Recommendation for an RPG

Hello everyone! Probably my first thread in this sub-forum!

I wanted your help in recommending me an RPG.
I really love RPGs, but recently it's been depressing me how boring they seem to have become, or maybe they've become boring because I was depressed . So I figured maybe I was looking at the wrong ones.

For an understanding of my taste, here are some RPGs I've played:

Morrowind: LOVED it. Had a mostly rubbish story, but set up a bunch of rules (including bugs and exploits) in an incredibly rich world, and let you go as wild as you liked.
Was fairly disappointed when I played Oblivion after that, and even with Skyrim, after 2-3 months messing about, I got bored and never returned to it (don't think I even finished the main story).

Planescape Torment: First time I played it, I played it like a traditional RPG, but ended up grinding in one of the ward sewers and left it for a while. Replayed it from the start later, totally focusing on intelligence, willpower and charisma, and really enjoyed it. To be honest, it would probably have worked better as an adventure game.

The Witcher: I started this out enjoying it. People had warned me about complicated potion mixing and levelling up and combat, but once I started that, I really had no problem with any of it. However, I got to the point where I'm teleported to somewhere else, roam near some beaches and islands and had just gotten into a new major town when I realised I had no idea what I was doing there, what my motivation was, I had forgotten how the story started and who had died and what I was fighting for, and was probably in for the 57th town grind- head to the bar, fight all the fighters, get all the bar quests, woo all the ladies (what was up with the silly immature treatment of sex and relationships pretending to be adult- I mean, reduced to a card collecting game? Really?), head to the shops, upgrade to the highest equipment, go through the relevant main story quests, etc.), and got bored and left it.
I actually have Witcher 2, but haven't got around to playing it yet. All I've been told is they changed the combat in it.

Fallout: I've played Fallout 1 for a bit, and played Fallout 2 for slightly longer, but the first game of the series I played was 3. Despite what everyone went on about it being bland and boring and so on, I actually didn't mind it, and completed the whole game. I even finished and enjoyed New Vegas.

Kingdoms of Amalur: I enjoyed this too, for the time that I played it. The combat was enjoyable, the world was kinda interesting, had a great visual aesthetic, but in the end, I had the same issue I had later with Witcher: I got to the new deserty area, and realised it was going to be more of the same boring and irrelevant quest-grinding.

Deus Ex: Human Revolutions: I really enjoyed this game, despite some of the horrible boss fights, and was really invested in the choices I made (the end choice was a bit stupid, though). I was told I should play the first Deus Ex, and I tried, but I'm ashamed to say that I couldn't muddle through those graphics. I'm not some sort of hi-fi graphical purist, I love loads of the old 2d games, but something about crappy 3D (and thus most of the 3D games uptil the mid-2000s) that just turns me off.

Two Worlds: I enjoyed this when I played it as well, but I can't even remember the story now (something about saving your sister?) or whether I completed it. I did enjoy the way they handled inventory and weapons and stuff, though.

Dragon Age 1: Played it, I think I completed it, but barely remember anything at all. Something about greys? I had a dog, and a gay elf kept hitting on me. I probably finished it, but I guess it didn't leave much of an impression on me.

Mass Effect: I played and completed 1, was okay. People complain about the vehicle bits, but I didn't really mind them that much. For some reason, I got 3 instead of 2 after that, played up until a point where you have to make a choice, and the best case scenario only pops up if you had played Mass Effect 2, which I hadn't, so I quit it.

Arcanum: Was playing and enjoying up until some bug prevented me from completing a quest, and I got annoyed and left it.

Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2: Enjoyed these games, but me being a Jedi/Star Wars fan might've helped. Story was interesting, gameplay was enjoyable, and HK-47 was hilarious.

Diablo II: Does this count as an RPG? Enjoyed it, even got the expansion, but once I completed the game, I tried out the extra modes and stuff, but couldn't be bothered to go very far replaying it.

Torchlight: I enjoyed this game too, was fun and all until I got to the final boss, who I was absolutely, totally unable to defeat. I guess I had been levelling up wrong or something. Got frustrated and gave up with it.

Neverwinter Nights: Played it, enjoyed it, was quite engrossing. Played 2 as well, which wasn't so well received, but didn't mind it so much either.

Dungeon Siege I & 2: I literally almost don't remember anything about this game, except it seemed like some sort of Neverwinter Nights style RPG clone. I had to chase down some wolves in a cave at some point? I'm pretty sure I completed it, so I guess it wasn't broken or bad or anything.

Quest for Glory Games: Loved 1,4 and even 3, 5 was rubbish, and I didn't really get into the remake of 2 that came out a couple years ago. Great atmosphere, nice set-up, worked well.

Titan Quest: Played it with some friends occasionally, tried it on my own as well, got bored pretty quickly and left it.

DeathSpank: Which was also a similar game, was funny and all, but the game itself didn't seem all that great.

Ultima VIII: Apparently this is supposed to be the sellout Ultima game after the much more awesome VII, but I played it back when I had no idea about any of that, and had no expectations, and I didn't mind it so much (I've never played 7, though)

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: Not sure if this counts as an RPG either, but I did quite enjoy it. I even enjoyed Ocarina of Time. People had been hounding me for years to try Chrono-Trigger, and I did, it was a well built game, but I honestly didn't see what the fuss was all about. Then again, I never got very far into it, and now I'm wondering if I'm past my SNESy RPG enjoying days.

Final Fantasy: Speaking of SNESy RPGs, I enjoyed IV when I played it, but then when I got VII, I think it starts right off with some sort of timer where you have to escape, I got into a battle while escaping, and made the mistake of trying one of the super-move things, the entire animation started off, took over a minute, and the timer was still going on! I wasn't impressed. I think I passed that bit, got back to base (on a train or something?) but lost interest. I bought X years after that, watched through what was probably literally a half hour intro involving some sort of football match, followed by dozens of linear corridor turn-based battles. I got bored, and left it.

Wow...that turned out into a long rant about the RPGs I've played. I'd be grateful for any and all suggestions, though! Some games people have recommended me that I'm not sure about are one of the Gothics (I want to make sure I get the right one, though, apparently some are horrible crap, while others are diamonds in the rough) and Baldur's Gate 2

These are my bread and butter.

Divinity II Eco Draconis

Baldur's Gate II

Neverwinter Nights Series

Dark Souls

Fallout New Vegas

The Witcher 1 & 2

Mass Effect Series ( although the 3rd one will piss you off)

There are many, many more I can't think of right now.

reply to post by babloyi


Poor guy, I fully understand, I have been having the same problem. You have pretty much played them all. If you are like me you are trying to find the right combo of casual and complexity. The only one out of the bunch that hit the spot for me was Neverwinter Nights, and I was done with it again in just a day or two. Hitting a dry spell sucks.

Best I can suggest to you is that you go totally minimalist with a rogue-like, maybe Angband. But honestly, the only game that does it for me anymore is Dwarf Fotress, but it isn't an RPG and it's a rough learning curve to get to the goodness.

Best of luck to you. Please let us know if you find something that blows your mind.

reply to post by babloyi


You may or may not like all of these but here goes:

Suikoden
Suikoden 2 (Suikoden 1+2 are amazing)
Persona (Very hard, beware, adult type game)
Persona 2 innocent sin (fanslate rom available online, thats how big of a following this series has, good game for mature audiences)
Persona 2 English(english version is sequel to innocent sin)
Persona 3 (fun game, addictive gameplay and storyline)
Persona 4 (like 3 but slightly better)
Any Shin Megami Tensei games for the newer systems are pretty good.
Breath of fire 1-4 (Old school rpg play)
Breath of Fire 5 Dragon Quarter (pretty good but different from predecessors)
Earthbound
Terranigma
Xenogears (Awesome story)
Baldure's Gate 1+2
Chrono Trigger
Fallout 2(I think you mentioned this one)
System Shock 2(Since you liked fallout)
Skyrim
Vagrant Story
Shadowrun

There's more let me know if you want anymore suggestions. Most of these games I listed have ROMS available(not that I'm recommending doing that) with exception of Skyrim. Basically they are for SNES-Playstation 2

reply to post by babloyi


www.ign.com...

