What to play what to play, deer stuck in the headlights...

Drithius

Magic & Loss
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So, going to try to wean myself off Fallout New Vegas by trying to take a bite out of my huge backlog.

What would you guys suggest first?
Inquisitor
Wizardry 6&7 (only ever played 8)
Septerra Core
Geneforge (what# ?)
Anvil of Dawn (just picked this one up!)

Or… dundundun… afraid to list this because it'll likely skew the answers, Ultima VII (never got around to this…).
 
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Inquisitor, only because it's the only game I've played from your list, but also, it's a pretty damn good game. Just be prepared for lots of text. Very immersive and atmospheric game though. Loved it.
 
Inquisitor is one of those games that most people seem to either love it or hate it. I didn't hate it, but I didn't find it compelling enough to play for very long. It does have a nice atmosphere, but unfortunately the gameplay itself is somewhat clunky, and the amount of combat is extremely grindy.

I have a feeling that a lot of people here will probably recommend one of the Geneforge games, as they're quite popular here on The Watch. I won't be one of those people :) . I'm just not a fan of his stuff at all.

Wiz 6&7 have aged a bit roughly. How much you enjoy them definitely depends on your tolerence for older graphics and UI. I can't say much more than that as I've never finished either of them despite being a fan of Wiz 8.

Never played Anvil of Dawn or Septerra Core.
 
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Manual mapping is a killer for me, too. I always wondered if there was some freeware program that you could draw maps on or something. Might be easier to just use a pencil and paper, though.
 
I think there was such a tool somewhere.

You should be able to find complete maps for just about every RPG oo the web though.
 
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I wouldn't mind so much if I could download the maps to look at while I'm playing the game. Beats mapping it yourself!

By the way, Gorath, Game of Dwarves is quite awesome! Only got an hour in tonight but I can see it being quite addictive and fun.
 
I just started Geneforge. It feels a bit dated after Avernum, but it's still very playable.
 
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Manual mapping is a killer for me, too. I always wondered if there was some freeware program that you could draw maps on or something. Might be easier to just use a pencil and paper, though.

The CRPG Addict's been making maps in spreadsheets, which seems to work quite well for grid-based games. I think he goes into detail on how he does it in one of his posts.
 
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So, going to try to wean myself off Fallout New Vegas by trying to take a bite out of my huge backlog.

What would you guys suggest first?
Inquisitor
Wizardry 6&7 (only ever played 8)
Septerra Core
Geneforge (what# ?)
Anvil of Dawn (just picked this one up!)

Or… dundundun… afraid to list this because it'll likely skew the answers, Ultima VII (never got around to this…).

I've actually played all of those, except for Septerra Core.
Inquisitor was not bad, but it had some pretty major issues. It's a very text heavy game, with lots and lots of descriptions for things. It also managed to create a good atmosphere. Sadly the slow movement speed & amount of repetitive combat encounters was a real killer for me. If you can live with that, then you might enjoy Inquisitor.

Wizardry 6 & 7 had a nice combat system, and I also really liked the character development, which gave a lot of interesting choices. Sadly, they both ended up feeling a bit grindy after a while. Also, Wizardry 6 does not have auto-mapping (I don't remember if 7 had it), and the levels are rather complex, with makes manual mapping tricky. I did not beat either one.

Geneforge has an interesting setting, and the writing was pretty good as well. I've only played the first & second game in the series, but they were both good, so I would recommend starting with 1 and working yourself through the series in order. That way you won't miss features added in later installments when you play the early ones.

Anvil of Dawn was good, but not outstanding. I enjoyed the combat, but it did get a bit repetitive after a while, and most of the puzzles seemed to be rather standard grid-based CRPG style. I did not beat this one.

Ultima 7 suffers from rather bland combat, but a combination of good writing and an interesting world more than makes up for this. The world really does feel alive in this one, due to the rather extensive scheduling that most NPCs have.


Overall, I would recommend either Ultima 7 or Geneforge.
 
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Been enjoying the Anvil of Dawn soundtrack :) As to actual games, I've installed Anvil of Dawn, Inquisitor, Tropico 3, & Supreme Commander all in the past day. I'll likely add Arx Fatalis to the batch tomorrow and finally settle... on something :p
 
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What would you guys suggest first?
Inquisitor
Wizardry 6&7 (only ever played 8)
Septerra Core
Geneforge (what# ?)
Anvil of Dawn (just picked this one up!)
- no, not now, and if possible not ever
- an okay choice
- yes, absolutely
- meh
- never heard of it

Arx Fatalis would also go under "yes, absolutely".
 
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I actually played some of Arx already. Twice. Never got further than a few hours into it however - something always came up.
 
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Arx is fun, but mostly empty. There is a ton of walking around with nothing to do. I didn't care for drawing the runes as a mage but many folks liked this. It has great atmosphere though and I think it's worth a looksee.

I loved Bane of the Cosmic Forge, so this would get my #1 suggestion, but I don't mind hand drawing maps. Wizardry 7 was too much sci-fi for my tastes, so I didn't play long.

The murder mystery of Ultima VII bored me and I put it on the shelf. I need to replay this one day.

I'm not sure what Septerra Core is.

Inquisitor is a lot of fun....for the first chapter. Subsequent chapters are all the same, just with different character names. The whole game is about how corrupt the church is and you're a member of that church.

Geneforge is awesome, but all games are basically the same exact thing. Again with the swapping names around, but the same exact story. I'd just pick the 1st and last game in the series, you really won't miss anything if you do this.

Anvil of Dawn is fun too, but it hasn't aged well. The massive human is easily more powerful than the other two class choices combined, so play him for an easy game or play one of the others for a challenge.
 
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I'm not sure what Septerra Core is.
It's apple quicktime based jRPG, which means it was supposed to be a grandmother of all phonegames.

The shame is that it's better and more fun than 99% of today's phonegames.
The key of quality design:
- endless respawns are not annoying
- there are hidden areas to discover or unlock
- partymembers get different answers (and items) from NPCs they talk to
- most of areas you can revisit any time
- you can save anywhere
 
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