First Person RPG with Best Itemization?

[huntsman1899]

I'm fairly new to RPGs and I've seen a bit about itemization. I'm assuming this refers to the quality of loot in a game? That the game allows you the freedom of finding special items that feel meaningful and even give you abilities you didn't have before? Of course if I've wrong, let me know (not that I have to remind this board of that...)

So what 1st person RPG do y'all think has the best itemization?

 

[frajaq]

top of my head is the first Deus Ex, and maaaaaybe Fallout New Vegas

 

[Catacombs]

Fallout: New Vegas, for sure.

 

[JarlFrank]

Morrowind.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Giorgio Armani's Daggerfall

 

[huntsman1899]

Fallout: New Vegas, for sure.

Looking for more fantasy, but can you tell me a bit more about New Vegas's itemization and what makes it so good?

 

[Citizen]

Daggerfall lets you create insane overpowered mega super mighty artifacts in mage guilds

 

[Dorateen]

Most (not all) classic dungeon crawlers nail this aspect. Might & Magic is outstanding in awarding varied items that have game-play impact, with Gates to Another World being a prime example. Again, I have to give a nod to Demise: Ascenion. I really enjoyed the weapon/armor/item upgrade system in that one.

 

[huntsman1899]

Morrowind.

So i know morrowind has fun spells and enchantments, so there are also items in the world that have these enchantments? Are they randomly placed?

 

[Barbalos]

Morrowind is a pretty good answer IMO. There are artifact-type items with powerful enchantments you can find in specific places or get as quest rewards. I believe some have enchantments you cannot possibly create yourself no matter how high your enchantment skill is.

 

[CryptRat]

Different games can have different kinds of good itemization.

- Hired Guns has good resource management (ammos, grenades ...) you need manage all along the entire game.
- Dungeon Master has only named items, no +, no templates. Also some substantial gaps in power especially between later weapons.
- Might & Magic series due to the open world nature invite you to go the further you barely can to find something strong, in later titles nothing is more fun than running through a bunch of titans, opening a chest which explodes at your face leaving only one character alive who will have to get back with the loot.
- Eye of the beholder has D&D balance. When you find the +5 sword you feel like a god while it does not break the game. It's so much more satisfying than going from 94 damages to 127. You'll also rarely find a necklace or a ring, making them more special too. Also you need to find spell scrolls to scribe, which are about the most cool items out there.
- Morrowind has like 15 equipment slots. Also a lot of special effects. Also a few unique, very strong items.

In some games you're not flooded with money at least during a first part of the game, sometimes more, and being able to buy the next item you want is a goal (Voidspire Tactics). Also strong, expensive consumables. Tons of stuff with tons of different effects is cool but the opposite with only some rare special effects can be cool too (like only one vampiric weapon in the entire game). Some game have weapons which control differently (Dark Souls), some game rewards you for using the good weapon during a fight with enemies having different resistances to elements and afflictions (Baldur's Gate 2). Some games have interesting consumables you get to actually use (wand of fireballs, but bombs and such are even more important in a game without spells) although I can't think of particularly good first person examples at the moment.

 

[agris]

Legend of Grimrock had pretty good itemization too iirc.

 

[JarlFrank]

Morrowind.

So i know morrowind has fun spells and enchantments, so there are also items in the world that have these enchantments? Are they randomly placed?

Morrowind's items are hand-placed and unique, there is no randomness about them. Their placement rewards exploration as they are often placed in off-the-way dungeons, some of the most powerful items, like the Dragonbone Cuirass that gives you 100% fire resistance, is located in a remote dungeon at the edge of the map which requires you to dive underwater long enough you are unlikely to survive the dive unless you have a breath spell or potions of water breathing on you. There are some items with really interesting effects like the Boots of Blinding Speed which give you +200 speed and make you insanely fast but they also apply 100% blind on you so you can't see anything if you wear them. But if you have magic resistance on you, you can resist the blinding effect while still benefitting from the speed boost!

Just very cool items with very good placement.

 

[JarlFrank]

- Morrowind has like 15 equipment slots. Also a lot of special effects. Also a few unique, very strong items.

Last time I counted I came up to 16:
helmet
cuirass
left pauldron
right pauldron
left gauntlet
right gauntlet
greaves
boots
shirt
pants
skirt
robe
belt
left ring
right ring
amulet

And each of these can be enchanted.

