I just invested in a new PC specifically because I need a DVD burner, a bigger hard drive, and I want to play Oblivion at a decent graphical setting. Currently I’m doing all my computing from a laptop.
To tie me over until the release of Oblivion I want to engulf myself in a non-linear epic pc role-playing game. Specifically one that will provide a great sense of escapism during my upcoming 1 week vacation from work.
Considering:
Neverwinter Nights
Guild Wars
Baldur’s Gate I or II
Dungeon Siege II
Need opinions on the above or any other role-playing game suggestions from my fellow shmuppers!
PC Role-Playing Game Suggestion
Baldur's Gate II is far better than I, but it's also a direct continuation.
Fallout is a brilliant game that every PC RPG fan absolutely must play.
If you want something a bit more like the Elder Scrolls games, you might consider Gothic II. Just be warned that it can be stupidly hard (and the expansion makes it harder).
Fallout is a brilliant game that every PC RPG fan absolutely must play.
If you want something a bit more like the Elder Scrolls games, you might consider Gothic II. Just be warned that it can be stupidly hard (and the expansion makes it harder).
I'm not sure what rpg's you've already played but I'd suggest Gothic 2 Gold. Some people don't like the control schemes in the Gothic series but if you can get used to it you are in for a real treat. The developers really did a wonderful job of creating a living breathing world to explore at your own pace. Gothic 2 is the best rpg I've played since Fallout 2.
If you like Diablo style action rpg's you might want to try Fate. It's only $20
but it's a fantastic dungeon crawl, www.playfate.com
If you like Diablo style action rpg's you might want to try Fate. It's only $20
but it's a fantastic dungeon crawl, www.playfate.com
While (of course) I'd recommend the Fallout and Baldur's Gate games, you might also try Wizardry 7 which came out in 1995. There are a good amount of classes and races to make your party from and the game is about as non-linear as it gets. Wizardry 8 was more recent (2002 maybe?) but I haven't played it - you might look into that.
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judesalmon
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And a shameless plug for the stuff I'm selling on eBay, if you're into that sort of thing.
Canyou elaborate on Gothic 2 a bit more?kong wrote:I'm not sure what rpg's you've already played but I'd suggest Gothic 2 Gold. Some people don't like the control schemes in the Gothic series but if you can get used to it you are in for a real treat. The developers really did a wonderful job of creating a living breathing world to explore at your own pace. Gothic 2 is the best rpg I've played since Fallout 2.
If you like Diablo style action rpg's you might want to try Fate. It's only $20
but it's a fantastic dungeon crawl, www.playfate.com
The Geneforge series by Spiderweb Software. They are shareware so just download the demo (usually about 1/4 or 1/5 of the game) and give it a try.
I could try but you're probably just better off reading the earlier posts in this thread, especially Gorath's post, http://octopusoverlords.com/phpBB2/view ... hp?t=23032
Oh and the game is cheap if you're in the U.S., it's only $20.
Oh and the game is cheap if you're in the U.S., it's only $20.
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OmegaFlareX
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Re: PC Role-Playing Game Suggestion
I wouldn't bother with an MMO unless you know people (whether it's online or IRL) who also play.Wanderer wrote:Guild Wars
Haven't played GW myself, so I can't comment, but I can attest to the fact that World of Warcraft is one of the best games I've ever played. Ever. Half of that opinion is that I run with a really awesome guild. The other half is the game itself - simple, yet fun; easy-to-play-hard-to-master; colorful, detailed graphics (that are also quite smooth on my system, which is worse than yours since you got it to play Oblivion); huge, seamless world; exciting pvp (I wish I could kill my own faction sometimes, though =\), etc. etc. etc.
They offer a free trial somewhere. It might be downloadable. Give it a shot. Rampant Fronting (the TNL guild, we rock) plays alliance on the Shattered Hand server. They're usually cool with letting newbs in.
Sweet. Can't believe I missed this game. It's ordered.kong wrote:I could try but you're probably just better off reading the earlier posts in this thread, especially Gorath's post, http://octopusoverlords.com/phpBB2/view ... hp?t=23032
Oh and the game is cheap if you're in the U.S., it's only $20.
Why not try the earlier Elder Scrolls games? There's Arena, Daggerfall, and Morrowind (the side stories Redguard and Battlespire aren't recommended). The latter 2 are amazing and all of them will help shed more light onto how the world of Tamriel works and operates with the same freeform style of play. Daggerfall is still my fave CRPG. Of course, don't expect visuals to be better than Doom 1 on the former 2 games.
Daggerfall is the largest bug ever programmed.
