RPG's with the best gameplay

[Something Amyss]

I'm comparing the Mass Effect games as RPG's to each other, and how Mass Effect 1 fans seem to think that 2 and 3 are less "RPG" than the first game.

Because of shooting mechanics. In fact, you focused almost completely on these elements until asked twice about your definition of an RPG.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Because you were the one taking shooter mechanics and claiming "depth" while mocking people who said they weren't RPG mechanics. My definition is unnecessary and irrelevant to this line of discussion.

Stop trying to shift this on to me.

Then you're completely missing the point of my statements. I'm comparing the Mass Effect games as RPG's to each other, and how Mass Effect 1 fans seem to think that 2 and 3 are less "RPG" than the first game. I am not claiming they are somehow RPG's on the level of something more traditional like Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age, or older Final Fantasies. They are shooter/RPG hybrids. While they fit the basic criteria of being an RPG, they do not exhibit the formula as purely as more traditional ones, and I never claimed they did.

might just jump in here, just to offer my opinion as I prefer mass effect 1 over 2 and 3 (loved each game for it's own thing though)

mass effect 1's gameplay (as in, the actual shooting bits) were designed from the ground up as an rpg, you start off as a complete dogshit grunt, and by the end of the game I could run through areas like a tank because of how well I had built my shepard in it's rpg sense, it had nothing to do with my shooting skills.

That changed GREATLY for mass effect 2, which is fine in its own right, but from the first time you pick up a gun in that game it is designed with shooting first, rpg mechanics added in over that layer later. (this is predominant in the second one with how little of customization in stat and armor control you have, let alone your weapons.)

as mentioned before, mass effect 3 hit a middle sweetspot, the stat and armor/guns hit a very nice spot of customization that compliment the gameplay without making it a straight gears of war shooter. Still, it was definitely designed with the shooting bits in mind, I was pulling off mad headshots from the first moment on due to shooting skill, not having any sort of rpg/strategy mechanic in mind like in ME1's gameplay. (Another game similar to ME1 in this regard is alpha protocol, you are absolute shit at the beginning of the game unless you really line up your shots, but by the end of the game you can be a run and gun pro if you wish if you built your stats and customization up correctly.)

Now I can easily see why me3 is some people's favorite gameplay of them all, it is definitely a "shooter/rpg hybrid" and less of a "rpg/shooter hybrid" (silly wording, but it explains what I mean.)

 

[J Tyran]

Actually people hated "Mass Effect 3" because they loved the story, it's one of those things where they managed to pretty much invert all that love through a really crappy ending where you got to make one of three equally bad choices, none of which fit the game series up until that point, this being after Bioware said it wouldn't be a "select A B or C". It's one of those cases where the hate is because people loved the series so much.

Mass Effect 3 had some great moments and character interactions, the kind of moment that made people fall in love with the series in the first place. That last 30 mins almost undid everything you had experienced in the previous 120 hours[footnote] Pulling a number out of my ass, giving an average of 40 hours per game with all the story DLC included[/footnote], still despite the context Shepards discussion with Anderson was one of the series great moments. The Citadel DLC was just golden too, Bioware did try to patch up the ending with the free DLC as well.

They fixed some of the really jarring problems like showing how some of the characters got to where they ended, the other DLC like Leviathan helped prop up the Catalyst plotline a bit as it expanded the context a little bit. It didnt fix it though, all they did was give the incontinent person some Imodium so the shit was a little less runny but it still was what it was.

The gameplay was still cool though and I think its one of the best 3rd person tactical shooters around, the gunplay is solid and there are great variations in playstyles with the different weapons, character builds and team selection. Its actually loads better than Gears of War I think and I used to be a Gears fan years ago (although by three the series had worn out its welcome for me), both the single player and the co-op, its worth buying and playing on those terms alone if anyone likes those type of games.

I was one of the seemingly few people who were happy with the more Gears of War inspired combat system. Although I would have liked it to be a bit more tactical(something none of the games did well), it made the combat a lot more fluid and fun.

I share your opinion, Mass Effect 3 is a great 3rd person tactical shooter in its own right. Varied playstyles, good gunplay and an exciting pace all add up to a great game, the visuals and the sound effects and soundtrack work well too.

 

[putowtin]

Mass Effect
Fallout New Vegas
Dragon Age
Skyrim
KoTOR II

The same answers I give every-time and that's because nothing else has affected me like these games, and there are not other RPG's that I keep going back to and playing like these