Top 10 NES RPGs 

I don’t get why we often complain that old rpgs are grind heavy. I get that the story of an rpg needs to be engaging, but if the battles aren’t fun it’s no good either. Whenever I play an rpg I hope the battle system is cool and fun. That way even a grind is fun, since I probably won’t avoid battles. And let’s be honest, rpgs are battle heavy. But that’s what we love. This was a great change of pace, the nes is overlooked a lot of times. It’s actually getting retro by now and younger generations won’t enjoy it as much as we did. I’ve been looking into gameboy rpgs, since I was looking for a more bite sized adventure, but that was a rabbit hole of it’s own.

Now here is a topic I have no opinion on. All I had on the NES as a kid was Mario, Excite Bike and an unmarked cartridge that never worked.

Dragon Warrior 3 was absolutely the best, in my opinion. It beats out RPGs that are far more modern, Wil a fulfilling story and sense of progression, not just level grinding, along with *thousands* of possible party composition just dust everything else. The list is solid. Everyone gets their own opinion and I'm not saying mine is correct and your opinion is wrong. All these games are fantastic and far better than many other games that didn't make the list. I also appreciate that not all the games were US releases or the the 10 Top Rates IGN RPGs or anything and you put a lot of effort in. I really enjoy your videos and i always look forward to seeing your new videos come out.

I got a soft spot for the first dragon warrior. It was the one time my mom was a gamer, and she had a notebook full of clues and dialogs from the npcs and such, she literally worked through that game with zero knowledge and basically handed me my first ever strategy guide so I could actually finish the damn thing. I of course joined forces with the bad guy at the end. Ahhh 8 year old me, thanks mom!

I love the NES but I would Recommend Playing dragonstomper on Atari 2600 as that is an rpg but it’s very short

YASSSS I needed more content

I think we HAVE to seperate "best" from "most influential". Just because something was first and openned the doors for others, doesn't mean it holds up over time relative to its peers. Dragon Warrior 3 is an overall MUCH better game than DW1. I would encourage you to continue to play through Dragon Warrior 3 and revisit your list.

This is a nice showcase of great RPGs on the NES and it's always nice to see Sweet Home get some love because it's one of my favorite games. Here are a few recommendations for those who like the games in this video: Digital Devil Story Megami Tensei I & II, Faxanadu, The Magic of Scheherazade, and Getsu Fuuma Den.

I do love me some Dragon Warrior. But depending on the strictness of the rules, I would have tried to find a way to weasel Metal Max onto the list. I did only play the SNES remake, but I loved it, and I have been meaning to find the NES fan translated version to compare. Not sure why that series never really came state-side. If I was a kid and you told me there was a game that played like Dragon Warrior, but you could find and build tanks, I would have sold a kidney for the money to get it... Actually, I may have just answered my own question...

I think Dragon Quest/Warrior I is my least favorite NES RPG and definitely my least favorite game in its franchise. II improves on it a lot while III and IV are both massive improvements over the first. How des an RPG limited to one on one battles with a single character party plus the lack of a class system or a reasonable way to influence or control the stat growth of your character rate the top slot in an NES RPG list?

I love Sweet Home!

For the life of me, I could never get into any Dragon Quest game I tried. For Dragon Warrior 1-4 on the NES, I just couldn't finish any of them. Each time, I would try and be like "OK, now THIS is the time that I FINALLY get through one of them and finally understand what all they hype is for!"...and then I don't make it very far and go play something else (usually a Final Fantasy game). I have nothing against that series and I have nothing but respect for what it's done over the years for the RPG genre of games (we wouldn't have so many great games if it wasn't for that series). However, for some reason, getting into one of those games has been really hard. That aside, my favorite RPG on the NES was Final Fantasy 3. Luckily it's been fan translated, and it's pretty much feels like it could've been an SNES RPG. Most NES RPGs are very difficult to get into without the nostalgia goggles, but I never had that issue with Final Fantasy 3. NES RPGs get overlooked for a reason (they ARE hard to get into compared to a space shooter or platformer), but there are some diamonds in the coal pile.

So you’re saying Zelda 2 is way better than Twilight Princess basically! 😁

one of my personal favorite jp exclusive rpgs on the nes (or famicom technically) is Lagrange Point, it has a lot of issues but due to the VRC7 mapper chip it uses it has one of the best soundtracks on the system (though it’s kind of cheating LOL), i highly recommend it if you can emulate it!

How is it you don't have Dragon Warrior iv on this list?

Hey! Great list, yep there is ton of fun on the NES! I must say other games I like a lot is Magic of Scheherazade and Destiny of an Emperor

i wish i liked video games

Lots of nerdiness here lol

Fantastic video. As always, excellent video clips as transitions. I saw a new video on Chrono Trigger called "Should you play the greatest JRPG" by matthew.E (typed that way, I double checked the casing.) I wrote a book for a comment. I'd love to see your thoughts on his videos if you have spare time. If not, enjoy the weekend and keep up the good work, bro!

do you know DArk Wizard on Sega CD it is one of the best so hard to find a place to play, more than one ending, four choices to start from. its amazing game

Completely agree on Dragon Warrior as the best RPG on Nes. Somehow, the replay value is there for me even though it's the same every time through.

mule slaw

for me the first mother game is head and shoulders above the rest, the way you beat the final boss actually made me tear up a bit.

Only real change I'd make is to add Final Fantasy III up near the top. It's basically just a better version of the first game. But I get why it's not here, since it's Japanese-only. There's versions of the Ys games that are JP-only that could be on here too, but no clue if any of them are translated or anything, and then the first 2 Megami Tensei games, too. Famicom really got a lot of cool JRPGs around this time.

Great video! I tend to forget how many RPGs were on the NES. You are a wealth of knowledge and passion, sir.

In my opinion, Dragon Warrior 4 is the best NES game ever made. Even better than DW III.

The absolute braindeath that must be the cause of placing Zelda 2 higher on an "RPG list" that Dragon Quest III is a malady more terrifying than my grandma's 10-year struggle with dementia.

For me it’s gotta be Dragon Warrior IV, then Dragon Warrior III, then Sweet Home!

Dragon WArrior was Amazing., the beginning of the question that must be anwsered, and if you anwser the last question of the game wrong spoiler... the world of darkness in red letters

I'd have to agree on Dragon Warrior being the best.

Why no one talking about might and magic or pool of radiance on nes ?

The "bweh-heh-heh" @5:04, right after mentioning "shekels", is a little unfortunate. I know you didn't mean anything bad by it, but the hand gesture was unfortunate. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Merchant