Incline RPG Codex's Top 50 cRPGs - Results and Reviews

[octavius]

Morrowind still number one in my list. Unmatched open world in terms of imagination, art design and atmosphere. Unrivaled lore, it is pretty much a complete setting and I do include Kirkbrides stuff and even out of game lore in it because it is canon and a part of the universe. Anyone that disagree read the entire arcane library and come again. Great spreadsheet character creation and progession with as much or little autism as you want. All the tools to make your character a peasant or a god, with plenty of a world to live in, fleshed out factions. Uses dice. Good quests that doesn't do meta crap like magical compass markers but lets you be your character and people will provide you with actual directions to interesting areas. Great crafting and many equipment slots. Basically its the best sandbox rpg ever made.

Too bad it's totally static, which ultimately made me develop a hate/love attitude to the game. Morrowind with a working Radiant AI and factions system would have been fantastic.

 

[NotAGolfer]

Morrowind still number one in my list. Unmatched open world in terms of imagination, art design and atmosphere. Unrivaled lore, it is pretty much a complete setting and I do include Kirkbrides stuff and even out of game lore in it because it is canon and a part of the universe. Anyone that disagree read the entire arcane library and come again. Great spreadsheet character creation and progession with as much or little autism as you want. All the tools to make your character a peasant or a god, with plenty of a world to live in, fleshed out factions. Uses dice. Good quests that doesn't do meta crap like magical compass markers but lets you be your character and people will provide you with actual directions to interesting areas. Great crafting and many equipment slots. Basically its the best sandbox rpg ever made.

Too bad it's totally static, which ultimately made me develop a hate/love attitude to the game. Morrowind with a working Radiant AI and factions system would have been fantastic.

And they would have to adress the disconnect between static enemy difficulty and player leveling. Maybe only a very flat level power curve would help, since I can't imagine a way to bring together a completely open world and leveling at your own pace without annoying level-scaling. But I guess that's impossible without cutting down the magic system beyond recognition.

Morrowind's biggest problem for me isn't the story (I pretty much trolled up there, but I do believe that a derpy chosen one story doesn't get less derpy only because you make it slightly ambiguous), nor the wiki NPCs. It's the complete fail that's the game balance & difficulty curve. The designers clearly never thought about that stuff for a second which is pretty pathetic imo. I could never understand how anyone could have fun running around in a game without the slightest hint of challenge reading stupid ingame books and fapping about that oh so great lore because why bother reading real fantasy books when there are all these neat little dyslexic-friendly booklets lying around everywhere in this game?
tl;dr lore is for faggots.

 

[Lemming42]

tl;dr lore is for faggots.

Well, I guess Morrowind isn't really for you. It's not really that great as a game, but it's one of very, very few games that can overcome poor/derpy/broken gameplay with everything else it has to offer.

Personally I think the gameplay is at least serviceable, though.

 

[Nuclear Explosion]

It's not really that great as a game, but it's one of very, very few games that can overcome poor/derpy/broken gameplay with everything else it has to offer.

Personally I think the gameplay is at least serviceable, though.

Aside from setting/lore what else does it have to offer? It's not just the gameplay that's bad since the quest design is as well.

 

[Lhynn]

Aside from setting/lore what else does it have to offer? It's not just the gameplay that's bad since the quest design is as well.

The main quest wasnt poorly done, and even some of the side quests are worth doing. Morrowind just got the game part of the fucking game wrong, if it had better gameplay and better character mechanics it would have been awesome. Even flawed as it is its still a codex favorite.

 

[Lemming42]

Aside from setting/lore what else does it have to offer? It's not just the gameplay that's bad since the quest design is as well.

Aside from setting/lore? Not much. But the setting and lore is exactly what people love so much about it.

The quest design isn't abysmal, either. It's not amazing but it's alright. Some quests give you a lot of different ways to go about things, purely because of how the game is designed.

 

[Lonely Vazdru]

It always feels weird to me to see JA2 treated as a RPG. I think we should have a fresh and never done before debate : "What is a RPG ?".
I'll start : JA2 is not a RPG since laptop guy has no stats.

Seriously, good list AFAIC since more than half the entries are games that I like.

 

[Ninjerk]

Main character death does not necessarily equal game over.

But that means that they failed to save the world!

