Top 5 RPGs for the Game Boy Advance

While the Nintendo GameCube is relatively weak in the Role Playing Game area, the Game Boy Advance is by no means lacking. Here is a list of my top picks for GBA RPGs:

Harvest Moon

(Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town)

Harvest Moon can be called an RPG or a simulation game, but either way it’s addicting and hard to put down. Yes, a game about farming CAN be fun.

The introductions to Friends of Mineral Town differ slightly from More Friends of Mineral Town, as does the gameplay. The former allows you to play as a boy, while the latter allows you to play as a girl, but the essential “plot” is the same: to rejuvenate and run an abandoned farm.

There is nothing terribly complex about this game and it’s very easy to pick up, even for “casual” gamers. Everything is fairly straightforward so there is no need to worry about getting lost in the controls.

Doesn’t sound like much? What exactly is the fun in raising virtual cows, sheep, chickens, a dog, and a horse? Harvest Moon kept me occupied for hours on end, really for no logical reason. Give it a try, if you don’t mind giving up the rest of your day to your Game Boy.

Sword of Mana

Sword of Mana has two storylines, dependent on whether you choose to play as the hero or the heroine. You only need to play one character to get most of the story, but the option of choosing between two characters gives Sword of Mana a high re-play value.

Sword of Mana sports an engaging storyline teeming with interesting characters and a real-time battle system. Enemies have strengths and weaknesses associated with weapons as well as magic, and you can totally customize your character based on the stats you assign upon a “level up.”

The graphics are some of the cleanest on the GBA, though by no means the most intricate (See Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories).

Fans of fantasy will definitely appreciate this game for its clean graphics, engaging storyline and heartrending climax.

Tales of Phantasia