Best cities and settlements in RPGs

[Abu Antar]

I like the setting in the Yakuza series. The game setting IS the city. The latest game in the series is no exception.

The cities in FFXII look great. They are actually built in a fairly believable way, with their markets and bazaars. They have different districts you can visit.

Core City in Underrail is quite big, and I must say it's a pretty cool place.

Aleroth in Flames of Vengeance was pretty cool.

There are a lot of cool settlements or cities in rpgs, to be honest.

Edit: I tried to go for cities that weren't mentioned. BG2, Arcanum, Torment have great cities.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Honestly Bethesda cities are the best. Sheer size of them + everything can be interacted with + all stuff that is simulated thanks to gambryo.

 

[Erebus]

Sigil is unrivaled. But it makes Curst even more disappointing by comparison.

It's a real pity, because Curst looks like a cool place when you first get there. And then you realize that the only thing you can do there is talk to a handful of people who'll give you a handful of unsatisfying quests that you'll have to complete in order to reach the next part of the game.

 

[visions]

The layout is really lame, i agree, reminds some English former industrial districts but it's all about the content, the small pubs full of people you'll interact with, the news paper delivery boys, the hidden content...

Feeling like an industrial city on the verge of a worker rebellion (which you can kick off) is among the things that made Tarant cool. And the fact that the rebellion is not restricted to an ending slide, isn't even part of the main quest, just a side quest you stumble on and which has tangible in-game consequences. Also the slums in which you can participate in a gang war helped to convey this feeling of Tarant being a rough industrial city. This is what I want to see in my industrial revolution inspired fantasy game. Also Tarant had cool little things like the newspaper boys already mentioned and the public transport network. Some things were disappointing about Tarant though, like how the university is basically one lecture hall (iirc). And the houses of supposedly rich minor characters that are one room, one story hovels. I haven't played Arcanum in 10+ years but that's how I remember it anyway.

Morrowind cities look cool and they're reasonably busy for the time but they're pretty light on content and boring to explore, except for Vivec. The fact that most of the NPC-s are walking wikipedia articles makes exploring the cities pretty dull. And the fact that everybody is awake 24/7 hurts the immersion a lot in a game that's so focused on immersion. The in game justification (bad dreams from Dagoth Ur keeping everyone up 24/7) seemed always ridiculous (shouldn't most of the population of Vvardenfell be dead from exhaustion then?). But apart from Vivec, Ald-Ruhn is pretty cool. The combination of cool architecture and ash storms make it look great (for the time anyway) and robbing the huge Redoran manors is reasonably cool when your character is a noob in the thieves guild and money still matters somewhat. And accidentally finding the kidnapped son of the Redoran noble without the associated quest if you pay attention while robbing the manors is also cool.

As far as aesthetics go, Vizima in Witcher 1 is another good contender. I've spent a lot of time in a medieval old town and Vizima has so far been the only medieval crpg city that felt right and immersive to me. I guess South-Euros who are used to different old towns may feel different.
But Vizima felt a lot less hokey to me than the cities in the other 00's 3D medieval-Europe inspired crpg-s. I sort of remember Daniel Vavra having said somewhere that most medieval cities (or was it castles?) in crgp-s feel like Disneyland because they're designed by people whose closest encounter with a medieval city (castle?) has been Disneyland (Americans). Probably the fact that The Witcher was developed by Poles who have seen medieval old towns irl helped a lot here. Cities like Denerim or Imperial City in Oblivion do really feel like developed by people whose closest encounter with a medieval city was going to Disneyland/seeing the LOTR movies.

As far as small settlements go, I really like Mordavia in Quest for Glory 4. It's small but has great atmosphere due to the cool music and art, unfriendly characters whose trust you slowly gain, a foreboding abandoned monastery and some decent puzzles. And the domovoy encounter is particularly memorable. Also a functional day and night cycle in 1993 (well, already since 1989). Being chased by some horror over different screens and the feeling of relief when you reached the town always felt good (of course you have to levitate/climb over the town wall after dusk). Also being the only Quest for Glory town with no furries is an extra bonus.

