Which CRPGs from the 80s and early to mid 90s hold up best today?

[anvi]

Games don't age, you do. Whether a game holds up or not is based on whether you can get over the learning curve and enjoy a genre/style of game. Any game that held up then will hold up today.

I disagree. Many eighties classics are still very enjoyable today because they're so unlike modern games or even late nineties "golden age" RPGs, but when successors offer the same kind of experience but better, many pioneers end up losing their appeal. Look at Ultima VI for example, an innovative open world RPG lauded at the time as a masterpiece, that today is just that old kiddie RPG enjoyed only by nostalgic Gen-xers, since storyfags became more demanding after games like Fallout and PS:T, modern settings make Britannia look like a retarded theme park, mainstream sandboxes like Minecraft are exponentially more interactive, mouse driven GUIs have improved a lot since 1990, and so on. Ultima VI might have been a very unique and exciting game at the time, but today it feels like a mere prototype, and even older entries in the series seem more interesting and fun.

There is just so much in gaming that has progressed since then. And although modern big budget RPGs are dumb, you can still get stuff like KOTC, Blackguards, Aarklash, etc. which all provide similar gameplay to the old classics but with all the modern essentials like decent controls, and higher than 800x600, etc.

 

[anvi]

The only one I replayed from start to finish in recent years:

Wizardry 7

Others that I think hold up well:

Realms of Arkania: Star Trail
Eye of the Beholder 1/2
Ultima Underworld
Dungeon Master
Wasteland

I would include Eotb 3. At the time it was a shitshow but nowadays it is as playable as the others and a pretty cool game. I think it is so sad that Lands of Lore couldn't have been a bit better and then become more popular. It could have changed their fortunes. But beyond that it only got worse. Also if you include Wasteland, may as well play JA2 as well. I never played the first one.

 

[Gastrick]

anvi
Those are your expectations that have changed, not the games themselves. With resolution, just play in windowed mode or use a smaller screen, you'll see it looks fine. Also, graphics don't matter.

 

[Max Damage]

I think all Wizardry games hold up pretty well, also Might&Magic and Ultima Underworld. Wizardry 1-5 had good ports on consoles with updated looks and music in that timeframe too.

 

[bec de corbin]

anvi
Those are your expectations that have changed, not the games themselves. With resolution, just play in windowed mode or use a smaller screen, you'll see it looks fine. Also, graphics don't matter.

fuck no, i wanna seem them big chunky pixels

 

[Skdursh]

Alright newfag, here's my master list of pre-BG1 goodies:

Betrayal at Krondor
Betrayal in Antara
Might and Magic IV - VI
Quest for Glory - all of them
Ultima IV - VIII
Wing Commander - almost all of them
Wizardy VI - VIII
Bloodnet
Lands of Lore 1+2
Anvil of Dawn
The Legacy - Realm of Terror
Challenge of the Five Realms
Buck Roger's Countdown to Doomsday + Matrix Cubed
Myth - The Fallen Lords and Myth II - Soulblighter
Magic Candle II + III
Ultima Savage Empire
Ultima Martian Dreams
Most of the Gold Box games
Celtic Tales - Balor of the Evil Eye
Darklands
Escape From Hell
Eye of the Beholder series
Realms of Arkania series
The Bards Tale Trilogy
Wasteland
Veil of Darkness
Dark Earth
Legend of Cao Cao (1998)
Exile Trilogy
Fallout 1 & 2
Diablo
Dink Smallwood
Dark Sun series
Krynn series
Ravenloft series

There are a bunch of others that fit the "feeling" but they either came out right around BG1 or soon after and thus don't meet the technical requirements and there are probably quite a few I'm missing but I pulled these out of my head and if you can't find something fun to play in this list then you should neck yourself or don't, I don't care.

 

[Gastrick]

fuck no, i wanna seem them big chunky pixels

I see, you must be a fan of Japanese porn then.

P.S. I noticed that Unorus Janco recommended Alter ego, which is a really interesting and depressing game that I would recommend as well.

 

[Bruma Hobo]

You know the Codex went down the toilet when it's Baldur's Gate, and not Fallout, the game that divides both eras.

 

[Gastrick]

Unorus Janco
I don't hold the whole Codex accountable for someone with joined: Sunday. He may even have not known that Fallout came first.

 

[sys0nar]

Unorus Janco
I don't hold the whole Codex accountable for someone with joined: Sunday. He may even have not known that Fallout came first.

