Decline A New Top cRPG based on decade/subgenre

[Darth Canoli]

I had a dream ...

The Codex would finally get back its incline by rating cRPG properly and not putting decline subgenre in a fake popular contest with the real incline.

The new Top CRPG would look like this :

• Pre 90's Top 10 + hybrids* Top 5
• 1990-1994 Top 10 + hybrids Top 5
• 1995-1999 Top 10 + hybrids Top 5
• 2000-2009 Top 20 + hybrids Top 10
• 2010-2018 Top 10 + Hybrids Top 10

(*) Hybrids = Games without any Turn-Based mode and eventually games with RPG elements.

Wouldn't that be great ?

Anyone interested in tackling any category to put down some lists ?

 

[razvedchiki]

stop
posting

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

terrible choice of decade separation, computer game trends don't follow neat decade delineations.

 

[Darth Canoli]

terrible choice of decade separation, computer game trends don't follow neat decade delineations.

I know, it's a first throw, any suggestions ?

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

terrible choice of decade separation, computer game trends don't follow neat decade delineations.

I know, it's a first throw, any suggestions ?

1995 & before
1996-2005
2006-2011
2012-present

 

[Reinhardt]

I know, it's a first throw, any suggestions ?

stop
posting

 

[Darth Canoli]

1995 & before
1996-2005
2006-2011
2012-present

Doesn't work for some franchises like M&M where the early 90's is clearly a new era but i don't mind, it's all the same to me.

Anyone wanting to tackle the 1995 & before + hybrids category ?
I think i can handle the rest, except if someone is interested in putting down a list for any other category.

 

[Darth Canoli]

1995 & before
1996-2005
2006-2011
2012-present

So, it could be done with 2xTop 10 for each era.

1995 & before Top 10 + Hybrids* Top 10
1996-2005 Top 10 + Hybrids Top 10
2006-2011 Top 10 + Hybrids Top 10
2012-present Top 10 + Hybrids Top 10

 

[Parabalus]

(*) Hybrids = Games without any Turn-Based mode

 

[Hoaxmetal]

stop
posting

 

[Rahdulan]

I had a dream ...

I would suggest hard drinking beforehand. It stifles nightmares.

 

[EldarEldrad]

I do not see any reason to create different tops for different years, it seems stupid. In fact, current Top 70 (+ The CRPG Book as ultimate guide to the genre) does its job pretty good, except it still miss a couple of recent RPGs that could possibly fit into it somewhere

 

[laclongquan]

What make your poll so different? I mean we can do a simple sorting on the old top 70 data ~

 

[Darth Canoli]

What make your poll so different? I mean we can do a simple sorting on the old top 70 data ~

You're not wrong, actually, i did just this and for the 1996-2005 period there's 9 TB games

1. Fallout
2. Fallout 2
3. Arcanum
4. Wizardry 8
5. ToEE
6. Might & Magic VI
7. Might & Magic VII
8. Geneforge
9. Wizards & Warriors

So here's our Top 10 RPG for that era, looks far more prestigious to me than the official top 10.

Still, with the hybrid section, we're able to add some gems more freely, for example UFO which has more RPG elements than some games from the Top 70 and is certainly far better as well or even Fallout Tactics (since JA2 is there, don't tell me JA2 is good for its RPG elements)

We would also have the liberty to add (or not) some of the best JRPG in the hybrid section (i'm not expert but i played some of the best old ones like Suikoden 1 / 2, Shining Force 1 & 2, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Shining in the Darkness, ...), maybe it's stretching the list too much because these games were not made for the PC platform, still, they're fully playable now through emulation with an easy saving feature as a bonus (save states).

I'm also quite sure there's some hidden gems that were not taken into account and since there isn't so many TB games, it would be an opportunity to put them under the spotlights.

 

[Lonely Vazdru]

Hidden gems should remain hidden. Any CRPG lover knows that exploration should be rewarding.

 

[HarveyBirdman]

terrible choice of decade separation, computer game trends don't follow neat decade delineations.

I know, it's a first throw, any suggestions ?

1995 & before
1996-2005
2006-2011
2012-present

2011
The year Skyrim blew every other RPG out of the water (or should I say fus roh dahed every other RPG off the throat of the world) and improved the industry forever with its mere presence.

 

[Morkar Left]

I like the idea of differentiation between eras, it helps decluttering the true rpgs from the bullshit and allows everyone to easily draw the line to eras too old or too new for him.

