RPGs of the Decade [PC]

DeepO said:

Arx Fatalis
This game has quite a lot of flaws but the atmosphere of its dungeons is simply superb and imo unrivalled as far as modern games go. This one aspect alone easily makes it a worthy top ten member.

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Awesome game. It's not in my top 5, but it's easily #1 if there's a "most overlooked" category.

21 Posts and only 2 mentions of Wiz8, by the same person? Sorry folks, but you all epic fail. EPIC, I tell you.

Hey, I stuck one in after being reminded, in my list of "games already listed too many times to be mentioned" as one of teh greatest.

Alright, here's my favorites of the decade:

1) Prelude to Darkness


2) Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines


3) Knights of the Chalice


4) Arcanum


5) Baldur's Gate 2


An honorable mention to Wizardry 8. That game is terribly fun.

If it's just a PC games list… well… there are just three games from the current decade that make my personal list:

3) Arx Fatalis: The atmosphere! Wonderful. Gloomy, literally dark… a fun way of doing magical spells… and those great ambient sounds! I know that it was supposed to be a nod to the UU games, but for some reason it reminded me even more of Thunderscape.
The only weak point IMO: it was far too easy to break quests. But otherwise… *sigh*

2) Gothic 1: Great setting, great characters, great atmosphere. The story was a tad linear after chapter two, but hey, did that setting and air tickle my imagination! I spent so many hours replaying this game just to discover the last secret and try the last dialog option. And when my computer started to have power trouble, I used this game as a benchmark when testing VCore settings.
Everything was fresh, fresh, fresh: Darkish, gritty, politically incorrect. And a time-sink.
While Gothic 2 (especially with the NotR add-on) was technically superior, it was way more traditional in the story, character and gameplay departments… a pity. While I loved that game, too, it didn't impress me as much as the first one.

1) Morrowind (GotY edition): Finally, a game that gave me what I always wanted in games: I could decorate my house with all the light sources I could snatch (and carry back). Yesssss! My preciousssss!
But seriously, Morrowind had all that I had enjoyed in the other Elder Scrolls games, and more. A huge world to explore, houses to own, weather effects, tons of lore… and a haunting ugliness that was most beautiful to me. I spent hours just taking walks…and did I mention interior decoration?
This game was the biggest time-sink ever for me: I spent at least 1 1/2 years with MW and its add-ons. Up to that point, Daggerfall had been my No. 1 (7 months of playing with just one character).

I think the last PC RPG I played was Oblivion - not being able to move light sources was a serious let-down for me. Hurt feelings drove me back to my beloved consoles, and I haven't touched another PC RPG ever since…

magerette said:

2. Eschalon: Book 1: best turn based combat, best picking up the torch of old school, best dungeons, particularly in an indie game.

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That baffles me. I am playing this right now, and while I find a Lot to like, I find the Combat a very dull affair - Not because it is turnbased, but because there seem to Be no tactical options to speak of. Why did you like it so?

GhanBuriGhan said:

That baffles me. I am playing this right now, and while I find a Lot to like, I find the Combat a very dull affair - Not because it is turnbased, but because there seem to Be no tactical options to speak of. Why did you like it so?

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I suppose I enjoyed the building of my character the most, and that just bled over into the combat reflecting the effectiveness of the skills chosen. It was one of the few games I 've played as an archer that reflected the fact that arrows can actually kill things--ONE arrow, even. It's been awhile since I played, so it's hard for me to be terribly specific but I seemed to remember there being quite a bit of selective skill/spell usage to make combat work out to one's advantage. Don't know if that's what you mean by tactics or not.

Non-MMO?? Hmmm, actually that might be a good idea. A lot of the fun in an MMO comes from the quality of the friends you make in the game, which makes it hard to distinguish a good game from a not-so-good game. (But City of Heroes is still the best, anyway. )

RPGs… Let's see…

Oblivion - It gets a lot of hate around here but I really loved this game. Especially with a few mods to make the natural environments look even better and that mod to add more hotkeys. The quests were great ("Oh my poor rats!"), exploration was fun, the landscape was gorgeous, and Shivering Island was a real blast. The 'butterfly room' was one of this decade's high points for sure.

Dragon Age I'm not even done with it but it's been very impressive. Good quests, good humor, excellent battles, strong character development - this is definitely one of my favorite games. And, unlike some other Bioware games not on this list, it doesn't get stupidly easy as time goes on.

Shadow Hearts: Covenant When I first started playing this, I didn't like it at all. I mean, the German commander in this World War 1 battle is a sexy young woman? Are you insane? But then it became clear that the answer was yes, they were quite insane. The irreverant characters were great (and sometimes rather disturbing), the story was OK, the humor was great, and the battles were quite fun, too, thanks to the "judgement ring." When you attacked, a marker would spin around a circle with some good sized green areas that count as hits and tiny areas that count as criticals. It worked quite well and made the turn based JRPG have a little action element.

