Recommendations

[Kreepah]

Ive got many games for the PC and am now dont know of any really good games. Ive got the SQs, KQs, PQs, QFGs, most the Lucas arts adventures, plus other adventures like simon the sorcerers, beneath a steel sky, legend of kyrandias. For sim/strategy games i got Civilizations, Colonization, Railroad tycoons, SSIs general games, most Sim games (the maxis ones), the first two warcrafts, dune 1 and a couple new ones like age of kings + expansion, pharoah + expansion. I dont have much pc rpgs though only a few ultimas and diablo + hellfire but i have many rpgs for consoles like snes and psx.

These games are all pretty well known and i wanted to know of some similair games that arent as well known.
The genres im mainly interested in are Strategy/Adventure/RPG and sim (mainly console style rpgs) but suggestions can be of any genre and game recommendations dont have to be abandonware. This thread is for one and all. So if you know of an unknown gem please share.

[Tulac]

From RPGs I would reccommend you Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, Fallout 1 & 2, Planescape: Torment, this game aren't unknown but since you haven't mentioned that you have them, I wrote them, they are not abandonware but are fairly old...

[_r.u.s.s.]

heh, you didn't mention Icewind Dale, which is almost same as BG just more action (worse, still good though) and Arcanum, simmilar to Fallout

[Frodo]

For Adventure, have you tried ....

Cirque De Zale - http://www.abandonia.com/games/en/187/CirquedeZale.htm
Escape From Delirium - http://www.abandonia.com/games/en/366/EscapefromDelirium.htm
Flight Of The Amazon Queen - http://www.abandonia.com/games/en/273/Flig...AmazonQueen.htm (http://www.abandonia.com/games/en/273/FlightofAmazonQueen.htm)
Martian Memorandum - http://www.abandonia.com/games/en/657/MartianMemorandum.htm


:ok:

[Hamster of Doom]

For RPG (PC) I definetly recommend:
- Neverwinter Nights (+ the 2 Add-ons)
- Arx Fatalis
(- Diablo 2 + LoD)
(- Sacred + Underworld)
(I think, Diablo and Sacred are more action/Hack&Slay - games than pure RPG. The just have some RPG-elements. But that doesn´t take away the fact, that these are good games)
[console RPG : Grandia , Vagrant Story]

Strategy:
- the UFO/X-Com-series
- Age of Wonders, Age of Wonders 2 + Shadow Magic (My favorite round based strategy games)
- Age of Mythology + Add-on

[Eagle of Fire]

Diablo II is not a RPG. :angry:

I don't think The Settlers and Knight and Merchants, Original Wars been mentioned yet as strategy, as well as Stars!, Spaceward Ho! and Master of Orion I and II for 4X's. Another original game which is way worth purchasing is Freedom Force and I think there is a followup.

[Elon Yariv]

Z</span>

I've been thinking of uploading it to this site but first I got to find that disc... now where did I leave it? :unsure:

Oh yeah... I forgot... I'm already uploading another game... well I'll search for it later.

[Blood-Pigggy]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Eagle of Fire @ Jun 4 2006, 11:54 AM) 234204</div>
Diablo II is not a RPG. :angry:
[/b]

Lawl, yes it is, and no matter how many times you say it isn't it will always be :P

For good RPGs I suggest Arcanum, Septerra Core, the Fallout games, or any of the Elder Scrolls games.

[troop18546]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Blood-Pigggy @ Jun 4 2006, 09:49 PM) 234254</div>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Eagle of Fire @ Jun 4 2006, 11:54 AM) 234204
Diablo II is not a RPG. :angry:
[/b]

Lawl, yes it is, and no matter how many times you say it isn't it will always be :P

For good RPGs I suggest Arcanum, Septerra Core, the Fallout games, or any of the Elder Scrolls games.
[/b][/quote]

It may be called an RPG, but it certainly lacks the playability of an RPG, BP.
Indeed, if you want great RPG's, refer to:

Arcanum (the best there is)
ToEE (very buggy and unstable, but worth the hours, hard though...)
Diablo series (not really RPG'ish, IMO and lacks logic)
Fallout series (slow gameplay)
Harbinger (seen as a Diablo clone, but is way better)
Metal Heart (yet to play it but looks fantastic)

Take your pick. :sneaky:

[Blood-Pigggy]

DON'T PLAY HARBRINGER.

That game is horrid! The only entertaining thing about it is the terrible translations!

[Eagle of Fire]

Lawl, yes it is, and no matter how many times you say it isn't it will always be tongue.gif[/b]
No, it is really the opposite. No matter how much time you, anybody or even Blizzards says that it's a RPG, it's not. It's a fact, not a discussion. ;) The best classification for Diablo II would be "Dungeon Crawler".

