What Games Meet Your Standards?

[MilesBeyond]

I was thinking the other day about what I look for in an RPG, and I kind of came to the realization that there weren't any games that actually lived up to what I wanted. There's a few games that mostly get there, and there are a bunch of games that get there in some ways while missing the mark in others, and quite a few that don't get there at all but that I end up enjoying anyway for reasons I can't put my finger on.

But there aren't any games that I play and think "Yes, this is it. This is, to me, the perfect RPG, and I hope it influences everything that gets made after this."


So, have you found your Holy Grail of RPGs? Or are you still searching? If the former, what is it? If the latter, what's come closest, and what prevents it from fulfilling what you want?

 

[upwardlymobile]

none

 

[Excidium II]

Zero.

If the latter, what's come closest, and what prevents it from fulfilling what you want?

Fallout. Flawed systems and encounter design.

 

[Shin]

FINAL PHANTASY SEVEN IS PERFECT IN EVERY RESPECT

IT EVEN HAS LGBT RELATIONS

 

[Jedi Exile]

But there aren't any games that I play and think "Yes, this is it. This is, to me, the perfect RPG, and I hope it influences everything that gets made after this."

Arcanum.

 

[Goromorg]

KOTOR 2, BG 2, Age of decadence, Serpent in the Staglands, Morrowind, Grimrock (if it counts as RPG).

 

[Zombra]

Plenty of RPGs meet my standards. There's a difference between having standards and demanding perfection, though. Fix thread title. "What Games Are Totally Perfect, Perfect In Every Way?"

 

[V_K]

None. Heroine's Quest comes very close but somewhat fails on the grinding and equipment (or lack thereof).

 

[Tigranes]

Actually, I'm happy with many parts of many games. It's just none of them are perfect by themselves.

Torment sets a standard for writing, but I would also say games like Fallout and AoD do in their own way too. Alpha Protocol and New Vegas set a standard for reactivity.

 

[Waterd]

the story telling of darksun shatterd lands + the combat, ui clarity and minimalism of kotc + the challenge of adom + the variety of combat of final fantasy tactics = the perfect rpg

 

[SwiftCrack]

Castlevania: SOTN.

I'll leave this topic now.

 

[Excidium II]

Castlevania: SOTN.

I'll leave this topic now.

P. good but suffers from poor weapon balance.

 

[rado907]

I just like the classics from the various genres - Fate of Atlantis, Quest for Glory, Max Payne 1&2, all the Infinity Engine games, Morrowind, Vice City, the better editions of Pro Evolution Soccer (3, 2006, 2013, 2015) and Football Manager (2004-2007 were insane), the better Paradox titles, Battle for Wesnoth, XCOM, Warlords III, SPWOW, Brood War, Freespace II, IL-2, Majesty 1, DKII, Fallout 1&2, FarCry 1&3&4...

Each one of these games felt special almost from the loading screen.

 

[ProphetSword]

Pool of Radiance. It all went downhill from there.

 

[Meaning of Karma]

Replace "game" with "book", and see how utterly self-indulgent and eye-rollingly pretentious the question is.

Reminds me of something some half-baked intellectual in highschool would ask to his hipster friends.

 

[Somberlain]

Jagged Alliance 2

The game could have had more Elliot slapping cutscenes though.

 

[Neanderthal]

Gi Torment TOEE's combat system and i'd soil me kegs.

 

[Roguey]

Welcome to Rogueyism, enjoy your stay.

 

[Latro]

Underrail just might.

 

[Lhynn]

Lots of games, i dont got a high bar, it just needs to be fun.
Would probably be too long a list. But i mostly enjoy games that are very good on at least 1 area and that have a heart.

 

[Shammy]

My bar isn't exceptionally high either, hence why I enjoy playing wonky games like the Risen series.

KotoR 2, Arcanum, Planescape, BG2, and Dark Souls are my favorites though, with a lot of lessons to be learned from each.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Nothing is perfect, but I'd say Lufia 2, SaGa Frontier, and more recently Dark Souls come pretty damned close.

So do a lot of roguelikes for that matter, but it feels like cheating to mention them because they're on a whole different tier to scripted games.

 

[Curunír]

There is no perfect RPG. Different RPGs do different aspects well and you can't cramp them all together into one game, either because they immediately contradict each other or because some aspect only works well if the whole design is focussed on it and you cannot focus on dozens of different things at the same time.

 

[Sjukob]

Gothic 1-2 and Deus ex , despite their flaws I've never complained about them ( Gothic's controls are exceptional ) and never felt that they spoil the game for me . But I didn't play many RPGs , so I have little to choose from .

 

[Suicidal Meat Slapper]

Deus Ex, Fallout 1 & 2, Jagged Alliance 2, Torment, and the entire S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. KotOR 2 is also up there.