No Dragon Quest I or Seiken Densetsu 2 on this list makes it fail hard.
I would have....
1. Dragon Quest I - Did away with dice rolls to introduce the JRPG
2. Final Fantasy I - Introduced the East to multiple party members
3. Chrono Trigger - Masterful storytelling, and a unique battle system
4. Phantasy Star - Multiple worlds/maps for the main character to play on and great storytelling.
5. Secret of Mana/Seiken Densetsu 2 - Popular ARPG that defined the ARPG genre for many years and revisions.
6. Might & Magic I - One of the (obvious) first CRPGs made, and a very good game for 1986.
7. Betrayl at Krondor - Masterful CRPG that intergrated cutscenes, 3d movement and terrain, isometric battles, weapon crafting, and about 50 other things to the genre.
8. Morrowind - The popularization and eventual port of CRPGs to consoles have Morrowind to thank. Morrowind was an awesome PC/Xbox game, and sold well enough to be the instigator for the new CRPG/Console revolution.
9. Final Fantasy VII - Not really special in terms of bringing new stuff to the table...Except for 10 million RPG gamers.
10. Ultima Online - One of the first graphical MMOs to market. Very critical for what we've seen in the past 10 years. EQ and WoW get a positive mention too.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