Well, okay, it's not quite that bad, but it's still probably the least stable game I've ever played. I love it, but you just have to accept that you're going to fall through the world, or everyone will start attacking you for no reason, or you'll never be able to complete a certain quest, or whatever else.
Arena really isn't worth your time these days except as a curiousity.
Well, okay, it's not quite that bad, but it's still probably the least stable game I've ever played. I love it, but you just have to accept that you're going to fall through the world, or everyone will start attacking you for no reason, or you'll never be able to complete a certain quest, or whatever else.
Arena really isn't worth your time these days except as a curiousity.
Try Battlecruiser 3000; that'll make you think Daggerfall had years of testing. Anyway, when environments are so diverse and there's so many different variables (even more than Morrowind in many instances), it's certainly understandable why there's a lot of bugs.
However, nobody will attack you for no reason (although in earlier versions, getting a high reputation could cause that
). Falling into the void is still a possibility but now there's a command to restore you to the spot before you fell through. There are very few quest errors on the last patch, as long as you don't attempt to run the game through Dosbox.
Of course, being my favorite game, I'm inclined to defend Daggerfall.
However, nobody will attack you for no reason (although in earlier versions, getting a high reputation could cause that
). Falling into the void is still a possibility but now there's a command to restore you to the spot before you fell through. There are very few quest errors on the last patch, as long as you don't attempt to run the game through Dosbox.Of course, being my favorite game, I'm inclined to defend Daggerfall.
Gothic 2 is excellent stuff, it's a must play for anyone who likes the Elder Scrolls games.
They're a pain to track down last time I checked (and an even bigger pain to get running) but try to find Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession and Ravenloft: Stone Prophet as well. These actually predate Elder Scrolls: Arena and layed the groundwork for that type of game structure. They're much more linear but still give you a lot of options and a really nice atmosphere. Strahd's Possession especially does a great job of making you feel like you're in mortal danger at any given time, even in the "safest" parts of town.
Elder Scrolls series in general is fantastic, I love that stuff. Even Redguard and Battlespire are very good games, but a pain to get working. Stupid Bethesda.
For a more console-like experience, check out Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator. It's reminiscent of Chrono Trigger, has a nice skill/combat system, and you can get it new for like $5. Fun little game with a nice story, though the difficulty is on the easy side.
Fallout and Fallout 2 are absolute must-owns. NO ONE who has a working PC should not have these games.
Also there is one franchise I don't think anyone's mentioned yet, Ultima. There are ten games in the series proper. The first seven are non-stop quality. Ultima VII: The Black Gate and Ultima VII Part II: The Serpent Isle are two of the finest games ever made. Serpent Isle is insane. You could literally just get a house and bake bread and sell that in exchange for money to maintain your place and get more stuff while completely ignoring the main storyline for months at a time in game-time. So much fun.
Andi is awesome for mentioning the Wizardry franchise, another oldie but goodie.
To answer your question Wizardry 8 is quite good. I'd advise staying away from the PS2 Wizardry game though (Tale of the Forsaken City). Good concept/art/music/etc. but lame execution.
I have to mention Temple of Elemental Evil also. This game was made by the sadly defunct Troika. The bare bones game you get in a store is very sparse and hollow since Atari forced it onto the market about a year and a half two early. There are a ton of great patches for it though that unlock a ton of quests and plot that weren't implemented in the release version. It has a pure turn-based combat system that is done so well it's almost worth getting just for that. It's a joy to behold.
Sierra released it for free, so you should download Betrayal at Krondor. If only as a curiosity since it was another extremely influential game in this area.
Sierra also put out the totally rad Darklands. Another must play:
http://www.darklands.net/files/files.shtml You can get a demo and such off here.
Also you need to play the Magic Candle series. Again just look around online as it was released to download on a bunch of fansites. Lots of freedom and a consequences system like in Fallout 2 (kill a bunch of merchants, merchants you meet later on won't be as trusting of you, guards in a town that trades with one you killed people in will already be gunning for you, etc.).
They're a pain to track down last time I checked (and an even bigger pain to get running) but try to find Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession and Ravenloft: Stone Prophet as well. These actually predate Elder Scrolls: Arena and layed the groundwork for that type of game structure. They're much more linear but still give you a lot of options and a really nice atmosphere. Strahd's Possession especially does a great job of making you feel like you're in mortal danger at any given time, even in the "safest" parts of town.
Elder Scrolls series in general is fantastic, I love that stuff. Even Redguard and Battlespire are very good games, but a pain to get working. Stupid Bethesda.
For a more console-like experience, check out Septerra Core: Legacy of the Creator. It's reminiscent of Chrono Trigger, has a nice skill/combat system, and you can get it new for like $5. Fun little game with a nice story, though the difficulty is on the easy side.
