Fave Modern RPG?

[GothicLena]

So I was wondering of the modern (3D) age of RPGs, which are the top favorites?

For me I'd have to say Deus Ex 1, Morrowind, Mass Effect and Witcher 1

close favorites are Dragon Age 2, Fallout NV and Gothic 2

[xSamhainx]

Dragon Age: Origins wins for me. NWNII is probably second, I have to say tho in hindsight the Elder Scrolls games have probably drained more of my time than all of them combined, but they more bring out the obsessive in me more than anything. I'm more a thrall to Elder Scrolls games than a player

Gothic definitely made a mark on me, but Gothic II was the first game that spanked me so hard a quarter way thru that i lost the will to fight and I never went back. I need to go back and try that again someday when I get a couple more points in fortitude

Vampire BLoodlines is definitely worth a mention as well, and Witcher is the only one of all them Ive played thru twice.... these lists are tough... = \

[GothicLena]

Dragon Age: Origins wins for me. NWNII is probably second, I have to say tho in hindsight the Elder Scrolls games have probably drained more of my time than all of them combined, but they more bring out the obsessive in me more than anything. I'm more a thrall to Elder Scrolls games than a player

Gothic definitely made a mark on me, but Gothic II was the first game that spanked me so hard a quarter way thru that i lost the will to fight and I never went back. I need to go back and try that again someday when I get a couple more points in fortitude

Vampire BLoodlines is definitely worth a mention as well, and Witcher is the only one of all them Ive played thru twice…. these lists are tough… = \

heh I know what you mean, Vampire Bloodlines is nearest and dearest to my heart (I LOVE VtM, even did PnP for it), but I just cant call it a favorite as much as I want to. It was more a FPS Shooter in my opinion then a RPG

[Jaz]

So how far back does modern/3D go? Do you mean 'true' 3D (with 3D models) only or do 3D surroundings with 2D sprites count as well?
I haven't played too many cRPGs over the last few years, but my true 3D favorites would be Morrowind, the Gothics and Risen, and I recently finished ME which I also liked a lot. Deus Ex was fun, too, but I preferred System Shock (the first one, which is not true 3D in any way).

[GhanBuriGhan]

Morrowind, Gothic 1 and 2, The Witcher, KOTOR, DA:O, G3 (CP), Risen - loosely in that order
TW2 seems set to get a spot pretty high on this list, atm.

[wiretripped]

Risen and the Gothics. And no, I do not count Arcania as being a Gothic game. :P

I have absolutely no love for the Elder Scrolls, sorry.

[Tragos]

I 'd say Morrowind but i have spent much more time playing mount & blade

[Zaleukos]

If we count all 3D RPGs then I'll have to say Gothic 1, but there are lots and lots of good ones. NWN1 (better than the sequel if you go beyond the crappy OC), Morrowind, Gothic 2, Kotor1/2, Dragon Age, Gothic 3 (controversial:p), Risen, Alpha Protocol, Mass Effect 1/2, Fallout 3, The Witcher… Feck, I even have a backlog of decent titles in The Witcher 2 and Fallout New Vegas…

Drawing the "modern" line at 2006 or so I'd probably pick Gothic 3 or Alpha Protocol, with Dragon Age just behind. These games are quirky but I enjoyed them immensely:)

[TheMadGamer]

Well, if I had to pick just one game, it would be Gothic 2. G2 gave me that same awe-inspired experience that I last had with U7 waaaay back in the early 90s.

[Thrasher]

I'd say Neverwinter I and II, Morrowind, and Dragon Age: Origins.

Gothic 2, Deus Ex 1, Vampire: Bloodlines, and Arcanum being close runner-ups. :)

[Fadista]

Honestly, Mass Effect 1 and 2. Followed by VtMB, Deus ex, VtMR, Dragon Age:Origins, Risen, the Witcher, in this order.

[Khalus]

I'd have to say Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga. I hadn't had that much fun with an RPG in years, plus the voice acting was the best I'd ever heard recently. You wanted to listen to every line of dialog, quip, and additional lines NPCs said when walking by. And after certain points during the story, many NPCs had something new to say…it was awesome!

