Recommend me a RPG, please!

Glorian

Borislav Slavov
Joined
October 21, 2006
Messages
143
Hello guys, I just finished Dragon Age (fantastic game) and I dont know what to play next during the Holidays :)

Please, recommend me RPG games, considering the type of my favourite RPG games that I've played so far :

Gothic 1,2,3
Risen
Witcher
Divine Divinity, Beyond Divinity, Divinity 2
Arcanum
Planescape: Torment
Deus Ex
Deus Ex : Invisible War
Might & Magic IX
Fallout 1 & 2
Fallout 3
TES 3: Morrowind
TES 4: Oblivion
Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines
Arx Fatalis
Eschalon: Book I

It would be great if your suggestions are games released after 1999 ;-)
I kinda have a problem with totaly obsolete visuals :-/

Thank you in advance and… Merry Christmas! :)

Cheers!
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
143
I'd recommend Drakensang if you liked Dragon Age. The Dark Eye is a much lighter (no !dark! and no !gritty! stuff in there) setting and has a special kind of charm with a bit of humor thrown in for good measure. It's a game and a setting that doesn't take itself too seriously. It's lots of fun and a pretty epic game. There's a demo available that covers the (unfortunately a bit slow) start of the game so you might want to check that out to make up your mind.

The second game I'd recommend and don't see on your list is The Witcher. Steam is currently selling the Enhanced Director's Cut edition for EUR 10.19 (not sure about the price in US$ I'm afraid). There is also a demo available for The Witcher so you might once again want to check that out first.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
3,201
If you liked the terrible M&M 9, then you'll love M&M 6-8!!
 
Joined
Aug 31, 2006
Messages
12,830
Location
Australia
@Moriendor
Thank you for your well described suggestions Moriendor :)
I actually played Witcher and I love it, but I forgot to put it in my list.
I tried Draken Snag few months ago but may be the slow start prevented me from feeling the fun in the game and the setting. I might give it a second chance, however.

@Corwin
It crossed my mind Corwin. The thing is that I might not feel comfortable with the obsolete visuals anymore :-/.. Yeah shame on me.. since I consider myself a veteran gamer.. but that's how I feel :) ... On the other hand I might install M&M 6-8 on my EEE PC , if it works ok on DOSbox..

Cheers
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
143
I tried M&M 6 for the first time just last year and I didn't think the visuals were that bad at all, and I'm sort of a graphics whore most of the time.
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
39,417
Location
Florida, US
Since you liked Dragon Age I´d also recommend Baldur´s Gate 2 and NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer. Both share quite a lot of similarities with DA.
BG2´s is just a very complete package of an RPG and I doubt Infinity Engine´s visuals will ever get obsolete.
Mask of the Betrayer is rich on C&C, has somewhat similar party mechanics to DA and while being quite short, it´s highly replayable.
Of course, to play it you need to get the original campaign as well. The OC offers a solid entertainment for one playthrough if you manage to get through its abysmal first chapter. MoTB is a pretty self-contained game however and you don´t need to play the OC to get most out of it.

Other good games not present on your list are Wizardry 8 and System Shock 2.
Wizardry 8 has great combat, character development and atmosphere and it´s probably last truly "hardcore" party based non-indie title. It´s also very combat heavy.
System Shock 2 is an action RPG quite in the vein of Deus Ex, set in space. Contains a well told story and tons of atmosphere. It doesn´t offer as many ways how to play through it as Deus Ex but it´s a great game nevertheless.
Some of its obsoletish graphics can be upgraded via mods.
 
Joined
Apr 4, 2008
Messages
2,437
Location
Prague
DeepO has already mentioned the main ones. But if you're willing to accept graphics that are slightly below the level of Fallout, then I'd recommend Jeff Vogel's Geneforge games and Avernum 5 — I haven't played Avernum 4 and 6 so I can't recommend them. Also, I highly recommend giving Dark Sun: Shattered Lands a shot. It's somewhat old and itt doesn't look as good as Baldur's Gate 2, but I've never thought it looked bad graphically and the game itself is fantastic.

Also, if you're willing to put up with very frequent crashes, it doesn't get much better than Prelude to Darkness, which you should be able to find a link to somewhere at the rpgcodex.net subforum for the game.
 
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
Messages
10
Too bad you said after 1999, because I see neither Baldur's Gate nor Icewind Dale on your list. The Baldur's Gate series from the first game up to Throne of Bhaal is really the pinnacle of great RPG's and should be played by everyone serious about cRPG's.

Jagged Alliance 2 was released 1999 and is one of the best tactical RPG's out there, but if you can't handle the 2d graphics I guess you won't be able to handle JA2 either.

I would definitely recommend Neverwinter Nights 2 "Mask of the Betrayer" which is one of the deeper modern RPG's storywise. Perhaps you should play the main campaign first as an introduction though.

Like NWN2, the expansion "Hordes of the Underdark" was better than the main campaign. While it does have some returning characters from the main campaign it's real prequel is the first campaign "Shadows of Undrentide" which isn't as good but is still better than the main campaign.

If you enjoyed Divine Divinity you might wish to check out Dungeon Siege 2. The first game is a straight hack-n-slash game, but the second game have a lot more depth to it, with more fleshed out characters, far more quests, a huge amount of lore for a flehed out world, a lot of hidden areas and subquests to explore on the side. The combat is like a partybased diablo but the RPG content is there. Unfortunally the expansion (Broken World) isn't as good.

