Top 10 CRPGs of all time

In a certain thread at the Larian forums, the Realms of Arcania series (especially the "Blade of Destiny") was thoroughly investigated by a few people.

Someone even played around with the files and found out that there were some minor bugs never patched - for example a critter having an increadily low number of health points, which looked like a variable number turned into negative values.

One astonishing result was kind of a program that could use parts of the game for initiating a combat you could play "outside the game", so to say. It's a bit difficult for me to describe what I mean, but it was like staring he game, going into a certain battle, and then feeding the game with enemy stats from a VB program from the outside.

I would've never thought it would be possible to do that.

So, the statistics of most enemies in Blade of Destiny (German version) are well known.

There are some inconsistencies to the English version, though, as the stats seem to differ a bit, and a few game mechanics as well (the characters in the English verson seem to get much more experience points and their "upgrade" so to say reflects rather the D&D style level up I mean the number of experience points needed for a new level-up).

1.Betrayal at Krondor - great story great game
http://www.abandonia.com/games/en/208/BetrayalatKrondor.htm

2.Ultima Underworld - great RPG first real 3D game
http://www.abandonia.com/games/193/download/UltimaUnderworldStygianAbyss.htm

3.Ultima Underworld 2 - superb sequal
http://www.abandonia.com/games/360/download/UltimaUnderworld2LabyrinthofWorlds.htm

4.Gothic

5.Fallout

Realms of arkania trilogy looks interesting. They dont really make games like that anymore.

First post, so I should make it good right? Sorry if my top 10 is so different from everyone else's. I'm just going off the games I've played, so here we go.
Not in any particular order of course and I'm gonna put series for some just because it's too hard to choose just ten

1.) Planescape: Torment - Best story/background in a game hands down.

2.) Fallout Series - Some a little different from the norm but some of the jokes involved in the dialogue are just priceless.

3.)Baldur's Gate Series - Another great storyline from beginning till end. Some of the best NPC interaction in any game.

4.) Icewind Dale Series - Even though not as popular as the BG series, Icewind Dale is some of the best dungeon crawling in any game.

5.) Neverwinter Nights Series - With every addition to the series, including the expansions, it seems to get better.

6.) Divine Divinity - Enriching story, great music, nuff said.

7.) Arcanum - Amazing setting and interaction in the game world where it makes you feel like you're apart of the story.

8.) Elder Scrolls Series - Hours upon hours of gameplay where you can just fall into the game from real life.

9.) Gothic series - Such a great series, with each game in the series making the gameworld more life-like.

10.) KOTOR series - Especially the first game, but I believe that the second in te series really did a great job of storytelling.

Hope no one goes crazy that I used series instead, otherwise I would have used one game from each series, but even that would have been extremely hard

SadExchange said:

Hope no one goes crazy that I used series instead, otherwise I would have used one game from each series, but even that would have been extremely hard

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Hi and welcome - it is really hard to break down series, so why stress over it

txa1265 said:

Hi and welcome - it is really hard to break down series, so why stress over it

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Exactly! Just wanted to make it easy. These series have some great games so I wanted to choose them. Sorry I didn't pick older games, but I started gaming around the time of these releases and pretty much haven't looked back. I know someday I should check out some of the older games, but that'll have to wait I guess.

It's impossible for me to come up with a true top 10 list since I have memories going all the way back to the early 80's and my list will always be more than 10 games. But... in the spirit of things... here's my "off the top of my head" list (in no particular order):

1. Wizardry 8
2. Gothic 1 and 2 (I consider them to be one big game)
3. Magic Candle 1
4. Fallout 1
5. Pool of Radiance (original)
6. Demon's Winter
7. Ultima 5
8. Baldur's Gate 1
9. Might and Magic 6
10. Avernum 4

It's not fair... there are so many others I want to name... but that's the 10 on my mind for today

1) Realms of Arkania series (liked 1 best)
2) Darklands
3) Buck Rogers series
4) Fall Outs (like 2 best)
5) Wizardy series (7 is best)
6) ToEE
7) Dark Sun
8) Arcanum
9) MegaTraveller series (liked 2 best)
10) Albion

Games with rpg elements that I love and that would be in a games ever made top 10 or 15 list but are not rpgs: Betrayal at Krondor, Daggerfall (great chargen), Bloodlines, JA series, UFO's/x-coms.