Xenosaga Great combat and a great story. I really liked how the game plopped you right into a complex, high-tech universe and let you figure out all the buzz words for yourself. A lot of folks hated the huge cutscenes but I just put my controller down and enjoyed them. It's a pity the second game in the series had such an awful combat system. The second game's failure forced them to cut the series short and try to cram three games' worth of plot into the last game - ugh.

Baldur's Gate 2 - at least I think it was pretty good. It was friggin' 9.75 years ago, about all I can remember is Minsc! Oh, and walking into some town and having half a dozen people mob me to offer me quests. And, of course, gathering my party before venturing %#()$! forth.

Neverwinter Nights 2 + Mask of the Betrayer - I got to play my character all the way up into super high levels! And the stories were well done, too. I loved building up that castle.

I have to admit, there's serious role playing in X3: Terran Conflict. Quite a bit more role playing than you'll see in action RPGs, that's for sure. It's a flawed game but the flaws are easy to overlook given that titanic scale of the game. Definitely one of my favorites of the decade, though I'm not sure I would call it an RPG. (I would actually call it an Elite-like game.)

Shadow Hearts: Covenant and Xenosaga do NOT count since they are console *cough-shit-cough* RPGs.

I totally forgot Arx Fatalis, it's the best FPS RPG and deserves at least honourable mention. Though the late game isn't as great as the begining.

Here is my list mostly based on how many times I have replayed the game or couldn't stop playing it.

1. The Witcher: Need I say more on why?

2. Gothic 2 + Expansion: Gothic 2 was very good. Gothic 2 + expansion was perfect.

3.Bloodlines: I can easily forgive bugs if the game is worth it and this one was definitely worth it. It's funny because when I heard that Troika was making this a 1st person point of view RPG I was disappointed (I thoroughly enjoyed Vampire: Redemption. When I finally played the game it blew my socks off and is THE most replayed game in my collection. (someone has just reloaded Bloodlines )

4. Knights of the Chalice: Basically Fezzik and I have the same opinion on this little gem. It also took me by surprise just how much there was to this game and how refreshing it was to actually use some kind of thought process when battling it out with the enemies. The absolute best game for a pure combat RPG. This would of ranked much higher if it had any kind of story to it.

5. Wizard & Warriors: Despite the bugs this one still ranks up there as the most replayed games in my collection. With every new upgraded OS it is getting harder and harder to get this game running, but when I do it is always worth it. Too bad D.W. Bradly didn't just continue the W&W series instead of heading off in a whole new direction with Dungeon Lords.

There are a few others that I would mention, but we are limited to 5. So, for now, those are my picks.

These lists are sorta silly though. The RPG genre is so diverse that there should be lists for certain sub-genres like action RPG, party based RPG, 1st person pov RPG, 3rd person isometric pov…etc Each of these, imo, are a totally different genres. I don't expect the same thing from a 1st person pov rpg as I would a 3rd person one.

I loved most RPGs and can't make my top5. Sorry.

But I can do something else. And that's my top5 worst RPGs of the decade. You may agree or disagree, but it's my (not humble but very arogant ) opinion.

So there goes:

1. NWN
The one and only RPG ever I've uninstalled before finishing it. It's annoying, boring and the most unpleasant experience (to the part I decided that it's utter crap that needs to be burned).

2. Fallout 3
This game should never have the name "Fallout". It's more of FPS than RPG, there is no story that drags you in, quests are idiotic and are MMO based. Except the converted 2d to 3d surrounds there is nothing even close to original Fallouts.

3. The Last Remanant
Unbelievable annoying and more of odd strategy than RPG. Inventive? Yea, like a vacuum cleaner that blows the dust in another direction.

4. Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor
Unbelievably bad turnbased combats, boring dungeons, no story and for god's sake why do I always have to see Elminster in D&D games. One word: Yuck.

5. Dungeon Lords
Perhaps the worst game ever made. Game as a overall game, not only as RP game. Sad but true this game has (had) more bugs than illreputed Sea Dogs, there was no map (until the patch), the story was good old same worldsaving cliche, quests were cretinous probably ment to be understood even by mentally retarded monkeys, spawning monsters (rats, of course) out of nowhere was more of annoyance than a boredom break.

JDR13 said:

Awesome game. It's not in my top 5, but it's easily #1 if there's a "most overlooked" category.

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Can't agree on that, I believe that #1 in most overlooked games would be Anachronox. Arx Fatalis would be #2.

joxer said:

1. NWN
The one and only RPG ever I've uninstalled before finishing it. It's annoying, boring and the most unpleasant experience (to the part I decided that it's utter crap that needs to be burned).

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I don't think I even finished chapter 2. NWN worked better than any other type of benzodiazepine. May be tolerable if you're into multiplayer RPGs, but I'm not.