I never said Baldurs Gate came out first.

 

[Gastrick]

Unorus Janco
I don't hold the whole Codex accountable for someone with joined: Sunday. He may even have not known that Fallout came first.

I never said Baldurs Gate came out first.

Why did you post Baldur's Gate then, Aussie?

 

[sys0nar]

Unorus Janco
I don't hold the whole Codex accountable for someone with joined: Sunday. He may even have not known that Fallout came first.

I never said Baldurs Gate came out first.

Why did you post Baldur's Gate then, Aussie?

I never said Baldurs Gate I said:

Which CRPGs from before the Infinity Engine era hold up best today?

 

[Gastrick]

Unorus Janco
I don't hold the whole Codex accountable for someone with joined: Sunday. He may even have not known that Fallout came first.

I never said Baldurs Gate came out first.

Why did you post Baldur's Gate then, Aussie?

I never said Baldurs Gate I said:

Which CRPGs from before the Infinity Engine era hold up best today?

And what game started off the infinity engine games?

 

[Lady_Error]

And what game started off the infinity engine games?

 

[Gastrick]

 

[sys0nar]

Unorus Janco
I don't hold the whole Codex accountable for someone with joined: Sunday. He may even have not known that Fallout came first.

I never said Baldurs Gate came out first.

Why did you post Baldur's Gate then, Aussie?

I never said Baldurs Gate I said:

Which CRPGs from before the Infinity Engine era hold up best today?

And what game started off the infinity engine games?

Baldurs Gate did, but I don't understand how this does anything to make your argument less retarded:

1. Your saying I think Baldurs gate came before Fallout, I never said anything to indicate that.
2. By the infinity engine era, I mean that golden era of isometric RPGs, not just the Infinity engine only, if I meant just infinity engine, I would have said Infinity engine games, not era.

 

[Gastrick]

Baldurs Gate did, but I don't understand how this does anything to make your argument less retarded:

1. Your saying I think Baldurs gate came before Fallout, I never said anything to indicate that.
2. By the infinity engine era, I mean that golden era of isometric RPGs, not just the Infinity engine only, if I meant just infinity engine, I would have said Infinity engine games, not era.

The word "may" is a potential word that indicates what could be true. Does grammer work differently in Australia?

Why didn't you just say "before Isometric games like X"? Then you wouldn't have us all wondering why you chose Baldur's Gate to seperate game time periods.

 

[sys0nar]

The word "may" is a potential word that indicates what could be true. Does grammer work differently in Australia?

Ok, fair enough.

Why didn't you just say "before Isometric games like X"? Then you wouldn't have us all wondering why you chose Baldur's Gate to seperate game time periods.

Because I'd assume anyone on this website would know what I mean by The Infinity Engine Era, saying before Isometric games like Fallout could be interpreted several different ways.

 

[FrancoTAU]

I played the Magic Candle games a few years ago and they were excellent.

I loved those games, one of the few good Ultima clones. Micro managing during world map traveling could be a chore though. I still love that you could recruit a hobbit and his sole contribution is to work at a store earning you money.

 

[Siveon]

Betrayal at Krondor is honestly one of the first games I beat that was almost as old as my brother. It's fantastic.

 

[Gastrick]

Ok, fair enough.


Because I'd assume anyone on this website would know what I mean by The Infinity Engine Era, saying before Isometric games like Fallout could be interpreted several different ways.

Looks like that is an actual term, seems Skdursh did some misdirection on the true nature of your post.

 

[azimovhaas8 (Moth)]

Ultima Underworld (very influential game for industry in general, and I been almost addicted to it, when controls and gameplay gimmicks been dealt with)
Dungeon Master 1 (simply a game worth at least trying)
Might & Magic 1
Might & Magic 2 (with "Where are we?" auto-mapper programm also worth at least trying, if you're into old CRPG's)
Wizardry 7
Wizardry 4 (unironically a great game, but requires knowledge of previous scenarios)
Elder Scrolls: Arena
Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall
Might & Magic 3-5
Ragnarok (roguelike)

 

[zapotec]

For me it's Betrayal at Krondor, it perfectly blends exploration and main story line.

 

[samuraigaiden]

One thing about BaK that makes it stand out among similarly old games is you don't have read a single line in the manual to be able to play the game. I can't think of another RPG as old of which you could say the same thing.