The Best Part of a cRPG is…

You know thinking of building your own house; when I lived in colorado a retired Eng Prof built his own houses; actually he built 4 or 5 of them. The workman-ship was exemplary. Absolutely fantastic. They weren't large houses - i don't know the exact size but somewhere between 800 and 1200 sqft. Unfortunately he got into a fight with the county over distance between the houses and they made him tear down most of them. Something like he needed several acres and he only allotted 1 or 1.5 (I don't know the exact numbers so just guessing). Anyway he got pissed and move to Arkansas.

Originally Posted by Silver
For me the best part of cRPGs is the charm of the experience. If the game is charming you get intrigued and want to discover the world. You think about it when your not playing it. You imagine into throw-away lines further adventures.

For some cRPGs that charm only lasts as long as the opening segment when you realize the game has presented a cheap facade which it cannot maintain for the rest of the game. For the classics that charm lasts near the whole game.

It is rather hard to define charm so instead I will define what it isn't.

-If the game becomes a grind or monotonous then it has lost its charm.
-If the lore/story becomes redundant and the characters boring the charm is gone.
-If the exploration is a chore and the systems mere busy work or annoying the charm is gone.
-If the graphics/music fail to inspire the charm is gone.

TLDR;
I like it when cRPGs do the little things right. When they inspire a sense of intrigue about their world.

I agree to that : Drakensang 2 made the fine move to add that really beautiful Elven Village later into the game. For me, truly personally, that was the best thing of the whole game. That village even allowed me to like the then-coming dungeon crawl that was not too far away from the village.

I was very much emotionally hooked and emotionally immersed, and that's a thing not all games can achieve.
And these two points were also the reason why Indy 4 ("Indiana Jones And The Fate Of Atlantis" moved into top 1 of my all-time favourite games (with Monkey Island I on place 2) : Emotion.

And, now, well, some game making companies build up some kinds of emotions I really don't like . Negative emotions. As if they want that these games will be eternally remembered by their negative emotions (loss, grieving, shocking, fright, etc. …). I especially remember Bioware for that (Dragon Age 1).

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
I agree to that : Drakensang 2 made the fine move to add that really beautiful Elven Village later into the game. For me, truly personally, that was the best thing of the whole game. That village even allowed me to like the then-coming dungeon crawl that was not too far away from the village.

I was very much emotionally hooked and emotionally immersed, and that's a thing not all games can achieve.
And these two points were also the reason why Indy 4 ("Indiana Jones And The Fate Of Atlantis" moved into top 1 of my all-time favourite games (with Monkey Island I on place 2) : Emotion.

And, now, well, some game making companies build up some kinds of emotions I really don't like . Negative emotions. As if they want that these games will be eternally remembered by their negative emotions (loss, grieving, shocking, fright, etc. …). I especially remember Bioware for that (Dragon Age 1).

The tone RPGs want to take very much varies but I have noticed an abundance of grim dark and a paucity of light hearted stuff like Hero-U. That was the really tragic thing about the closure of Sierra. They were the ones carrying the torch, mass-market wise, for light hearted stuff. Lucasarts was quite niche in the day but produced excellent light hearted adventure games also.

Achieving that emotion in games requires good philosophy. It doesn't happen by accident. More and more I see the best rpgs were produced by the right combination of people who had the right attitudes that allowed them and their work to prosper, even if surrounded by chaotic and destructive environments.

Yes, Sierra did amazing things ! Games like King's quest ? Unthinkable today ! They would soon become the troll's equivalent of "go play Hello Kitty" ! And that says a lot about how grim RL has become !

At least for the PC platform. It always amazes me, how much seemingly light-hearted stuff Nintendo is still able to do with their Mario games.
And no-one complaints about that. I assume PC gamers just consider them "not manly enough" and therefore outright ignore them, cynically speaking. Apart from Nintendo not being PC at all (being a different platform with its own society of gamers - where I tend to not even call them "gamers" , because the term "gamers" also has some grim undertone of "I take games so seriously" with it).

Personally, I call this part of the "degeneration of the PC platform" that it has become some kind of monoculture in the mass market - not counting Indies - with some kinds of games and some certain *looks* of games not being produced at all !

PC Gamers despise cuteness.

And, what's not surprising me at all, is the fact that this discussion has died down as soon as I was pondering on light-hearted stuff.

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
And, what's not surprising me at all, is the fact that this discussion has died down as soon as I was pondering on light-hearted stuff.

If you are after a whimsical RPG I can recommend Driftmoon.
https://www.gog.com/game/driftmoon

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
PC Gamers despise cuteness.

Not that I represent majority of PC gamers, but I like cute stuff I'm still having a blast with Stardew Valley.

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
PC Gamers despise cuteness.

@HiddenX may disagree assuming he wrote the curation for Ghost of a Tale

Originally Posted by TomRon
When it comes to progression and itemization I would say the infinity games and PoE hits a good sweet spot for me, where rare artefacts and unique weapons make a difference and aren't plentiful enough to be boring like in ARPG loot systems like the one in DOS.

I agree that the Baldur's Gate style games tend to do well in this area. For me though, and this is completely personal and subjective, the Baldur's Gate style of RPGs is my second-class RPG. I like them, I play them, I usually complete them, but my favorite style of RPG is the open world "sandboxy" style RPGs like Gothic and Elder Scrolls… which sadly, more or less, are too easy these days.

Originally Posted by Zloth
@HiddenX may disagree assuming he wrote the curation for Ghost of a Tale

I bought that game instantly at GOG. Price was not important for me for this game.
I believe that makers of games like this deserve my full support. Because games like this are so rare nowadays.

Originally Posted by Alrik Fassbauer
PC Gamers despise cuteness.

Not all of us. I'm primarily a PC gamer but that hasn't stopped me from owning just about every single video game console since the original Magnavox Odyssey. To this day, Nintendo consoles are my favorite (even the dreaded Wii U) because of the varied game play offerings for Nintendo systems. I love my xboxes and PSs too, but those machines are really just PCs masquerading as video game consoles and for the most part, they offer FPS experiences and not all that much else.

Originally Posted by Silver
If you are after a whimsical RPG I can recommend Driftmoon.
https://www.gog.com/game/driftmoon

I enjoyed Driftmoon. But it seemed more like an adventure game than RPG. Still, a fun game.

Driftmoon was really good when I played it years ago. Great story, decent game mechanics, good memories!

Originally Posted by Carnifex
Driftmoon was really good when I played it years ago. Great story, decent game mechanics, good memories!

Yeah, I'm playing it now.

waking up

My favorite part is the early mid-game (30-50% to completion) since it's when you've grasped the mechanics, the quests and enemies starts being more diverse, and the game opens up. Early part will always be relatively dull siince it has to introduce you to the mechanics and the game world, and the later part often disappoints, but mid game is when the game really shines.

What I really enjoy are those parts of a game that can leave you baffled or frustrated for hours… then suddenly you figure it out. Or your character reaches a level of accomplishment where they can complete the task. It's a nice feeling of triumph. I also enjoy playing the hero and rescuing some decent-natured NPC through acts of valor; something you just don't get to experience much in real life. Finally I like games that can effect your emotions through a mix of immersion or character development. Suddenly discovering a spot with a fantastic view, having a surprising plot twist thrown your way, or finding out something new or unexpected about an NPC you've come to know.