 

[Clockwork Knight]

His loyal companions can carry on. Unless he was the one paying them, then the world is fucked.

 

[Ninjerk]

His loyal companions can carry on. Unless he was the one paying them, then the world is fucked.

B-but, muh prophecy!

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Look mon, all that matters is that the ancient evil is stopped, a'ight? Ain't nobody gots time fo' that olden prophecy thang.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

Main character death does not necessarily equal game over.

Yeah. There used to exist something like rolling new characters in PnP RPGs instead of ending the game.

 

[roshan]

Why does everyone complain about shitty pathfinding in the IE games? I never had any issues. I clicked somewhere, people walked there. If you increase the path search nodes in the config files, the pathfinding actually becomes really good.

TOEE on the other hand..... In TOEE my characters sometimes walk in the opposite direction from where I clicked. And usually, even though I have all characters selected, only 2 out of 5 of them actually move when I click anywhere. And very often characters get lost on the way and randomlyy stop somewhere. It's fucking terrible.

 

[octavius]

Why does everyone complain about shitty pathfinding in the IE games? I never had any issues. I clicked somewhere, people walked there. If you increase the path search nodes in the config files, the pathfinding actually becomes really good.

Those who complain loudest are those who only played the unpatched version of Baldur's Gate, decided they didn't like it and then gave up.
The Pathfinding did get better, but you still needed to babysit your characters to be on the safe side.

 

[Rivmusique]

Narrow corridors THE HORROR! Shit like Firewine (? The place with Kobolds that has a boss who is kidnapping halflings) Bridge or the ice prison in the expansion, fuck that.

ToEE was horrible as well, yes. The game would freeze up for ~2 seconds if I clicked on a place too far from the party.

 

[Higher Animal]

A few suggestions for the future of RPG Codex top 50:

1. Allow a negative value for point power. Give voters the ability to down vote certain games that they think are unworthy. Doing so will alleviate much codex butthurt.

2. Create three separate lists of best rpgs. One for computer RPGs before 1997, after, and another for console RPGs.

3. If an rpg on the list receives three first place finishes or finishes in the top 3 five years in a row then it should be inducted into a pantheon of the "objectively greatest rpgs ever" and no longer eligible for a vote.

 

[Delterius]

A few suggestions for the future of RPG Codex top 50:

1. Allow a negative value for point power. Give voters the ability to down vote certain games that they think are unworthy. Doing so will alleviate much codex butthurt.

Alleviating butthurt isn't our business, comrade.

 

[felipepepe]

1. Allow a negative value for point power. Give voters the ability to down vote certain games that they think are unworthy. Doing so will alleviate much codex butthurt.

Nah, it promotes circle-jerking.

2. Create three separate lists of best rpgs. One for computer RPGs before 1997, after, and another for console RPGs.

Feels like we're giving a handicap to the pre-1997 games... also, we have a separate voting for consoles, and all that talk about "Codex is for PC RPGs"

3. If an rpg on the list receives three first place finishes or finishes in the top 3 five years in a row then it should be inducted into a pantheon of the "objectively greatest rpgs ever" and no longer eligible for a vote.

Nah, I think it's cool to see their voting results over the years. Also, with a long result list like ours, the Top isn't as important.

 

[Coriolanus]

It's not really that great as a game, but it's one of very, very few games that can overcome poor/derpy/broken gameplay with everything else it has to offer.

Personally I think the gameplay is at least serviceable, though.

Aside from setting/lore what else does it have to offer? It's not just the gameplay that's bad since the quest design is as well.

First, the atmosphere. Vvanderfell was a fairly unique fantasy setting with landscapes that could vary from pastoral to surreal (somewhat reminscent of another visual gem - Sacrifice - that came out 2 years ago) and beautiful, awe-inspiring architecture from the floating prison of Vivec to the vertiginous mushroom-towers of Telvanni. Then there was the overarching dread of the corpus plague (and your first time in the Corprusarium was something you would never forget), the mystery of the red wasteland, the pervasive feeling of being an outsider in a foreign land. It was, well, that oft-jaded concept of 'immersion'.

Second, this kind of scope and freedom of exploration wouldn't be repeated (and to a lesser degree, I think) until Fallout: New Vegas.