[TheMadGamer]

I'd have to say Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga. I hadn't had that much fun with an RPG in years,

I agree, DKS is an awesome game (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/divinity-ii-the-dragon-knight-saga/player_review.html?id=754439&tag=contributions%3Breview3) and I really enjoyed playing it. But there were a few design choices that really took away that feeling of living in a fully realized world -

- No day/night cycle (but lots of lore in the game talking about night time...)
- A rather disjointed gameworld
- Certain areas locked away once you progress the story to a certain point
- Extremely limited movement in dragon form

If the above 4 items weren't the case, DKS would be my modern day number one over G2.

[Madigan]

Definately G1, G2 NOTR and Risen at the top of my list followed by in no specific order. Divinty II, Venetica, Witcher and G3 Patched.

[zanthia]

not sure what u mean by modern - but I don't consider arcanum modern game as mentioned by others but I did love it. my choices in no order would be Morrowind, KOTOR, Witcher, NWN1, divine divinity and Two Worlds. I am very far behind in games so I know a lot of great games are missing.

[Alrik Fassbauer]

I'm a fan of Drakensang 2 and will remain so. :p

So top Nr. 1 is Drakensang 2 for me, personally :p

Apart from that I haven't played too many "modern" RPG to really be able to have a "modern fav. RPG" list.

[Maylander]

Well, Gothic 1 made the biggest impact, but I still consider G2 NotR an overall better game. My favourite 3D RPG is certainly one of those two.

Beyond that, I also like Dragon Age a lot (Origins + Awakening), as well as NWN2 (including all add-ons).

Finally, I'd actually like to mention Mass Effect. I simply love it. The setting, characters, story. It really blew me away when I first played it. Unfortunately, ME2 never had the same effect.

[Jaz]

Unfortunately, ME2 never had the same effect.While I really liked the ME2 story and most of the characters (and was delighted to get the armor designer ^^), I was a bit underwhelmed by the ore digging minigame. But (and that's a big but) ME2 had Jack who quickly turned into one of my favorite NPCs ever, and being able to bed Garrus forced me to replay both games with a FemShepard. Couldn't pass up this chance, could I?
So, well, I'm not too sure which one I liked better. Overall game mechanics of the first one, characters of the second one.

[Icefire]

948

This one is pretty good. Oh, did you mean games? Sorry.

[bloodlover]

TES : Morrowind.

[DArtagnan]

Gothic, Risen, Fallout 3 modded, The Witcher 2, Bloodlines, NWN, and others.

[sakichop]

The witcher 1 & 2, nwn 1&2, gothic 3 and dao minus awakening that was the beginning of the end.

[Warmark]

I agree, DKS is an awesome game (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/divinity-ii-the-dragon-knight-saga/player_review.html?id=754439&tag=contributions%3Breview3) and I really enjoyed playing it. But there were a few design choices that really took away that feeling of living in a fully realized world -

- No day/night cycle (but lots of lore in the game talking about night time…)
- A rather disjointed gameworld
- Certain areas locked away once you progress the story to a certain point
- Extremely limited movement in dragon form

If the above 4 items weren't the case, DKS would be my modern day number one over G2.

Thanks for this excellent review TMG.

This game is on sale at a local shop and was wondering if I should pick it up, I had read mixed reviews on the original game(Ego Draconis) so came here to see what the folks at the Watch thought.
But after reading your review I'm heading out this morning to get it.

Just reading the connection to Ultima 7 was enough lol, as it's one of my all time favorites along with Divine Divinity.

So thanks again.

[blatantninja]

NWN2 OC for me. While it had its flaws, it sucked me in like no other RPG since BG2.

[Fnord]

Let's see.
Morrowind for its open ended and interesting word. I thought the setting in Morrowind was far better than that in the other TES games.
Vampire the masquerade bloodlines for being faithful to its tabletop counterpart, interesting plot and characters.
Gothic 1 for its setting and fun gameplay. I liked both Gothic 2 & 3 as well, but I found the setting in G1 to be the best of the lot.
Drakensang The river of time for its rule system and interesting character building.
Arcanum because I love the fantasy/steampunk setting
Alpha protocol for how it handled dialogues and how your actions in one part of the game impacted the rest of it.

