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Decline Codex's 2019 Best RPG vote -games that didn't quite make on your list

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

Filthy Kalinite
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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
felipepepe 's Codex's Best RPG vote has ended.

As people who have paid attention to voting system know; it used point buy system of 25 points that could be distributed, single game could get 5 points max per voting account. This naturally means that some of us had to make somewhat hard choices on which games to give votes to, whether it was because there were those 5 games which you wanted to be as well situated on final list as well as possible or you ran out of points after listing 25 "most" deserving games.

This is the thread where people can tell which RPG's didn't make quite the cut to the vote.
Maybe to analyze why or so that others could blame them that their favorite game got a bad result

Here's mine last 5 6 that I considered:
-Dungeon Master; it was actually on my original post, but I changed it for Eye of the Beholder. Mainly because EotB is the game that first pops into my mind when I think of late 80's -early 90's blobber
-Underrail; mainly cut just because there weren't enough points. Annoyance on end game and DLC (that I'm still waiting) may have played a role.
-Betrayal at Krondor
-Baldur's Gate 1; I simply consider the sequel better, mainly because more interesting magic and UI improvements.
-Shadowrun: Dragonfall DC; Nice campaign to play through once, but I've never had any desire to re-play it.
-Nethack; I think it deserves to be voted on top 70 or however large that list will be, but I considered open world type roguelikes ADOM and Caves of Qud to be above a "mere" dungeon crawler.

edit.
-mentioned Nethack.
 
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Falloutboi

Barely Literate
Joined
Nov 4, 2018
Messages
4
Tyranny, for me. I thought the beginning was brilliant and I was addicted to how the C&C until the more I played it, I realised I was playing a streamlined experience. I did like some of the mechanics, like the fear/respect stuff.
 

Wunderbar

Arcane
Joined
Nov 15, 2015
Messages
8,809
My original votes:

5 points:
Fallout
4 points: Planescape Torment
3 points: Gothic 2, VTMB and Underrail
2 points: Arcanum and Morrowind
1 point: Dark Souls, Anachronox and Deus Ex

Games that i considered:
- Fallout 2. 5 years ago i would've vote for in a heartbeat. Now that my english language and pop culture knowledge is a bit better, and I was dumbfounded by a sheer amount of memery ruining atmosphere in the game.
- Alpha Protocol. Great rpg with one of the best c&c implementations in the genre. Shit combat though. Every time i played it, i was running the same build - max health, armor, melee (for common mooks) and pistols (for bosses).
- Dark Souls 2 instead of 1. DaS2 is great when it comes to systems, itemization, build variety and replayability. I wanted to vote for DaS2, but realized that it was pointless since game isn't going to get a lot of votes anyway.
 

Martyr

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Jan 28, 2018
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Bavaria
Grimoire - figured it doesn't need my vote bc it will end up on the new list anyway.

Prelude to Darkness - initially ended up on my top 5, but that fucker won't even start up anymore, crashes to desktop as soon as I end up in the main menu, so I replaced it as a revenge.

Knights of the Chalice/ Dark Sun/ Pools of Darkness - chose Nahlakh instead, bc the other games will likely be on the list.

Ultima 6 - would've made it into my top 10.

SW: Knights of the old Republic 2 - love the edgy/nihilistic take on the Star Wars franchise, but tbh the underlying game could be better.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance - love the non-fantasy medieval setting, but the story + story presentation + characters + somewhat flawed combat system/ nonsensical combat abilities of enemies prevented it from getting points.

Deus Ex - love that game to death, but imho not a RPG. it is primarily a stealth game, with bits of shooter and RPG mixed into it.
 

ColonelTeacup

Liturgist
Joined
Mar 19, 2017
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1,433
Am I misunderstanding something? The vast majority of rpgs being posted right now in this thread are not from 2019.
 

Lord_Potato

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I decided to only vote on games I completed, so I could not choose those that I enjoyed greatly but still did not see the end/ending slides:

- Fallout of Nevada
- Nethergate: Ressurection

I also did not have enough points to grant them to:

- Baldur's Gate 2
- Gothic 1

I also considered giving some points to the last two Assassin Creed games simply to award them for going in the right direction, towards becoming true action rpgs. However I came to a conclusion there are far more worthy titles.
 

ColonelTeacup

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Mar 19, 2017
Messages
1,433
Am I misunderstanding something? The vast majority of rpgs being posted right now in this thread are not from 2019.
It's in reference to a best RPG poll conducted in 2019.
Oh. That's stupid then. I assume there was a 2018 poll as well, and people will just continually vote for their favorite older rpg. It would have been better to be forced to choose from a roster of rpg games made in 2019, if any could even be considered rpgs anymore.
 

Taka-Haradin puolipeikko

Filthy Kalinite
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Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Bubbles In Memoria
Am I misunderstanding something? The vast majority of rpgs being posted right now in this thread are not from 2019.
It's in reference to a best RPG poll conducted in 2019.
Oh. That's stupid then. I assume there was a 2018 poll as well, and people will just continually vote for their favorite older rpg. It would have been better to be forced to choose from a roster of rpg games made in 2019, if any could even be considered rpgs anymore.
There probably will be GOTY vote, but that will happen sometime in early 2020.
 

