Tales Of Symphonia

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
$19.99
Being as I've played just about every gamecube game out there since its release, this is by far the best all-around game. The difficulty is at a level that anyone can learn how to play. As you play through easy mode, occasional tutorials will come up that are quite helpful during the time they come up, and present examples that are easy to emulate. Gameplay is pretty straight-forward. Mixing RPG and strategy elements makes this a very enjoyable game. You move your units around each level, fighting other units they encounter and receiving experience as a result. Ways of clearing levels are also pretty simplistic, which include killing all enemies, arriving at a particular location, or surviving for a certain amount of time. Graphics, sound, and the story are all outstanding, and I'd like to make a side note that even though I don't like anime, after playing a few levels of this I completely forgot about the animation.

The only cons to playing this game are the cinematics and conversations between characters that take place between levels. There is little to no voice acting, which doesn't really bother me, but some people might be turned off by the conversations that are very Zelda-like with the once in a great while cinematic. The only other downside to this game is that it is somewhat short, with only about 30 levels. Other than restarting levels due to mistakes, this game takes roughly 24 hours to complete. I wish it was a tad bit longer, but the replay value on different difficulties or forming different strategies each time through has made this game the only one worth playing, for me, for the past 3 weeks.

If you're looking for a game that will provide entertainment for hours on end, and is enjoyable for just about anyone, this is it. Even if you're not sure about Fire Emblem games but might have heard of them, try this one. I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Tales of the Abyss
$29.99
Tales of the Abyss was the first Tales game I played, and though I've played a number of Tales game since then it's still my favorite. The two main factors that grabbed me are the tremendously fun gameplay and the characters. Though I like turn-based RPG's, I vastly prefer more active battles like in the Zelda, Kingdom Hearts, or Tales games, and I love playing co-op with friends/family--it's one of the big highlights of Tales games to me. As for the characters, they were great on their own, interesting and sympathetic--the main character especially went through some excellent character development. However, the character interaction and the hilarious and heartwarming and/or heartbreaking ways they all bounced off each other was what really makes me want to replay this game again and again. Also, I personally loved the english voice acting; Kirk Thornton did an excellent job as Jade in my opinion, and I'm a big fan of Koyasu Takehito (his japanese voice actor).

It's not a perfect game of course; the main problem I had with it was the slow loading times, which most of the time I was able to ignore. The plot could be predictable, but the emotional punches to the gut it dealt were harsh even when I suspected they were coming. The character models were sort of awkward and stiff, but I loved all the bright colors. The music was mostly unmemorable, but I am in love with Karma, the opening song and the various arrangements of it in the game. In any case, little complains aside, I thoroughly enjoyed playing this game, so it's perfect in my eyes!

Tales of Vesperia
$29.99
loved tales of symphonia, played some of the other ones, didn't really like them. Finally this came out, I cannot stop playing it, only bad thing like all RPG's not a lot of replay value.

Skies of Arcadia : Legends
$49.99
For its time, Skies of Arcadia is an impressive, well-made RPG. However, it hasn't aged as well as some of its cohorts, which causes it to feel a bit more stale today than it would have during its original release on the Sega Dreamcast.

First, the good: the graphics are generally impressive for the platform, about equal to a latter-day PS1 or very early PS2 title. Controls are tight and generally responsive, and it's not immediately apparent that the game is a port--something that's generally undervalued. There are some interesting mechanics, particularly the ability to change characters' attack elements at will, the shared magic/limit break point pool, and the airship battles. The music is superb, equal to or better than anything in other RPG's of any age.

There are some significant drawbacks, however. While the game world is vividly rendered, the story that transpires within it is not. JRPG tropes are trotted out by the basketful: the evil empire bent on world domination, the mysterious mage girl, the ancient artifacts of incredible power, etc. This template has worn out its welcome in recent years, and I was hoping that Skies of Arcadia would be more original in that regard. Finally, as others have noted, the random encounter rate is ridiculously high and there are too few airship battles. By the end of the game you'll be longing for more ship combat and less ground combat.

Overall, the game is a worthwhile buy if you can find it, especially since it is Wii-compatible and JRPG's, even traditional ones, are rare on Nintendo platforms post-SNES.