People don't know 'wtf' an RPG is anymore?

How about System Shock 1 and 2? They're both sci-fi FPS/RPGs, and the atmosphere in both games is pretty damn cool.

 

Indeed. I was surprised to not see it mentioned until this post. So, DefJam, if you by off chance aren't too much of an graphics whore, give SS2 a go. There's user made texture packs out there making it look slightly better.

 

Good Sci-Fi (and other) RPGs

Defjam, You have got a great list here in response to your post. Here is my shortlist of the above in the order I would recommend:

1) Vampire: The Masquerade (patched up to latest unofficial patch)
2) Gothic 1
3) Deus Ex
4) System Shock 2
5) Gothic 2 + add-on
6) Kotor 1&2

These are some of the best (imo) RPGs and all are graphically still pretty good. I think Vampire is still really good-looking.

Also, althought it is a fantasy RPG, I also fully agree with the earlier poster who said give Gothic 1 a try. That game was a revelation for me in terms of how a fantasy setting could be non-traditional. Controls on Gothic 1 will take a little getting used to, but its definetly worth it. Gothic 2 is good, but I don't think it is as original as the first one.

I would play the KotoR games last (although I like those too, I don't think they are as good for a number of reasons). They are among the best looking on the list though.

If you haven't played any of these before, I envy you...you will be in RPG heaven for quite some time.

 

DefJam101: Looks like your friend is hopeless as he isn't willing even to talk abot a game you think is good. His RPG definition probably comes from reviewers that consider Oblivion to be the only hardcore RPG for years. Maybe try to show him Fallout as an examle of RPG - he may not care about old graphics when he sees some well done gore and then get interested in story.

You've got here some nice RPGs mentioned in the thread so you can play and enjoy. Don't forget the first part of Fallout which is better than F2 considering atmosphere. KOTOR-s have some nice writing and story and you should like it if you like Star Wars uniwerse but it's not the best game with implementation od D&D system and the choices are the most cliche good vs evil you will ever see.

 

Pretty damn cool? It's fuckin horrifying!

Anyway: System Shock series is a must try, Deus Ex too but these aren't really RPGs, they're more like a hybrid between FPS and RPG. I found Deus Ex to be particularly great. And also you must play Planescape: Torment. It isn't sci-fi (although it has this weird steampunk look) but it certainly isn't your usual high-fantasy RPG. Actually, it's a cliche breaker and the best story ever told in a game.

 

hoho! but you MUST. Did you see codexian Top5 rpgs? They're all 2D. The thing is - best RPGs were made when 2D was still modern.
So you should play Fallout1 (to make the story complete)
Planescape: Torment (one advice - when you'll see any topic about it on the codex - skip it. A single small spoiler may ruin a whole game for you - PS:T is like a very very top-grade dramatic book - and a very original one. And you can read it only once.)
Arcanum also FTW. It's a world of technology and magic. And you can choose the path you want.
Also in these games you are actually role-playing your character (hah - in PS:T you can have like 10+ dialogue options sometimes) - you may influence the world, or change it. The world reacts to you. In more modern rpgs there are no such things.
And you are playing fallout2 right? Have you noticed how carefully you must choose words and how carefully you must do something? that's the magic of true old fashioned rpgs - the world is not static and you live in it. Also - Fallout2 (And 1) is one of that games that you can complete without violence - just by being cunning and having a long tongue.

 

First of all, no System Shock game is an RPG, not even an FPS/RPG hybrid. If you think otherwise you're wrong. This is a fact.

Second, Baksheesh, I don't see why you would recommend Vampire. It's basically a JRPG though a pretty good one, I liked the lead character Christoph. Too bad that you could pretty much break the game by rising Manipulation too high and then sell items for more than you buy them. And I didn't like it when you time jump into New York - the game would have been better if it had been medieval all the way.

I know.

 

Baksheesh...isnt that the Bulgarian word for "bribe" ?

He must be a gaming journalist undercover.

 

-Because I shelled out 450 dollars for some hardware in order to play games with new graphics engines (Unreal Tournament 3/Crysis/X3/etc) and less than a month AFTER my purchase I've started playing games that could run on on a 500Mhz processor.

Hence, my graphics card would be 'complaining' that it isn't being put to good use.

 

most of old RPGs have software mode. I assume you have a powerful processor as well? Then software mode won't be too much of trouble for you.

and I think you will have a problem with Deus Ex. I have that old shit GF6600 - and all textures there look black. In Omikron too btw (hmm. you should try Omikron: The Nomad Soul as well - it's not a RPG, but it's pretty original and psychedelic).
But I believe there are drivers for old games for a new videocards - haven't looked for them though - yet.

also if you will go for SS2 - make sure you do not have ffdshow - and if you do - make sure to add game's executive to a list of applications that ffdshow will ignore - otherwise you won't see movies.