ColonelTeacup

Liturgist
Joined
Mar 19, 2017
Messages
1,433
Am I misunderstanding something? The vast majority of rpgs being posted right now in this thread are not from 2019.
It's in reference to a best RPG poll conducted in 2019.
Oh. That's stupid then. I assume there was a 2018 poll as well, and people will just continually vote for their favorite older rpg. It would have been better to be forced to choose from a roster of rpg games made in 2019, if any could even be considered rpgs anymore.
There probably will be GOTY vote, but that will happen sometime in early 2020.
Yes, I did find it odd as well that, there was a best of 2019 thread, when we're not even halfway through 2019 yet. Seemed a bit presumptuous, if nothing else.
 

Zed

Codex Staff
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Codex USB, 2014
I tried making my list this year a bit fresher by eliminating some games based on whether or not I'd sit down and play them today.
 

Thal

Augur
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Apr 4, 2015
Messages
413
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura - Really interesting take on rpg setting, but it didn't grip me the same way Fallouts did, sheer build variety and alternative solution to quests is impressive but I think its imbalance and realtime/turnbased combat seems to be simply lackluster and tedious. I just can't justify this game being on my list, if I cleared every encounter by Harm spamming. Which is real shame, because spell system seems really impressive on first glance. The game really needed more polish. It has some of the best ideas ever but their execution is often so-so. I should probably replay it once, since can't even remember much about the plot.

Diablo - I admire its art direction, music, atmosphere and roguelite sensibilities. The fact that you even have to find spells and can cast them even as warrior make each playthrough interesting. Replayability is then woven into gameplay itself and not into quest choices. I wish more games to took this approach. However, I don't really see it as an rpg, so I can't put it on list. Same thing with Diablo 2, although it lacks some of the best elements of Diablo 1. Good game, but if I have to pick 10 or so best rpgs of all time, it can't be one of them.

Icewind Dale and Icewind Dale 2 - I'm a real sucker of Infinity Engine games. However, when IWD was released I felt it was inferior to BG1 due to its completely linear structure, even though its art direction and music were brilliant. They are just accessories to what really makes an rpg, and the these games are just series of dungeon crawls.

KotOR - I love Star Wars and it's one the best implementations of Star Wars ever. Because of the setting, the Manichean good-evil dichotomy and the archetypal (cliched?) story is perfectly acceptable and even encouraged. I suppose this is where I differ with Codex consensus, esp. vs KotOR 2. I also appreciate how AT THE TIME OF ITS RELEASE many of its elements seemed new. Today that standard Bioware formula of go-to-four-places-and-get-four-mcguffins-and-chat-with-your-crew-in-your-ship/camp -formula seems tedious and predictable, but at the time of release there was no formula, and the game shouldn't be judged because of its successors. Bioware just milked the formula dry after it, because it worked so well the first time. However, its implementation of RPG combat is so-so, and the consolitis is very evident on it, especially on level design. However, I remember how comfy it was to do crime scene investigation on Dantoiine and participate in a courtroom drama on the water planet. This game is good only for two playthroughs though, however I judge the quality primarily on the first one, and I had very good time.

Nethack - Same as with Diablos actually. It's a roguelike, and therefore scratches a different itch. Absolutely brilliant though.

However, I've also noticed how many classics I couldn't vote, because I haven't played them, but I know I'll have good time when I do. Namely:

Arx Fatalis
Dark Sun: Shattered Lands
Gothic
Gothic 2
System Shock 2
The Temple of Elemental Evil
Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds
Ultima VII: The Black Gate
Ultima VII: The Serpent Isle

The love for Might and Magic and Wizardy series is also duly noted. As is the uniform appreciation garnered by Pathfinder: Kingmaker, Dark Souls and Underrail. That's a nice backlog for sure, and I expect to have much harder time at the time of the next poll.
 
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MpuMngwana

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Sep 23, 2016
Messages
336
Mostly, I ommited games which are similar to ones I already voted for, so:
-Fallout 1 and 2 were omitted in favor of Arcanum and New Vegas
-Wizardry 5 was omitted in favor of Wizardry 1
-The Witcher 3 was omitted in favor of The Witcher
-Baldur’s Gate 2 was omitted in favor of Baldur’s Gate
-Isles of Terra was omitted in favor of World of Xeen

There were also games like Dark Sun: Shatterd Lands, Trails in the Sky and Divine Divinity, which I might have voted for if I hadn’t run out of points by the time I remembered them, and I decided to keep the votes for the games I recalled first.
 