 

[CryptRat]

Note that The Earth Lords has 40, but it's not a first person game.

 

[Invictus]

I would have to agree on Morrowind also; you can pretty much tailor your looks to whatever you like instead of wearing “outfits” like in New Vegas
Being able to wear a daedric pauldron with a set of Indoril gauntlets and a Devil Fish Telvani helmet to pretty much customize your look to whatever you like is simply out of the question in most modern games
Plus having the ability to wear all sorts of rings, amulets, clothes and enchanted gear on top of it makes it the best itemization game ever

 

[huntsman1899]

I would have to agree on Morrowind also; you can pretty much tailor your looks to whatever you like instead of wearing “outfits” like in New Vegas
Being able to wear a daedric pauldron with a set of Indoril gauntlets and a Devil Fish Telvani helmet to pretty much customize your look to whatever you like is simply out of the question in most modern games
Plus having the ability to wear all sorts of rings, amulets, clothes and enchanted gear on top of it makes it the best itemization game ever

Awesome. And I'm assuming if I'm a magic user I don't need to wear robes right? I can tailor my looks to be anything I want and not miss out on any stat boosts?

 

[JarlFrank]

I would have to agree on Morrowind also; you can pretty much tailor your looks to whatever you like instead of wearing “outfits” like in New Vegas
Being able to wear a daedric pauldron with a set of Indoril gauntlets and a Devil Fish Telvani helmet to pretty much customize your look to whatever you like is simply out of the question in most modern games
Plus having the ability to wear all sorts of rings, amulets, clothes and enchanted gear on top of it makes it the best itemization game ever

Awesome. And I'm assuming if I'm a magic user I don't need to wear robes right? I can tailor my looks to be anything I want and not miss out on any stat boosts?

Yes. There are a few enchanted robes but they're not so top-notch that you can't go without them. You can wear an enchanted shirt, pants, and skirt instead!

 

[huntsman1899]

Any good mods that add even more of these type items and fun dungeon challenges to obtain them?

 

[Tiospo]

Morrowing is the best one!

 

[Catacombs]

Fallout: New Vegas, for sure.

Looking for more fantasy, but can you tell me a bit more about New Vegas's itemization and what makes it so good?

F:NV has you navigating through a post-apocalyptic world, with thousands of items strewn throughout the area which can be equipped, sold and used as weapons. You can find and upgrade items to equip your character as you progress through the story. There are plenty of weapons to experiment with and use.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Most of the bethesda games(and F:NV) have autistic modders that have created extensive itemization mods

 

[Lady_Error]

I'd say Wizardry 7 and Grimoire have excellent itemization.

 

[deuxhero]

Looking for more fantasy, but can you tell me a bit more about New Vegas's itemization and what makes it so good?

Sawyer's balance actually works here. Every weapon is designed into tiers, but 1: there's not one weapon of every type for every tier, which encourages mixing things up and makes the tier system less obvious 2: Upgrades weren't always strictly better than their predecessors. You had things like the varmint rifle being the only thing with both suppressor and scope till the Sniper Rifle (very late game), the Marksman Carbine taking more common ammo than "better" sniper weapons (and being ), the silenced pistol being the only holdout weapon that's a firearm and didn't require 50+ sneak, the double barrel shotgun having better burst damage than the pump shotgun, the recharger weapons having unlimited ammo.

edit:
As for Morrowind, the itemization works because all you really need is an enchanted steel weapon or silver weapon (since ghosts and daedra have protection from normal weapons). An Ebony longsword does a whole 8 extra damage on average compared to steel. Not insignificant when even the strongest enemies have ~400 HP at the most, but the main advantage is the higher enchantment capacity. Armor is more significant, but also much harder to find. Anything much better than steel/silver is exceptionally rare and, aside from weapons dropped by high level Dremora, all handplaced.

Like materials, enchantments of note are rare. Most randomly found enchantments are toolbox stuff (a self recharging item that gives healing or teleportation), burst damage (Enchanted items cast no time to use, so dumping an amulet of frost then a firestone ring on a target can help swing a fight in your favor without more cost than carrying either) or just useless. The good stuff is all unique and has to be found or earned. None of it is strictly needed, but it's very useful.

 

[Neanderthal]

Betrayal at Krondor.