Bitmap brothers' Z

I've been thinking of uploading it to this site but first I got to find that disc... now where did I leave it? unsure.gif [/b]
I have this game original disk right here... Never been able to make it run on my XP machine or in DOSBox. If anybody is able to solve this problem I'd be happy to upload it myself. :ok:

[Tulac]

Dungeon Crawling is an essence of RPG...

[Blood-Pigggy]

Lawl yeah really.
Eagle, it has all the elements of an RPG, so what does it matter, Battlezone is mostly an FPS game, but everyone calls it an Strategy game.

[troop18546]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Blood-Pigggy @ Jun 4 2006, 10:07 PM) 234259</div>
DON'T PLAY HARBRINGER.

That game is horrid! The only entertaining thing about it is the terrible translations!
[/b]

Nevermind him, he's wrong about this game.
Play it if you want to get away from those old dungeons seen in any other RPG.

P.S. Although Diablo has some elements of an RPG, it fails to have the "essence" of what makes games RPG's:
A twisting storyline with the ability to "choose your destiny" (Shao Kahn).

[Blood-Pigggy]

The game is terrible, horrid balancing, even more repetitive than Diablo, and it has terrible graphics and some of the most boring items and skills.

Oh, and that's not the essence of RPGs, the essence of RPGs is developing a character, that's why they're called ROLEplaying games.
Diablo has enough of that to make it an RPG, if every RPG was about a branching storyline where you could choose your destiny, then almost any game could be an RPG, that's why you see Deus Ex as an RPG/FPS but not The Suffering as an RPG/FPS, both allows you to choose your course of action, but only one has character development.

[_r.u.s.s.]

@eagle
diablo is role playng game=]

well, its rpg with more action but rpg doesnt always have to be d&d or something

[Eagle of Fire]

We already got this discussion in the past. I'm not seeking a conversation here, I'm merely stating facts. Whatever you guys say or I say, the other will not change their way of viewing things so I suggest that we simply drop it. :rolleyes:

[Blood-Pigggy]

How can you be stating facts when facts are supposed to be statements rooted in truth when what you're saying is obviously lies. :tai:

[Eagle of Fire]

Because you are plain wrong. A role playing game is a game in which you play the role of a person, you decide what they do and in fact become the character with your actions. Best example would be AD&D (pen and paper, of course) or MUDS and Mushes. In Diablo II you decide absolutly nothing, the only part of the game in which you decide something is in the action part if you kill such and such monster first or not. The rest is only stats that you pile up with each levels and skills that you decide to upgrade or not.

Granted, there is a very minor part of the game which may be referenced to RPG. However, this part of the game can't possibly add up to more than 10% (and I'm feeling generous). Every single games in existence can have a hint of RPG, yet we don't call them RPG either.

Diablo II is an action game, plain and simple as it rely on quick reflexes of the player to make the character survive. Everything else revolving around the game is made so you can bash the next monster more efficiently until you ultimatly kill Diablo (or Bhaal if I remember his name right, for the extention). Nothing else matter, the story can't be changed by any means, you don't have a choice to do such and such quests because if you don't the game is simply locked up until you do. You don't even have a choice of doing such quest or such other quest to decide the way your character evolve when the story unfold which may then have been enough to say that there is enough RPG element in this game to grant the title...

Diablo II, in facts, is way more similar to an adventure game than a RPG, you simply guide the PC to the end of the story. It is of course in no way an adventure game either.

[_r.u.s.s.]

there are more of that kind, this is "prepared" game for player and there are not possibilities of choosing the way how will story develope. but still you decide ohow will your Character develope. true though, its action rpg, not d&d or some other turn based and real timing (reflexes you said) doesn't change if it's rpg or not.

oh yes,

Whatever you guys say or I say, the other will not change their way of viewing things so I suggest that we simply drop it. rolleyes.gif
[/b]
true =)

[The Fifth Horseman]

Am I wrong, or did the title of this thread suddenly change into "is Diablo an RPG?"?

[Kreepah]

Oh yeah how could i forget some of these. I used to have baldurs gate 1 and 2, and ive got fallout 1 but have yet to try it. I heard nothing but good things of Planescape: Torment, is that baldurs gate style? definitely a title ill look into. Frodo i havent tried any except flight of the amazon queen, i got to try them. Hamster of Doom Whats Never Winter Nights like? Never heard of Arx Fatalis, can you tell me a bit about it. Ive got Xcom but dont know how to play it exactly. Eagle of Fire i dont believe i played of any of those strategies except The settlers, ill keep those in mind, are they abandonware?. Troop tell me a bit about arcanum, ive heard thats really good from a few sources. Dont know what ToEE is and i reckon ill look up metal heart.

