Recent RPGs.

[kaziard]

try disgaea: hour of darkness, been out for a few years so it shouldnt be hard to find a cheap copy, it's HI-LA-RI-OUS, it has a zombie with a horse weiner, need i say more? It be a JRPG though so it does have a bit of grind but the game itself is almost endless. with side stories etc.

 

[zauxz]

I reccomend the witcher.

( keep it in mind that, just like you, i love RPG's and i think that diablo was meh)

 

[Woem]

What I've played:
i) NWN1/2. All content. Including Mysteries of Westgate. NWN2: MotB was the best, but the whole NWN2 series was awesome. NWN1 sucked.
ii) Baldur's Gate I/II/ToB.
iii) Planescape: Torment.
iv) Both KotORs.
v) Fallout 1/2/3.
vi) Mass Effect.
EDIT: vii) Also Icewind Dale I/II/HoW

You've lived a happy life and there's nothing left for you to do.

 

[Desaari]

ii) Well, that's true, but if for several hours, all your finger is doing is moving up and down constantly, it hurts. More accurately, it was hurting my tendons, so I thought giving it up was a good idea.

You can hold the mouse button down...

 

[Woe Is You]

Isn't Vampire really REALLY old? Like 5+ years? Not that I'm complaining.

Old, sure (exactly 5 years, actually). But Arcanum is even older and most of the games on your list are pretty old too. Also, Drakensang is really closer to Baldur's Gate than anything else.

As for The Witcher, it's the closest thing you'll get to a modern Torment, really. Not to mention the guys doing it have already issued a major patch for it fixing all sorts of things from having a revised script and voice acting to a bunch of things around the engine. If you like CRPGs (especially the Baldur's Gate and NWN kind), you're going to like The Witcher. Simple as.

The sad fact is that very few aside from Bioware and Bethesda even bothers making more traditional western RPGs these days. And with Bethesda, well, while they have impressive worlds, they can't write a story or characters to get themselves out of a wet paperbag.

 

[Cpt. Red]

Isn't Vampire really REALLY old? Like 5+ years? Not that I'm complaining.

I'm unsure about the Witcher. I've heard all sorts of random things about it, and I'm just not sure about it.

I'm intrigued about Drakensang. I'm looking in to it and it looks promising, but perhaps you can tell me: Is it anything like Dungeon Siege? Because that game I also hated..

Bloodlines are from 2004 and Redemtion from 2000...

 

[GordonFawx]

Yeeeeup, you've played all the good ones; Especially on the Baldur's Gate sage.

I don't think we'll see another group RPG in our lifetimes without JRPG grind or first person pespective. The days of RPGs with a group of 6 people and not having the standard character archetypes but instead having individual and -reasonable- personalities are over. We've been a drought since the Throne of Bhaal really.

 

[Xvito]

I'm looking for recent, good RPGs.

What I'm not looking for are:
i) MMOs. Just no.
ii) FPSs. Deus Ex was brilliant. It was also an FPS. The same is true of Bioshock, and pretty much any other first-person "RPG" you care to name.
iii) Button-mashing RPGs. Hated Diablo II.
iv) Oblivion/Elder Scrolls/whatever. I don't know why, but I just don't like this.

What I've played:
i) NWN1/2. All content. Including Mysteries of Westgate. NWN2: MotB was the best, but the whole NWN2 series was awesome. NWN1 sucked.
ii) Baldur's Gate I/II/ToB.
iii) Planescape: Torment.
iv) Both KotORs.
v) Fallout 1/2/3.
vi) Mass Effect.
EDIT: vii) Also Icewind Dale I/II/HoW, but I never really got into these properly, probably due to lack of character development/plot/annoying idling models where the characters look around blankly even in combat.

The above were all awesome. I'm not picky, really, in terms of setting. Futuristic/fantasy are both good. Just something with a good plot, good characters, and RPGy.

Any suggestions?

You should definitely check out the Ur-Quan Masters, it's a freeware game. Based off Star Control II... I think. It's really awesome anyways... And hilarious.

