campaign is dreadful.

But for every Bioshock there is also a Shadowrun.

PS3 will certainly be the best system for RPGs. Folklore is an awesome game and I think it was just as good if not better than Blue Dragon (albeit different).

Mass Effect is an amazing game but I really do not consider that a true RPG (even though technically it may be).

I can't see myself buying Lost Odyssey mainly because it has 5 disc which in my mind is unacceptable in this day and age.

I am much more excited for Too Human and Champions Online than i am for Fable 2. Mainly because of the lies and empty promises from the original Fable.

So the 360 certainly has the best RPGs now but its more to with the fact the other 2 systems really have zero or very limited selection.

PS2 is still the king for RPGs. heck even the PSP has good ones with the FF games, Monster Hunter and Jeanne D'Arc. I can't wait for the Monster Hunter on Wii.

Shattercross @ Feb 28th 2008 4:03PM

I've got to hand it to you guys, the 360 is where the next-gen rpgs are at right now. I should boot up my roommate's 360 and get into that copy of Mass Effect he got for Christmas.

dancingtosirens @ Feb 28th 2008 4:04PM

I dont think you can state you have the best RPGs on your system when you have... what... 5?
I know it's a humble attempt to get more people onto their system, but I dont think the 360 will ever be known for it's RPGs. Maybe Im just being pessimistic.
At least it has great FPS games though.

Ryan @ Feb 28th 2008 4:27PM

Since when do they only have 5? They were just listing off 5 of the better ones...

LesbianHam @ Feb 28th 2008 5:06PM

@ dancingtosirens:

Fable 2
Lost Odyssey
Mass Effect
Oblivion
Two Worlds
Blue Dragon
Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom
Eternal Sonata
Enchanted Arms
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
Sacred 2: Fallen Angel
Phantasy Star Universe

James @ Feb 28th 2008 5:46PM

Wow, we really need to settle on what an "RPG" is. Obviously you can't just go by the name -- you "play a role" in most games, after all -- so I'm going to call it a game driven by the desire to improve your character(s) by gaining some kind of "experience", with more focus on a deep story than twitch action. I'll give you Fable 2, Lost Odyssey, Mass Effect, Oblivion, Blue Dragon, Two Worlds, Eternal Sonata, and Enchanted Arms. I haven't played all of them, but I think they're all in the "traditional" RPG mold. You forgot Dark Messiah, which fits that definition pretty well.

A bunch of your list is definitely "Action RPG" (less development, more twitch), though, and some of them are very light on the RPG part: Kingdom Under Fire COD, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, Phantasy Star Universe. I think a lot of people would draw a bright line between Final Fantasy and Diablo. I'd also include Overlord in this category.

Anyway, just to be scientific about it, I went to the Gamestop website and pulled up 360 Games, RPGs, New, Shipping Now (e.g. not "coming soon"), and got 14 games. That includes 3 MMOs (2 FF XI games and Phantasy Star), Overlord, the Elder Scrolls expansion, and Culdcept (!). Subtract those and you get 8 games. Now, I'll do the same for PS2 -- I picked Used instead of New so I don't get games counting twice, but can also see games they don't stock new anymore. That comes up with 71. That's in just under 8 years, compared to 8 games in just over 2 years. I think maybe we just have to resign ourselves to the idea that RPGs are on the decline.

That said, 360 still beats the PS3 (one RPG and one action-RPG) and Wii (no real RPGs yet!).

Etchasketchist @ Feb 28th 2008 7:00PM

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance is an RPG? Uh...sorta.

Edge @ Feb 28th 2008 4:07PM

The importance of RPG is lost on me. I would rather drive the narrative rather than let some prima donna asian dev give me a story that recently rode the waves of his colon.

Shattercross @ Feb 28th 2008 4:17PM

Not all Role playing games are developed by asians.... a lot of them are, but not all of them.

