Good RPGs

[Motep]

New or old, I need advice on a new game to play. I am sick of every other genre at the moment, and I could use a fun RPG to distract me from my life.

[ReluctantSamurai]

How long has it been since you've played Baldur's Gate? Yes, I know, dated graphics, yada-yada-yada.....but there are folks over at Gibberling's 3 that are still modding the game, especially the creation of new characters. I'm currently waiting for the Tyris Flare character (remember her from the Golden Axe days?)to be completed for ToB so I can play the BGT with her included.

C'mon....you know it's been ages since that thick-as-brick Minsc had you laughing your @@@ off with his stupid hamsters & rangers lines.....or the even funnier one-liners as your group teases Edwina.....err... I mean Edwin on his recent 'accident' Or romancing the hottest hottie in the game.....Viconia......

Hell, you can be masochistic and add on some of upgrades by original BG design team members....back when fighting dragons and liches was a chess match that could last an hour or more.....

[Hooahguy]

The Mass Effect series. My favorite game of all time. I played through them at least 8 times already, and still going strong. Especially if you like space and other things along those lines.

Dragon Age is good too, if your into the fantasy stuff like dragons and other monsters.

Fallout 3 is good, I liked it, cant think of any more off the top of my head.

[naut]

Which have you played, so we know which not to recommend.

[Centurion1]

definetly a sandbox dragon ages type stuff gets repetitive i would honestly recommend like oblivion i started playing it again and i just love it so much

[Motep]

Which have you played, so we know which not to recommend.

I have played the final fantasies, the elder scroll games, most things that are square, the .....what are they called....meh. At any rate, do not fear to delve into the wonders of the console games. Actually, those are preferred. I dont know why, but I hate playing anything other than strategy games on the computer.

[Fragony]

Planescape: Torment if you haven't already, awesome deep story and solid gameplay. Was obsessed with the sinister gameworld and story while it lasted, which was thankfully a long time. Graphics are obviously dated but they aged well

edit which console, if you have the ps3 'Valkyre Chronicals' and 'Demon's Souls' are real gems. Demon's Sould requires some dedication though it's extremely unforgiving, especially the first hours are a nightmare

[rajpoot]

Mount and Blade.

[Motep]

Planescape: Torment if you haven't already, awesome deep story and solid gameplay. Was obsessed with the sinister gameworld and story while it lasted, which was thankfully a long time. Graphics are obviously dated but they aged well

edit which console, if you have the ps3 'Valkyre Chronicals' and 'Demon's Souls' are real gems. Demon's Sould requires some dedication though it's extremely unforgiving, especially the first hours are a nightmare

Demon's souls is a very good game. A bit too stressful for me, though. My temperament is just not set for the intensity of the boss fights. Besides, I have a tendency to screw up right when I am about to kill the boss. After five hours of trying to kill the spider bastard, I just stopped.

I have heard wonderful things of mount and blade.

You guys know anything with a compelling storyline? Storyline > sandbox

[Hooahguy]

You guys know anything with a compelling storyline? Storyline > sandbox

Mass Effect.

[Crazed Rabbit]

I'll second the Mass Effect recommendation. Great story.

CR

[Samurai Waki]

Baldur's Gate & Baldur's Gate II are nearly flawless in design, but if you can't handle dated graphics I'd advise against it.

Knights of the Old Republic I & II.
The Original Fallout, Fallout II
Mass Effect

[LeftEyeNine]

No BG experience yet ?

Baldur's Gate is the peak of CRPG and no one should think of dying before getting hands on it.

[Fragony]

Demon's souls is a very good game. A bit too stressful for me, though. My temperament is just not set for the intensity of the boss fights. Besides, I have a tendency to screw up right when I am about to kill the boss. After five hours of trying to kill the spider bastard, I just stopped.

That's one of the easiest bosses, block attacks, wait for him lower, hurt him. If he starts doing fire attack run back. You stopped on time it gets worse ;)

[Meneldil]

Mass Effect 1 (the second one's plot is subpar)

Avoid Dragon Age, it's bad.

