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My CRPG Odyssey

Fatty

Augur
Joined
Nov 17, 2011
Messages
134
Location
Gladstone
[Newfag]

So basically having been inspired primarily by how much NOT fun I was having with DA:O (bought it in a moment of weakness and desperation from GamersGate when it was like $10) and encouraged by that CRPG Addict guy, I went out and downloaded a bunch of fucking old ass games, figured out how to use some emulators and started playing. I cannot believe how much more fun I am having playing these than what I keep trying to play thats come out recently. If you are disgruntled as I am, but having doubts, I definitely recommend giving it a shot. Old does not necessarily mean suck.

So I set up my Odyssey:

Phantasie (currently level 7-9, paying out the ass to train my minotaur and my asshole dwarf)
Phantasie 2
Phantasie 3

(played and won the first two Phantasies way back in the day)

Eye of the Beholder
Eye of the Beholder 2
Eye of the Beholder 3 (hear this sucks, maybe I'll skip)
Lands of Lore 1 (I recall loving this one, though the ending seemed abrupt. LoL 2 I do not harbor fond memories of. Apparently there's a LoL 3)

Champions of Krynn
Death Knights of Krynn
The Dark Queen of Krynn

(not sure how I completely missed the boat on Gold Box Games...never played a single one, or even really knew of their existence before I found this place)

Shard of Spring (played a little, never won it)
Demon's Winter

Gateway to the Savage Frontier
Treasures of the Savage Frontier

Bard's Tale (still not 100% sure I want to play this series. I had it when I was younger and recall just dying incessantly)
Bard's Tale 2
Bard's Tale 3
Dragon Wars

Pool of Radiance
Curse of the Azure Bonds (can I transfer only select players from PoR or do I have to transfer the whole party?)
Secret of the Silver Blades
Pools of Darkness

Wizard's Crown (Played for 4 hours the other day. Still think this might be my favorite game ever, and I always wanted to do a replay with all multiclassed characters)
Eternal Dagger (would pay good money for a sequel)

Akalabeth
Ultima 1
Ultima 2
Ultima 3
Ultima 4
Ultima 5
Ultima 6
Ultima Savage Empire
Ultima Maritan Dreams
Ultima Underworld
Ultima 7
Ultima Underworld 2
Ultima 7 SI (would pay good money for a sequel)

Hoping by the time I get here, those Titans of Ether folks have finished their U9/Morrowind thing. Should have plenty of time given that I rarely get more than 30 minutes in a day to play.

Some notable omissions - Might and Magic (will probably do a full playthrough after I'm done with these if I am still alive). Wizardry scares me for some reason. Wasteland...*sigh*...I am a sword and sorcery fag I guess, I cant' get into other settings. I liked the Fallouts OK but mainly for the combat system (turn based) and the fact that I could play as a rampaging whore. Magic Candle I've never heard of but may add to the list.

Also downloaded a ton of FRUA stuff, probably do some of those campaigns.

The End. Thanks for letting me share.

[/Newfag]
 

octavius

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Aug 4, 2007
Messages
19,185
Location
Bjørgvin
Welcome to the club. :salute:

The Phantasie games are still fun. Which versions are you playing? P2 was only released for Apple and C64, I think. Definitely not for DOS or Amiga.
You will want to transfer you P1 or P2 characters to P3, otherwise it's extremely difficult in the beginning.

The Bard's Tale games haven't aged very well. The basic gameplay is still fun, but the endless random enocunter every few seconds (calculated in real time!) gets old. I completed both BT 1 and 2 in my youth, and replayed most of BT 1 earlier this year.

The Gold Box games have aged very well and are still amongst my all time favourite games. So you are in for a treat there, if you like turn based tactical combat.
You can transfer any number of characters, but you don't have to use them all. You can create new ones for each game and mix old and new characters.

The Might&Magic games have also aged well, and I had a great time playing MM1 and replaying MM2 recently.

Other games you may want to consider is Dungeon Master and Chaos Strikes Back, and The Magic Candle.
 

Fatty

Augur
Joined
Nov 17, 2011
Messages
134
Location
Gladstone
octavius said:
Which versions are you playing? You will want to transfer you P1 or P2 characters to P3, otherwise it's extremely difficult in the beginning.

I'll be using the C64 version for Phantasie and probably Wizard's Crown, which is how I played them 20-30-whatever years ago. I'm worried the minotaur will age too quickly to make it through all three games, but otherwise I do plan on transferring the characters whenever possible.

octavius said:
The Bard's Tale games haven't aged very well. The basic gameplay is still fun, but the endless random enocunter every few seconds (calculated in real time!) gets old.