Joined
Mar 27, 2013
Messages
3,914
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
My original vote:
5 Points:
Gothic 1

4 Points:
Planescape: Torment

3 Points:
KotoR
KotoR II
NWN 2 + MotB

2 Points:
Vampire - The Masquerade: Bloodlines

1 Point:
Deus Ex
Deus Ex: Invisible War
Dragon Age: Origins
The Witcher II
Alpha Protocol

Runners-up:
Gothic 2
Gothic 3
Pillars of Eternity
Wasteland 2
Fallout: New Vegas
Torment: Tides of Numenera
Shadowrun Returns
The Council

It's not that there are specific flaws I could point to that kept me from voting for those. I like all of them dearly. It's just that I love the games I ended up voting for even more.
 
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SmoothPimp

Educated
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Jan 27, 2013
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89
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Ukraine Paradise
More interesting, which high-ranked games weren't even considered for the final personal list or were eliminated in early stages of choosing. And WHY.
 

Kitchen Utensil

Guest
My original votes:
5 points: Fallout
4 points: Planescape Torment
3 points: Gothic 2, VTMB and Underrail
2 points: Arcanum and Morrowind
1 point: Dark Souls, Anachronox and Deus Ex

Games that i considered:
- Fallout 2. 5 years ago i would've vote for in a heartbeat. Now that my english language and pop culture knowledge is a bit better, and I was dumbfounded by a sheer amount of memery ruining atmosphere in the game.
- Alpha Protocol. Great rpg with one of the best c&c implementations in the genre. Shit combat though. Every time i played it, i was running the same build - max health, armor, melee (for common mooks) and pistols (for bosses).
- Dark Souls 2 instead of 1. DaS2 is great when it comes to systems, itemization, build variety and replayability. I wanted to vote for DaS2, but realized that it was pointless since game isn't going to get a lot of votes anyway.

With an additional 3 points, Dark Souls 2 would have been in the top 50 instead of #56.

:negative:
 

Strange Fellow

Peculiar
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Messages
4,014
Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Wizardry 6
Fallout: New Vegas
Underrail
Divinity: Original Sin
Might and Magic 1

Ultimately I think the point-buy system let me vote for all my top favourites, with these a clear cut below. It was actually harder to land on these games than the ones in the official poll. I wanted to include some newer games here, as well as some blobbers since I neglected them somewhat in the other poll, and I feel bad now that it turns out they did poorly.
 
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Darth Canoli

Arcane
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Jun 8, 2018
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Perched on a tree
I wanted an all Turn-Based list but couldn't let Planescape and Arx Fatalis out.

Games that didn't make it :
- KotOR I & II for the reason above although i prefer them to Xulima (bland combat skills, terrible main char, skill wise and copy pasted cities and quests)
- Expeditions, i like the combat system but not quite the settings/world building of conquistador, technical issues for Vikings.
- Might & Magic X, i want to like this one far more than i actually like it, alright game but a huge decline in the M&M franchise.

Not to mention :
- Dark Sun : Wake of the Ravager >> Didn't play it ... yet.
- Battle Brothers : Not quite a RPG, still, it's turning out to be a good tactical "RPG" with all the DLC (counting the upcoming one), played it with the Legends mod and it's greatly improving since the early version i played before (still, the economy sucks).
 

fantadomat

Arcane
Edgy Vatnik Wumao
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Jun 2, 2017
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Bulgaria
I can't even recall any rpgs of 2019, they must have been incredibly forgettable.
There weren't any except operancia or what its name was,a nice blobber.



I left out a lot of RPGs because of the point limitation. I voted four old classics with 5 points and 5 new ones with 1 point.
 

Fenris 2.0

Augur
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Jan 1, 2013
Messages
181
Location
Franconia
Couldn't vote for ROA: Startrail. Back in the Days I thought it was the best Part of the Northland Triology, but when I wanted to replay the Series a few years ago, I could only finish the first one; early 3D Graphics nowadays are just ugly while the painted ones of the first part aged well, and while Startrail had much more Variety, Blade of Destiny had a bigger world, more non linear gameplay and more eastereggs. Part 3 was even more streamlined. I hope in my next "Staycation" (learned a new word today) I'll replay the Triology again, or at least Startrail ;) - and I couldn't burn a Point for Fate - Gates of Dawn again, because of da Rulez :)


Edit:

If I had a gazillion of Points more I also would have voted for Dungeon Master, Chaos strikes Back, Dark Sun I, BG 1+2, IWD 1, Torment, Legend of Faerghail, Wizardry VI - VIII, Bard's Tale Triology and FRUA, maybe Pool of Radiance. Drunk Voting would have also included Diablo 1 + 2, Grim Dawn, Pathfinder, NWN 1 and Blackguards I. If I had a bunch of non-retarded Roleplayers at Hand, I also would have voted NWN 1 and World of Warcraft Classic. If I had a bunch of Unicorn-Saints Role-Players at Hand I would even vote for LOTRO and WOW up to Wrath of the Lichking.

Yet another Edit:

I stayed away from the Downvote-Thread because I don't think I should decide what other People should like - but Oblivion is Patient Zero for me, the empiric start of the Decline.
 
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Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
theres like 50 rpgs i would list if i was listing all really good rpgs
 

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