10 Top RPGs at eToychest

[eightman2k]

I don't know if Wasteland should be #1. I think that Ultima IV was probably one of the most revolutionary RPGs of all time and Ultima VII should be on the list as well. I think the top five should include those two Ultima games, Wasteland, Fallout and Bard's Tale, in no particular order.

That's more of a personal choice for me...but at the very least wasteland belongs in every top 5 or 10

 

[Jung]

For me, Gothic would go on that list.

 

[Spazmo]

BG2 and ToB are fun, at least. If you can find some sort of package box with BG2 and the expansion for not too much (pretty easy to find, actually; IPLY squeezed out something called BG2 SAGA BOX THING to make money), I'd get it.

PS:T is, frustratingly, out of print, which really sucks as I'd like to replace my own copy which mysteriously disappeared.

 

[Ausir]

PS:T is, frustratingly, out of print

...unless you live in Poland .

 

[DemonKing]

I don't know if I would have put any of this guy's top ten in my top ten (maybe Fallout, but I prefer fantasy games), but that's the absurdity of top 10 lists...everyone's got a different idea of what's fun.

Wish he'd left the console games out though and slipped in a couple of more PC ones that are glaringly absent.

 

[Country_Gravy]

What's up with Gothic? I hear a lot of good things about it, but I don't think I have seen it around anywhere. Is it available in the U.S. I thought it was made overseas. Is it worth picking up? Isn't Gothic 2 out? What's up with G2?

Thanks for answering all the questions. After my honeymoon, I am going to have to beef up my RPG collection.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Where the hell are Ultima VII (Part 1 and 2). Lame list.

 

[Rosh]

Interesting list. Genre arguments aside, I've played most of those games, and they're all great. Yes, even the console games, though the inclusion of console games makes it awfully difficult to have a coherent Top 10. Keep 'em separate, kiddoes.

Pretty much spot on. It must have been a slow news day for them to post an incoherent top ten list. After all, those always generate traffic, even if they are complete bullshit.

 

[Greenskin13]

If they had to put a QfG game up on the list, I can't believe they chose number two. I can never forgive the game for its tunnel system....

But anyway, I'd put a QfG game on my list any day. It has more adventure elements than most computer RPGs, but it gave me more freedom than the hack'n'slashes. I'll never forget how all my heroes started their journey: shoveling horse crap for five silvers at Spielburg Castle.

 

[Trash]

Just because stupid lists are funny, and I've got some fond memories of these games. Here is Trashy's most recommended rpgy list.

Anachronox (because it made me laugh, even if its way too linear and consoley.)

Buck Rogers, Matrix Cubed (gotta love sci-fi combined with that golden box system)

Realms of Arkania, Star Trail. (Because it had the best travel system ever in a rpg)

Ultima 7 (was a bitch to get running, but my, what a finely crafted world and game when it was finally up.)

Darklands (no other game gave me that much freedom in those days. And I got to walk through Holland if I wanted!)

Gothic 2 (because they are the first designers in a long while that made npc behaviour interesting again)

Dark Sun (loved the gladatorial start,the gameworld, the graphics and the interface.)

Planescape Torment (best story ever told in a crpg, even if it was a bit easy)

Arcanum (horrible combat, unbalanced system, bland towns. but man, were those quests neat and was that gameworld interesting.)

Fallout (best rpg ever. up till now that is.....mad max on steroids)


Most of these games are either abandonware or bargain bin by now. The old dos games run great with dosbox and the ultima game works perfectly with exult. Happy hunting and good night!

 

[undead dolphin hacker]

What's up with Gothic? I hear a lot of good things about it, but I don't think I have seen it around anywhere. Is it available in the U.S. I thought it was made overseas. Is it worth picking up? Isn't Gothic 2 out? What's up with G2?

Thanks for answering all the questions. After my honeymoon, I am going to have to beef up my RPG collection.