Id say diablo II is a cross genre (action with rpg elements) although its a highly debated topic... as this thread is living proof too. Some people have dubbed it a strategy which i never really got.

Thanks for the replys everybody.

[troop18546]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Kreepah @ Jun 11 2006, 05:47 PM) 235903</div>
Oh yeah how could i forget some of these. I used to have baldurs gate 1 and 2, and ive got fallout 1 but have yet to try it. I heard nothing but good things of Planescape: Torment, is that baldurs gate style? definitely a title ill look into. Frodo i havent tried any except flight of the amazon queen, i got to try them. Hamster of Doom Whats Never Winter Nights like? Never heard of Arx Fatalis, can you tell me a bit about it. Ive got Xcom but dont know how to play it exactly. Eagle of Fire i dont believe i played of any of those strategies except The settlers, ill keep those in mind, are they abandonware?. Troop tell me a bit about arcanum, ive heard thats really good from a few sources. Dont know what ToEE is and i reckon ill look up metal heart.

Id say diablo II is a cross genre (action with rpg elements) although its a highly debated topic... as this thread is living proof too. Some people have dubbed it a strategy which i never really got.

Thanks for the replys everybody.
[/b]

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (click this (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/arcanumofsteamworksamo/) link for Gspot's info)

It's practically the best RPG there ever is (You decide nearly everything. The only thing that can be missing is your vocal abilities and an eating system.). The game is set in the late XIXth century in a place called (well...) Arcanum. The game's world is a huge continent by that name full of cities, their outskirts, a few islands and secret areas. It's simply like this - "free! I can go anywhere!". The lands are rules by magic and technology, you can choose to dazzle in any one of them or belong to both. You can choose from all kinds of races and such things. It's even too great for words. Just play it.
P.S. The game has multiplayer, but it's very tricky to make it work. I'm still confused about how it works, but try singleplayer - it's the awesomest story you could get. I finished it in about a month of intense playing. Worth every buck (doesn't cost much - I got it for 6$) and is even more worth the time. 2D rules in this one.

The Temple of Elemental Evil (click this (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/greyhawkthetempleofee/index.html?q=temple%20of%20elemental%20evil) link for Gspot's info)

This is another game from Troika (the creators of Arcanum). It's a game set in the world of Greyhawk. It features the best graphics I've seen in any RPG (Arcanum's is aristocratical and solid, this one is marvelously spectacular). It also features even more in depth character creation (Best there is so far. Even gives you a chance to make your voice), great relaxing music, special effects and tons of spells, weapons etc. This game uses a tactical fighting interface (Arcanum uses "real-time", "turn-based", and a hybrid of the two). Sort of like a "turn based D&D style" - very unique and you can easily adapth to it. ToEE uses a 2D&3D engine hybrid alowing it to be a very pleasnt game for the eye. You just have to play this one too.
P.S. The game has no multiplayer, but there can be a few mods for that (maybe).

Both games can encounter a bug once in a while (ToEE has more of this), but it sure doesn't ruin the game. You just have to use a few patches right before you want to start playing.

Just my opinion, but Troika has made the best RPG's in the world. I have to get a "Vampires: The Masquerade - Bloodlines" one day, I heard it was great too. I sure hope they revive it one day. Arcanum and ToEE RULES. :ok:

EDIT: Planescape Torment I heard is great, Metal Heart too.

[Skumpaq]

What about the Discworld series? I haven't played them myself but I've heard others say they are as good as Monkey Island and other Lucasarts adventure games.

[southwolf]

Discworld rocks!!

[BeefontheBone]

The first 2 are great, but they're Adventures not RPGs really.

[Mighty Midget]

A few more...

Did you play the later versions of Steel Panthers (freeware)? Recommended if you're into hard core, detailed strategy. The later versions have a few bugs fixed.
Sudden Strike series for an easy afternoon of simple, fun strategy and action, with beautiful graphics as well.

Other genres? Flight/Space sims:
TIE fighter, of course, as well as
X-wing Alliance. Great sims with storylines.
F-22 Total Air War for some heavy duty fighter sim. Runs on 'older' machines. Only drag is the AI and certain bugs (later fixed). The mission generator makes sure no two missions are exactly the same.

FPS (first person stealth): Thief 2, (I never played the first), Hitman Codename 47 (more fun to play as stealth than shooter)

RPG: Daggerfall is a classic, if you can live with some really wacky bugs (like having your horse fly about like a bleeping Rudolph). Exploit the bugs, and you could have a few laughs as well as a HUGE and imo, a great game. The thing about DF is that the number of skills allows you to be ANYONE! Now, not many RPGs out-do DF in that respect. A few bugs are destructive and kill your savegames, so keep your savegames backed up at a regular rate.