Honestly if you're feeling depressed and just want an addicted game with good storyline I would definitely check out first

Persona 4
Suikoden 1 then 2
Chrono Trigger

Especially since you've never played them. They are all fun games with good storylines that are heavy without becoming suffocating.

Also if you want a more actiony-Rpgishy game then try the Bioshock series ending with Bioshock Infinite. It's just the right amount of creepy mixed with story, action, gameplay that doesn't get bogged down in action genre drama. Sorry for posting twice but I thought of more.

There is an old game that runs on a program called Byond that i am into right now.

Only multiplayer, the players play as the crew on a space station. Everyone roleplays their positions and try to keep the station running while horrible things kill them.

Its like Dwarf fortress, but in space, and multiplayer

edit
helps if i put that name of the game in huh?
Space Station 13

reply to post by babloyi


Ahh my fav genre of video games. I'm more old school when it comes to RPGs but recently Neverwinter Nights, Witcher 2, Skyrim and Borderlands 2 are filling the void. There hasn't been anything too exciting as of late, but since we are on the topic, here is a list of Some of my all-time oldschool favs,

CHRONO TRIGGER!
Final Fantasy VII
Breath of fire 2
Secret of Mana
Baldur's Gate 1&2 (Go for the eyes Boo!)
Lufia 2
Phantasy Star 4
Lunar
Illusion of Gaia
Super Mario RPG
Earthbound
Landstalker
Eye of the Beholder(s)
Shinning Force
Final Fantasy III
Half Life 2 (I know it's a FPS but one of the best stories ever)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Shadowrun (There is a newly released version available on Steam)

reply to post by babloyi


That's a large list of RPGs you didn't care for. I'm beginning to think you aren't really into them at all?

My recommendations would be:

Skyrim: One of the best RPG's I've ever played. Very lore heavy and open world, can be overwhelming but fun.

Shadowrun: The original version was extremely fun for me as a kid, and I still enjoy it today. You're 'killed' but not quite, you come back seeking revenge against those who plotted to kill you. Free roam, hire mercenaries, level up using guns or magic or both.

The Witcher 2: If you haven't tried it, please do. There is a lot of lore in this as well so takes attention to detail, the combat is especially fun and the storyline is amazing.

Baldur's Gate I and II as well as Throne of Bhaal: Open world exploration with lots of people you can befriend or make enemies, with lots of choices to affect the outcomes. Forgotten realms lore.

Final Fantasy Crisis Core: PSP game set before FFVII you play as SOLDIER Zack. It is a beautiful game if you can find a good emulator, or a PSP

Age of Conan: Online MMO with some decent combat and lore from Conan The Barbarian

Vindictus: Online MMO with a pretty linear story but the combat is just amazingly fun. You can piece together combos, learn new ones with all sorts of different weapons & classes.

I'll keep watch on this thread because I too am always searching for a good RPG these days.

Good luck!

reply to post by chenjesu


Sounds a lot like FTL: Faster Than Light

It's not really an RPG but you start off with a space ship & a crew, and jump drive around galaxies encountering random events that can harm or help your crew. Acquire upgrades for new systems, weapons, defenses, and crew members. It's short but replayability is high because it can be extremely difficult to beat.

Instead of just Dumping a bunch of names on you, I am just going to choose One and say how awesome I think it is and why you should try it out.

Xenogears

It was designed by Squaresoft in their prime...the story is really brutal and confusing like a classic Japanese Anime. The character Diversity is awesome...ranging from Desert Pirates, to Genetically Engineered Manic Hyper Pixie Child Soldier....the storyline gets progressively more and more epic as the story goes on.

Also the playability has reached a new level with PSP compatability now...you can play your game on PSP, then transfer the save game to PS3 and continue playing and vice versa.

Overall, it is a legendary RPG and should be played by any true fan of RPG Games.

You pretty well cover the ones I've played, OP. The exception being Fable, and I rather enjoyed that as something a bit different for awhile. I liked Dungeon Siege I. That was fun. II? Well, Thank goodness they had a demo to make me wonder and check more reviews. It saved me buying it. I'd been looking forward to it too.