 

[Susurrus]

GordonFawx: I disagree a little bit. NWN2 and its later incarnations (Storms of Zehir aside, because it sucked), are awesome. Mask of the Betrayer I rate particularly highly. Some people cite a particular gameplay mechanic as being annoying, but the story and characters are, imo, awesome. Give it a try if you haven't.

As for Vampire, I'll take a look at that as well.

I just d/loaded the demo for drakensang, and it seems pretty awesome to be honest, although the controls are unintuitive.

 

[Woem]

Ah how could I miss Arcanum from that list. There's a really decent demo which guides you through the beginning of the actual game, which includes the complete character generation options. That should get you started and hooked.

 

[George Palmer]

Have you tried World of Warcraft? Its an MMORPG and its....oh..... never mind....

 

[high_castle]

Yeeeeup, you've played all the good ones; Especially on the Baldur's Gate sage.

I don't think we'll see another group RPG in our lifetimes without JRPG grind or first person pespective. The days of RPGs with a group of 6 people and not having the standard character archetypes but instead having individual and -reasonable- personalities are over. We've been a drought since the Throne of Bhaal really.

I agree that most of the best RPGs seem to have come out in the 90s (the Baldur's Gate series is really the pinnacle for me), but BioWare at least seems to be putting out great games. I thoroughly enjoyed Mass Effect more than any other game in this console generation, and I'm looking forward to both its sequel and Dragon Age. The problem is, they seem to be the only studio making RPGs I really like. I loved Morrowind, but thought both Fallout 3 and Oblivion were really poor showings from Bethesda.

On topic: Divine Divinity wasn't horrible. It wasn't as great as BG or NWN or even Mass Effect, but it was very playable and the characters were well-developed. It might be worth a look so you have something to play until Dragon Age comes out.

 

[samsprinkle]

Runescape (proceeds to laugh ass off)

 

[Beltaine]

The Witcher has collectible nudie cards. Bonus!

 

[A Raging Emo]

I say Fable 1 or Fable 2.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

I couldn't stand the Witcher but I suppose that some people may be able to get some enjoyment out of it. Mask of the Betrayer was 500% more PS:T like than the Witcher.

 

[Susurrus]

I couldn't stand the Witcher but I suppose that some people may be able to get some enjoyment out of it. Mask of the Betrayer was 500% more PS:T like than the Witcher.

/signed.

I'm not even sure how far below PS:T that game lands... Sometimes, I'm convinced that it's not very far..

 

[Rhob Anybody]

If all you want is good plot and good characters then you might want to try looking past the PC RPG genre. Otherwise maybe try games like Wizardry 8, Jagged Alliance 2, Vampire: Bloodlines and Temple of Elemental Evil.

Lol you beat me to it. Was gonna recomend the 1st 3 of these (I didnt get on so well with TOEE which suprised me as I'm a D&D freak). All of them are fairly old now but I would still recomend them over most more recent games.

 

[Woe Is You]

I couldn't stand the Witcher but I suppose that some people may be able to get some enjoyment out of it. Mask of the Betrayer was 500% more PS:T like than the Witcher.

/signed.

I'm not even sure how far below PS:T that game lands... Sometimes, I'm convinced that it's not very far..

Well, I suggest you actually try it. By parallels, I mean that the game already has a pre-written character that you control, a lot of the decisions you do fall somewhere in the gray area, and so on. Sure, MOTB is more like PS:T since it's by the same guys, but I wouldn't write The Witcher's writing off just based on that. There's a demo out so you might try that out too, though I'm not sure whether it's from the enhanced edition or not.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

Well, I suggest you actually try it. By parallels, I mean that the game already has a pre-written character that you control, a lot of the decisions you do fall somewhere in the gray area, and so on. Sure, MOTB is more like PS:T since it's by the same guys, but I wouldn't write The Witcher's writing off just based on that. There's a demo out so you might try that out too, though I'm not sure whether it's from the enhanced edition or not.

Actually, George Ziets was one of the main people writing for MotB and he didn't have anything to do with PS:T. KotOR 2 is the game where the story almost plays out like a reworking of PS:T due to some of the same people working on it.

FYI, I have played some of the Witcher and don't like it due to finding the gameplay dull and not caring about any of the characters. It may do shades of grey well but that isn't enough for me.