[Blood-Pigggy]

Arcanum is good, but it's buggy and it has several problems when it comes to balance and pacing.

[troop18546]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Blood-Pigggy @ Jun 17 2006, 01:55 AM) 237242</div>
Arcanum is good, but it's buggy and it has several problems when it comes to balance and pacing.
[/b]

I've never encontered a bug in Arcanum, except a few path finding glitches. (only had those in ToEE). What happened to you?
P.S. What do you mean by balance and pacing? :huh:

[Blood-Pigggy]

The bugs are enormous and wide-spread, you don't notice them at first, but after you've played through several times they become glaringly obvious. Examples could include the AI's sudden stupidity and then suddenly retaining their original mental health again. Sometimes the AI will just stand around and do absolutely nothing (very rare, but it kills you when they won't help out in combat) there are combat glitches when you switch between real-time and turn-based constantly (certain things like action points being used up for no reason) and monsters at times will attack you even if you made a succesful sneak, against all reason.

The balance is somewhat poor, especially early on in the game. Wandering around can get you killed easily, yet several areas in the game are far too easy, it seems there's never a nuetral balance of perfect challenge, but instead it alternates between easy and hard. Although it's nothing like Fallout, where you can skip a certain area, come back, and get bored to death with the easiness. If you don't explore the world just right, you get either slaughtered or bored to death.
It also takes a REALLY long time for you to get to the meat of the game, which can turn you off early in the game. Some of the character negatives and item negatives are really a bit too harsh also.

But otherwise I loved the game, just wish it was a bit more polished.

[Elon Yariv]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Eagle of Fire @ Jun 4 2006, 07:30 PM) 234272</div>
Bitmap brothers' Z

I've been thinking of uploading it to this site but first I got to find that disc... now where did I leave it? unsure.gif [/b]
I have this game original disk right here... Never been able to make it run on my XP machine or in DOSBox. If anybody is able to solve this problem I'd be happy to upload it myself. :ok:
[/b]

Hello eagle, I think I know how to run it in XP since I already did once. I'll send it to kosta as soon ad I'll found out how I did it. There is one little problem with running it with XP... the scrolling speed is really slow but you can always use the right mouse button to scroll, like in transport tycoon.

[troop18546]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Blood-Pigggy @ Jun 18 2006, 12:41 AM) 237375</div>
The bugs are enormous and wide-spread, you don't notice them at first, but after you've played through several times they become glaringly obvious. Examples could include the AI's sudden stupidity and then suddenly retaining their original mental health again. Sometimes the AI will just stand around and do absolutely nothing (very rare, but it kills you when they won't help out in combat) there are combat glitches when you switch between real-time and turn-based constantly (certain things like action points being used up for no reason) and monsters at times will attack you even if you made a succesful sneak, against all reason.

The balance is somewhat poor, especially early on in the game. Wandering around can get you killed easily, yet several areas in the game are far too easy, it seems there's never a nuetral balance of perfect challenge, but instead it alternates between easy and hard. Although it's nothing like Fallout, where you can skip a certain area, come back, and get bored to death with the easiness. If you don't explore the world just right, you get either slaughtered or bored to death.
It also takes a REALLY long time for you to get to the meat of the game, which can turn you off early in the game. Some of the character negatives and item negatives are really a bit too harsh also.

But otherwise I loved the game, just wish it was a bit more polished.
[/b]

I've always loved real-time combat, cause too much tactics really bore me. I have noticed some "unpolishedness" - the dialogue can make no sense sometimes, but you really gotta pay attention, and theres "ultra" dexterity (a person with a very high dexterity swings his blade at 400fps and stuff like that). But that is just minor to me and hadn't ruined the game in any way for me or the fact that it was RPG of the year 2002 (I played it at 2004 or 2005 I think). "A game that cannot be missed". :max:

[Blood-Pigggy]

I loved it too, the problems just annoyed the hell out of me. It's nothing as good as Fallout Tactics though and they came out the same year.

[dragonLancer]

DIABLO ALL THE WAY....

One of my all time favorite Games ever!

Great time waster

[Kreepah]

thanks mighty midgit i havent heard a lot of them. Do you know where its possible to buy daggerfall from, i have had trouble finding it before

[Mighty Midget]

Try this
Auction (http://www.ciao.co.uk/Daggerfall_PC__64357)

[dragonLancer]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Kreepah @ Jun 19 2006, 10:30 AM) 237740</div>
thanks mighty midgit i havent heard a lot of them. Do you know where its possible to buy daggerfall from, i have had trouble finding it before
[/b]


Daggerfall is a pretty sweet Game :) So is Elder Scrolls Arena but you can Download that for free. :)