Diablo III was fun until a screw up with Gmail got my wife's account closed on an age verification glitch. We got to find out the catch 22 of authentication by Email when Email literally doesn't exist for some odd reason. Everything verifies through what is causing the problem in the first place and the end result? Well, I have my game and my wife effectively lost hers. Support wasn't sympathetic.

If you have considered Online RPG's, I'd recommend Anarchy Online. For some reason, it's one I've kept coming back to and it's had a following for an incredible amount of time. Many Many years now. It's a very complex crafting system that has a serious learning curve, but once mastered, it's a real blast compared to the shallow nature of many games. The best stuff is made possible by crafting well, too. I'm not playing it at the moment..but then, I'm not into any games right now. (You can also team or solo, about equally, all the way up the levels. The game is based on running either way or a combination)

reply to post by babloyi


I just wanted to get in here so I can watch it later. I've been meaning to get back into gaming. It used to be all I did, and then I felt old and boring, but what's the point in that?

One of my favorites was "Tales of Symphonia" It's one player or up to 4 players. It's real time battle.. The game lasts about 80 hours or so, but when you beat it there are upgrades and other things that make the next play through different. The storyline is cool and I love the characters. I find that it's one of the underrated games in many circles. It's the only rpg that feels epic enough that I have played. (admittedly I havn't played any of the newer ones). There are certain characters I like to piss off in the game, and others I try to make like me.. Each character fights differently so you have to master each one like a fighting game kind of.

For some reason I can't think of any RPGs that I truly loved bsides tales. I miss RPGs. Besides real time strategy they are my favorite. Turn based strategy RPGs are good too, like Fire Emblem.

Come to think of it I don't beat most of the RPGs I play.

Golden Sun 1 and 2
Chrono Trigger
Breath of Fire 2
Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy legends 1, 2, 3
Dragon Warrior 1, 2, 3
Pokemon
Skies of Arcadia
Phantasy star (any)
secret of mana
tactics ogre (either)
Earthbound
Mario RPG

Heard Xenogears is good, but I don't know anything about it. I want to play that one.

I'm of the morrowind/ fable. or baulder's gate/SW NOTOR (for hack and slash) camp.
Recently D&D online has been my escape, or Civ 5 though it's not an RPG.

Good hunting!

Haven't seen these listed but might be interested and also if you want to branch into MMORPGs:

Some of these have been mentioned on ATS with some good member details.

. Rift - Fantasy, some call it an extension to WOW's Azeroth, I don't agree but has High Elves, Dwarves, Humans, etc, it's less cartoon looking than WOW. It's free to play but in exchange there's some extras, souls ,costumes, more are bought for cash as well as x-pacs.

. The Secret World MMORPG- Which is a modern setting conspiracy game, you play one of three Secret Society Factions- The Templar, Illuminati and Dragon. No subscription needed, just pay once(good deals on Amazon) to play or for extras pay a fee.

. Vampires - The Masquerade Bloodlines RPG: It's older, 2004, but Nvidia. It also has issues if buy a copy you may need some extra help with correcting parts of it. Otherwise there's available a complete re-worked version. *There's plans for a Vampire The Masquerade MMORPG, as as explained at the EVE Fanfest.

. Eve MMORPG - Sci-Fi, where you play a selected race that controls sections of the universe.

.* Also, stay alert for the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 and Elder Scrolls Online which is in Beta now.

reply to post by babloyi


Fable one the original, best game ever.

All I have to say really, ok It's dated now but it's seriously my favorite game.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

reply to post by tothetenthpower

I had not heard of Divinity 2, will investigate that. I have heard of Dark Souls, and would be interested to try that out, but I don't have any of the consoles, or a gamepad, and I hear the PC port (with a keyboard) is really bad. But there's another recommendation for BGII.

reply to post by Bybyots

Speaking of roguelikes, I have actually been going at Dungeons of Dredmor and FTL (not really a roguelike, but still ) for a while now, and while I've enjoyed them a lot, it was the desire for something with a little more solid story that got me starting this thread.

reply to post by OrphanApology

A lot of console and JRPG love . I had actually played a lot of the BoF and Chronotrigger and Secret of Mana games ages ago. I'll investigate some of the PS2 games you mentioned, thanks! I hear there's a new Shadowrun out, but with less open world and stuff.
And I'm not too sure about that RPG list, it puts it in the order of Skyrim>Oblivion>Morrowind, which I totally disagree with, and puts WoW at 8 and Diablo II at 6 .