 

[mindx2]

felipepepe Just curious on which games would have rounded out a "Top 100" list (73-100)?

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

Consider the ability to for voters to specify their age range. 0-25, 25-35, 35-45,45-55, etc. It stands to reason that some fantastic games simply weren't likely to be played by certain age groups. It would give an interesting slicer to the results.

 

[felipepepe]

felipepepe Just curious on which games would have rounded out a "Top 100" list (73-100)?

I didn't make it a Top 100 list because there were too may tied games bellow 72. Considering all the tied one, these are the ones missing:

Spoiler

73 Realms of Arkania I: Blade of Destiny
74 Ambermoon
74 Chaos Strikes Back
74 Diablo 2
74 Exile III: Ruined World
74 Gothic 3
74 Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World
74 Nethergate: Ressurection
74 Neverwinter Nights 1
74 Starflight
83 Crusader Kings 2
83 Fate: Gates of Dawn
83 King's Bounty: Armored Princess
83 Quest for Glory I: So You Want to Be a Hero
83 Ultima V: Lazarus
88 Curse of Azure Bonds
88 Freedom Force
88 Geneforge 5: Overthrow
88 Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire
88 STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl
88 The Bard's Tale
94 Amberstar
94 Cops 2170: The Power of Law
94 Dark Disciples 2
94 Day Watch
94 Entropia Universe
94 Fabled Lands App
94 Hammer & Sickle
94 League of Legends
94 Mount & Blade
94 Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir
94 Night Watch
94 Path of Exile
94 Prelude to Darkness
94 Realms of Arkania III: Shadows Over Riva
94 Rezerwowe psy
94 Sengoku Rance
94 Seventh Sense: Lone Wolf Adventures
94 Soulbringer
94 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
94 Ultima Online

Some great stuff, together with others that I had never even heard before.

 

[mindx2]

felipepepe Just curious on which games would have rounded out a "Top 100" list (73-100)?

I didn't make it a Top 100 list because there were too may tied games bellow 72. Considering all the tied one, these are the ones missing:

Spoiler

73 Realms of Arkania I: Blade of Destiny
74 Ambermoon
74 Chaos Strikes Back
74 Diablo 2
74 Exile III: Ruined World
74 Gothic 3
74 Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World
74 Nethergate: Ressurection
74 Neverwinter Nights 1
74 Starflight
83 Crusader Kings 2
83 Fate: Gates of Dawn
83 King's Bounty: Armored Princess
83 Quest for Glory I: So You Want to Be a Hero
83 Ultima V: Lazarus
88 Curse of Azure Bonds
88 Freedom Force
88 Geneforge 5: Overthrow
88 Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire
88 STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl
88 The Bard's Tale
94 Amberstar
94 Cops 2170: The Power of Law
94 Dark Disciples 2
94 Day Watch
94 Entropia Universe
94 Fabled Lands App
94 Hammer & Sickle
94 League of Legends
94 Mount & Blade
94 Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir
94 Night Watch
94 Path of Exile
94 Prelude to Darkness
94 Realms of Arkania III: Shadows Over Riva
94 Rezerwowe psy
94 Sengoku Rance
94 Seventh Sense: Lone Wolf Adventures
94 Soulbringer
94 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
94 Ultima Online

Some great stuff, together with others that I had never even heard before.

Thanks and you're right, there are five that are new to me such as Rezerwowe psy, Day Watch, Seventh Sense: Lone Wolf Adventures, Fabled Lands App and Cops 2170: The Power of Law that I've never heard of...


Guilty pleasure for me to see U5:Lazarus there. I've got such a soft stop in my cRPG heart for that game...

 

[tuluse]

Seventh Sense: Lone Wolf Adventures

I've messed around with this a little bit, it's probably deserving of making the list.

It's available for free: http://projectaon.org/staff/david/

 

[Abelian]

1. Give voters the ability to down vote certain games that they think are unworthy. Doing so will alleviate cause much codex butthurt.

Fixed

3. If an rpg on the list receives three first place finishes or finishes in the top 3 five years in a row then it should be inducted into a pantheon of the "objectively greatest rpgs ever" and no longer eligible for a vote.

If the RPG's are retired, how will the ranking in the hall of fame be determined? Also, the annual lists are an interesting way of comparing how tastes have changed.