I've just walked into Gamestation to look around for something to play, and I couldn't find anything new, or fresh. I'd even settle for something old, but sadly it seems they don't stock classics anymore.

I saw the shelves lined with titles like Gears of War (and it's sequel), UFC '09, Fight Night Round 4, Prototype, and Transformers: Rise of the Fallen. Now, I'm not the kind of person to poo-poo a game before I've played it, but both Gears and Prototype are overhyped games, designed for teenage boys who love COOL MACHO heroes, who can kick ass and take no prisoners.

While I've played Gears of War, I must admit, I've not shelled out my money for Prototype, and I'm betting I was right to hold onto my money. The other games that're floating around are just as bad, UFC for the tough guys, who want to emulate, Fight Night is the same again. I miss when "beat 'em ups" were Tekken, and Soul Edge. Finally, there's Transformers, and it's a movie-game, I don't even need to talk about that, just go and play a Pirates of the Carribean, or Lord of the Rings game.

Perhaps I'm just a biased, and somewhat disgruntled RPG fanatic, but whatever has happened to RPGs?

I want to take you back to the Playstation, before it had a digit on the end. Although as a tot I was gaming on a NES, SNES, and Megadrive (or Genesis, if you will), my fondest memories come from the Playstation. I could spend all day talking about the games I cherished so much, and I will do just that to anyone who listens, but for now, I'm just going to write about a few real gems.

But first, I've got to explain what it is that I want in a game, and that's a pretty tough thing to lay out.

Story is important, but not always vital, I've played a few dungeon crawlers that don't require me to be upto my eyeballs in plot.

Heroes are essential for me to enjoy a game, I can't take a game seriously if I hate the main character, unless I'm supposed to, as you've read earlier, I'm not a fan of macho men, or spiked hair and big swords (but I do have a few exceptions).

Combat System's are right up on my must-have list, it can't just be chop-chop, and pump out as much flashy damage as possible. I need to feel like I'll lose if I don't use reflect, or barrier spells.

Character Growth is a key part in all RPGs, but it has to be fresh, or fun. Attribute points are pretty standard, Skill trees can be fun. I don't mind if a character has fixed growth, as long as I can choose not to use that character. What I love is when you can have absolute control over how you have your team (or Hero, if it is a single character game) to be setup. Final Fantasy II is a prime example.

It turns out I'm too busy to go into detail about all my favourite games, I'll post up a part two as soon as I can.