Yeah that seems to be the consensus...we'll see how masochistic I am feeling by the time I get there I guess. Probably give #1 a few hours and either play or dump the whole series.
 

DaveO

Erudite
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
1,240
If you want to try killing Zeus in Phantasie I, I'd recommend no fighters in the party. Only high level spells can harm him. As far as Eye of the Beholder, I'd skip the series. In the Wizard's Crown game, I'd recommend at minimum double or triple classes(see my WC playthru on the Playground for why).
 

Daemongar

Arcane
Joined
Nov 21, 2010
Messages
4,706
Location
Wisconsin
Codex Year of the Donut
Fatty said:
Eternal Dagger (would pay good money for a sequel)
:salute:

You might want to try Questron II or Legacy of the Ancients if you like the games from that era (the are oddly similar ;) but both good in their own rights.) But screw it, play Gateway to Apshai (my personal favorite.)
 
Joined
Nov 6, 2009
Messages
1,494
octavius said:
Welcome to the club. :salute:

The Bard's Tale games haven't aged very well. The basic gameplay is still fun, but the endless random enocunter every few seconds (calculated in real time!) gets old. I completed both BT 1 and 2 in my youth, and replayed most of BT 1 earlier this year.

Try Dragon Wars, Octavius, it's quite incredible: a kind of free-roaming Bard's Tale using the Wasteland skill system (therefore its incredible versatilty and myriad of ways to attain your goal) and paragraphs.
I personally never liked the Gold Box engine and graphics (but will still be delighted to play Jeasun's Dungeon Craft campaign when it will near completion as it seems that he takes a lot less of time to implement scenarios now that he is at ease with the engine)
 
Joined
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Messages
7,953
Location
Cuntington Manor
Yes, if you want to skip the Bards Tale games, just play Dragon Wars. A much broader gaming experience overall.

If you like Wizards Crown that much, perhaps these may help you...not sequels but the gameplay is very similar... http://www.proudft.com/natuk.html

The earlier ultima's are shit. Avoid them at all costs. Play ultima 7 and 8 only.

A moron speaks. Don't listen to this tripe. III onward are very respectable games, though after V the combat system goes down the drain slowly but surely.

As for the rest, you are in for a treat. Enjoy. If you run out of options, just check the RPG lists on Lemon64, LemonAmiga, Mobygames, etc and ask about them here; somebody would have played them.
 

Elwro

Arcane
Joined
Dec 29, 2002
Messages
11,746
Location
Krakow, Poland
Divinity: Original Sin Wasteland 2
Fatty said:
Pool of Radiance
Curse of the Azure Bonds (can I transfer only select players from PoR or do I have to transfer the whole party?)
That's a very good question. I've also been wondering about this. I'd like to play PoR with some demihumans which will be useless when other PCs have higher XP levels, so I wouldn't transfer them. Is it possible to transfer e.g. half of my party?
 

Kersey

Educated
Joined
Jul 14, 2010
Messages
74
Elwro said:
I'd like to play PoR with some demihumans which will be useless when other PCs have higher XP levels, so I wouldn't transfer them. Is it possible to transfer e.g. half of my party?
Yes. Transfer works in character to character basis.
 

Fatty

Augur
Joined
Nov 17, 2011
Messages
134
Location
Gladstone
Daemongar said:
You might want to try Questron II or Legacy of the Ancients if you like the games from that era (the are oddly similar ;) but both good in their own rights.) But screw it, play Gateway to Apshai (my personal favorite.)

Are Questron II or Legacy of the Ancients significantly better than the original Questron? I had actually begun my Odyssey with Questron, a game I played the crap out of back when I had a C64, and couldn't get into it these days. Seems like all there was to it was killing/gambling for gold so I could buy enough HP to go do the next thing.

No Gateway to Apshai for me...I can't take the stress of time limits :(

Blackadder said:
If you like Wizards Crown that much, perhaps these may help you...not sequels but the gameplay is very similar... http://www.proudft.com/natuk.html

Not the first time a path has lead me to the Proudfoot site. There must be something to this. Will research.

Blackadder said:
Don't listen to this tripe. III onward are very respectable games, though after V the combat system goes down the drain slowly but surely.

I know what I'm getting myself into. I've already played and won all the Ultimas except Savage Empire and 9, many of them multiple times.
 
