twisty on 7/7/2013 at 08:27

---

I very rarely read fantasy books but having just finished reading Gauntlgrym am in the mood for playing a good RPG again.

RPGs are one of those genres that are very hit and miss, as it's difficult for developers get the right mix of story, without it seeming like a novel, the right amount of combat, without it feeling like Diablo, and sufficient depth of character development, without becoming more complex and involving than the rest of the game. There's been some terrible ones made over the years but fortunately quite a few awesome ones as well and the genre as a whole continues to thrive. That being said I've reached a point where I've run out of any new ones that I can think of and don't feel like replaying any of the older ones for some time.

To give you an idea of the types of RPGs I have played, I've enjoyed all of the following titles to varying extents so if you can think of any good ones (preferably only 1-3 years old) that I've missed please throw in your 2 cents:

* NWN 1&2 and all expansions
* BG 1&2 & IWD 1&2
* VtMB
* DX1-3
* TOEE
* Fallouts 1-3 & all expansions (EDIT: this includes New Vegas)
* Elder Scrolls III-V (EDIT: and Skyrim)
* Mass Effect 1-3
* Dragon Age 1 (not 2)
* Witcher 1&2
* (Edit: and Grimrock)

Al_B on 7/7/2013 at 09:15

---

Given your examples it might not be exactly what you're looking for but Legend of Grimrock is good for a bit of old-fashioned hack and slash in the vein of Dungeon Master.

twisty on 7/7/2013 at 09:35

---

Ah, haven't play Alpha Protocol. I'll give it a look, thanks. As far as the other games you've mentioned, I've played all of them apart from KOTOR 2. I loved the first one but never got around to buying the sequel. New Vegas is very high on my list of favourite games but I kind of bundled it under the Fallout expansions in my list.

Thanks Al_B, I've played Grimrock but forgot to mention it.

june gloom on 7/7/2013 at 09:52

---

Dark Souls is what you'd get if you made a medieval survival horror game -- and I mean old-school surhor, Resident Evil and Silent Hill and such, just a better camera -- with RPG elements.

And it's fucking glorious.

Renzatic on 7/7/2013 at 11:16

---

I was thinking about recommending Dark Souls as well, but figured I'd pass since I tend to talk about it too much as it is.

...but hell, since two other people have done it already, I'll go ahead jump on the bandwagon.

Get Dark Souls. Don't wait for it to go on sale. Just grab it. It's worth every penny you'll spend on it.

One thing to keep in mind is that it's not an RPG in a similar vein to the games you've already mentioned. There really isn't much NPC interaction, and while it does have a story, the game doesn't go out of its way to tell it to you. You'll have to dig for it. Figure everything out from the items you find, the architecture, the type of monsters you're fighting against, and how they're living. The whole world tells you the tale of Dark Souls. The attention to detail in every little thing is just astounding. You get the impression that you're looking at the madhouse aftermath of a lot of terrible events that have come together to create what you're seeing in front of you.

...but you're not playing an active part in that build up. There's a big, complicated conspiracy involving multiple players going on behind the scenes, but they've long since made their move in this grand scheme. Your arrival marks the climax of this story, and its eventual ending. The best way to put it is to think of it as you're playing an important character in a book who's only been introduced in the final chapters.

And even this isn't immediately apparent. There's very little exposition in the game, and most of what you do get from the occasional NPCs who are up to talking about it feels like half truths or flat out lies. You have to read between the lines to really figure out what's going on.

So it's not really a game you play for the "social" aspects, like you would in games like Bloodlines or Skyrim. The only influence you have on the story itself is how you end it, and you won't know which ending is the good one unless you really pay attention.

No, you play it for the challenge, the atmosphere, the tension, and just the general awesomeness of it. Deth calling it a surhor game is pretty close to the mark. The world isn't built for your gameplay conveinence. Rather, it's something you have to train yourself, think through, to eventually overcome. It's whether you're able to do this or not, or to figure out what's truly going on even if you do that keeps you coming back to Dark Souls.

So geddit. :mad: