An absolute classic that still holds up today. The cast, dark story, and legendary villain make it stand out from every other RPG of its time. And honestly most modern ones too. The World of Ruin second half loses a little momentum, but the opera scene alone is worth the price of admission.

So this game is technically final fantasy 6 in asia, but most of us in the west grew up knowing it as FF3 and honestly the name doesn't matter because it's incredible either way. The biggest thing that hooked me was the way they told the story through characters. Instead of one main hero you get like 14 of them and somehow the game makes you care about almost all. Terra, Celes, Sabin, Edgar and the list goes on, these characters have actual arcs. Kefka (Kafka?) is also one of the best villains in any RPG, full stop. The writing of the guy is genuinely unhinged and actually wins halfway through the game, which was insane to experience as a kid. Combat was fun and each character plays differently enough that you actually think about your party. If you've never played it, go fix that. It holds up completely and still beats most modern JRPGs on story alone.