Joined
Nov 6, 2009
Messages
1,494
Personally, I prefer Questron but then it was the first one I played. The others being remakes (Legacy of the ancients, Questron II, Legend of Blacksilver) with better graphics and gameplay, I'd say that if you haven't played any of those, you'll prefer the last one on a C64 emulator.
Questron for me has a charm (even through its blandest graphics, go figure) that the others lack but I'm pretty sure it's much more nostalgia than anything else.
 

Nael

Arcane
Joined
Dec 12, 2005
Messages
11,384
Location
Indy
I've been wanting to give the Eye of the Beholder series a go for a while now but i could never get it to run in Dosbox. Something to do with the installation IIRC.
 

Nael

Arcane
Joined
Dec 12, 2005
Messages
11,384
Location
Indy
What the fuck is the deal with alts and major releases? Its fucking neurotic.
 

octavius

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Aug 4, 2007
Messages
19,185
Location
Bjørgvin
Beautiful Clown Painting said:
octavius said:
Welcome to the club. :salute:

The Bard's Tale games haven't aged very well. The basic gameplay is still fun, but the endless random enocunter every few seconds (calculated in real time!) gets old. I completed both BT 1 and 2 in my youth, and replayed most of BT 1 earlier this year.

Try Dragon Wars, Octavius, it's quite incredible: a kind of free-roaming Bard's Tale using the Wasteland skill system (therefore its incredible versatilty and myriad of ways to attain your goal) and paragraphs.

It's actually next on my to play list, after I've finished Chaos Strikes Back.
I bought the Amiga version when it was released, but I never finished it.
 

Admiral jimbob

gay as all hell
Joined
Sep 29, 2009
Messages
9,225
Location
truck stops and toilet stalls
Wasteland 2
Spetsnaz said:
Blackadder said:
The earlier ultima's are shit. Avoid them at all costs. Play ultima 7 and 8 only.

A moron speaks. Don't listen to this tripe. III onward are very respectable games, though after V the combat system goes down the drain slowly but surely.

Blackadder is a retard who will turn you off the Ultima series entirely. Do not listen to his drivling. Ultima's apart from 7 and 8 are shit. 6 has potential, but the crap combat system, which is the worst implementation of turnbased I have ever seen, completely ruins everything.
I'm getting incredibly worried that I can detect Andhaira within a single sentence.
 

MonkeyLancer

Educated
Joined
Aug 5, 2010
Messages
125
Elwro said:
Fatty said:
Pool of Radiance
Curse of the Azure Bonds (can I transfer only select players from PoR or do I have to transfer the whole party?)
That's a very good question. I've also been wondering about this. I'd like to play PoR with some demihumans which will be useless when other PCs have higher XP levels, so I wouldn't transfer them. Is it possible to transfer e.g. half of my party?

Indeed, you transfer each character individually. Not that Hillsfar is really worth playing,(besides the lockpicking) but you can even make characters that can transfer to PoR too.

Edit: It's also worth adding that you can get additional classes to select from beyond PoR too.
 

Elwro

Arcane
Joined
Dec 29, 2002
Messages
11,746
Location
Krakow, Poland
Divinity: Original Sin Wasteland 2
Kersey said:
Elwro said:
I'd like to play PoR with some demihumans which will be useless when other PCs have higher XP levels, so I wouldn't transfer them. Is it possible to transfer e.g. half of my party?
Yes. Transfer works in character to character basis.
Thanks! (To MonkeyLancer too!)
 

Daemongar

Arcane
Joined
Nov 21, 2010
Messages
4,706
Location
Wisconsin
Codex Year of the Donut
Fatty said:
Daemongar said:
You might want to try Questron II or Legacy of the Ancients if you like the games from that era (the are oddly similar ;) but both good in their own rights.) But screw it, play Gateway to Apshai (my personal favorite.)

Are Questron II or Legacy of the Ancients significantly better than the original Questron? I had actually begun my Odyssey with Questron, a game I played the crap out of back when I had a C64, and couldn't get into it these days. Seems like all there was to it was killing/gambling for gold so I could buy enough HP to go do the next thing.

No Gateway to Apshai for me...I can't take the stress of time limits :(
:D Well, I tried. I played Gateway to Apshai to death anyhow, so I understand. I played Legacy of the Ancients and Questron II before playing Questron, so I think I remember Legacy of the Ancients with the most admiration. The "games of skill" in LoA are still right up there as novel ways to raise stats.

Also, I'll second Ultima V - VII:SI - I'd recommend them all, but I guess some are a little tricky unless you are a bit diehard.
 

MMXI

Arcane
Joined
Apr 28, 2011
Messages
2,196
Gateway to Apshai? Really? Surely you mean Temple of Apshai.
 

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