I found it pretty ironic that Jade Empire was developed by Canadians.

Will @ Feb 28th 2008 4:17PM

Don't forget Eternal Sonata

Shattercross @ Feb 28th 2008 4:19PM

I think they're focusing on 360 exclusives, Eternal Sonata is being ported to the ps3.

Ejab @ Feb 28th 2008 4:21PM

For anyone who thinks the ps3 will get more rpgs just think of it this way, we get 3 more sakaguchi games, 2 games from Tri-Ace games, 2 more Mass Effect games, Tales of Vesparia, The last Remnant, Gothic, Rise of The Arganouts, Age of Conan, and Tons more Wrpgs, and MMO rpgs, this gens king of rpgs is MS.

David W. @ Feb 28th 2008 4:21PM

I have trouble associating mass effect with RPGs...When I think of RPGs I think of Blue Dragon or FF...To me Mass Effect is a shooter...

dunnypop @ Feb 28th 2008 4:50PM

then it would be the worst shooter ever. ME isn't a shooter, it's an RPG in a different style than most of them out there.

Etchasketchist @ Feb 28th 2008 7:18PM

I'd like to remind everybody to read the PR material before scoffing at its claim. To those who think MS is saying that XBox 360 is the best console for RPG players, that's not the case. It's saying that the best RPG's are on the 360. Quality, not quantity is what its claiming. So counting PS2 titles isn't really addressing the issue. Now if you want to talk about how all the 360 RPGs suck and the PS2 has better games, that's a valid line of argument and a logical rebuttal.

anton @ Feb 28th 2008 8:45PM

It's just a Western RPG, it has the hallmarks of NWN. The gunplay is all stats based, they've just tied it into a real-time run and gun engine, the same as Oblivion, or Fallout 3.

I'd consider it a heavier weight RPG than most of the JRPGs out there, which don't allow for stats management, and often devolve into linear turn based card-games.

The mark of a GREAT RPG is that you should be able to complete it how you like. A good measure, is if you can complete the game without entering combat. You should be able to use diplomacy, or stealth, or any range of methods to make it from milestone to milestone.

Scott @ Feb 28th 2008 4:58PM

Shouldn't they be marketing this in Japan? You know, where RPGs are big and the 360s sales suck.

OTAM @ Feb 28th 2008 6:55PM

It's funny how Microsoft all of a sudden gets maybe a handful of RPGs between TWO consoles and now they're the experts and leaders in the RPG genre. I own all 3 of the new consoles and even I know at this point that Sony basically owns the RPG market with the titles they get. Blue Dragon,Eternal Sonata and Enchanted Arms are all average games (with the later 2 being on the PS3 as well). I havent played Lost Odyssey so I can't say much on that,but Mass Effect is good.

Seriously Microsoft,stick to the action/fps games that you're best at. Don't get Uno and Marble Madness and then tell Nintendo and others you're the best console for casual games.

Just my 2 cents from the perspective of a true unbiased source,the guy who owns all the consoles.

DjFIL @ Feb 28th 2008 10:16PM

i'm not usually an rpg fan, but enjoy playing once in a while... but I got sucked in to Eternal Sonata, that was a great RPG... and Mass Effect (even though not a traditional RPG) is also very well done.

ZeroCorpse @ Feb 28th 2008 11:34PM

Even when the PS3 does start getting RPGs, they'll be those cruddy JRPGs, and not good, solid western ones.

I'll stick with the RPGs on the 360. Japanese "RPGs" aren't really RPGs at all. They're bad anime movies on a track, with a slight "choose your own adventure" feel... And maybe a random fight every once in a while.

I still don't understand why anybody likes that Final Fantasy crap. Those games SUCKED. I'd much rather play Neverwinter Nights or Oblivion.

ali @ Feb 29th 2008 6:48AM

what about Oblivion? thats on ps3 not to be negative but the 360 needs Blueray, till then the ps3 is kicking our ass, like GTA was made smaller because the 360 DVD couldent hold it, i mean comeon Microsoft get a grip, our sales are dropping rapidly and its all because ps3 has more to offer.

