Top 10 CRPGs of all time

Glad to see all the new posters in this thread, so many RPG fans out there! Most of you even have good taste as far as games go, excellent. :)
 
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First post, and many of you will hate me for my first choice.

Morrowind:
Wonderful setting. Engaging Story. Huge world. Thought-provoking art design and in-game lore. (Oblivion was a horrible let-down with its generic-ness. :'( )

Fallout:
Another great setting with a good mix of humor and thought. (Fallout 2 took the humor too far.)

Gothic:
Nice gritty title with fairly good action and role-playing. (Gothic 2 lost the grittiness, and therefore the charm. Haven't played 3 yet.)

Deus Ex:
Good setting. Good gameplay. Good story. This is the proper way to do an FPSRPG. (The sequel was a let-down. Seems a common thread...)

Baldur's Gate 2:
A sequel I liked better than the original, and the original was good. Fleshed out world, even if generic, and decent combat. Did not care for the storyline that much.

Betrayal at Krondor:
Interesting gameplay. Nice story.

Daggerfall:
Great world to explore if a little bland. Story was good though. (Was explained even further by Morrowind. I think the way the multiple endings was explained was decent. Oblivion unfortunately disrespected everything.)

Wasteland:
Good post-apocalyptic RPG. Too bad I didn't get to it sooner when the graphics were at least a little newer. Would have moved up a few slots probably.

Divine Divinity:
Generic setting done well. Decent combat and graphics.

Dark Sun:
(Can't remember which one I liked better. I think it was the first one whatever that was.) I just remember liking this one a lot though I remember little about it.

These games also seem to fit fairly well in my top ten overall games. I would have to tack on FreeSpace 2, Mechwarrior 4, and Alpha Centauri with possibly Simcity 4. (I like too many games...) As for RPGs, I seem to like the grittier settings a little better. Generic fantasy just seems bland most of the time. I wish I would eventually get around to buying some other games that seem fun like Planescape: Torment and the System Shock series and maybe finish up the Gothic series by getting the expansion for 2 and the third game. Not much time or money though.
 
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A good solid selection and welcome to the forums, I've played and enjoyed every one of your choices!!
 
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As for RPGs, I seem to like the grittier settings a little better. Generic fantasy just seems bland most of the time. I wish I would eventually get around to buying some other games that seem fun like Planescape: Torment and the System Shock series

I too like a grittier setting. High fantasy can be all right occasionally, but it's done far too often.
You should definitely check out Planescape: Torment and System Shock 2, both solid, interesting games. I've not played SS1, but I hear it's excellent as well.
You may also like the Thief series. Not so much RPG, more FPS, but captivating and intriguing all the same and the gameplay is superb. Strong stories, strong characters, but you yourself don't have any say in the character you play.
 
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Ah, another gritty guy. I like/d most of your choices, too.
 
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If you haven't played Gothic 2 with Night of the Raven installed then you are really missing out. It becomes an entirely different game with NOTR, and is much better.
 
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Aright, seems like a decent place to make a first post. The list has a quasi-order but tends to re-arrange itself depending on the day. I'm a bit tired, so I'll make this a top 5 list with several honorable mentions that I don't really feel like ordering. I haven't played a ridiculous amount of rpgs (I havent even tried planescape, bloodlines, darklands, toeeee, any ultimas, etc. I am a terrible person), but anyhow, here we go:

1. Fallout: What can I say, it rocks my socks. It's got a superb setting (post apocalyptic 50's retro-scifi-future americana whatever you call it, I love the combination), problems solvable in a multitude of ways, probably the most visible effects of your characters skill out of any rpg, great dialog and combat, for me the best all around game, it seems to excel in just about everything. <3

2. Daggerfall: Ambitious, detailed, an manages to overcome its many flaws with its awesomeness. A bit to dungeon based for my taste, the second most buggy game I have ever played, half implemented features, but the fact that I enjoyed it as much as I did despite all that is a testament to its goodness.

3. Arcanum: Possibly the coolest setting ever in an RPG. It is also a great rpg on its own, and it's (rpoposed) sequel was set to have the best game name ever: Journey to the Centre of Arcanum.

4. Fallout 2: Bigger and louder than fallout, and had some very nice inter-town politics, but not as cohesive, plausible (duh) and consistent as the first. Also, lacked some of the freedom and multiple paths of Fallout. Still great though.

5. Realms of Arkania #2: Star Trail: Love the detail and the skill list. I usually prefer solo-rpgs, but this had me playing for a long time.


Honorable Mention time:

Prelude To Darkness: After you play Prelude to Darkness, you will realize that all the debate about xp-based vs use-based development is totally silly. This game seemlessly combines both systems to provide the best (leveless by the way) character development ever. Another great party based rpg with multiple paths galore. If that sounds to good, its also free, somewhere in http://www.rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=15506. (This by the way is the 1st most buggy game I've ever played. If you can take it though, it's totally worth it. I would really like to see these guys make another game some day.)

Morrowind: Well, horribly dissapointing after daggerfall, missed so much of the potential there, and often rather either boring or strangely designed gameplay, but still, one of the bdst realized worlds I've seen in a game backstory/detail wise. Kept me playing long after the gameplay became stale.

Kotor 2: A flawed game no doubt, and I wish Obsidian had chosen a better series to continue, but still a lot of great ideas in there. I eagerly await that gizka mod thing. In my mind, quite superior to the original.