Fallout and Fallout 2 are absolute must-owns. NO ONE who has a working PC should not have these games.
Also there is one franchise I don't think anyone's mentioned yet, Ultima. There are ten games in the series proper. The first seven are non-stop quality. Ultima VII: The Black Gate and Ultima VII Part II: The Serpent Isle are two of the finest games ever made. Serpent Isle is insane. You could literally just get a house and bake bread and sell that in exchange for money to maintain your place and get more stuff while completely ignoring the main storyline for months at a time in game-time. So much fun.
Andi is awesome for mentioning the Wizardry franchise, another oldie but goodie.
To answer your question Wizardry 8 is quite good. I'd advise staying away from the PS2 Wizardry game though (Tale of the Forsaken City). Good concept/art/music/etc. but lame execution.
I have to mention Temple of Elemental Evil also. This game was made by the sadly defunct Troika. The bare bones game you get in a store is very sparse and hollow since Atari forced it onto the market about a year and a half two early. There are a ton of great patches for it though that unlock a ton of quests and plot that weren't implemented in the release version. It has a pure turn-based combat system that is done so well it's almost worth getting just for that. It's a joy to behold.
Sierra released it for free, so you should download Betrayal at Krondor. If only as a curiosity since it was another extremely influential game in this area.
Sierra also put out the totally rad Darklands. Another must play:
http://www.darklands.net/files/files.shtml You can get a demo and such off here.
Also you need to play the Magic Candle series. Again just look around online as it was released to download on a bunch of fansites. Lots of freedom and a consequences system like in Fallout 2 (kill a bunch of merchants, merchants you meet later on won't be as trusting of you, guards in a town that trades with one you killed people in will already be gunning for you, etc.).
When it comes to non-linearity you can’t go wrong with Fallout 1 and 2 (Stay the hell away from Brotherhood of Steel.). This is a game that truly allows you to be as evil or as good as you want your character to be, and the game’s story accommodates it really well. You could literally go from town to town killing everybody and still manage to finish the game, or you can be diplomatic and talk your way out of every fight (assuming your stats were high enough for that). While it may not take place in a traditional fantasy setting like the games you’ve mentioned, it still has a very unique setting which is a futuristic, post-apocalyptic wasteland with a 50s retro style. The graphics are pretty dated though and the beginning for both games are boring (esp. 2’s). The game isn’t really long either, but since it’s so non-linear, it truly shines in the replay value since you can create any kind of character from a sexy whore who can sleep her way to the top or some ugly brute who can’t recruit any party members to save his own life. There are some mods for Fallout 2, namely one where you can make a particularly endowed NPC have more of a personality once you marry her. But that’s another story. Basically, if you can enjoy a dark, gritty, non-linear RPG with turn-based battles that encompasses some D&D rules, play Fallout now.
Baldur’s Gate 1 is pretty good, but what I hate the most about that game is how utterly fucking slow you walk. I swear, it takes a couple minutes to walk through a town. One town. They did fix this in BG2, though, that's why it's better ; ). Another thing that annoys me is that you can’t talk your way out of fighting and are oftentimes forced to fight no matter what you say or how charismatic your character is, which is something that made Fallout better in my opinion. Plus, fighting is pseudo real-time like Knights of the Old Republic where you can pause anytime and issue commands and then unpause again and watch the battle unfold. I personally prefer turn-based battles, since in BG, sometimes there is so much going on at the same time, it’s difficult to tell what’s going on with each character with so much shit hitting the fan. Other than that I like how you can import your own custom pics for your character and the game’s fairly non-linear where you can wander anywhere on the map and there are like tons of different NPCs (about 20) you can recruit to your party, including evil ones that won’t get along with the goody-goody paladins.
I’ve only played a few hours through Baldur’s Gate 2, and so far I’m enjoying it a lot more than BG1. There’s more NPC interaction within your party, like some of them will chat up with each other and fall in love and you can romance some of them too, which is a cool touch (no threesomes though from what I know). What’s also nice is you can import your character from BG 1 into 2, and you can even bring that character over to Neverwinter Nights (I think you can do that for Icewind Dale as well, not sure..). Plus there are a ton of mods for this game, like new joinable NPCs, campaigns, a virtue system, and the community responsible for it is still making more. The game’s a little more linear though (I think the Throne of Bhaal expansion remedies this), where you can’t really choose to explore around like you could in 1, but you can still make certain decisions on who to help or who to take into your party and such. It’s also more epic than 1. To sum it up, BG is pretty much D&D on the computer, without the tabletop atmosphere and the friends, of course.
