Gaming off the Beaten Path

A little known RPG , Star Ocean: The Second Story, was the sequel to a game released only in Japan. It followed the story of Claude Kenni , a young member of the intergalactic fleet of Earth. After his ship is attacked, Claude finds himself on an underdeveloped planet. There he meets Rena Lanford , a native girl from a small village. Players can choose to play from the perspective of either Claude or Rena, and will get a different sense of the events depending on which character they play. How you play will effect which party members will join you and which won't. You can enter into private actions to gain more insight on your party members and learn and perfect a variety of skills, from alchemy to forgery. The best part though is the combat system. Part active time battle, part action rpg , Star Ocean has quite possibly the most unique RPG gameplay of all time. Pros: Expansive quest, great battle system, strong and interesting characters, variety in gameplay , original

Heroes II appeared on thist list because it was a classic, epic strategy game. Heroes III appears in the top 20 because it improves upon its predecessor in just about every way. The graphic improvments are obvious, especially in battle. However, perhaps the most important is the improvment of the A.I. Computer players no longer seem to have such a huge advantage. The difficulty is a lot more balanced and managing your army is a lot less clunky. The two expansion packs add even more awesome features with new campaigns, classes, and artifacts. Speaking of the character classes, gone are the generic knight and wizard from Heroes II. Heroes III offers unique towns to keep players interesting. A random map generator puts this game over the top as one of the greatest strategy (and multiplayer) games of all time. Pros: Addictive gameplay, strong (but not cheap) AI, interesting campaigns, multiplayer Cons: Slow Pace, learning curve