Baldur's Gate (I & II)
Planescape Torment
Vampire Bloodlines
Arcanum
Fallout New Vegas
Drakensang I & II
Mostly old games cause new ones are usually pretty bad on the RPG departement.

[Hooahguy]

Mass Effect 1 (the second one's plot is subpar)

It depends on how you look at it. In terms of gameplay, ME2 was a billion times better than ME1. Unless you like clunky combat mechanics, and a really messy inventory system, in which case ME1 is better. But in terms of raw epicness, I will agree, ME1>ME2, but ME2's plot is not subpar by any means. While less organized than ME1 in terms of main plot missions, ME2's plot is still excellent.
But dont take our word for it. Try it yourself.

[rajpoot]

Avoid Dragon Age, it's bad.

Would you care to give reason?

[Fragony]

Would you care to give reason?

It's incredibly boring, took me 4 hours to figure out I just wasn't having fun. You can only really enjoy one Bioware game, and you will, but it's a one trick pony.

[Raz]

Graphically, how many sprites can you handle?


Most of the older stuff is where the best storylines are.
But if you hold out, this year is gonna be pretty big on releases; there are some pretty hyped titles (many, many sequels) coming.
(nb: some are much more swerving toward action-adventure than your classic RPG, but will do the job nonetheless!)
Gothic IV
Dragon Age 2
Last Guardian
The Witcher 2
Fable 3
Diablo III
Elder Scrolls V
Demons Souls 2
Two Worlds 2
Mass Effect 3

edit: and OMG how on earth did I forget - Deus Ex: Human Revolution (YEAAHH)!!?

[caravel]

I would second, BG, BG2 and Planescape Torment, but some may find the ageing graphics and clunky interface offputting. I fired up BG2 some time early last year, getting ready to revel in nostalgia. I was quite disappointed by the annoying controls and constantly reloading due to dying party members that cost a fortune to resurrect. I made it out of the dungeon in the first level and out into the streets of Athkatala (the city where the first part of the game is based) before yawning and putting it down. I uninstalled the following day I think and won't be revisiting. All of that nostalgia was wiped in a few minutes and now I'm not so sure whay I loved that game so much and played it through so many times. I had also forgotten about how much the NPCs and "plot" irritated me and why I preferred Icewind Dale with the Heart of Winter expansion's strictly party based dungeon crawls.

I much prefer Neverwinter Nights 1 (never thought I'd say it). I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned here. You can pick up the platinum edition with both expansions included now for about £10 and it's well worth it. The two expansion campaigns are much better than the original and it has much more longevity overall than the BG series. I still pick that game up every 6 months or so and give it another go and it never disappoints.

[rajpoot]

It's incredibly boring, took me 4 hours to figure out I just wasn't having fun. You can only really enjoy one Bioware game, and you will, but it's a one trick pony.

I think it comes down to whether one can play a game for the story and overlook the gameplay flaws or not. I agree that the gameplay does get slightly dull....too much so in some missions....but that does not negate the fact that the game had an interesting story and some nice characters.
That said, it's one of the top RPGs of this day and age.

Edit:
BTW did you finish a play-through or just put it aside half way?

[lars573]

Good:
Fallout 3 (it's far less of a Sandbox game than ES)
Console Baldur's Gate
ES IV: Oblivion (the stories of the 2 expansion campaigns, Knights of the nine and the Shivering Isles are quite compelling)
Diablo II (I really hope 3 is on the consoles, otherwise I can't play it)
Jade Empire
Knights of the old Republic 1 and 2


Bad:
Neverwinter Nights
PC Baldur's Gate
Final Fantasy or any other JRPG (entire sub-genre is crap, avoid at all costs)

[Fragony]

Baldurs Gate for the PC bad? Does your alternavitive reality have a name? Awesome game.

@India I shelved it, it bored me to death. Combat is actually good, but it's just all so bland, it just isn't interesting.

[lars573]

In those olden days when you could rent PC games I rented PC-Baldur's Gate. After about 1 hour of the horrid controls and clunky gameplay, I turned it off in disgust. Took it back and exchanged it for something playable.