reply to post by chenjesu

Looks really hectic, in a Dwarf Fortress way . Seeing as it's free, I'll check it out when I get a more stable internet connection.

reply to post by ArchaicDesigns

I sense another SNES RPGer . I have actually played most of those, except the Mario one and Lufia. I never really liked the Eye of the Beholder games, and even other such fixed-view first-person games (not sure what the proper name for it is, where you can only turn in 90 degree steps), probably personal bias, but it prevented me from giving them a proper chance. And I've played HL2, because of course!

reply to post by Kevinquisitor

But I do! And it was more a list of RPGs I've played. Quite a few of them I enjoyed, despite their flaws. You recommend Witcher 2, so I ask, have you played Witcher 1? How does it compare in terms of story and the world?

reply to post by Nick_X

Sounds awesome, but I don't have a PSP or any of the current gen consoles, and emulators are not up to par yet .

reply to post by Wrabbit2000

Hahah...I forgot about Fable! Of course, there is Fable. I've played it, and enjoyed it, despite its weird quirks...I remember I liked wearing black because I thought it looked cool, but for some reason, it was considered evil, despite me being a neutral->good character, so my hair started falling out and flies started circling my head. Something like real life .
Maybe I'll try Diablo III in a couple of years. The online-only restriction was a real dealbreaker for me.

reply to post by Dustytoad

I'll check out Tales for the PS2. You have any idea if it was worse than the Nintendo version? And I've played most of the other ones you suggested.


reply to post by dreamingawake

I'm not much of a MMORPG guy, but I've played LotRO and a couple of the F2P ones, and am signed on the Elder Scrolls beta. I've heard good things about Vampires - The Masquerade: Bloodlines, have been waiting for it to go on sale because I'm a cheapskate.

Heh..just in time for my question, this came up:
bundle-in-a-box.com...

Any of them any good?

Its Old school but I loved the dragon lance games, may not be ur thing as its in the 1st person.

If you havent played baldurs gate you need to, also Icewind dale.
Same engine as Planescape Torment which is quite possibly the best game of all time.

I just started on Arcanum a few weeks ago, unfortunately RL has interfered and Im only just in Caladon

reply to post by babloyi


I'm horrified that you thought Morrowind had a rubbish story, and almost stopped reading there! I even considered investing in private detectives to hunt you down and ruin your life

I've had a similar issue, just like many of the respondents here, and while i sometimes replay these games i typically end up on a futile chase for the immersion i experienced when first playing them late into the night when the rest of the world disappeared. meh

Sometimes the only option is do a bit of prep and get some friends together for a trad pen and paper session that eats up a whole sunday.... i think alot of us forget this option and the sheer joy and hilarity that comes from it - food for thought

and you may be amazed at how better you are as a GM now than when you were like 14.........

reply to post by babloyi


"I'll check out Tales for the PS2. You have any idea if it was worse than the Nintendo version? And I've played most of the other ones you suggested."

It's 2 DVDs on the Game cube. I remember something about the ps2 version having some lag issues. I always hated playing ps2 being used to gamecube.. All the loading..

PS2: Tales of Symphonia IGN
" 9.1
Amazing "

heres a post by someone who knows

Also, keep in mind that the PS2 version had world map lag, and battle framerate at 30fps instead of the GC version which ran at 60fps I think. Also, slightly worse graphics.

But none of that will be an issue with the remaster probably.
Other than that, the PS2 version simply had more extras, MAs for everyone, new anime cutscene, events...etc.

So it looks like it has a lot of extra content, but hopefully the realtime 3D battle system doesn't lag because timing is key..

Apparently they are remaking it?

The company has revealed that Tales of Symphonia and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World will be getting HD Remaster treatment on the PS3. The two RPGs will be bundled together and debut in Japan on October 10th, selling for about 6,980 yen ($70 US). North Americans and Europeans can look forward to the pack in the first portions of 2014

I miss it sooo much.. I may even get a ps3 just for that, well, assuming I ever have money again.



I don't want to give away the story line but it's SOOO ATS, hehe.