I’ve heard nothing but praise for Planescape: Torment, mostly for its story and philosophical questions it raises, so that’s also worthy of checking out. Black Isle’s the shit. Too bad they’re gone.
Neverwinter Nights looks fun, but the thing that bothers me the most about it is the fact that you don’t have a party in that game and you’re just alone, unless you recruit some merc to help you out, but that doesn’t count. I guess it’s much better in Multiplayer or mods when you have a DM, but I don’t hear much about it compared to the ones I’ve mentioned, yet reviewers apparently loved it when it came out.
And Ultima VII rocked. I could be prone to nostalgia since I haven’t played it in over 10 years, but I doubt it.
And on a sidenote, has anyone tried Wasteland?
Baldur’s Gate 1 is pretty good, but what I hate the most about that game is how utterly fucking slow you walk. I swear, it takes a couple minutes to walk through a town. One town. They did fix this in BG2, though, that's why it's better ; ). Another thing that annoys me is that you can’t talk your way out of fighting and are oftentimes forced to fight no matter what you say or how charismatic your character is, which is something that made Fallout better in my opinion. Plus, fighting is pseudo real-time like Knights of the Old Republic where you can pause anytime and issue commands and then unpause again and watch the battle unfold. I personally prefer turn-based battles, since in BG, sometimes there is so much going on at the same time, it’s difficult to tell what’s going on with each character with so much shit hitting the fan. Other than that I like how you can import your own custom pics for your character and the game’s fairly non-linear where you can wander anywhere on the map and there are like tons of different NPCs (about 20) you can recruit to your party, including evil ones that won’t get along with the goody-goody paladins.
I’ve only played a few hours through Baldur’s Gate 2, and so far I’m enjoying it a lot more than BG1. There’s more NPC interaction within your party, like some of them will chat up with each other and fall in love and you can romance some of them too, which is a cool touch (no threesomes though from what I know). What’s also nice is you can import your character from BG 1 into 2, and you can even bring that character over to Neverwinter Nights (I think you can do that for Icewind Dale as well, not sure..). Plus there are a ton of mods for this game, like new joinable NPCs, campaigns, a virtue system, and the community responsible for it is still making more. The game’s a little more linear though (I think the Throne of Bhaal expansion remedies this), where you can’t really choose to explore around like you could in 1, but you can still make certain decisions on who to help or who to take into your party and such. It’s also more epic than 1. To sum it up, BG is pretty much D&D on the computer, without the tabletop atmosphere and the friends, of course.
I’ve heard nothing but praise for Planescape: Torment, mostly for its story and philosophical questions it raises, so that’s also worthy of checking out. Black Isle’s the shit. Too bad they’re gone.
Neverwinter Nights looks fun, but the thing that bothers me the most about it is the fact that you don’t have a party in that game and you’re just alone, unless you recruit some merc to help you out, but that doesn’t count. I guess it’s much better in Multiplayer or mods when you have a DM, but I don’t hear much about it compared to the ones I’ve mentioned, yet reviewers apparently loved it when it came out.
And Ultima VII rocked. I could be prone to nostalgia since I haven’t played it in over 10 years, but I doubt it.
And on a sidenote, has anyone tried Wasteland?
Yeah, Wasteland is a fantastic game. Fantastic.
For anyone who hasn't played it, Fallout is something of a toned down remake of it. I'm pretty sure Wasteland was made freeware also, worth looking into since it's a perfect game.
Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel is an great turn-based strategy game. Good if you want something along the lines of X-Com or the Warhammer PC games. Not much of an RPG though, it's all equipping/upgrading people and planning how to destroy things. It does a great job at that though.
For anyone who hasn't played it, Fallout is something of a toned down remake of it. I'm pretty sure Wasteland was made freeware also, worth looking into since it's a perfect game.
Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel is an great turn-based strategy game. Good if you want something along the lines of X-Com or the Warhammer PC games. Not much of an RPG though, it's all equipping/upgrading people and planning how to destroy things. It does a great job at that though.
Ultima 5: Lazarus
A remake of Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny with tons of extra stuff added (including bread baking). It's been in production for five years. Lazarus is a total conversion mod for Dungeon Siege 1 so you need DS1 to run it. It doesn't play anything like DS1, it plays like Ultima, it just uses the DS1 engine.
Get it at: http://www.u5lazarus.com
A remake of Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny with tons of extra stuff added (including bread baking). It's been in production for five years. Lazarus is a total conversion mod for Dungeon Siege 1 so you need DS1 to run it. It doesn't play anything like DS1, it plays like Ultima, it just uses the DS1 engine.