List would look different if I was in a different mood ;)

Honourable mentions: Dragon age: origins, mass effect 2, The witcher, Drakensang 1, Divine Divinity, Ultima Underworld 2 (not sure if it belongs on the list, how 3d does the norm have to be?), Fallout new Vegas (not as good as Fallout 1 & 2, but superior to 3), Mount & blade: Warbands.

[Gregz]

Finally, I'd actually like to mention Mass Effect. I simply love it. The setting, characters, story. It really blew me away when I first played it. Unfortunately, ME2 never had the same effect.

I agree completely, I'm also baffled by the fanboy love for ME2. They scrapped perfectly functional gameplay in ME1 for something that feels like a 'choose your own adventure' book in ME2.

[Fnord]

The issues I had with ME1 was the side quests and the driving. There were plenty of sidequests, but they were boring, and the driving sequences were terrible. Oh, and the elevators, once the characters ran out of elevator dialogues, the elevators became incredibly boring.

[Drithius]

I'm going to cheat and vote for the NWN2 franchise. Each of the three games offered different styles of gameplay and I found them all incredibly fun.

[DArtagnan]

Hmm, a bit broad….

I'd probably say Gothic.

System Shock 2 would qualify, but even though I consider it an RPG-light - it's not really an RPG, is it :)

[JemyM]

"Modern"? Deus Ex is ancient by todays standards. Vampire Bloodlines is 7 years old. Neverwinter Nights 2, Gothic 3 and Oblivion was released in the same year I think (2006) so they are 5 years old.

Reduce the list to 2010-2011 and what do you got? Risen, Mass Effect 2, Call of Pripyat, Fallout New Vegas etc.

Going only by the last two years for my "modern" RPG, my pick is Fallout New Vegas.

[Menigal]

It depends on what you mean by modern, really.

Morrowind tops the list, followed by Vampire Bloodines, New Vegas, Arcanum, and FO3. Oblivion's there, but several tiers lower.

I'm in the tiny minority that thinks Bioware games are hugely overrated.

[JDR13]

"Modern"? Deus Ex is ancient by todays standards. Vampire Bloodlines is 7 years old. Neverwinter Nights 2, Gothic 3 and Oblivion was released in the same year I think (2006) so they are 5 years old.

Reduce the list to 2010-2011 and what do you got? Risen, Mass Effect 2, Call of Pripyat, Fallout New Vegas etc..

Um.. "modern" isn't just the last 2 years. VTM:B, NWN2, Gothic 3, and Oblivion are most definitely modern by most standards.

[JemyM]

Um.. "modern" isn't just the last 2 years. VTM:B, NWN2, Gothic 3, and Oblivion are most definitely modern by most standards.

I reflected on the problem that there have been very few games like that since 2006.

[HiddenX]

Wizardry 8 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizardry_8)

[Shagnak]

Wizardry 8 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizardry_8)

Ditto.....

[DeepO]

Wizardry 8 indeed, though I have to add Gothic 2: NotR which shares the top with it.

[crpgnut]

Oblivion gets my vote, though FNV is a close 2nd. NWN2 was a blast also. I never played Wiz8 very far. When combats would typically take 20 minutes per battle, that was the end of my interest in that game.

[Thrasher]

I love W8 for the character development system. I like turned-based combat, but many repeated 20 minute battles tested my patience!

[HiddenX]

There's a tool (http://foerster.cc/wolfie/)to enhance combat speed.

[Thrasher]

Yes, even with that tool some combats took 20 minutes. Can you imagine what it would be like without that tool! Yikes! Sadly, the tool doesn't get trid of the repetition, though...

[JDR13]

I played Wiz 8 without any mods/tools, and didn't have a problem. I just turned the combat speed and animations settings to max. Some of the battles were a little long in the tooth, but it didn't diminish the overall quality of the game for me.

[HiddenX]

I think to love the Wizardry series you have to like the combat as an integral part of the games.

[purpleblob]

ME2 > DAO+Awakening are my only favourites.

Still waiting for my Drakensang 2 copy.... it's taking god damn long to arrive >.>