Help me sort out the order of RPG's to play

Hello everyone,

I have an insane backlog of RPG's that I need to play and some insight on the order that I should play them would be happily accepted. I recently replayed Fallout 2 with the restoration patch mod and beat the first Witcher game. I have also been playing some Skyrim and New Vegas DLC, but I am ready to undertake a new project. I was planning to move on to the Witcher 2 but some technical issues have prevented it from starting for me. Since I have a bazillion other games to play, I have decided to play something else and come back to solve the Witcher 2 issue later. Here are the games I have installed that I never got around to before and want to play through.

Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (installed with the graphical enhancement mod project)
Temple of Elemental Evil (with Circle of 8 modpack)
Ultima VII (from GOG)
Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 (installed with the Big World Trilogy mod)
Divinity 2 DKS
Mass Effect
Planescape: Torment (with some graphical mod)
Vampire - the Masquerade: Bloodlines (with the unofficial patch)

How should I prioritize this list? I will continue playing Skyrim when I need to take a break from whatever game I have chosen. After I finish that, I will replace it with Amalur.

Thanks for any input!

Lots of top games on your list. I can see why you are having a difficult time making a decision. If you'd prefer a change of pace from first person open world goodness, go with something isometric, supremely well scripted, and more linear, like BG2 or Torment.

I'd say ToEE would be the best "changing gears" option. PST is mandatory gaming, so that should be near the top of your list if not at it. I've heard very good things about V:tM-B as well, but haven't tried it.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm leaning towards Planescape right now. Baldur's Gate Trilogy will probably take me 300+ hours to get through all the content, so I am going to wait before digging into that beat.

You haven't played those before? Oh how I envy you Leave ME for the middle to break up the Medieval-ness of the others.

Have yet to play Ultima VII, just before my time... hmmm....

I have started them all at one point or another to test them out, but haven't really played any more than about one hour on any of them. I'm a little ashamed to say that I haven't knocked some of them out, but I'm looking forward to the experience!

rossrjensen said:

How should I prioritize this list? I will continue playing Skyrim when I need to take a break from whatever game I have chosen. After I finish that, I will replace it with Amalur.

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I've finished all of those titles with the exception of Mass Effect. My advice is to just go with whatever game fits your current mood the most. The Baldur's Gate series, Morrowind, and VTM:B Bloodlines are must-play titles imo, but everything on that list is good.

You might want to avoid Morrowind for now, just for the sake of playing something more different from Skyrim. I tend to get burned out if I play titles with similar gameplay for too long.

I agree with JDR - it depends on the mood. For example, if you feel like playing something that's not set in a standard fantasy setting, your only real options are PS: T and Mass Effect. On the other hand, if you do feel like playing a fantasy game, BG (with EasyTutu installed) is the natural place to start.

TOEE is imo something you can do when you really need a rest and a quiet time - for example when your body is exhausted but your spirit & brain still remains fresh & active.

TOEE is in my opinion perfect for having a quiet, slow time with a game.

PS:T is similar in that respect, because it is so much text-heavy.

If your primary source of enjoyment is combat, play TOEE. It is the last mainstream RPG to feature a well implemented turn based combat system and its combat system is regarded as the best DnD combat system implementation.

If non-combat parts of a game are more important to you, play Ultima VII first. Be sure to compare the level of technical implementation (NPC schedules, day/night cycles, etc.) with modern Bethesda's games.

Follow it up by playing PS:T (expect a very text heavy game, an adventure / RPG hybrid actually, whose main attraction is story, presentation, characters and setting). Combat (RTWP) is simplistic and devoid of challenge, but the aforementioned elements more than make up for it (in fact it is my favourite RPG).

I'd say that those three are the only "must try" games on your list and they should provide you months of enjoyment.

If you can stomach a game with badly implemented action combat, but superb atmosphere and good writing, you should also give VTMB a try.

The rest of the games, except Mass Effect, which is an abysmal action adventure to be avoided at all costs, are forgettable, but you might like some of them, so try them if you have time to waste.

I'd go for Planescape and then Temple of Elemental Evil in that order.

Patrick Bateman said:

The rest of the games, except Mass Effect, which is an abysmal action adventure to be avoided at all costs, are forgettable, but you might like some of them, so try them if you have time to waste.

