Final Fantasy VI - Because it has one of those villains you love to hate, lots of powerful moments, and OPERA.Did somebody say... KEFKA?
Phooey! Emperor Gesthal's stupid orders! Edgar, you pinhead! Why do you have to live in the middle of a stinking desert?!? These recon jobs are the pits! ...AHEM! There's SAND on my boots!
Read my lips - mercy is for wimps! There's a reason "oppose" rhymes with "dispose"...If they get in your way, kill them!
Bleh! You people make me sick! You sound like lines from a self-help book!
"Wait," he says... Do I look like a waiter?
[/END KEFKA QUOTES]
Did I tell you you could stop?!
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Temple Of The Elemental Evil had lovely engine but was borring plotwise.
It was a lovely engine. To me it had the feel and mechanics of actually playing 3.5 better than any other PC game. But you are right the plot did get dull after a while. I would really like to see the ToEE engine used to design a Pathfinder RPG for PCs or Consoles.
As plots go, both Baldur's Gate I and as you mentioned Icewind Dale I were some of the best plots. The Gold Box Pool of Radiance was well done too.
Cheers,
Mazra
KoToR was epic when played darkside.
Legend of Dragoon was neat. I've stolen ideas from it for some of my home TTRPG games.
Just noticed that GameStop has a D&D package on sale right now. $18 includes:
Baldur's Gate 1&2 + Expansions
Icewind Dale 1&2 + Expansions
Planescape: Torment
Temple of Elemental Evil
Neverwinter Nights 1&2 + Expansions
Normally $45, but on sale at the moment.
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Final Fantasy VI - Because it has one of those villains you love to hate, lots of powerful moments, and OPERA.Did somebody say... KEFKA?
Phooey! Emperor Gesthal's stupid orders! Edgar, you pinhead! Why do you have to live in the middle of a stinking desert?!? These recon jobs are the pits! ...AHEM! There's SAND on my boots!
Read my lips - mercy is for wimps! There's a reason "oppose" rhymes with "dispose"...If they get in your way, kill them!
Bleh! You people make me sick! You sound like lines from a self-help book!
"Wait," he says... Do I look like a waiter?
[/END KEFKA QUOTES]
Did I tell you you could stop?!
You really are a slow one. And always, always...ALWAYS such a little goody two-shoes!!!
There's not a lot of "role playing" in Nethack, but oh, the hours I have put into that. Ascended 3 times, Archeologist, Wizard, and Valkyrie. Almost ascended a Priest and a Tourist.
10. Nethack
LOL. I always role play when I play nethack! I talk to my pet all the time. :)
NWN 1 and to a lesser extent NWN 2 (once I got the darn thing to run correctly) awesome games with some amazing user created campaigns if you knew what to look for. Also it was LAN friendly unlike Oblivion. So I could share with friends. I also spent a fair amount of time in a GMed Persistent Worlds in NWN... kind of my first introduction to MMOs. The vast amount of content and ways to play had me hooked.
I didn't really like Oblivion... you couldn't really interact with anyone in the game... it felt SO lonely playing it.
Skyrim might be better but I have been afraid to buy it in case it is just as bad.
That's why I said NWN was the best video game ever. No other game has such unlimited replay potential. And yes, people did AMAZING things with the editing tools--much better than the default campaign that it came with.
Somebody even hacked NWN to make a Firefly game.
NWN 1 and to a lesser extent NWN 2 (once I got the darn thing to run correctly) awesome games with some amazing user created campaigns if you knew what to look for. Also it was LAN friendly unlike Oblivion. So I could share with friends. I also spent a fair amount of time in a GMed Persistent Worlds in NWN... kind of my first introduction to MMOs. The vast amount of content and ways to play had me hooked.
I didn't really like Oblivion... you couldn't really interact with anyone in the game... it felt SO lonely playing it.
Skyrim might be better but I have been afraid to buy it in case it is just as bad.
Speaking as someone who prefers the more story driven Bioware/Obsidian style game (like NWN1 or 2) more than the open world stuff --
-- but also speaking as someone who likes well done open world stuff --
I am really enjoying Skyrim, and much moreso than Oblivion or Morrowind (both of which I played and appreciated but never finished because I just felt... lost after awhile). While it's still an Elder Scrolls game and there's a lot of focus on just exploring and finding things to kill, the stories within and the character dialogue is MUCH better written. And while they are nothing compared to a Bioware or Obsidian-style party member in terms of dialogue, the "loneliness factor" is reduced by the fact that you can travel with followers now. Unless I'm specifically on a stealth mission, I tend to take my wife-housecarl Lydia everywhere I go. Sure she trips all the traps, but she's also saved my ass on more than one occasion, and her reassuring "I've got your back" makes the vast world of Skyrim feel less empty. Now, can't guarantee you'll like it--but I think it has fewer weaknesses than its predecessors.
