Poll: Purchasing a Retro RPG

[RebelRising]

Hello, guys. This is a question that I wish to pose to you. My earliest games were largely strategy games, and I have let a lot of esteemed gems pass me by as I charged into the sixth and seventh generation consoles. I have saved up money to buy some new games, because, well, I want see how favorites like Mass Effect, Titan Quest, and Fallout 3 compare to the oldies.

If you have another recommendation, cick other, and specify. Also, as much as I adore party-based single-player games, I have no bias against action-RPGs either.

 

[KamachoMcSagget]

my friend says Earthbound is really fun

 

[Fightgarr]

Planescape and Baldur's I've heard are the best of the fantasy RPGs. I've also heard good things about Arcanum and the first two Fallouts. The only older RPG that I can recommend fully, being the only one I've played fully, is the original Neverwinter Nights. Its a great game.
Earthbound is fun, but its a JRPG which doesn't seem to be what you're looking for.

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

Oooh, it's tough to choose from that lot because you've got some fantastic games right there! Whilst I imagine most people are going to vote for Fallout or Planescape it's Baldurs Gate for me. I tried playing the original fallout games recently and I just couldn't get over the graphics barrier (oddly, since I've been playing the first X-com recently with no trouble.) Still, from what I've heard they're meant to be astoundingly good RPGs.

Anyway, if you liked the story aspects of Mass Effect you'll LOVE the variety of choice you get in Baldur's Gate. The games are monstrously huge (I think I read somewhere that BG2 has over 300 hours of gameplay in there), deep and extremely satisfying. Plus one of your characters is a barbarian with a miniaturised giant space hamster. What's not to like?

 

[CRAVE CASE 55]

If you don't know fallout is turn based

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Could I say "All of the Above" because the ONLY substandard games in that bunch are Ice Wind Dale 1 and Diablo 1 and the reason why is this...

Neither of these games have good stories, and they are completely eclipsed Gameplay wise by their sequels.

 

[schubi]

Ultima VII (both parts) is also worth checking out.
You can play it with the Exult engine (exult.sourceforge.net) on a new computer.

It's a bit harder but well worth it.

 

[coldfrog]

I think the fallout games are the ones that have stood up best to time. Though I never played the icewind dale games, Diablo one held up the least, then Baldur's gate, then Planescape, then Diablo 2.

On second thought, though, Diablo 2 will be a lot easier to find probably. I've seen the diablo battle chests in stores still with D1, D2 and the expansions. I'd say either Diablo 2 or the Fallouts.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

I'd say if you can only choose one...

I'd go with Baldurs Gate 2, it'll grant you the best bang for your buck with it's MASSIVE story and fun gameplay.

 

[Good morning blues]

You're going to find all of those games to be very, very dated, just to give you a heads-up. I have played through Fallout and enjoyed it, but just can't get into Fallout 2. The one I really, really want to play is Planescape: Torment, but again, I just can't get into it.

 

[Quistnix]

Baldur's Gate and Torment (and Arcanum, which is pretty good but not on the list) have fan-made patches that allow you to run them in very high resolutions. Makes them look a lot less dated.

From this list, Baldur's Gate and Diablo 2 never rally did it for me. Diablo is lots of fun but hardly an rpg. Just "whack every dude on this floor of the dungeon" times 17.

The Fallouts are very good, but didn't age extremely well. Fallout would still be my second pick from your list.

My first pick would be Torment. It's beautifully designed, masterfully written and great fun. Bear in mind that there's a lot to be read tho, only buy it if you're not worried by huge amounts of written dialogue.

 

[RebelRising]

Well, by "retro," I basically mean anything not from this century or barely so. Graphics won't be a big deal for me.

The fact that the previous Fallout games are turn-based is a little off-putting, but still...

Being a huge fan of Bioware, Baldur's Gate seems especially enticing, especially if it really does have 300 hours of gameplay.

I fondly remember Titan Quest, and how fun it was; I also like Blizzard's games (sans WoW), so Diablo 1/2 is still a possibility.

Icewind Dale doesn't seem as popular as I had originally thought.

I've also heard great things about Planescape's characters and story.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Nothing like the ol' grindstone that was Diablo.

 

[MegatonDesign]

how retro we goin here? Secret of mana on snes was a pretty classy number. unless this is a western rpg deal in which case yeh the fallouts r amazing.

 

[wrussell1982]

Wow, it's hard to just pick one of those. All of those games are great. If you can, I would get them all, seriously.

 

[Hawkez]

Oooh, it's tough to choose from that lot because you've got some fantastic games right there! Whilst I imagine most people are going to vote for Fallout or Planescape it's Baldurs Gate for me. I tried playing the original fallout games recently and I just couldn't get over the graphics barrier (oddly, since I've been playing the first X-com recently with no trouble.) Still, from what I've heard they're meant to be astoundingly good RPGs.

Baldur's gate games have horrible graphics. Compared to even Fallout one, they are old and blocky looking. This is what has kept me from ever playing Baldur's gate. I have tried.

 

[Amalith]

Diablo II is fun, and I still play it with friends occaionally. I think its single player is lacking though compared to the other games on the list though.

I'd recommend Baldur's Gate (both I and II). The story is great, and the games are huge. I recently went back and played the first one trough and the only complaint I had was that it seems very slow (not the combat or anything, but the walking speed makes it just a bit annoying for the impatient lie me).

You mentioned Icewind Dale, and while I only played the first one (and quite some time ago too) it just isn't as good as Baldur's Gate in any way. It is still a good game, it just isn't as good as any of the others you mentioned.

Unfortunately, I never did get around to playing Fallout of Planescpe. May have to get on that seeing all the votes for them.