Silent Storm/Jagged Alliance 2: These get mention for being awesome "almost" rpgs (Sort of like Dues Ex, I guess, never played that either :( ). Thats the kind of turn based system I want to see expanded on. Rock on.

I might think of some more later, I dont know.
 
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Yes, you're a terrible person for not having played any of those games, but we'll forgive you this time. Welcome to the forums!!
 
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Ha, thanks. It's becoming a bit of a problem, actually, I have a ridiculously long list of things to try ranging from the late 80's (wasteland, maybe starflight) to games that arent even out yet (AoD, Afterfall, the Witcher), and rather limited time to play them. It's so sad.
 
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First post, and many of you will hate me for my first choice.
Morrowind:
Wonderful setting. Engaging Story. Huge world. Thought-provoking art design and in-game lore. (Oblivion was a horrible let-down with its generic-ness. :'( )

Not at all. Morrowind is a worthy choice for all the attributes you mentioned.

Despite it's many flaws I think Bethesda succeded in creating one of the most awe inspiring and original RPG environments ever.
 
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Despite it's many flaws I think Bethesda succeded in creating one of the most awe inspiring and original RPG environments ever.
Agreed. There's no game there to speak of, but it's a hell of a great sandbox.
 
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If you haven't played Gothic 2 with Night of the Raven installed then you are really missing out. It becomes an entirely different game with NOTR, and is much better.

What does NOTR add?

I picked up Gothic 2 a couple of years ago and my rig back then couldn't handle it so I uninstalled it.I've upgraded my PC since then and I came across the disks recently so thinking of playing it soon... should I look for NOTR first?

Does it change the game dramatically?

Thanks!
 
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NOTR:

new quests
new island / pirates
higher challenge
more dialoges

The whole world is 'filled out' with quests, persons and adventures - by comparison Gothic 2 - Original feels empty.
 
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You can't buy NOTR by itself in the US, the only way to get it is to purchase a copy of Gothic 2 Gold. You'll only pay $19.99 though and it's well worth it. Be prepared for a very strong challenge.
 
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You can't buy NOTR by itself in the US, the only way to get it is to purchase a copy of Gothic 2 Gold. You'll only pay $19.99 though and it's well worth it. Be prepared for a very strong challenge.

I know, only paid $9.99 for Gothic 2 so that's not so bad :)
Challenge = good!
 
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My favourites. I'm not able to list them in any specific order based on how much I like them.. So here they are in no particular order.

Fallout 2
- My favourite RPG ever. Surpassed the 1st one in every possible way.

Baldur's Gate 2 (with throne of bhaal)
-Loved everything about this game. A masterpiece. Had major trouble defeating
the final battle in Throne of bhaal. Way better than BG1.

Planescape: Torment
-Great plot. Great characters. Way too short, though.

Elder Scrolls III - Morrowind
-Loved the atmosphere. The world. The nature. The lore. The music & the sounds.

Might & Magic III - Isles of Terra
-I can't really put my finger on the thing that made this game so.. special. I loved playing it. Every second of it. Great dungeons. Great puzzles.

Tales of Symphonia (Gamecube)
- I'm not a big fan of J-RPGs. Actually I usually don't like them at all. For some reason
I enjoyed playing this one though.

Icewind dale (With the Heart of Winter AND Trials of the luremaster)
- Yes it was linear. Yes it was cliche in everyway. It had nothing really new in it.
Still, it had the magic that makes playing a game feel like so much more than just sitting in front of a computer and... well.. playing a game. The fights had challenge and the dungeons were absolutely great.

Vampire Bloodlines
- The atmosphere & interesting characters. I enjoyed this game but it really
had some major flaws too...

Jagged Alliance 2
- The combat in this game was so much fun. I love turn-based tactical combat.
I always hire Reaper.


Valhalla (aka. Ragnarok)
- My favourite Rogue like. It's a dos game currently available as freeware.
Check it out! So much fun!



I'm pretty sure this list will change soon.. I'm currently caching up on all the games I missed in the early/mid 90's and I'm really starting to love all these 90-95 dos games.. Most likely the weaker games on my list (like vampire & iwd1) will soon be replaced by some DOS masterpieces I haven't yet played.
 
I actually like Tales of Symphonia as well, Zak. It's the only J-RPG I've played twice through, one of the very few I could stand to make it through to begin with, and one of my favorite GC games.

The only other J-RPGs I've liked is Dragon Warrior I, II, and III, and the Phantasy Star series from II to IV. Of course, I can't claim to have played them all, but almost everything else has not been fun to me. Especially Final Fantasy. I would rate FFVII as among the top ten worst RPGs I've ever played.
 
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Azraelck, why do you rate FFVII as among your top ten worst RPGs ever? What about it did you dislike?
 
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@Azraelck, You never played Phantasy Star 1?! It's by far the best one.


@thartanian, FFVII is when the FF series started going downhill for oldschool fans.
I didn't hate VII, but I definitely didn't enjoy it the way I enjoyed the earlier FF games.
 
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azraelck, exactly. I hated the FF games. Now, someone could argue that Tales of Symphonia (and all the other Tales of-) games are derivative and pretty much the same stuff than the FF games... but still, I loved ToS and hated pretty much every other J-RPG I've tried.
 
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