I'm new to CRPGs, what games are the absolute must plays?

[azimovhaas8 (Moth)]

How so?

By meta-knowledge i mostly mean things like places to make game more "trivialized" allowing for less grind (some cells temporarily boost party capabilities for single battle) or areas with monsters netting best loot for amount of time player will spend on them and so on.
Sadly, grind is invetiable in some (or even most) old blobbers - and making game pacing quicker is good example of applied meta-knowledge.

Probably here different meanings of this termin, but i use this one.

 

[EldarEldrad]

I didn't play M&M2, but the only meta-knowledge Wizardry 1 require is the manual reading

 

[octavius]

How so?

By meta-knowledge i mostly mean things like places to make game more "trivialized" allowing for less grind (some cells temporarily boost party capabilities for single battle) or areas with monsters netting best loot for amount of time player will spend on them and so on.
Sadly, grind is invetiable in some (or even most) old blobbers - and making game pacing quicker is good example of applied meta-knowledge.

Probably here different meanings of this termin, but i use this one.

Wiz 1 is balanced enough that you can play it both blind and Ironman, at least if you have experience with blobbers before.
The only western blobber (and I've played nearly all of them now) I've ever thought of grinding in was when I replayed The Bard's Tale; those last two floors of Mangar's Tower were brutal indeed. But since I had already completed it a long before I quit instead.

I'm currently playing the Japanese Wizardry Chronicle, and now we are firmly in grinding territory.
For the first time ever I'm actively grinding. Not mowing the same spot over and over again, but instead I decided that my party would not descend to the next floor until I could succesfully complete the whole current floor by beating all the encounters without resting.
This game is made more brutal by total lack of English documentation, so I decided to restart with a more optimized party.

 

[azimovhaas8 (Moth)]

Wiz 1 is balanced enough that you can play it both blind and Ironman, at least if you have experience with blobbers before.
The only western blobber (and I've played nearly all of them now) I've ever thought of grinding in was when I replayed The Bard's Tale; those last two floors of Mangar's Tower were brutal indeed. But since I had already completed it a long before I quit instead.

I'm currently playing Wizardry Chronicle, and now we are firmly in grinding territory.
For the first time ever I'm actively grinding. Not mowing the same spot over and over again, but instead I decided that my party would not descend to the next floor until I could succesfully complete the whole current floor by beating all the encounters without resting.
This game is made more brutal by total lack of English documentation, so I decided to restart with a more optimized party.

Hmm, actually pretty fair, i can agree with you here. Wizardry 1 requires some experience, but not as much as i thinking now after long time after actual completion.
The Bard's Tale is interesting game in this regard, and again - i can agree on Mangar's floors.

+ To Zed Duke of Banville for Dungeon Master (+ Chaos Strikes Back for either platform) - it is pretty comfy game and i play it right now with great deal of fun. Hint: DOS Box allow for remapping controls on Ctrl + F1.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

As I said, don't listen to the retards, just follow the advice. Gothic 1 is a must play. Sure the graphics aren't that great anymore, and the controls take some getting used to, but this is one of the greatest games in the history of the medium. Starting with Gothic 2 is a bad idea. Not only will you miss much of the story, but in some ways, Gothic 1 is a much better game than Gothic 2 (which is also great). If you can't enjoy Gothic 1 today, then playing old games in general might not be for you.

Why play BotW on an emulator? Because PC is much better than any shitty console, and who would want to get a Switch/WiiU anyway? You can play on the PC with mouse and keyboard controls too, just like any aRPG.

 

[AArmanFV]

The only western blobber (and I've played nearly all of them now) I've ever thought of grinding in was when I replayed The Bard's Tale; those last two floors of Mangar's Tower were brutal indeed. But since I had already completed it a long before I quit instead.

God bless those 99 berserkers, I remember that in my playthrough I overdone it with grinding and the last floor ended up being a cakewalk.

 

[Nas92]

Also, just an update on Fallout 1, I enjoyed it but uh, I didn't find it lived up to 2nd Best RPG of all time (https://rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=11193) like I know it's set in a wasteland but, the world just feels a bit bland and the npcs don't really have personality. It was fun, but it felt like more of a mystery/puzzle solving game with strategy combat, I think it's due to me not growing up in that era, but I see its merits, but I wouldn't recommend it to others my age, until they've sunk a bit deeper into RPGs that is. But I'm told Fallout 2 is a bit more exciting with more fleshed out characters, is this correct?

I love Fallout 1, but yeah, there's too little content in it to justify second best RPG ever. It's one of the most memorable games I've played, the atmosphere and the ideas behind it are excellent, but there are many better RPGs.
As for Fallout 2, it's better on a technical level, there's also more content, but I don't know about more fleshed out characters. I personally despise the game, they really overdid it with the wacky stuff and it's just not interesting at all.

As to the original question, I'd definitely recommend Deus Ex as well, even if you don't like FPS RPGs. If you haven't already, you should also give Mount and Blade Warband a try.

 

[Lagi]

Icewind Dale 1. its fantasy, its (old shitty poor excuse of rule system) AD&D, you have party. Peak of 2d graphic, not spoiled by early atrocious 3d. And there is no stupid cliche story about being chosen one and saving world, its all just combat.

...

Fallout 1, I love this game for sensible plot. But its post apo. If I suppose to play my first rpg I would like it to be a fantasy.

 

[NJClaw]

Icewind Dale 1. its fantasy, its (old shitty poor excuse of rule system) AD&D, you have party. Peak of 2d graphic, not spoiled by early atrocious 3d. And there is no stupid cliche story about being chosen one and saving world, its all just combat.

And then Icewind Dale 2. The same thing, but everything is a little bit worse and its D&D 3.x.

 

[TheImplodingVoice]