I figure there are quite a lot of W(western)RPG players here, so I thought I'd create a thread for discussion. Guess I should offer up a topic first, the most obvious one: favourites (and why)?
hmm... favourites? Definitely the early Elder Scrolls series, Deus Ex, System Shock series, Ultima 7, Ultima 9, Ultima Underworld 1+2, Fallout Series, Boulders Gate II, etc. Obviously like the European RPGs as well - Gothic Series, Siege of Avalon*, Divine Divinity, etc. *Can't remember if this was Europe developed or not. My favourite is definitely Deus Ex - from beginning to end 15 times through I have had a fun unique time each time. Runner up - Morrowind.
Ah, a classic spelling error (don't worry, everyone spells Baldur's Gate wrong ). Would I be correct in saying that you like open-world ones more than others? Personally I enjoy the story driven ones more (Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights etc.) but I've put hours aplenty into Morrowind and Oblivion.
ah - yeah I was in a run before I posted and forgot to preview, darn Lately I have liked story-based RPGs more - a few years back definitely I preferred the open-ended ones. The problem with open-ended games is that you really have to put effort into character role-playing or else they feel empty. If I was playing a thief in Morrowind I had to condition it that way or else it just eventually ended up playing exactly the same every time. I do prefer first person to isometric which is why I gravitated towards the ES series in the first place (through games like Ultima Underworld & System Shock). The game that really did it for me is Deus Ex - to me it has a bit of everything from a somewhat open level design to well structured missions, story arch, and gameplay. No game since has come close to it for me. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic was the one that switched me to enjoying story-based RPGs more - and I am not a fan of pretty much anything to do with Star Wars. The Gothic series I think got the blend of open-ended and story-driven down better than Morrowind. Although I only ever beat the first two - with a preference for the second. I got half way through the 3rd which was fun but always seemed to crash at certain spots. Arx Fatalis was another I forgot to mention - that was an awesome game. Almost got the itch to go play it again.
Yeah, KOTOR was good, though I found it not quite deep enough in terms of gameplay in comparison to others like Baldur's Gate or NWN. If you're into story driven, I would highly, highly recommend The Witcher (Enhanced Edition). Hands down one of the best storytelling experiences I've had since Baldur's Gate. Is Gothic 3 any good? Apparently the technical issues have been fixed with the community patch, so what about the actual gameplay?
yeah KOTOR was fun once through - it was definitely a single play through for me though. I have the Witcher Enhanced edition but I need a new gfx card to play it. I played it for a little while but it runs to slow - what I played I loved though Gothic 3 was excellent (with the fan patch), but it was a little more shallow compared to the first two.
Well I looked into Gothic 3, it looks alright, but apparently the combat is kinda broken (an issue that keeps coming up is 'spam forward attack'?). If I come across it cheap then I'll probably get it, but I won't go out of my way to play it otherwise. I'm playing through Neverwinter Nights 2 with the PRC pack at the moment, it's a lot of fun, certainly one of the most deep character customisations I've seen, and the story/character interaction is good (takes a lot of things from KOTOR, seeing as it's from the same developers). How about some A(action)RPGs? Sometimes I like to play the old 'grindfest', nothing like continuously building your character up once in a while.
Hm, I was ever so slightly let down with Dragon Age, I think they might have over-hyped it. Especially when the term 'Baldur's Gate 3' came up. It was a very good game, but I don't think it holds a torch to the Baldur's Gate series IMO.
I'll agree with that. But I am to this day still infatuated with DA:O. Even my wife plays, and she isn't the most hardcore of gamers. hahahaa
Best Setting WRPGs: Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura Best Combat WRPGs: Temple of Elemental Evil Wizardry 8 Best NPCs and Dialog WRPGs: Planescape: Torment Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer Best Exploration WRPGs: Might and Magic: World of Xeen Wizards & Warriors Honorable Mention WRPGs: Icewind Dale Daggerfall Knights of the Chalice Eye of the Beholder II Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
can't believe I forgot Arcanum and Bloodlines - two of the best games ever created. Bloodlines is the only game that has come close to Deus Ex for me. As for combat in Gothic3 Eduku - it is quite terrible in my opinion. I felt way to over powered at the beginning of the game - and it only got slightly more difficult as I went on. I picked it up for 5 dollars in a bargain bin along with Gothic 1 and 2 in one of those gamepack deals. It was definitely worth it for the first two games (which are epic).
Bloodlines was really good, but too bad the engine and the combat were pretty clunky, the roleplaying part was one of the best I've seen. Have you played Risen? I've heard it was basically Gothic 3.5.
yeah the combat was weak - and so was the AI. But everything else was genius (especially some of the mission designs). I have heard of Risen, but haven't really looked into it - I'll check it out
Apparently Risen fixed a lot of what was wrong with Gothic 3, especially with the combat. Speaking of combat, what's the game with the best combat system in terms of turn based and real time (for the purposes of this, games like KOTOR and NWN/Baldur's Gate count as turn based, since you're still essentially taking turns within rounds)?
I prefer Fallout 1/2 turn based combat, and for real time - System Shock 2, Deus Ex, and Gothic 2 all had near perfect systems for me.
ENCHANTMENT!! Anyway booch I'm with you. I got dragon age around Christmas and have been playin it on and off since. I have finished with 2 characters and I'm in the middle with 2 more. Also the other day I got awakening which is great.