Gothic is a euro fantasy RPG played from a third person over-the-shoulder perspective and has some of the worst controls in the history of gaming. It is abailable in the US, yes--I have the big box copy sitting on my shelf, but I've seen smallbox copies around recently too. Gothic was indeed developed overseas by Piranha-Bytes, a German company.

I say it's worth picking up. If you're the kind of person that MUST have perfect controls RIGHT AWAY, try the demo first. Otherwise, just buy the damn game and learn them. Yes, they suck, but they become functional after awhile.

Gothic 2 is out in the US and its expansion is out in Germany. The expansion will not be released in the US, but will be included in a "Gothic 2 Gold Pack" to be released later this year.

Gothic 2 is the sequel to Gothic 1, has slightly better graphics, much worse voice acting, and an option for a control setup more acessible to US gamers.

 

[undead dolphin hacker]

Aww, come on, nobody here liked Arcanum? I would stick it somewhere around 8.

The only list Arcanum should belong to is "Top 10 Games that Sounded Good on Paper."

 

[taks]

country, i think the genre suffered from the IE games as much as benefited from the IE games... there was a drought for a while, but the raging success of BG1 re-ignited the desire and marketability for crpgs. unfortunately, a plethora of shit came out as a result of everyone hopping on the bandwagon... the latest consensus i've been hearing (here and elsewhere) is that the european market may re-revitalize our niche... some quality is on the horizon.

while i hung on to the monitor for weeks at a time with BG & BG2 (i didn't like ToB), it still wasn't the experience i had with ultima 7 (part 1)... unbelievable world. that was what, 10 years ago? sigh...

taks

 

[Vault Dweller]

Aww, come on, nobody here liked Arcanum? I would stick it somewhere around 8.

The only list Arcanum should belong to is "Top 10 Games that Sounded Good on Paper."

What was wrong with it?

 

[undead dolphin hacker]

Aww, come on, nobody here liked Arcanum? I would stick it somewhere around 8.

The only list Arcanum should belong to is "Top 10 Games that Sounded Good on Paper."

What was wrong with it?

Sierra made Troika throw a real-time combat system on the game at the last second, which evidently detracted from the turn-based system... combat in the game was just sloppy.

Balance issues abounded. Magic was ridiculously easier to use/more powerful than technology.
Melee weapons routinely outdid ranged weapons.

The character development system was unecessarily overwrought, or at least needed to have a tighter focus. When you get under five 'Skill Points' a level to distribute between EVERYTHING your character is, (stats, skills, recipies, spells, etc, etc, etc), no single choice seems to matter much, and goals seem way too far away to maintain interest in advancing further.

The graphics were terrible--as in, non-functional. Everything about the game was muddy, murky, gray, brown... what the hell's attacking me? A porcupine? Oh, that's a wolf? What in god's name is that? The mudman? Oh, a zombie. Hey look, a retarded midget! Oh, he's a dwarf. Uhhh...

 

[Volourn]

LOL Arcanum's graphis, while not flashy, had stule and fit the setting. I quite liked it. Reminded me - in a good way - of Fallout's awesome.

The character creation and development system though not without its flaws is one of the deepest in any game. Good stuff.

I agree combat wasn't the best; but I think people overemphasize the whole tb-rt thingabigbogg. I thought it was fine. Easy battles = RT; challenging ones = tb.

Arcanum is in my top 10 for sure.

 

[undead dolphin hacker]

LOL Arcanum's graphis, while not flashy, had stule and fit the setting. I quite liked it. Reminded me - in a good way - of Fallout's awesome.

The character creation and development system though not without its flaws is one of the deepest in any game. Good stuff.

I agree combat wasn't the best; but I think people overemphasize the whole tb-rt thingabigbogg. I thought it was fine. Easy battles = RT; challenging ones = tb.

Arcanum is in my top 10 for sure.

