5 Greatest RPG Series From the 1990s, Ranked

The 1990s were a great time for RPG fans. The Super Nintendo was a hotbed for the genre, and later in the decade, the PlayStation emerged, allowing developers to use CDs instead of cartridges. That was huge for developers, because it opened up so much space for massive games that took players to new worlds. A few RPG series owned the decade, with several fan-favorite releases. The list below looks at five of the best, but it’s important to note that I’m only considering the games that launched during the ’90s. Some of these franchises started in the ’80s or continued to impress in the years since, but these were the series play in the ’90s.

Here are the five best RPG series in the 1990s.

5) Ogre

• Games released: Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen (1993), Tactics Ogre (1995), and Ogre Battle 64 (1999)

If you want to take out Ogre Battle 64 because it didn’t launch in North America until 2000, the Ogre series would still take this spot on the list. The series featured a mix of real-time strategy and tactical RPG, giving players one of the best introductions to the genre they could ask for in the ’90s.

All three games are worth checking out, and the good news is that it’s relatively easy to do so, thanks to all of the remakes that have been released over the years. Unfortunately, the series has mostly died out in the decades since, outside of those remakes. Still, if you were in the know during the ’90s, you were playing an Ogre game.

4) Suikoden

• Games released: Suikoden (1995), Suikoden II (1998)

We only got two of the five Suikoden games during the ’90s, but most players will agree the decade got the best of the series. Don’t get me wrong, Suikoden 3-5 are all solid games, but the second game in the series is the one most people remember. That’s for good reason. It’s a phenomenal RPG that took the ideas from the first game and perfected them.

Suikoden‘s main gimmick is that there are over 100 warriors you can recruit during your journey. Somehow, Suikoden II makes every single character memorable. That’s impressive when a game like Mass Effect does it with 10 companions, but Suikoden multiplies that by more than 10. It’s easily one of the most impressive and engrossing RPG worlds of the era.

3) Fallout

• Games released: Fallout (1997), Fallout 2 (1998)

For some fans, the Fallout series ended in the ’90s. Sure, Bethesda’s take on the series has plenty of fans and has given us a hit TV series, but it’s lost some of what made the first two games so special.

Those two mixed a gritty, dark world with gut-busting humor and in-depth RPG mechanics. Bethesda sanded a lot of that away, particularly with Fallout 4. The first two Fallout games were at the forefront of Western developers finding their footing in the RPG space, helping open the door to a wider audience that was quickly filled by the likes of Baldur’s Gate, Planescape: Torment, and many more.

2) Dragon Quest

• Games released: Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (1990), Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (1992), Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation (1995)

Dragon Quest got its start in 1986 and really hit its stride with DQ3, which launched in 1988. However, many fans will point to DQ4 and DQ5 being two of the best games in the series. Of course, DQ3 and DQ8 are in the running for most, but it’s hard to deny that Dragon Quest was at its peak as an overall series in the ’90s.

Of course, it’s worth noting that Dragon Quest‘s Japanese and North American release dates are very different. Technically, DQ3 and DQ4 both came to North America in the ’90s. Meanwhile, DQ5 and DQ6 didn’t come until much later, when they were released on the Nintendo DS. Either way you slice it, the ’90s had two of the best Dragon Quest games of all time. Not a bad haul.

1) Final Fantasy

• Games released: Final Fantasy III (1990), Final Fantasy IV (1991), Final Fantasy V (1992), Final Fantasy VI (1994), Final Fantasy VII (1997), Final Fantasy VIII (1999)

Just look at that list. Square was on a generational run with Final Fantasy in the ’90s, putting out a hit game almost every year. Granted, that timeline gets a little wonky if you want to account for North American releases because of how Square didn’t release some of its best games in the West until years later. Still, this was the time to be a Final Fantasy fan.

You could make the case that Final Fantasy had the two best RPGs of the decade with FF6 and FF7. The former was a love letter to the pixel graphics and gameplay that helped make the series famous, and Final Fantasy VII was one of the biggest game-changers in gaming history, introducing players to a new level of visual fidelity, storytelling, and scope. Final Fantasy VIII isn’t half bad either.

What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

The Most Popular Game In Each Year of the 1990s