Freedom Force and Freedom Force vs the 3rd Reich are really great and often missed strategical RPG's. It's a 60'ies comicbook style of game with super-good justice-seeking superheroes and really evil supervillians. You will just love the characters, they were designed by Robb Waters who also worked as artist on System Shock, Thief and Bioshock.

Jade Empire and Mass Effect are pretty poor mechanic wise, but the story depth and deep characters make up for it.

No serious RPG gamer should miss KOTOR and KOTOR2 is still pretty good despite being released in an unfinished state. KOTOR1 is at position #48 as best game ever made according to gamerankings.com (based on the average of 102 reviews) and have THE best twist in a game ever.

Like DeepO said, Wizardry 8 is from 2001 and was one of the last "hardcore" RPG's out there, and System Shock 2 is one of the best first-person RPG's ever made which plays very similar to Deus Ex.

Finally the leftovers...
If open world exploration like Gothic and Oblivion is your thing, perhaps you should check out Two Worlds. It's in some ways worse and in other ways better than Oblivion.

Given you play both Arcanum and Vampire: Bloodlines, you might wish to check out Temple of Elemental evil too, even if it's the worst out of the three games Troika did.

Finally, Vampire Redemption from 2000 might be an interesting title to check out. It's not near as good as many of the other titles mentioned here but when you are running out of titles it might be worth having a look. Same with Fable that isn't a great RPG but it can be quite fun if you are lighthearted about it.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 26, 2006
Messages
6,027
What are "obsolete visuals?" Early 3D games?

If you liked M&M IX, you owe it to yourself to play the games in the series that are not just shameful slights on the series' name. Might and Magic World of Xeen still looks good, runs perfectly in DOSBox, and can be grabbed on GoG along with 1-3 and 6.

Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 (+expansions) are still outstanding; I actually shoved DA:O to the backburner because I reinstalled these. Now I'm playing BA1 through the BA2 engine with TuTu, and having a blast.

Wizardry 8 is also another you owe it to yourself to play, if you like RPGs in general. IIRC, it also came out post 2000. Going back further, Wizardry 7 is also an outstanding early RPG, with clean and attractive graphics. It isn't all that easy, making Wiz8 seem like a cakewalk in comparison.

Don't short yourself just because of a game's age!
 
Joined
Jun 28, 2007
Messages
2,754
Location
In the Middle of Nowhere
Wow, Thank you guys! :)

These are lots of great suggestions.

My most favorite games are open-exploration-Gothic-lke RPGs, but I would definately consider Wizardry 8, Baldurs Gate II and Mask of the Betrayer, since most of you seem to like them.

I would also try System Shock 2, but I was not able to run it under WIn Xp for some reason. As for the indies... I simply love Eschalon:Book I and I haven't try any Avernum yet.
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
143
Jeff Vogel offers long demos for all his games. Just give one of the latest a try.
 
Joined
Aug 30, 2006
Messages
7,830
Last edited:
Joined
Apr 4, 2008
Messages
2,437
Location
Prague
You could also try Evil Islands, I always get a sort of "Gothic" vibe when playing it. Otherwise, I can second most, if not all, the above-mentioned suggestions.
 
Joined
Oct 23, 2006
Messages
585
Location
Serbia
I tried M&M 6 for the first time just last year and I didn't think the visuals were that bad at all, and I'm sort of a graphics whore most of the time.

I think M&M6 looks quite nice ... but while I am brutal about the graphics of newer games I am very forgiving on older stuff.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
14,953
I think M&M6 looks quite nice … but while I am brutal about the graphics of newer games I am very forgiving on older stuff.

Hmm , you made me curious about M&M 6.. I tought it was uglier than M&M 9

I have never heard of Evil Islands, I will google it right away.
 
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
143
I´m using Xp as well and it runs fine, most probably thanks to SS2 Kolya SS2Tool v2.8.
Give it a try, maybe it will work for you too.
After that you can install SS2 Modmanager plus the combo of SS2 SHTUP and SS2 Rebirth Complemented which should do the trick at bringing the game graphically a bit more up to date.

I've never played SS2 either, because of the fact I couldn't get it going on the XP I still cling to with a death grip - thanks for that tip, I'm going to give it yet another shot, once I'm done with Div 2. Thanks!
 
Joined
Nov 23, 2007
Messages
744
I have never heard of Evil Islands, I will google it right away.

I'm writing up a 'netbook gamer' review of this ... it isn't awful but not great either ... so it is yet another 'depends on the price' things.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
14,953
Hmm , you made me curious about M&M 6.. I tought it was uglier than M&M 9

I have never heard of Evil Islands, I will google it right away.

Actually, I think the graphics are marginally *better* in M&M 6-7. At least that's what I remember from back in the day when I first started up 9 and hated it. Compared to modern games they're a bit pixelated, true, but after an hour so so you don't even notice.

I second the rec for Evil Islands--good, challenging game. The graphics are old, but not any worse than Eschalon IIRC.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2006
Messages
7,834
@txa1265
'notebook gamer' reviews is a great idea!
How about EEE PC review as well? ;-) It's easy to take it with you anywhere you go and play the good old classics that we missed in the years.

@HiddenX
Ha! You managed to surprise me! Soulbringer sounds like a game that I should have played so far :)

@DeepO
Great tips for SS2! How does the game feel in comparison to Deus Ex, lets say?

@magerette
Thanks, mate, I will check if I can find the M&M 6 at GoG
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
Messages
143
Back
Top Bottom