OTOH, if you want the perfect balance between openworld and story-driven, and you're okay with a non-fantasy setting, I'd highly highly highly recommend Fallout: New Vegas (written by Obsidian, the same folks who did NWN2--and Fallout 1 and 2 under the name Black Isle). In this one the companions really are well developed, there's tons of stuff to explore, but also a strong storyline where your choices make genuine differences.
As for NWN and NWN2, I never got into the multiplayer stuff (I really am firmly a single player style gamer), but I enjoyed the games and their expansions (Mask of the Betrayer, oh my god!) and loved a lot of the single player modules made by fans. Definitely good stuff. Though Obsidian still owes me a freaking t-shirt from the NWN2 Module contest.
I have been very tempted by reviews to try out Fallout... I am currently playing Diablo3 so I haven't got the time to devote to a new game that it deserves but when I finally set Diablo3 aside Fallout may very well be my next toy.
I do love story driven games. But when you consider the fact that there are still people playing NWN1 to this very day it is a testament to how good that game truly was.
I have been very tempted by reviews to try out Fallout... I am currently playing Diablo3 so I haven't got the time to devote to a new game that it deserves but when I finally set Diablo3 aside Fallout may very well be my next toy.
Just note--Fallout: New Vegas, not Fallout 3. Although Fallout 3 is decent it is nowhere near F:NV writing wise. Either way you should be able to find the F:NV Ultimate Edition and Fallout 3 GOTY Edition for fairly cheap.
I do love story driven games. But when you consider the fact that there are still people playing NWN1 to this very day it is a testament to how good that game truly was.
Well, in fairness, there are a lot of games people are playing to this very day :). I know people who are still modding and playing Morrowind. I still pop in Planescape: Torment once in awhile. Heck, I was just replaying an IF game awhile back. Oh, and I've been playing Nethack for at least 15 years...
But yes, I think NWN did have a set of tools that makes its replayability options largely endless, yes, and that is an excellent thing.
NWN 1 and to a lesser extent NWN 2 (once I got the darn thing to run correctly) awesome games with some amazing user created campaigns if you knew what to look for.
What (or where) exactly would I look for to find the great user created content?
BG I&II for Fantasy
Star Control II for Sci-fi (Counts as a RPG for me)
Deus ex for Cyberpunk
Fallout II for PostApok
Since there are a LOT of Baldur's Gate fans here I want remind people if they didn't know about the Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition coming out in September.
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NWN 1 and to a lesser extent NWN 2 (once I got the darn thing to run correctly) awesome games with some amazing user created campaigns if you knew what to look for.What (or where) exactly would I look for to find the great user created content?
NWVault: nwvault.ign.com
Yes that link Orthos posted. Look for the highest rated modules. The user rating system worked very well.
You can also find links to online server communities there.
All right, thanks.
NWN 1 and to a lesser extent NWN 2 (once I got the darn thing to run correctly) awesome games with some amazing user created campaigns if you knew what to look for. Also it was LAN friendly unlike Oblivion. So I could share with friends. I also spent a fair amount of time in a GMed Persistent Worlds in NWN... kind of my first introduction to MMOs. The vast amount of content and ways to play had me hooked.
I didn't really like Oblivion... you couldn't really interact with anyone in the game... it felt SO lonely playing it.
Skyrim might be better but I have been afraid to buy it in case it is just as bad.
Speaking as someone who prefers the more story driven Bioware/Obsidian style game (like NWN1 or 2) more than the open world stuff --
-- but also speaking as someone who likes well done open world stuff --
I am really enjoying Skyrim, and much moreso than Oblivion or Morrowind (both of which I played and appreciated but never finished because I just felt... lost after awhile). While it's still an Elder Scrolls game and there's a lot of focus on just exploring and finding things to kill, the stories within and the character dialogue is MUCH better written. And while they are nothing compared to a Bioware or Obsidian-style party member in terms of dialogue, the "loneliness factor" is reduced by the fact that you can travel with followers now. Unless I'm specifically on a stealth mission, I tend to take my wife-housecarl Lydia everywhere I go. Sure she trips all the traps, but she's also saved my ass on more than one occasion, and her reassuring "I've got your back" makes the vast world of Skyrim feel less empty. Now, can't guarantee you'll like it--but I think it has fewer weaknesses than its predecessors.
OTOH, if you want the perfect balance between openworld and story-driven, and you're okay with a non-fantasy setting, I'd highly highly highly recommend Fallout: New Vegas (written by Obsidian, the same folks who did NWN2--and Fallout 1 and 2 under the name Black Isle)....
How did you get Lydia as a wife? I didn't think she was an option...
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KoToR was epic when played darkside.
Legend of Dragoon was neat. I've stolen ideas from it for some of my home TTRPG games.
But the dark side ending was so brief; the light side ending was much more satisfying...