My RPGs of the Decade list (in no particular order):

Baldur's Gate II - As I've said previously, other games can rightfully claim to have done any individual thing better than BG 2 but BG 2 to me is the perfect combination of everything I love and expect in an RPG. Not only that but it's also possibly the only game to boast being EPIC and truly live up to it. But bottom line: It was highly enjoyable, easy to get into, had a ton of side quests, and lots of personality.

Wizardry 8 - What a great swan song to the "old school" style RPG. You know, the one that favored gameplay and challenge above presentation and handholding. Overall, just simple, old fashioned RPG fun.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind + both expansions - One of the most immersive and intriguing game worlds ever crafted and very different from your typical D & D inspired creations. While the flaws were quite noticeable, they didn't detract from the excitement and sense of wonder you felt from simply walking the landscape and exploring.

And while we're talking mostly about PC RPGs - I have to include a console RPG:

Persona 4 - Atlus creates a winning combo with it's social-simulator/dungeon hack game. To me this game is what JRPGs should aspire to these days. The dialogue is extremely well written, smart, witty and expertly delivered and for a game centered around High Schoolers it has some of the most mature and fully realized characters I've seen in any type of game. The story, centered around a serial killer, is also suspenseful and exciting and the core game play is always entertaining. And the PS2's limitations aside (compared to the current-gen systems), the art design is unique and generally top notch. On top of all this it has an excellent soundtrack of mostly modern pop/electronica that is extremely catchy and fitting.

So those are my RPGs of the Decade.

I left out other excellent titles like Arcanum, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment and others because then it would be no different than a run of the mill top 10 list.

To me these 4 games have given me the most memorable and exciting gaming hours in the last 10 years, heck, in my lifetime.

Oh and Oblivion was my Disappointment Of The Decade!!!

I would have said Fallout 3 except that after Oblivion, I didn't expect much from Fallout 3

I loved Arx for the most part but the game wrecking quest bugs were beyond belief. There were some really difficult puzzles in that one too. Frustrating, memorable… a very good game.

POR2 gets lots of bad press but frankly I find alot of the critiques would apply to some of the accepted greats. Redundant combat? I offer you a 1001 Kobolts in BG. No story? You didnt play far enough in, or you just need the Bioware standard rising evil horde that threatens the world? A Blight perhaps?

The only thing I can come up with worthy for the decade list starts with Gothic in the title. I'll add Morrowind and Oblivion too, because they both caused me lots of sleepless nights until the level scaling system became so obvious there was no reason to play.

Oh and ToEE for good measure, the best turn based combat system ever devised.

Ergonpandilus said:

Shadow Hearts: Covenant and Xenosaga do NOT count since they are console *cough-shit-cough* RPGs.

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Uhhh, yeah - so Final Fantasy 7 was complete shit until it came out on PC months later? I wonder if people playing the game on the Playstation when the game first got installed on a PC had their experience magically upgraded?

About NWN, the original game is not that great, but what makes NWN (1) so GREAT is the modules. There is basically endless amount of adventures to play. And the game engine is very well written.

(In no order)

Baldur's Gate 2 - One of my old favorites, BG took the Forgotten Realms, and made it live. It was a mesh of well written plot, NPCs, solid (if clunky 2E) mechanics, and the great 2D graphics that still look good today that made it all work. I wore my copy out years ago. Gotta buy a new one.

Wizardry 8 - I have a soft spot for first-person party-based games. And Wizardry 8 is probably the best in that narrow sub-genre. Unmatched character development coupled with a highly enjoyable world to explore. Combat did get a little tedious, but for me, not bad.

Dragon Age: Origins - My gaming in the last couple of years has fallen off considerably. Especially RPGs. Witcher and Gothic 3 both won't run for me, (across 2 different computers), and the ever-presence of increasingly restrictive and dangerous DRM-viruses has made PC gaming nearly dead. Dragon Age fixed that. Playing from the tactical perspective constantly (mainly because it helps my framerate, which isn't the best...)makes the game remind me of BG. Nothing is done innovative, just done very well, making for a fun, and engaging, RPG romp. Here's to DA2: with 6 player parties and improved AI.

Eschalon Book 1 - This marked my return to PC gaming, as I was frustrated with the lack of playable console games. The top down view reminded me of a few old favorites like Ultima 6 and The Summoning, and the overall gameplay experience was enjoyable. Again, there was nothing innovative, but just well done.

Dwarf Fortress - Technically, it's not an RPG. But then, read some of the stories on various forts, and it quickly becomes one. This is easily the most detailed game out there, and it's only getting more and more detailed as time marches on. It's a strategy game, sim, and RPG rolled into one. Again, my laptop can barely handle this; 50 dwarves kill it. So my next laptop will be bought on the basis: can it run Dwarf Fortress?