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If you think Baldur's Gate or Morrowind are forgettable, then I can only assume you haven't played them. Same goes for DKS.

Whenever someone says they "need" to play something in their backlog - I wonder if it's truly about having a pleasurable experience?

Pretty much all games on that list are classics, and though I don't think they're ALL particularly great - there's a lot of love for each of them, from a LOT of people.

I say just play what you feel like playing.

Personally, I tend to not stick with similar games when switching around - because you kinda get "full" of a certain kind of experience after a great playthrough.

Also, maybe it's an idea to tackle the older games first, so as to have the sensation that they're getting prettier as you progress. So, I'd probably go with U7 or the BG trilogy mod first.

Anyway, my two cents.

JDR13 said:

If you think Baldur's Gate or Morrowind are forgettable, then I can only assume you haven't played them. Same goes for DKS.

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Your assumption is incorrect (except for the Divinity 2 DKS - I haven't played that one). I won't get into too much detail, just a few short sentences. On reflection forgettable is too strong word to use for BG games, as their user interface was top notch.

I played BG 1 from start to finish (being a kid at the time I had a lot of time to spend, so I played all the way through some games that these days I wouldn't be able to finish) and a mediocre experience is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of it. Almost nothing stood out as particularly good or particularly bad. One thing that was exceptional was length of the game. From my current perspective, its entertainment level is inadequate to justify the time investment (I gave it a try in December).

I enjoyed BG 2 much more on the account of a better encounter design and the powergaming aspect (dragons, liches, demilich,etc.) and an impressive quantity of content. When it comes to non-gaming aspect (visuals, sounds, UI), BG 2 is as good as any RPG. When it comes to gaming aspects and writing, it leaves a lot to be desired.

In my perspective, The most memorable thing about BG games was their superb user interface. Observing how much Bioware regressed in the UI department with subsequent releases makes me sad.

Morrowind, on the other hand, I played for a single afternoon and found it boring. But hiking simulators have never been my cup of tea and Morrowind simply doesn't possess qualities that make my gaming experience fun, so this is my bias.

To each their own. OP, don't let Bateman's naggypooness dissuade you from playing some of the most vital RPG's created in the last 20+ years.

Patrick Bateman said:

I enjoyed BG 2 much more on the account of a better encounter design and the powergaming aspect (dragons, liches, demilich,etc.) and an impressive quantity of content. When it comes to non-gaming aspect (visuals, sounds, UI), BG 2 is as good as any RPG. When it comes to gaming aspects and writing, it leaves a lot to be desired.

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I have to say I find it puzzling that someone would think the gaming aspects in BG leave something to be desired, yet claim PS:T as their favorite RPG. Other than the writing, I found PS:T inferior to the BG games in every way.

I'm guessing the setting might also have a lot to do with it. I was always fascinated with the continent of Faerûn, but I found Sigil a little too weird for my liking. I've noticed that most people seem to prefer one setting over the other.

My name is dte and I didn't really like BG1 even though I did complete it.

With the expansion installed, you could advance all the way to level 7. Yes, folks, that's 60+ hours of gaming with only 7 opportunities to develop your character. Compare that to the M&M series that was popular in the same time frame, where you'd get maybe 35 opportunities to develop your party in those same 60+ hours with no real difference in story quality nor gameplay quality. Never bought BG2 because of it, too.

And don't even get me started on Morrowind.

Obviously, different people look for different things in their gaming experience.

I agree with dte. Playing BG is like watching paint dry. Only a little more boring even .
I never really fell in love with any of the Infinity engine games but if I had to play one again I'd recommend PST for the unusual setting, interesting characters and (for a video game) decent writing. They overdid it in the quantity department though. You need to really like reading lots of text off the screen and have a low aggro level towards pointless filler text. Then you might like it.

Well BG was great for the world exploration for me at least. But I have to say at times I wondered what now? Especially when entering the city proper. All those houses to barge into finding mostly nothing, with the occasional quest. Very plodding…

All games are worth playing.
Temple of Elemental Evil is a combat simulator - a good one - but not much more.
I can recommend the Morrowind Complete Overhaul mod for TES3.