I did this list off the top of my head, it could be different if I spent more time thinking about it

Well now, haven't done a list in some time. In no particular order:

1. Gothic 1 - Goes without saying. Just a fabulous game.
2. Gothic 2 NOTR - Excellent continuation of the Gothic series.
3. Morrowind - So much to do, so little time. Months' of playtime even if most quests are simple.
4. OutCast - (NOT Jedi Outcast) This is the game that got me interested in RPG's. Outstanding musical score. Unique game world and characters. Anyone ridden their Twon-Ha lately?
5. VTM Bloodlines - A little short IMHO, but full of neck biting goodness and definately a replayability factor.
6. System Shock 2 - Classic creepiness.
7. Wizardry 8 - Not bad for a "Party" game (something I usually don't like). Definately worth a play through, or two, or three, etc.
8. Dues Ex (Orig) - One of a kind game. A "must play" title.
9. Arx Fatalis - Maybe a little on the short side (or it could just be me), but definately an interesting world and story.
10. No One Lives Forever 1 & 2 - Action, intrigue and some laughs. Who could ask for more!

Notable mention;

Crusaders of Might and Magic - I didn't find this anywhere near as bad as most reviews I've seen. Definately too short though, with a lot of running around.

The Thief series - Are we counting these as CRPG's?

Great list Cleric, I've played all of those games except Outcast and NOLF. I still might give Outcast a try one of these days if I can find the time and a copy of the game.

Thief are not really RPG's, just great games!!

The Underdogs has a good review of Outcast here;
http://www.the-underdogs.info/game.php?id=3015

I noticed that there's a copy for auction on e-bay for $0.99. Here's the link!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Outcast-PC-computer-game-windows-95-98-Infogrames_W0QQitemZ190108182599QQihZ009QQcategoryZ80328QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Or, per the Underdogs, CDAccess has a few copies for $29.99 at the following link.
http://www.cdaccess.com/html/quick/outcastpr.htm

You can't tell I like this game can you?

Thanks for the links Cleric, I remember seeing those on CDAccess a while back, I'm surprised they still have that many copies left.

30 bucks is too much. I would buy the eBay copy.

NOLF is a shooter. Colorful 60s style with a female hero. A classy and funny James Bond parody.

I got it (Outcast) on Goozex (the game trading site) a month or so ago ... haven't had time to play it yet.

I've played the Outcast demo several times now. The graphics are painful to my eyes, but the music is some of the best I've ever heard in a computer game. The AI is also surprisingly good for a game released in 1999.

Probably yet another game that I'll never have the time to play.

Late to the party, but it's always fun to make a list. It will be noticeable that I have a thing for first (or 3rd) person real time games

1) Morrowind (expanded and modded). No other game has been a timesink quite like this one, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The world was unique and lore-drenched, and the exploration aspect just kept me interested for a long, long time. It was the ability to mod the game to perfection however that made the game truly shine. Almost everything I disliked about the original release, I could change with mods, and add new content to boot. The freedom of exploration and the sheer amount of things to do (especially with both expansions) more than made up for the weaknesses like generic NPC's and lackluster dialogue.

2) Ultima Underworld 2: Got me hooked to first person exploration and is still unsurpassed in many aspects, e.g. environmental interaction, a great automap, versaatility of the explorable "worlds".

3) Daggerfall: The quintessential RPG sandbox. After Morrowind the greatest timesink on the list. Although much of it's content was generic, it overwhelmed with the sheer scale of content, landmass, opportunity and excellent RPG mechanics. It's my favorite character creation system.

4) Gothic 1: Just the most convincing "living world" simulation in any RPG to date. The gritty, convincing setting, great exploration aspect, and freedom made this game special as well.

