RPG where you play Wizard/Mage

Darth_Pete · November 17, 2008

Hi I'm new here!

I would like you to recommend me game where you play a wizard/mage or can become one. Something like Gothic 2 or Morrowind would be nice nothing older than that though. I have played BG2 already (multiple times) but I would prefer gameplay like Gothic 2.

dteowner · November 17, 2008

Welcome to the boards.

If you played and enjoyed BG2, you really should look into NWN and NWN2.

Darth_Pete · November 17, 2008

dteowner said:
Welcome to the boards.

If you played and enjoyed BG2, you really should look into NWN and NWN2.

Oh yeah forgot those. I've played NWN and all of its Addons. Saw NWN2 at friends PC but never bought it myself. Also enjoyed Avencast: Rise of the Mage but the game has no replay value (for me atleast)

Zaleukos · November 17, 2008

First the ones I can think of with any similarity to Gothic/Morrowind.

Gothic 1 is a bit uglier than G2, but it is easier to build a mage (it takes 2 chapters or so to become adept at magic, but you are used to that from G2 anyway).

Gothic 3 allows you to play as a mage, but the game is much less focused than G2 (I'd say it draws on the Morrowind tradition as well). You'll spend some time building up your char until you get mana regen, but after reaching that point a mage will be cruising.

Dungeon Lords (by many considered one of the worst games around and full of stupid design choices) is IMHO quite fun for a mage once you've built up your power.

Then there is Two Worlds, I havent played it as a mage but JemyM did. It's a very light action-rpg but the perspective is the same as in Gothic and the game looks pretty good.

Playable demos should be available for the last three games, but I doubt low level play show the fun of magic in either of them.

On the non-Gothiclike front there is Icewind Dale I and II, they use the same engine as BG2 but are extremely linear and focused on tactical fighting. IWD2 uses 3rd edition rules.

Darth_Pete · November 17, 2008

Zaleukos said:
First the ones I can think of with any similarity to Gothic/Morrowind.

Gothic 1 is a bit uglier than G2, but it is easier to build a mage (it takes 2 chapters or so to become adept at magic, but you are used to that from G2 anyway).

Gothic 3 allows you to play as a mage, but the game is much less focused than G2 (I'd say it draws on the Morrowind tradition as well). You'll spend some time building up your char until you get mana regen, but after reaching that point a mage will be cruising.

Dungeon Lords (by many considered one of the worst games around and full of stupid design choices) is IMHO quite fun for a mage once you've built up your power.

Then there is Two Worlds, I havent played it as a mage but JemyM did. It's a very light action-rpg but the perspective is the same as in Gothic and the game looks pretty good.

Playable demos should be available for the last three games, but I doubt low level play show the fun of magic in either of them.

On the non-Gothiclike front there is Icewind Dale I and II, they use the same engine as BG2 but are extremely linear and focused on tactical fighting. IWD2 uses 3rd edition rules.

Good suggestions but I tried G1 (I have the universe pack) it was bit too old & clunky to my taste. Played G3 back when it was full of bugs and waiting for the addon Forsaken Gods.

Gave a shot for Two Worlds but something just didn't click. I may need to reload the demo and try again.

Icewind Dale also bit too old.

Thanks for these suggestions!

Zaleukos · November 17, 2008

The problem is that there arent that many RPGs on the market, and even fewer if you want to play a mage, I think we've covered almost all the recent ones except Oblivion (that I wouldnt recommend to non-enemies). The only good 2000s RPGs left would be Kotor (Star Wars setting, no real magic), Jade Empire (Kung Fu), and The Witcher (play a Swordfighter with some magic) and they dont meet your criteria.

And I can understand if you didnt get into Two Worlds as it is quite the opposite of hardcore roleplaying. I thought of it as a diversion along the lines of a 3D diablo.

In the case of G3 I got the impression Forsaken gods will be standalone with a separate storyline, so that is no reason to hold back. The next version of the community patch might OTOH be worth waiting for.

Alrik Fassbauer · November 17, 2008

I fear that modern RPGs are developed rather into the direction of action and therefore for fighting instead of spellweaving.

dteowner · November 17, 2008

If we open it up to action-oriented titles, you could look at Dungeon Siege 2, Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Depths of Peril, or even Diablo 2.

If you're willing to go "old skool", you could try Eschalon.

Zaleukos · November 17, 2008

Divine Divinity would also fit the A-RPG where you can play a magic user bill, but it is a bit on the old side.

Dasale · November 18, 2008

Darth_Pete said:
Oh yeah forgot those. I've played NWN and all of its Addons. Saw NWN2 at friends PC but never bought it myself.

NWN2 OC worth much more than just a watch at a PC friend. Plus its addon, Mask of the Betrayer, is one of the best RPG and you can play a mage, plus can use a mage NPC and a shaman NPC in your team... Isn't this perfect?

Dasale · November 18, 2008

Zaleukos said:
Divine Divinity would also fit the A-RPG where you can play a magic user bill, but it is a bit on the old side.