Adam @ Feb 29th 2008 10:51AM

@John McPoop

Take you ps3 loving fucking ass elswhere.Nobody gives a shit what you think the ps3 will have.Until its on the store shelves dont consider it anything.I hate when people scream ohh yeah were gonna have
"YOU DONT HAVE" and i could really give a rats ass anyway becuase the point is for every great game you get we got great games from 2 years before so your 4 exclusive "great games" that are most likely garbage anyway" wont couint shit next to ou exclusives we have had and have coming.But i should be shush about it.I dont scream fable2 or gow2 right now but i will when i have my hands on them:"pending there any good" But for every title we have now 360 owners have plenty to play.

I was in walmart last night laughing.I looked at the ps3 game rack with its 40 or so games.Then went into the aisle of ps3 games and noticed how many were on the 360.

Its just crazy that sony fans would even argue they have the better titles.All we hear is "we will have"

Until you do and those games are worth anything.

SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Adam @ Feb 29th 2008 10:57AM

@ali
Nothing was made smaller for 360.The ps3 is whats caused the game to take so long to release.Its called compression and gta has over 100 hours of gameplay and more on 360 due to EXCLUSIVE CONTENT.

360 has the complete version of gta4 while the ps3 has the latter.The only reason ps3 is selling is for bluray movie playback.Nobody is buying software.Dont believe me go to vgchartz and have a look.
Plus the 360 has had supply constraints currently.Just wait till gta4 launches you gonna see fire.

Lee @ Feb 29th 2008 2:00PM

I have to admit, I was very close to saying 'forget it, I'm not buying a 360, its just not my console'.

But seeing that Microsoft is actually making some efforts to putting RPGs on the 360 actually changes my mind. Its not JUST RPGs I'm interested in, but I have no interest in any first person shooters. In fact, the only FPS I'll probably get is Portal and mostly JUST because of the hype.

Now, the reasons why I don't play many first person games, and probably something that game companies really don't think about, is that the First Person perspective causes me to have very real motion sickness that detracts from my enjoyment of the game. I need a character to act as a focal point for me to follow. Feeling like I'm 'in' the game is not a good thing for me.

Its sad too because there are nice non-Shooter First Person games I would love to try but I know would just be no fun. I wish the developers would just slip in a 'switch to third' button that lets you choose which person point of view you can play in.

Anyways, looking forward to finding some good games for my 360 when I get it. I don't like a lot of gore either, but if I want xbox live games I may have to find a away to wire up the box to my modem since I don't have wifi.

Nuff chatter. I think Loss Odyssey is my dream come true and looking forward to playing it, although, I wonder, is it linear, or can you choose paths? I'll have to look into it some more. ;)

Tabion @ Mar 1st 2008 5:51AM

Yeah, the XBOX has all the great RPGs.... Actually, it pretty much HAS all of the RPGs of this generation. But, then again, 360s are pieces of crap that die out like crazy. There's no way I'm buying a 360 if it's just gonna crap out after I've sunk 40 hours into a game only to be told by some XBOX Live drone that he can't do anything about the little mishap that happened during the transfer of my gamertag to a new console and that I was just out of luck with all of my saved games and downloaded/paid for content which don't work any more because of some DRM bullcrap!

No freakin' way. And I really love RPGs, too, so this is totally bumming me out.

Ghostbuddy @ Mar 13th 2008 2:26PM

I don't see how anyone can argue that ME or Oblivion aren't RPGs. Yes, they aren't stereotypical RPGs, with a turn based formula. But they ARE RPGs to the truest defintion.

RPG stands for role playing game. Don't get caught up in stereotypes. Both ME and Oblivion are role playing games. You can call them action RPGs, but ultimately they are still RPGs.