 

[V_K]

But Vizima felt a lot less hokey to me than the cities in the other 00's 3D medieval-Europe inspired crpg-s. I sort of remember Daniel Vavra having said somewhere that most medieval cities (or was it castles?) in crgp-s feel like Disneyland because they're designed by people whose closest encounter with a medieval city (castle?) has been Disneyland (Americans). Probably the fact that The Witcher was developed by Poles who have seen medieval old towns irl helped a lot here. Cities like Denerim or Imperial City in Oblivion do really feel like developed by people whose closest encounter with a medieval city was going to Disneyland/seeing the LOTR movies.

While the layout of RPG cities often really doesn't make sense, I don't see why they should necessarily imitate historical Medieval cities. You have magic and dragons, but for some reason the settlements should look exactly like a 12th century shithole?
For what it's worth, most of the architectural features of Imperial city make total sense as a 17th/18th century city - regular planning, stylistically unified ensembles, columns everywhere etc. The only things that don't arguably make sense are the central tower (but that's fantasy for you), walls sectioning everything (but that's technical limitations more than anything else), and fucked up docks (no excuse for that). What makes it feel lifeless is that it's severely underpopulated, even for its actual size - well, and those damned walls everywhere.
For reference, here's a map of Karlsruhe (central part of it) - an actual German city founded in early 18th century:

 

[JarlFrank]

What makes the Imperial City in Oblivion shit is that it's nothing at all like what was described in the Pocket Guide to the Empire.

 

[d1r]

Honestly Bethesda cities are the best. Sheer size of them + everything can be interacted with + all stuff that is simulated thanks to gambryo.

Are you being serious here?

 

[V_K]

What makes the Imperial City in Oblivion shit is that it's nothing at all like what was described in the Pocket Guide to the Empire.

Meh. Ultima series retconned its lore and even parts of it geography with every single installment. Morrowind's lore contradicts parts of Arena and Daggerfall. Even in TT lore gets rewritten with every new edition. That's just how RPGs are. The problem with Oblivion's version of Cyrodiil is that it's bland woodlands, not that it contradicts some in-game book from Morrowind.

 

[vazha]

From the less-often mentioned ones - Nadoret from Drakensang 2 and Ark from Enderal.

 

[JarlFrank]

What makes the Imperial City in Oblivion shit is that it's nothing at all like what was described in the Pocket Guide to the Empire.

Meh. Ultima series retconned its lore and even parts of it geography with every single installment. Morrowind's lore contradicts parts of Arena and Daggerfall. Even in TT lore gets rewritten with every new edition. That's just how RPGs are. The problem with Oblivion's version of Cyrodiil is that it's bland woodlands, not that it contradicts some in-game book from Morrowind.

The problem of it contradicting Morrowind-era lore is:
- Morrowind-era lore is cool and exotic
- what they replaced it with is the blandest boringest fantasy I've ever seen

 

[RegionalHobo]

Teron from age of decadence does a great job as the shithole it is in the lore. best part of the game b y far

 

[Black]

Arnika has got to be one of the most underappreciated hubs. Even after playing Wiz 8 for the n-th time on your first visit you'll be like "I'll just do whatever there is to do and buy the things I need" and bam, you just lost a whole day irl.

 

[True Ukrainian]

I second Tarant felt somewhat lifeless but I never really minded. The visuals and music made wandering about Tarant somewhat lonely, like you were far from home. The size of the city made navigating it daunting until you came to know the layout of the streets. It did the stranger in a strange land thing well.

 

[J_C]

I just have to mention New Sorpigal from Might and Magic VI, which is the starting town of the game. Not because of the content you have there, but because it holds a special place in my heart. It has a special atmosphere, which made me go back tot he game several times.

 

[sser]

In terms of visual acuity, I think the most realistic I've come across is probably Witcher 3's main city of Novigrad. Like an actual city, I found myself impressed by its architecture and diverse denizens and after a certain length of time found myself thinking, "wow, fuck this place." Very realistic indeed.

In terms of just being memorable, probably the capital area of Morrowind with the irrigated, quasi-Aztec pyramids. It just felt like a wondrous place, probably helped along by Morrowind's amazing soundtrack.

Even thinking about the towns and cities in Morrowind makes me almost sick with nostalgia, whereas thinking of Novigrad reminds me of some bad run-ins with New York City locals. Both great video game cities for sure.

 

[guestposting]

Martinaise. