Anyone has a good RPG to advise?

First fo all, my favorite games in order are;
1- Planescape Torment (I guess I will play sometime again if I can find my box)
2- Arcanum
3- Baldur's Gate (and ToSC)
4- Gothic II
5- Vampire Masquerade: Bloodlines
6- Baldur's Gate II (not ToB, it sucked badly)
7- Final Fantasy Chrono Trigger (I know that most FF games sucks balls, but try this one if you havent; as you can even change unnatural selection of human race over dinasours in the prehistoric times and come back to a present where everyone is reptilian with some funny guys running at streets in human costumes)

Also as strategy I love Disciples 2-3, heroes 2-3 (havent tried 6 yet).

It took me a real while to break my prejudice against new 3D RPGs, as neverwinter nights was the first 3D one I played and I cant remember another game I was more disappointed with. Gothic II was the one I made my peace with 3D RPGs once again.

Then I tried some others like Fable 1, Elder scrolls 3, 4 (havent played 5 yet), SW Kotor 1, 2; while they were alright I didnt enjoy them as much as above. Lately I finally broke my prejudice against Dragon Age and started playing it and before I know several weeks passed obsessed with it!

I know it is just a cookie game with the fake feeling of RPG, where everything is already laid before us and we just pick 1. 2. or 3. without really solving or discovering options. Every quest is just thrown in front of us with all options of solution being told beforehand. It was more like reading those old books with "go to page 25 if you want to enter that deadly dark hole, otherwise go to page 13", or watching a movie but being able to say "nah, it would be better if he would do like that".

Yet it was well worked on with the amazing(!) OST, characters having some personality and the best tactical fight I have seen in games (which was pretty similar to the one in temple of elemental evil). Also animations and cutscenes were well worked on. Anyhow even though it sucks as a RPG, it was a great experience like watching a very long animated movie, fighting the scenes and being able to *direct* the story. Story was overall pretty good and the introduction of the maker, fade, demons, magic and darkspawn was pretty good (little by little). I also liked what they did with the social placement of elves and mages/chantry, and how treacherous dwarven politics was.

I played its DLC and expansions too, and was looking forward to DA2, thinking it should be at least as good, but from what I hear it sucks and way worse then DA:O. Did anyone play both and have an opinion of that?


Looking at the stuff I like, do you have any titles to suggest, old or new? And what do you think of these games if you tried any: witcher 1,2 , ES5 skyrim, Gothic 3 ?

PS: Oh also I guess I should mention games I hated: never winter nights, Fable 3 (arg I hated that one so much), and heroes 5 for the horrible camera/map problems it brought for the sake of being a crappy 3D. Also I cant stand a game where I can not customize the tactical dept of my char/team and just advance in game rather than making choices that could lead to awesomeness or disaster.

 

I don't think Chrono Trigger is a Final Fantasy game.

 

The Fallouts are conspicuously absent here.

 

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Erm.. yes it is? But again you might be implying "it is different from rest of the series and doesnt feel like FF at all", then I agree completely!

For some reason, no matter how much I tried I could not shake my dislike for the post apocaliptic atmosphere in fallout (no offense Muro _ ). (I also disliked the future zone in FF Chrono Trigger for same reason) Must be awkward coming from someone who loves the complete mess in the Planescape Torment playing a zombified character.

I guess what drove me close to DA was its structure where the demons of fade and darkspawn (in awakening) having a similar characterization to Torment. I loved the followers in Torment, Raven and the all the stuff that went on in Torment which is completely awkward and different, yet considered totally normal in planescape. But Fallout's brokenness and things being what they are achieved by distorting the original without a consideration of outlook is something drove me away from it.

Sadly how well designed something in terms of visual references matters very much to me (side effects of profession..). So while I loved the look of "the mother" and "architect" in DA:awakening watching them with awe, I can not stand the brokenness of fallout world. I am not looking for fancy looking stuff in games by any means, but post apocalyptic themes is not for me I guess.

 

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Quick question, have you ever browsed Wikipedia? You should give it a try sometime.

If you think Chrono Trigger is a Final Fantasy game you probably played the PlayStation port released together with Final Fantasy 4 in a collection labeled "Final Fantasy Chronicles."

A lot of the same people worked on Final Fantasy though. The creator of the Final Fantasy series also co-created Chrono Trigger. But they are indeed separate entities.

 

Yuki is right.

 

Well. I'd advice to go and try these games:

1) Ultima 1 to 8, Ultima Underworld I, II, Savage Empire and Martian Dreams.

DO NOT even bother or think to play Ultima IX. That game sucked donkey balls in many many uncool ways. And that is even an understatement.

2) Eye of the Beholder trilogy.

3) Wizardry games.

4) NetHack.

5) Legacy of the Ancients.

I know that you cannot find this anymore in any shops, now only on the internet. However, this IS an awesome game. Bought this game years ago for the C64/128. It is also for the PC.

6) Legacy.

 

I am interested to know Arthgon how you could consider sucking donkey balls to be cool in any way.

 

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A good test is how many moogles are present. Never found one in Chrono Trigger, but any game associated with the Final Fantasy series has at least one.

Also the guy who composed most of the scores in the FF series wrote Chrono Trigger's soundtrack as well.

 

The first Ultima games ruled, especially Ultima VII.
You should really try them.

 

Thanks for the titles Arthgon, I will check them out. Eye of beholder reminded me of Might&Magic series. loved that series up to 6. then starting from 7 went downhill sadly.

About Chrono Trigger, it came out from my final fantasy pack 3 to 8 placed between 6 and 7. I guess seller considered it as an FF and I was smart enough to rely on that memory to claim a fact. Thanks for pointing it out, I wish they made the FF series like that one as well.

So noone knows about DA2 or Witcher 1-2 ?

 

Ooooh, The Witcher 2! That's a game I really enjoyed, recently finished my second play-through. The Witcher 1 also had its charm, but the gameplay is not as comfortable as the sequel.

Dragon Age 2 skipped the good things from Dragon Age 1 and just focused on being a standard RPG. It's not bad, but it's not good either.

 

Dragon Age 2 is alright if you don't mind returning to the same room, erm dungeon over and over with the only difference being a crate that was in the left corner is now in the right. Also enemies mysteriously falling from the skies is always fun.

 

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I hope you dont mean the combat tactic dept of DA1 ?? I cant imagine what else can be taken out from DA1 as they would still have good OST and story in DA2 I guess. Nightmare difficulty in DA1 was really great I had to use (almost) best of what I had to be able to survive battles. If they turned fights into a "select all" click on enemy, then there wont be much point to play

You would be surprised how much difference that crate being on the other corner can make. I just moved my chair slightly and it changed my world! (I need to get out more I guess..)

I guess I will give Witcher a try as well.

 

Give Witcher a try, it is pretty popular for good reason.

 

I second the Wizardy suggestion, but only Wizardry 8. Mainly because it's the only one I've played, but I did try 7 one time and the graphics were too primitive for me. Wizardry 8 is kind of quirky, but it's a pretty good turn based battle system once you get used to it, and you and I seem to have similar taste otherwise - I preferred the original Baldur's Gate over Baldur's Gate II, and was disappointed by Neverwinter Nights. SO NOW WE'RE BROS LOL

 

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I was mainly referring to the character creation part. Narrowing down the number of starting points can be a good thing, I guess, but going from a game where focus lay on creating a "unique" history for every PC (at least, that seems to have been the idea) to a pre-determined protagonist with a fixed story line is just a little bit too much.

 

You said you like disciples and heroes 2-3 (I'm assuming Heroes of Might and Magic 2 and 3) so you can play King's Bounty games, which are essentially exactly like HoMM games. That can get you a good 100 hours of fun no problem.

Other fantasy rpg strategy games I really enjoyed are: Age of Wonders series (nothin like Age of Empires), Lords of Magic (like lord of the Realms but with heroes/items/spells/monsters), Warlords 1 and 2 (oldschool). Many recommend Master of Magic, but I haven't played it yet.

You like planescape, so you like old story driven rpgs, so I would recommend Betrayal At Krondor. It's super old, but very very well done. It's an rpg that was designed by an actual fantasy novelist. I have not completed this game yet, but I am really enjoying it myself right now.

You like chronotrigger, and you like strategy rpg like HoMM, so you should enjoy Final Fantasy Tactics. If you have already played it, and you like chess, I strongly recommend Final Fantasy Tactics 1.3 hard mode hack, from insanedifficulty.com at http://www.insanedifficulty.com/board/index.php?/files/category/1-mods/.

Other console RPGs I really enjoyed are FF6, Xenogears, Suikoden 1, Illusion of Gaia, E.V.O, Dragon View.

You liked Baldur's Gate, so you should enjoy Icewind Dale 1 and 2. I have not personally played these games, however.

I enjoyed Mass Effect 1 a good deal, and Mass Effect 2 fairly. I recommend people play them, though their rpg credentials are really really light (especially in number 2), because they are good games.

I recommend Deus Ex 1 for the same reason.

Some other rpgs that are considered amazing are Divine Divinity and Darklands, and they are on my list to play sometime.

 

I haven't played Baldur's Gate, but I've finished Icewind Dale and from what I heard about BG I'll say this: while these games run on the same engine, they are a very different experience. Baldur's Gate is remembered for its engaging story and companion interaction. Icewind Dale essentially has neither and is all about team creation and combat in the infinity engine.

 

The original Baldur's Gate had slightly less companion interaction than the sequels, but in all other respects Muro speaks the truth. Praise be to Muro.

A good RPG that's in a completely different vein from the ones mentioned here is Freedom Force. Its drawbacks are that it's not turn-based (though you can pause), and it can be frustrating at times, like there is no easy way to heal your characters. But the design and voice acting is superb - they really captured that silver-age comic book feel, there's huge scope for designing your own characters, and overall it's a lot of fun.