This thread is for making observations about innovations and change within the RPG genre. 

system: SNES

the game:  Lufia II

If you have never played the game I recommend it.  Although the truth is I never beat it.  I was sidetracked by a game within a game that had me so captivated I never got back into beating the game. 

There was a random dungeon generator, which upon entering emptied you off all weapons, items, exp, stats, everything.  The dungeon, if I remember right, was 99 levels deep.  There were random treasure chests for equiptment and spells, and the contents of treasure chests and their appearing was also random.  The further down the dungeon you go the harder the enemies become.  Stairways that would take you all the way out of the dungeon would randomly appear, but you could not always count on them.

In these dungeons there were rare treasure chests (they were purple I think).  The contents of these chests were the only things you could take with you out of the dungeon; only if you made it out alive of course; otherwise you would lose those items.  But oh the things you would find in those treasure chests!!!   There was also a collector who was looking for artifacts that were found only in these random dungeons. 

I once set aside a whole Saturday with the goal of getting to and beating the 99th dungeon.  There was no save feature in the dungeons.  I got close only to have my whole party slain by an ememy with an instant death attack (I think).  AAAAAAHHHHHH CRAP!  Have to start at level one again.  So addictive, so challenging, so frustrating, so fun.

System PS1

games FFVII and FFIX

I really enjoyed chocobo racing, and that chocobo hunt and seed sidequest in FFIX.  great ideas for an RPG

System: SNES
Game: Chrono Trigger

Innovation #1: Multiple endings, as in 13 endings
Innovation #2: New Game+

System: SNES
Game: FFVI

Innovation: not really an innovation but still very important. This game had incredibly detailed sprites and an insane awesome musical score that brought more emotion to any game ever up to that point and still expresses more emotion with so little than *most* (not all so please don't start listing examples) games do today.

SNES: Star Ocean and Tales of Phantasia

the real time combat system combined with all the true RPG elements making the gameplay very appealing. Instead of just putting commands to your characters, you could make them move and plan many strategies.


SNES: Chrono Trigger

to me it was the first RPG where you play a turn based battle (with active time) in the same place you move/explore. Many RPGs even today take you to a special combat arena once you engage an enemy. ... In this game, you don't "transport" to that arena, you actually fight there on the spot. And once is over you continue your quest.

I was hoping for a modern RPG to do that.


SNES: Secret of Mana/Evermore

the first game where you can get "tired" if you run a lot you stop running because you need to recover. Same thing after you attack an enemy. It's cool because you have to get out of the way in order to give a nice blow.


Playstation: Parasite Eve


The best combination between a novel and an RPG game. The game is short, but the addition of RPG elements to a story (where can I find that dammed book?) gives a breath of air that most games with a lot of cutscenes can't deliver.


Playstation: Valkirye Profile

the first RPG I played where you can give and recieve damage over 9999... It feels so good when you give 50,000-100,000 in damage (maybe more...) to a foe.


Gamecube: Baten Kaitos

The card battle system where a combination of luck and strategy play an important part for the outcome of the battle. It uses a poker like combination to increase the power of the attack/defense


DreamCast/Gamecube: Skies of Arcadia

The ship battles. A friendly but very useful interface
The ability to change the element of your weapon attack during your turn of the battle without changing weapons or items

System : PS3
Game: Oblivion

innovation : First person real time battles in a RPG !!!!

The Elder Scrolls 3

-edit-
Missed the first person part so took off my other examples.

Disgea: Hour of Darkness (PS2)

Contribution: Taking tweaking your characters and levelling your characters to a point that isn't even healthy, and also reviving life into the played out "change your class" system. You can also go INSIDE YOUR ITEMS! One of the best tactics games, period. Maybe even better than FF Tactics. The throwing feature was pretty cool too, completely changed the way you could map out an attack/skip the level quickly strategy. Allowing the mages to have an insane amount of attack formations for their spells was fantastic too.

As you can tell, I cannot say enough about this game. If you own a PS2 and like Tactics games, you should buy this. It is coming to the PSP and maybe the DS too.

lol Also I heard something about a new PS3 Disgaea game supposedly being announced at TGS.

 LOL. Before Oblivion, it's prequels on PC had first person real time battles.

Before it's prequels, Eye of the Beholder had first person real time battler

Before Eye of the Beholder, Dungeon Master on the Amiga (year 1987) had first persone real time battles.