 

Being a die-hard sci-fi nut myself, I have to say I don't think there's any great RPGs that does the theme justice. Deus Ex would probably be the best candidate but it's not exactly mind-bendingly awesome when it comes to the sci-fi part. SS2 is pretty meh, but I may be biased because of the game I'm about to mention is just so much better at being a sci-fi game.

My favorite sci-fi game of all time would be Beneath a Steel Sky, though it's really old and only an adventure game it's the most impressive sci-fi world/story I've ever experienced in a game. It just puts the rest of them to shame. It's even free and should work with any modern hardware/OS thanks to ScummVM.

Old 2D games look way better than old 3D games BTW.

[/commercial]

Back to your regular programming.

 

I think he meant Bloodlines, not Redemption.

 

I've tried beneath a steel sky, but I didn't know wtf to do in the very first room. it must not be next-gen enough for me

 

Did Zomg post yet?


No?


Good!


DARKLANDS!
DARKLANDS!
DARKLANDS!
DARKLANDS!
DARKLANDS!
DARKLANDS!
DARKLANDS!
DARKLANDS!
DARKLANDS!
DARKLANDS!
DARKLANDS!
DARKLANDS!
DARKLANDS!
DARKLANDS!
DARKLANDS!
DARKLANDS!
DARKLANDS!
DARKLANDS!


Oh and definately try King of Dragon Pass! It's a weird mixture between an Strategy game with Choose-Your-Own-Adventure game in a RPGish setting. Trust me - You'll love it.

Wellcome to the Codex!

 

To the OP:

Although not strictly RPGs, you also want to try Starflight, Starflight2, and Star Control 2. Star Control 2 can now be downloaded for free as The Ur-Quan Masters.

Happy gaming.

 

My all knowing e-penis (which is my game collection) says this:

Cyberpunk (* indicates recommended)
Bloodnet
System Shock (CD) *
System Shock 2 *
Deus Ex *
Paradise Cracked
Restricted Area

Post-Apoc (* indicates recommended)
Wasteland*
Dark Sun - Shattered Lands
Burntime
Dark Sun - Wake of the Ravager*
Entomorph - Plague of the Darkfall (World of Aden)
Fallout*
Fallout 2*
Gorky 17 (Odium)
Fall, The (Extended Edition) *
Metalheart - Replicants Rampage
Etrom - The Astral Essence
Ground Zero - Genesis of a New World

General Sci-Fi (* indicates recommended)
Starflight*
Xenomorph
Captive
Hard Nova*
Megatraveller 1 - The Zhodani Conspiracy
Megatraveller 2 - Quest for the Ancients*
Planet's Edge - The Point of No Return*
Shadoworlds
Hired Guns
Whale's Voyage
Alien Logic - A Skyrealms of Jorune Adventure
Whale's Voyage II - Die Übermacht*
Albion*
Anachronox*
Harbinger
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic*
Cops 2170 - The Power of Law
KotoR II - The Sith Lords*
Novasphere 13
Ocean City Nemesis
Star Wolves*
Star Wolves 2*

I did not include Star Control on my list, but please explain to me, why SF1+2 should not be considered CRPGs? They have everything they need...

BTW: If you happen to like the games Graw mentions, PLEASE try Protostar - War on the Frontier, which is in fact the game Star Control 3 should have been (don't even think of playing the official SC3, which is abdominable).

 

Grammar Police

Having a layman's definition of RPG is as permissible as your incorrect usage of "an" in the topic title.

 

Hentai games aren't RPGs

 

Re: Grammar Police

Where do you live? o_O

 

Re: Grammar Police

Are you suggesting I say "a RPG"?? What?

a Role Playing Game (ey-roll-pleying-game)

an RPG (un-are-pee-gee)




Also, thanks for the suggestions everyone, I'll look into them.

P.S. did I miss something? Did VD quit?

 

Instead of arguing grammar, why don't you support Codex?

Go to this link

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=aus-001-20&path=subst/home/home.html

And type "Grammar" in the search box. Most of the available books aren't outright expensive.

And real RPGs aren't all about:

Zwinky dress-ups
The Sims like gameplay
Chain mail bikinis
Killing the 1000th Orc
Quest compasses
...I could fill an infinitely large list of "features" of certain games which claim to be RPGs here.

 

DefJam - I think most of the games that have been suggested are simply too old to get into. I started playing RPGs right about when Fallout 2 and Diabo were released, but I cant play anything released before that. It isnt purely graphics, but also the music and the interfaces that put me off.

But most RPGs after Fallout still look quite good, and the Infinity Engine games (Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale Series, Planescape Torment) still make me hold my breath, as each area in these games has been individually designed, as opposed to Fallout 1/2 and Arcanum which have tile based graphics and thus look quite a bit more aged.

 

Well shit, I was wrong.

Anyway, the point is that only elitists get angry over either matter because it helps them define themselves as intelligent.

I was also hoping someone would point out that in the case of RPGs, the Codex has a minority definition, which when it comes to language, often means the less useful one.

 

Nice list, Sir_Brennus, but you forgot Snatcher in cyberpunk and Star Control 2 in general sci-fi.