Unfortunately the game was like Trent Lott on speed when you switched to RT mode--hyper-fast, over in the blink of an eye, and even more incomprehensible than usual.

Like I said, in theory (on paper), Arcanum was (is?) a good game. Unfortunately in practice, it falls far short.

 

[Seven]

Before a few prominent posts this looked like the thread where all the newbs were gathering to show their "newbness", any ways nothing more to see here, move along now evertbody.

 

[Second Chance]

How ironic, there's a D.W. Bradley game on top of that list

I don't think Fallout, Deus Ex and PS:T or should be there. Where's Ultima 7, Ultima 4, Might & Magic 3 and Darklands?

 

[Sol Invictus]

Yeah, Fallout was a pretty piss poor RPG compared to Quest for Glory.

 

[Flink]

Arcanum does have it's problems but I still love it. After a while I didn't care about the graphics, and the game plays 'ok' in turn-based. That the different character types aren't balanced kinda gives the game a difficulty slider. "Hey, let's see if it's even possible to finish the game with a gunslinging halfling!" It is, by the way. :D

The story, interesting side quests, multiple choices that matter and detailed feel of the unusual game world is what makes Arcanum a good crpg, in my opinion.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Sierra made Troika throw a real-time combat system on the game at the last second, which evidently detracted from the turn-based system... combat in the game was just sloppy.

The combat could have used some work, that's for sure.

Balance issues abounded. Magic was ridiculously easier to use/more powerful than technology.
Melee weapons routinely outdid ranged weapons.

So what? I started a new thread on this topic
http://www.rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=4618

The character development system was unecessarily overwrought, or at least needed to have a tighter focus. When you get under five 'Skill Points' a level to distribute between EVERYTHING your character is, (stats, skills, recipies, spells, etc, etc, etc), no single choice seems to matter much, and goals seem way too far away to maintain interest in advancing further.

For ADD people maybe? I thought the goal was to (role) play a game, not to level up.

The graphics were terrible--as in, non-functional. Everything about the game was muddy, murky, gray, brown... what the hell's attacking me? A porcupine? Oh, that's a wolf? What in god's name is that? The mudman? Oh, a zombie. Hey look, a retarded midget! Oh, he's a dwarf. Uhhh...

How does all that make Arcanum a bad or "only good on paper" RPG?

 

[Second Chance]

Yeah, Fallout was a pretty piss poor RPG compared to Quest for Glory.

You have your opinions and I have mine. To me, Quest for Glory 1, 2 and 4 are more interesting RPGs than Fallout. I know many people call them adventures instead, but they are definitely RPGs with multiple choices, multiple endings, character classes, stat increases, etc.

I'll grant you one thing though: choosing Quest for Glory 2 for the top ten list instead of 1 or 4 was not a good choice since it doesn't share the same replayability value.

 

[Lasakon]

I still have yet to play enough CRPG's due to me only recently getting a PC. I do like Fallout though...And that's all I've played. I need to buy less FPS's. Has for console RPG's, i tend to enjoy most of the more strategy oriented ones. So why not make Top 10 console RPG list on a Computer RPG forum. It makes sense to me.

10.Front Mission 3
9.Ogre Battleotbq
8.Ogre Tactics
7.Harvest moon 64
6.Earthbound
5.Final Fantasy 6/3
4.Shadowgate
3.Dragon Warrior
2.Final Fantasy Tactics
1.Suikoden II

 

[undead dolphin hacker]

How does all that make Arcanum a bad or "only good on paper" RPG?

I had more fun reading Arcanum's manual than I did actually playing the game. Character creation was a blast. Then the game fell flat on its face.

OF COURSE, we all have our own tastes, and this is just mine. I didn't like it. It felt very sloppy to me. You might have liked it for the same reason I didn't. Power to you if you did. I guess the reason I'm sour to the game is because I wanted to get into it, but never really could. I think seeing a great potential squandered is always more infuriating than seeing crappy potential ending up, well, crappy.