Your top 3D RPG's

[Pladio]

Might and Magic VI and VII spring to mind too by the way. Graphics are a bit dated, but the universe is really good with a good ruleset in my opinion.

 

[Maylander]

So basically there is a form of Z-axis, but not a traditional one where movement in 3D space is possible for an object (not just talking about the character).

I'm not even sure what the term is (if there is one at all). The closest I can think of would be "pseudo 3D". 2,5D is a more commonly used term that doesn't describe the Aurora engine and it's capabilities/limitations.

For reference:
http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=126287&sid=4ffd5bbc5a8ae25afa6f4dfec72368ce

Edit: It seems pseudo 3D is already taken! It's basically 2,5D the way I see it..

 

[DeepO]

Forgot to include Arx Fatalis.
Great atmosphere and best crypts ever.

 

[DArtagnan]

So basically there is a form of Z-axis, but not a traditional one where movement in 3D space is possible for an object (not just talking about the character).

I'm not even sure what the term is (if there is one at all). The closest I can think of would be "pseudo 3D". 2,5D is a more commonly used term that doesn't describe the Aurora engine and it's capabilities/limitations.

For reference:
http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=126287&sid=4ffd5bbc5a8ae25afa6f4dfec72368ce

Edit: It seems pseudo 3D is already taken! It's basically 2,5D the way I see it..

Well, I'm not too concerned with what to call it.

There are hills in the game, and you can go "up" through the Z-axis - if that's what you mean.

I'm talking about the rendering engine - as in how the graphics are built. If we're talking about movement or free roaming - then it doesn't have full 3D movement, but then very few games do. Gothic doesn't, for instance - as you can only "jump" and not fly or similar.

 

[Pladio]

Flying is magic, not reality … So I wouldn't discount Gothic as 3D. It has a fully fledged 3D coordinate system and graphical system anyway.

And to be completely honest it does allow you limited flying options with the marvin command.

 

[DeepO]

And you can transform into bloodfly!

 

[DArtagnan]

Flying is magic, not reality … So I wouldn't discount Gothic as 3D. It has a fully fledged 3D coordinate system and graphical system anyway.

And to be completely honest it does allow you limited flying options with the marvin command.

You can't dive either.

But, there's nothing in either engine to prevent freeform movement. It's a question of level design, animation, and rules implementation.

Gothic wouldn't work with flying very well - and neither would Neverwinter Nights.

But there's absolutely nothing "fake" about the 3D in terms of the engine. The tile-based approach was a design choice to facilitate easy level building, and was largely ruined in the sequel.

There are hills and upwards movement in NWN.

 

[DArtagnan]

Bioware did the same thing with the Unreal engine, by the way. That's just how they design levels. Linear and rigid, just like in Mass Effect - where you can't even jump either.

 

[DeepO]

You can't dive either.

What? This is an outrage! Of course you can dive in Gothics 1&2.
It´s even required, at least in one part of G1´s main quest.

 

[DArtagnan]

What? This is an outrage! Of course you can dive in Gothics 1&2.
It´s even required, at least in one part of G1´s main quest.

You can?

I must have forgotten

You certainly can't in G3, though, and I'm pretty sure you'd consider that "3D".

But this is becoming stupid.

If we're talking about a specific kind of vertical movement - then I agree Gothic is more free form - but neither game is fully 3D in that case - and VERY few games are like that.

I'm talking about the visuals, based on vector graphics - which is what I mean by 3D - and there's nothing "fake" about the 3D

Well, except that it's actually 2D giving the illusion of 3D

 

[DeepO]

Yeah, well, it wasn´t exactly gameplay defining feature.
I was certainly disappointed they haven´t included neither diving nor even swimming in Risen, especially considering the settings. Swimming too far could be always solved by "you´ve been eaten by whatever really, really big" event.
They better reintroduce it in Risen 2, or else.