5) Ultima VII and expansions: Except for the viewpoint and graphics limitations, an even more interactive world than Gothic, great stories, just wonderful.

6) Gothic 2: Not quite on the level of Gothic 1 in originality and with a less dense atmosphere, but still a wonderful game, for all the reasons listed for Gothic 1.

7) Fallout: Played it only a year ago so it couldn't wow me as much as it did with oldtime fans, but it deserves a place on the list for it's unique setting, and for the best nonlinear design and really bringing the choice and consequence theme to an unsurpassed peak.

8) DeusEx: Not sure it really passes as a RPG, although it has many of it's elements. I give it a space on the list for being almost a RPG, and apart from that being one of the best games ever made. Atmosphere, freedom, story, character devlopment, exploration, action - it's all there. It shows the way how to do character skill driven real time action right. Systen Shock 1 is a contender for this slot, but I consider it even less an RPG than DeusEx so it's out. Great game though!

9) Arx Fatalis: Not quite the new UU I had hoped for, but still a great game with engaging dungeons.

10) Baldurs Gate: Not really as great as I expected it to be (to the extent that I never bothered with BG2, which was probably a mistake). But it was the only CRPG I ever played coop with my wife, and that was actually great fun.

Other honorable mentions:
Betrayal at Krondor, Ultima Underworld 1, Arena, Shadows over Riva, OutCast (another "alomst an RPG"), KOTOR, Fairy Tale Adventure (first "huge world" game I played)

Dishonorable mention:
Oblivion: for being a great game, a successful game, but still failing entirely at being the next entry in the TES series I had hoped for.

Games that I suspect would maybe be on the list had I played them (and are on the to-play list): Planescape, Arcanum, Fallout 2, Darklands, Baldurs Gate 2

GBG, I like your list and your reasons!!

Seconded, and GBG, if you like coop with your significant other I'd recommend the Icewind Dales. Baldurs Gate II gets a bit tedious due to all the walking back and forth in the city..

GhanBuriGhan said:

10) Baldurs Gate: Not really as great as I expected it to be (to the extent that I never bothered with BG2, which was probably a mistake). But it was the only CRPG I ever played coop with my wife, and that was actually great fun.

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Indeed you must play BG2 or else you're missing out on one of the best crpg's ever made.

JDR13 said:

Indeed you must play BG2 or else you're missing out on one of the best crpg's ever made.

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Quite possibly THE best CRPG ever made.

An exaggeration? Perhaps, it didn't have EVERYTHING you could imagine and had some negative aspects (not many though) but it's probably the best OVERALL CRPG ever made.

Fallout came close - but far too short (Sequel improved the length but lost the charm).

Planescape came close - but ARGUABLY too much text for a game (fine for a novel, heh) and combat wasn't that interesting.

Arcanum could have come close if not for it's awful combat system and bugs.

Morrowind together with Tribunal/Bloodmoon came very close but only with 5 or more user created mods installed.

Wizardry 8 was a damn fine game if not for the hour long battles every few steps (which were extremely fun anyway, lol).

Icewind Dale was excellent if a bit short in the actual "roleplaying" department.

And that was my top 10 (-3) list

I'm not sure about KOTOR1/2 being worthy of this list yet. The first was a refreshing experience (RPG + STARWARS!) but was linear and the game world felt very small (for a game taking place on 7 planets, lol).

The 2nd was a bit of deja vous aesthetically and in structure (visit several planets, yada, yada, yada - or yoda, yoda, yoda!) but was superior to the 1st in terms of writing and story. Still, both of these games even on the hardest settings were a cakewalk taking away half the fun of playing.

Now if I just HAD to complete my top 10 list, then I'll add:

- Skies Of Arcadia
- Final Fantasy IV, VI, IX (I used a cheat code to fit 3 in 1 )
- Chrono Cross

Well, CRPG COULD mean Console RPG!

Heck, add Legacy Of Kain to that list. The later games were action/adventure games but the first one is clearly an action/RPG. One chock full of story, atmosphere, wit and originality. But it was Isometric/2D and they JUST had to 3Dify it and add the Lara Croft element.