 

[Darth Canoli]

I like the idea of differentiation between eras, it helps decluttering the true rpgs from the bullshit and allows everyone to easily draw the line to eras too old or too new for him.

That's the idea, it doesn't mean any era is off-limit but i believe it could bring some new players to older games progressively if they want to with a more accurate tool than a bag filled with 70 titles.

It's probably useless for the Codex experts but could be useful for regular users as well.

I noticed, checking the top 70 again, that most codex reviews don't even mention if the game is TB which is the main information i require from a review and it's a plus when you don't have to read the main article to find how the game plays (TB, Action, WeirdShittySystemwithPause) with as much details as necessary about the gameplay in the review (Tactical-RPG, Blobber ... )

I'm going to keep sorting the Top 70 + leftovers out for now.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Still sorting out the Top 70 - 2006-2011 part

Fun fact, Knights of the Chalice is all alone ...

Turn-Based cRPG 2006-2011

1. Knights of the Chalice 2009 (overall rating 27)

Hybrids (Real-time and/or games with RPG elements)

1. Fallout New Vegas 2010 (overall rating 8)
2. NWN 2 : Mask of the Betrayer 2007 (12)
3. Dark Souls 2011 (14)
   
4. The Witcher 2007 (24)
   
5. Alpha Protocol 2010 (29)
   
6. Dragon Age : Origins 2009 (33)
7. The witcher 2 2011 (40)
   
8. Drakensang : River of Time 2010 (52)
   
9. Risen 2009 (52)
   
10. Deus Ex 2011 (56)

 

[agentorange]

shut the fuck up

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

Still sorting out the Top 70 - 2006-2011 part

Fun fact, Knights of the Chalice is all alone ...

Turn-Based cRPG 2006-2011

1. Knights of the Chalice 2009 (overall rating 27)

Hybrids (Real-time and/or games with RPG elements)

1. Fallout New Vegas 2010 (overall rating 8)
2. NWN 2 : Mask of the Betrayer 2007 (12)
3. Dark Souls 2011 (14)
   
4. The Witcher 2007 (24)
   
5. Alpha Protocol 2010 (29)
   
6. Dragon Age : Origins 2009 (33)
7. The witcher 2 2011 (40)
   
8. Drakensang : River of Time 2010 (52)
   
9. Risen 2009 (52)
   
10. Deus Ex 2011 (56)

KotC isn't all alone for that era, it's just that it's main companion for turn-based fun is missing from the list due to a technicality.

For 2008-2010 the King's Bounty reboot series was massive incline. At the time many people were against putting it on the list as it's slightly hybrid rather than an obvious cRPG, but in reality & with the blessings of hindsight they are actually some of the best 'near enough' cRPG games of that era. While many were put off the series initially, because of the 'it's not really an RPG' train of thought, since then practically everyone who tries them finds that they actually really enjoy them, including forum moderators. The two games in the four game series (so far) that get the most positive reception are the first two:

King's Bounty: The Legend
King's Bounty: Armoured Princess/Crossworlds expansion.

They also aren't some obscure indy game & were commonly available in most retail shops at the time, alongside all your regular triple A and double A products and had a very high quality assurance safeguard to boot. They are both GOATs & any list for that era should have them in the top 10, either cRPG or hybrid.

In my relatively recent forum poll of cRPGs from 1995-2012 King's Bounty: The Legend came in at 49th: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.p...op-50-crpgs-results-and-reviews.89680/page-68 which isn't bad at all considering the lingering dispute about whether it qualifies or not in the first place & the fact that many still haven't tried it.

 

[The_Mask]

The year Skyrim blew every other RPG out of the water (or should I say fus roh dahed every other RPG off the throat of the world) and improved the industry forever with its mere presence.

Hey Templar, I knew you couldn't stay away. ^__^

 

[Sigourn]

Why bother with decades and so? Ultimately the biggest difference is whether the games are action RPGs or not.

 

[HarveyBirdman]

Hey Templar, I knew you couldn't stay away. ^__^

I resent that. Templar is at least 10 times better than me at rationalizing bad Bethesda design choices. He's the real MVP.

 

[Ranarama]

If you must, just do according to how technology developed, 2d vs 3d, top-down, isometric, first person, etc. and gameplay features like action, strategy, blobber and JRPG

It's far more useful to get a top CRPG out of those, because then everyone who rightly writes JRPGs off as trash doesn't need to look at that list. Nobody cares what decade a game is from, unless they're some sort of mouth-breathing preorderer.