 

[DArtagnan]

I prefer freeform RPGs myself, by a wide margin

But that doesn't make NWN any less 3D than The Witcher, Dragon Age, Mass Effect OR Gothic - regardless of whether you can jump/swim!!!

 

[DeepO]

!!!

Agreed.

Speaking of "3D movements", absence of vertical activities in party based games doesn´t bother me at all (though flying in Might and Magics was fun and I certainly wouldn´t mind a party based cRPG attempting to implement vertical axis as a legitimate part of player´s tactical arsenal), but in action-y/single char games vertical and other movement limitations often bother me, since it usually means less interesting level design going hand in hand with limiting player´s creativity.

After all the antics Geralt did in The Witcher´s intro, finding out that I can´t do anything of that in game, not even jump, was a solid disappointment for me.
I´ve noticed that for The Witcher 2 they´ve implemented climbing, but it´s via hot spots, thus still weaksauce in regards to freedom of movement, but it might indicate more elaborate level design.

Ultima Underworld ftw.

 

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Either we talk about 3D graphics, or we talk about a specific perspective.

Good point.

 

[Jaz]

Forgot to include Arx Fatalis.
Great atmosphere and best crypts ever.

Oh yes, a fun game with great ambience.

 

[Thrasher]

I concur on not paying too much attention to the reviews sites. Most are bought and paid for and/or grossly misinformed. Pay more attention to the negative reviews and look for the things you don't prefer, rather than believing hype. Take all of them with a grain of salt.

Here's my recommendations:

Deus Ex
- for futuristic world design and atmosphere, intrigue, story, quests, character build options, and gameplay options

Gothic II
- for fantastic living dynamic world design, factions, quests, and great action-style combat

Morrowind
- my favorite world design and atmosphere, great story with lots of possibilities for interpretation, my favorite free roamer for exploration

System Shock 2
- for fantastic tense survival horror atmosphere on a spaceship, unusual character build options, and gameplay options

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
- one of the best spoken and written, factions, unusual vampire gameplay elements, nice and unique character build systems, experience granted for progressing through quests rather than for kills encourages diplomatic and stealth solutions

Neverwinter Nights 1: Shadows of Undrentide + Hordes of the Underdark
- best adventures from the user community, DnD ruleset allows for a huge variety of character builds, massive replayability

Wizardry 8
- my favorite character build and development system, create and control your own party, phase-based combat, note: you REALLY have to like combat, there's tons of it and each battle can take a while, rather funny

Dragon Age: Origins
- great characters, dialog, and bonding, full party under your control, also funny

Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer
- fantastic story, and great characters

 

[JDR13]

An example of a 2.5D game would be Duke Nukem 3D (ironically named) because it used a sprite based engine that simulates a 3D environment. Quake was the first mainstream 3D game that I can recall.

 

[The Wanderer]

Baldur's Gate II
Gothic II + NOTR Expansion
Arx Fatalis

 

[Zloth]

And, just to throw another 3D out there, we've now got Stereoscopic 3D. Muuhahahahaaa!

But anyway…

Reviews are fine and rarely steer me wrong. But then, I read the things, I don't just look at the score. I know what I like and what I don't like about games. If reviews are positive but mention things I don't like to see (e.g. checkpoint save systems) then I'll likely stay away. Things I see as positives sometimes get negative comments, too (e.g. Gametrailers saying Dragon Age: Origins was too long). As long as they get the basic facts in there, I'm good to go.

RPGs I've liked a lot in recent years:
Oblivion
The Witcher
The Last Remnant (a JRPG with a very different combat system - most folks didn't like it much but I dumped a good 200 hours into this game)
Dragon Age: Origins
Fallout 3
Risen
Mass Effect 1 & 2

I liked the Shivering Islands expansion for Oblivion but I wouldn't bother with the DLC for any of the above.

 

[JDR13]

I wouldn't bother with the DLC for any of the above.

Not even for Fallout 3?

Also, the 'Lair of the Shadow Broker' DLC for ME2 is widely regarded as being excellent.