Group RPG :
1 ) Torment Planescape : The only game I saw where you did not want to reload when you died.
2 ) Arcanum : Am I the only one out there who played it ?
3 ) Baldur's gate : all of themOne person RPG
Morrowind
Skyrim : while the graphics are better , Morrowind wins hand down for the difficulty . I never ran away for fights as much as in this game ...
Gothic 2 : Gothic 3 is good but not as gripping .While the ME franchise is really good, I cannot consider them as an real RPG. Too much action , not enough RP and you play Shepard not your own character ...
I played Arcanum; liked the conceits but the bland graphics and limited character creation were a turn off for me.
How did you get Lydia as a wife? I didn't think she was an option...
Bugs prevented it until patch 1.5. Fortunately, with Skyrim I kept to my principle of never buying an RPG until at least 6 months after release, so I started off with the patched version and never encountered an issue with it.
I played Arcanum; liked the conceits but the bland graphics and limited character creation were a turn off for me.
Not to mention the hideously clunky combat and endless bugs that never got fixed... including one which caused a massive crash/corruption at the very end of the game so I never saw how it ended. I liked the idea of Arcanum but feel the execution left much to be desired.
But the dark side ending was so brief; the light side ending was much more satisfying...KoToR was epic when played darkside.
Legend of Dragoon was neat. I've stolen ideas from it for some of my home TTRPG games.
I think it's more just the whole game. Near the end, the scene where you essentially use the jedi mind control to force a boy to kill his dog... it was so epic and evil.
And Carth just totaly takes his gun out and defends... HAHAHA no, he runs off like a little b...
The light side ending was longer, but the darkside ending was much more fulfilling. When going darkside, he didn't play around, he went totally evil. Like froo-its of the deh-ville. E-ville.
How did you get Lydia as a wife? I didn't think she was an option...Bugs prevented it until patch 1.5. Fortunately, with Skyrim I kept to my principle of never buying an RPG until at least 6 months after release, so I started off with the patched version and never encountered an issue with it.
Plus, it's kind of random. Not only does the NPC's disposition towards you have to be high enough, but there's some random algorithm somewhere behind the scenes that determines if your character even wants to be married. And, of course, not all NPCs are eligible for marriage.
It is explained in the temple in Riften how to declare yourself marriageable
Right, and when you meet all of the requirements that they list in Riften, there's still a chance that a particular NPC won't give you the option for marriage.
For a computer RPG? I would personally lean toward Arcanum or NWN (for the multiplayer). I've put more hours into NWN online than any other game definitely. Arcanum holds a lot of nostalgia for me as it was probably my first major RPG for the computer.
For console, it has got to be Final Fantasy VI. By far my favourite.
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In the earliest days of PC gaming, there were several that rose to the top for me:
Pool of Radiance - Gold Box Edition
Realms of Arkania - The first one.
Bard's Tale
Eye of the Beholder
And for really old (Ultima III)
The next era had these greats:
Baldur's Gate I & I
Planescape: Torment
Icewind Dale
ToEE
More recently:
Dragon Age I and II (Contrary to many, I liked II. The interaction with other NPCs was about the best I a have seen.)
Skyrim
Cheers,
Mazra
Does anyone remember an old nes game called Shadowgate? It was almost like a choose your own adventure book in console form. There was a sequel of sorts called Deja Vu. I liked both of those. Not as much as Final Fantasy 1 3(us),7,9,10,12 or Suikoden 1-3, but I liked them. Also, Actraiser. Although I dont know if Actraiser counts as an RPG. Hell I dont even know what genre Actraiser would be considered.
I think I remember Shadowgate. If it's the game I'm remembering, I wouldn't have time for a game like that, now. I remember I got stuck at some drawbridge and its guardian creature, and it's the sort of game where you have to match the right tool to the situation. I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do, and a wrong decision was fatal.
So, I saved the game, and then just started using each item in my inventory (which involved moving your cursor through a number of menus with your d-pad), dying, re-loading the game, and trying again until I came to the one item in my inventory that allowed me to proceed. All the while I was hoping that I actually had the item, and I wasn't forced to backtrack to re-search areas I had already been through to try and find something I missed.
I wouldn't have the patience and certainly not the time for a game like that, today.
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For the computers I really enjoyed the Quest for Glory series. Fun, action packed, and a reasonably large amount of stuff to do. I know I had like weeks logged of the second game roaming the desert and discovering what was down every tunnel or through every passage of the city.
Just don't ask Keapon Laffin about fish... >.>
I never played Shadowgate.
But it tangentially makes me think of Shadow Hearts, which was a cool JRPG series for the Playstation -- while it uses a lot of JRPG tropes it also plays with and mocks them, and is generally a pretty innovative series. It could get extremely silly one moment and downright creepily Lovecraftian the next... and yet it all worked together somehow...