Get it at: http://www.u5lazarus.com
Wasteland isn't freeware, it's "abandonware". This means that it still illegal to download but basically the company that owns it doesn't seem to be enforcing its copyright.Neo Rasa wrote:Yeah, Wasteland is a fantastic game. Fantastic.
For anyone who hasn't played it, Fallout is something of a toned down remake of it. I'm pretty sure Wasteland was made freeware also, worth looking into since it's a perfect game.
Wasteland had a direct sequel called Fountain of Dreams that was (while interesting) not quite as well-realized as Wasteland.
As everyone has said, Fallout 2 is great. I've never played Fallout as I couldn't track it down (and now am not sure if it will run under XP).
Brotherhood of Steel is a game I disliked at first, but then became extremely fond of. I really enjoyed planning battles and equipping my characters with all sorts of weapons to snipe the enemy with.
Baldur's Gate 2 is a game that noone should miss. It is so incredibly well put together and executed that it is in a category of its own to me.
Brotherhood of Steel is a game I disliked at first, but then became extremely fond of. I really enjoyed planning battles and equipping my characters with all sorts of weapons to snipe the enemy with.
Baldur's Gate 2 is a game that noone should miss. It is so incredibly well put together and executed that it is in a category of its own to me.
I prefer the first game for the simple fact that I managed a rather...questionable gaming achievement on it. Aside from the random map encounters, I killed absolutely every NPC in the game. I was the last man on planet Earth. That was fun.sethsez wrote:I think Fallout is much better than Fallout 2, but people seem pretty evenly split on them. F2 is definitely the buggier of the two games, though.
Wonder what that tells about me...
No matter how good a game is, somebody will always hate it. No matter how bad a game is, somebody will always love it.
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judesalmon
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Final Fantasy VIII
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And a shameless plug for the stuff I'm selling on eBay, if you're into that sort of thing.
1) Be praying...
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And a shameless plug for the stuff I'm selling on eBay, if you're into that sort of thing.
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E. Randy Dupre
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Stormwatch
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Second vote for World of Warcrack. Unlike OFX, I run solo mostly, but have plenty of friends, connections and affiliations around Europe. PvP is really good fun (you have to try the battlegrounds, hectic stuff), lots of quests, great scope for player customisation, lots of rare stuff to find (if you're anything like me, Rare Item Hunter), stupidly hard dungeons, very easy to pick up.
Once you get rolling though, it becomes very addictive. I was up until 7am last night questing, and I had to go to work this morning x_x
I have played FFXI on PC, and it is good, but a little expensive to play for prolonged periods (subscription fees are quite high for an MMO). Haven't played any other RPG on PC though, as I usually prefer console and handheld RPGs to PC ones.
Once you get rolling though, it becomes very addictive. I was up until 7am last night questing, and I had to go to work this morning x_x
I have played FFXI on PC, and it is good, but a little expensive to play for prolonged periods (subscription fees are quite high for an MMO). Haven't played any other RPG on PC though, as I usually prefer console and handheld RPGs to PC ones.
That's like saying "I hate flight sims, just play Strikers instead!" If he wanted to play console RPGs, he would have asked for them.Stormwatch wrote:Am I the only one who hates PC-style RPGs? Especially, I abhor using mouse and keyboard as gaming devices. Just get emulators for SNES and Genesis, a crapload of ROMs, and a decent control pad!
Yeah, Arcanum is quite good too- I love the setting, but the combat system sucks nads compared to Fallout's.
Also, one game I forgot to recommend is Hammer & Sickle. This game just came out, and it's lots of fun. It's more of a strategy game than an RPG, but it has a lot of RPG elements (characters level up, you can pick a class for your character, you can build up a party and pick which NPCs you want, you can side with different factions), and the combat system is really fun and cool. The game has its fair share of bugs but the awesome combat makes it worthwhile.
It does run under XP (I think you might have to enable compatibility mode, not sure). Amazon has copies starting at six bucks.As everyone has said, Fallout 2 is great. I've never played Fallout as I couldn't track it down (and now am not sure if it will run under XP).
Also, one game I forgot to recommend is Hammer & Sickle. This game just came out, and it's lots of fun. It's more of a strategy game than an RPG, but it has a lot of RPG elements (characters level up, you can pick a class for your character, you can build up a party and pick which NPCs you want, you can side with different factions), and the combat system is really fun and cool. The game has its fair share of bugs but the awesome combat makes it worthwhile.
We here shall not rest until we have made a drawing-room of your shaft, and if you do not all finally go down to your doom in patent-leather shoes, then you shall not go at all.