There's also The Temple of Elemental Evil, well not a A-RPG but the chance to play mage in a A-RPG turn based fight system, probably the best ever released, in a RPG not as bad than many said.

Corwin · November 18, 2008

While Arx Fatalis is geting old, it might suit as well.

Kostas · November 18, 2008

Well my friend theres no game that you can find the kick-ass mage you have in Gothic 2 vanilla(last chapter)I remember a spell called "mass destruction" I totally loved that.Well mage,gameplay gothic 2 ???Have you tried Gothic 2 gold?The mage path will be quite harder than in the vanilla.You can also try Gothic 3 with Community patch 1.6 or wait for 1.7 it is much better than the unpatched .You can find some advises at the gothic 3 wiki on this site which will help you become a great mage but nothing like what you were in gothic 2 (no more rune magic).
Dont play Two worlds it will get quite boring after a little bit

Essaliad · November 18, 2008

Zaleukos said:
Divine Divinity would also fit the A-RPG where you can play a magic user bill, but it is a bit on the old side.

Old but good. But I would not recommend Beyond Divinity (even though it certainly lets you play a caster), unless I'm recommending it in the same breath as "How would you like to hammer a rusty nail into your forehead?"

There're several NWN mods that cater specifically to arcane caster classes. Almraiven and its sequel Shadewood, and a bunch of others. Have you tried those?

Ubbax · November 18, 2008

Zaleukos said:
- snip -
Dungeon Lords (by many considered one of the worst games around and full of stupid design choices) is IMHO quite fun for a mage once you've built up your power.

I think most peoples gripe with Dungeon Lords was the way the Publisher Dreamcatcher choice to handle the patches for the game. Essentially requiring early purchasers to rebuy the game to get the final fully patched version.

Like TXA (Michael Anderson), read his DL Reviews , I still think it's a fun game with some pretty interesting dungeons. Aso has Coop play which some people find good. Maybe not quite what most of us hoped from D.W. Bradley but considering you can buy the Collector's Edition, which is the final patched version, for anywhere from $1.99 to $9.99 US it's good value for the money. The forums are still somewhat active and GameBanshee has a fantastic section devoted to it.

Corwin said:
While Arx Fatalis is geting old, it might suit as well.

This is what I was going to suggest as well. It was published in 2002, same year as Gothic 2. I recently discovered that a Arx Fatalis Collectors Edition was released in October of 2007 and I've been trying to locate a copy.

Ubbax
"I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is: try to please everybody." - Herbert Bayard Swope

Zaleukos · November 18, 2008

I had a blast with Dungeon Lords myself in multiplayer with me as a fighter/thief type character and my gf playing a magic-user, but it is hard to recommend the game without a warning tag added

It does have some pretty stupid design choices after all, and I dont think there is a lot of roleplaying in it. Fighting and dungeoncrawling is OTOH rampant...

wolfing · November 18, 2008

I loved Oblivion. Yes, there, I said it. And the original version with no mods at that (well, I did install a mod that made the font smaller). I gave it a 9/10 score in my personal review. My first character I played a good pure mage. My second run I played an evil archer. Loved both runs as the game would let me roleplay the two different characters as what I wanted them to be.
On the other hand, I tried Gothic 1, 2 and 3 and I just don't like the gameplay. Like The Witcher, didn't like it either. Too focused on sword fighting. Trying to play a mage in these games is an exercise in futility. In some you can kind of suffer through it, in others you just can't.
Not exactly an RPG but King's Bounty is a pretty good strategy/RPG (and yes you can play a Mage there).
You could also try Overlord.

dteowner · November 18, 2008

wolfing said:
I loved Oblivion. Yes, there, I said it.

It's been a pleasure having you at the Watch. You are hereby stripped of all Gamer Cred and banished to the Land of Consoles.

Darth_Pete · November 18, 2008

Kostaz said:
Well my friend theres no game that you can find the kick-ass mage you have in Gothic 2 vanilla(last chapter)I remember a spell called "mass destruction" I totally loved that.Well mage,gameplay gothic 2 ???Have you tried Gothic 2 gold?The mage path will be quite harder than in the vanilla.You can also try Gothic 3 with Community patch 1.6 or wait for 1.7 it is much better than the unpatched .You can find some advises at the gothic 3 wiki on this site which will help you become a great mage but nothing like what you were in gothic 2 (no more rune magic).
Dont play Two worlds it will get quite boring after a little bit

Ahh.. yes the good old days with G2. You start out as whimp with wooden stick killing bugs and in the end you are mage that can burn cities with just blink of an eye

Played G2 + NotR from start to finish about 4-5 months ago. Not as a mage though.

Darth_Pete · November 18, 2008

Big thanks to everyone that has posted suggestions. I'll try these.

NWN2
Gothic3 + Community patch 1.7
Fable: The Lost Chapters

RPG where you play Wizard/Mage

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