Final Fantasy:...well after 10, I just couldn't play the games anymore. I tried, I bought 12, 13, mmos aren't my thing and FFXV was a half baked KH3/FF Frankenstein monster. To me, Final Fantasy is best represented by Final Fantasy IV, V VI, VII, VIII, and IX. I don't see them going back to a classic styled FF anytime soon either which is why I guess the Bravely team exists and Tokyo RPG factory. But, I'm just not a fan of the bland characters and bandwagoning that Final Fantasy is encompassing. I guess I just don't like the westernization of FF because up until really FFX and XI it was a very Eastern franchise.
Pokemon: I sorta fell off the Pokemon train after Gen IV. My favorite game in the series is still Emerald. Gen V, and VI kind of lost their soul for me. Gen VII is a step in the right direction and I want them to improve but when I've been playing what is essentially the same game for a little over a decade, it leaves a bit to be desired. When I see the fidelity of games today and the storytelling of games today, I only wish that Game Freak would try to incorporate some of that into the new pokemon games. Pokemon in Unreal Engine 4 would be amazing! And actually having a story driven game like maybe the Indigo League would really interest me. I'm just at the point where I want Pokemon to evolve past just keeping a solid formula and gameplay.
Sonic: I grew up during the Gamecube era, that was the first console I owned. And a lot of games I had on it were Sonic games. Sonic Adventure 1,2, Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, and I also had all the compilations, Sonic Gems Collection, Sonic Mega Collection+. And I fell in love with the older games. The 3D ones were good too, but for me Sonic games like 1,2,3 and Knuckles, CD, those were Sonic games. I could live with the Adventure games, they were fun for the most part. But after that...and Sonic 06 came out and then the boost formula took the fun out of Sonic, I haven't cared about the games since. Generations was a step in the right direciton but for me, it was because they relied on the good History of Sonic. That's why Sonic Mania is such a high profile game for me. That's the Sonic I know. Hopefully Sega allows the Sonic Manai teams to make another game with all new levels and 2D graphics.
Tales Of: The first Tales game I played was Tales of Phantasia on the Gameboy Advance. I loved it. It was a beefy game lasting about 40 hours for a handheld experience and the Story, regarding that it was a SNES game originally, was very fresh and interesting. The Magitech and Summon spells being a form of art, the battle system, it was just a great experience for me. I also played Symphonia which was the best RPG on the Gamecube and my second favorite JRPG that generation behind Dragon Quest VIII. Tales of the Abyss, Eternia, and even Vesperia were good games, no great games. It then came to a point where Namco Tales studio was pumping out these babies every year and they became stale. The same motifs began to be used and the same cliche character designs and personalities plagued the franchise. I just grew out of it I guess.
Paper Mario: I'm sorry, Paper Mario is terrible now. Ever since Super Paper Mario, the games shifted direction for the worst. They lost their RPG elements and became walking and button pressing simulators. There aren't any characters worth noting, combat is stale and unnecessarily slow, the charm is just not there and the games are boring. I might even go as far as to say that Paper Mario was my favorite RPG series at one point. But Nintendo ruined it for me. Which is why I am vowing to one day create an indie title that is a callback to the old paper mario games. I am fully willing to learn coding and unreal to make a game of this stature and quality, but I digress. Paper Mario used to be a game that had character, charm, and just overall fun...and now it's not...which leads me into the last franchise
Mario Party: Call me a baby, call me a kid, a loser, whatever Mario Party 1-7 are very fun party games and I still play them with my sibilings and cousins to this day. It's a guaranteed great time. Whenever the holidays come around and my family can meet up, we play Mario Party until the late night hours. It's a very nostalgic game for me. Specifically Mario Party 2,3,5, and 7. Ever since Mario Party 8 things have gotten wierd and overall, the games just aren't fun anymore. The thing that made Mario Party so much fun was screwing over your friends and making quick pacts one turn just to have them severed the next turn. The minigames actually had a reason to exist. You want to get coins so that you can buy items and help you get a Star. Now, there's no strategy to the games at all and they've become games that only kids can enjoy, and kids that haven't played a previous mario party to be exact. I just wish Nintendo would do at least a new Mario party compilaiton game with all the levels from the first 7 Mario Parties and similar playstyles. Yes, it's Mario Party, it isn't the biggest seller in the world, it isn't some AAA FPS with a hundred million dollar budget but it is fun in its most distilled form, to me anyways.
Dishonorable Mentions:
Golden Sun, Mana Series,
