#12 Tales of Phantasia - SNES / GBA / PS1
The one that started it all, which I actually had the chance to play it very recently, and what a great start it was, it established a lot of the conventions and mechanics that the series is known for to this day, from its trademark real time combat system, tone, themes and the excellent character interaction, be it the original Super Famicom version, GBA or PS1, a pretty basic tale of revenge that oozes charm and personality which makes it stand on its own and be something far more special (fuck all these feels tho, god damn), thanks to a small group of main characters and some pretty good secondary ones, which works in its favor to create an excellent dynamic between them, all this combined with the great fantasy world, the fantastic dungeon design, the memorable soundtrack to create one of the best adventures from the series and my favorite RPG from the 16 bit era. Also major props to how much of a technical marvel the game was in the Super Famicom, the use of voice clips for battle cries and an opening with a lyrical song and its great visual work, it makes for quite an ambitious gem for the system.