[ReluctantSamurai]

All of that nostalgia was wiped in a few minutes and now I'm not so sure whay I loved that game so much and played it through so many times.

That's why it's important to install BGT (Baldur's Gate Trilogy) and develop your PC and whatever merry band you put together from start to finish. One gets a sense of accomplishment at developing the prowess of your six party members (at least I do). With all the new NPC's that have been created by the mods at G3, you get much more replayability.

I was quite disappointed by the annoying controls

I think we all have been spoiled by the better UI's (for the most part) of today's games, but there was only so much that could be done with the Infinity Game Engine...

and constantly reloading due to dying party members that cost a fortune to resurrect.

Don't die Seriously...one can adjust difficulty sliders, and take a look at battle tactics ;-)

I had also forgotten about how much the NPCs and "plot" irritated me and why I preferred Icewind Dale with the Heart of Winter expansion's strictly party based dungeon crawls.

I guess that preferences change with time...IWD & the HOW expansion were fun to play, but it was difficult to identify with party members as they had 0 personality. As you say, strictly a dungeon crawl. BG has one of the best plots ever written for RPG's, IMHO

To play BG you must have an interest in tactics...period. I have an abiding love for NWN, as well, but fighting dragons and liches is child's play in that game, compared to the epic encounters of BG. For me, planning out who is going to do what, and keeping everyone standing upright and in one piece is the real challenge. Far more so than the micro-managing insanity of games like Civ4/GalCiv, etc. After spending an hour defeating the Shandalar Cult in the Dock's District in my last playthrough, I was more proud of winning that fight than all the fights in IWD combined. I still have an affinity for NWN, as well, but it's for all the mods, some of which are simply brilliant. The official expansions are fun...to a point. The only reason for playing HotU, for me, is the Grimgnaw fight. Since I solo the entire expansion, that's a handful. But the plot is too linear for my liking.

Klauth? Pfft. My fighter/rogue/ranger character can take him down without even touching him. Firkraag with the Ascension Mod.....get ready to reload...multiple times.

Like I said, times change and what one looks for in a game changes, as well. I, personally, still enjoy the chessmatch-like qualities of BG.

Final Fantasy or any other JRPG (entire sub-genre is crap, avoid at all costs)

Anything after VIII, I would agree with that to some extent...the characters just kept getting younger and younger...more cutesy in that Japanese style.......let's just call it "Diaper Wars" already

But VII and VIII were classics. Good story, unique ways to develop a character (c'mon...calling out Shiva or Doom Train were awesome cut-scenes, as were many of the others....), and fighting those friggin' Weapon's in VII......Tam Storm THIS!!! you ******-******

[Prussian to the Iron]

Depending on if you want more fun or difficulty, Morrowind would be good. Umm Fallout definitely, Demons Souls. cant think of any others right now.

Dragon Age 2
Last Guardian
The Witcher 2
Diablo III
Elder Scrolls V
Demons Souls 2
Two Worlds 2
Mass Effect 3

As of yet all of these are unreleased...

[Raz]

As of yet all of these are unreleased...

if you'd have read the entirety of my post, you'd note that I only listed unreleased games. :P
The idea is that, if Motep wants the storyline but can't handle dated graphics, then perhaps he should hold out until some later releases.

[lars573]

But VII and VIII were classics. Good story, unique ways to develop a character (c'mon...calling out Shiva or Doom Train were awesome cut-scenes, as were many of the others....), and fighting those friggin' Weapon's in VII......Tam Storm THIS!!! you ******-******

You know what my most hated game ever is? FF VII. After that vile excrement I've never played another FF game beyond the first.

[Motep]

Current eyecatchers:
baldur's gate, mass effects, getting kotor back

Also, bad graphics do not bother me. I still play my NES happily.

[Togakure]

Planescape: Torment is epic; if you're going to do BG, might as well do PS:T too. While BG is more like a "classic" D&D game, Torment's setting in the Planescape realms makes it much more interesting in my book. Great story, great twists from the run-of-the-mill fantasy RPG.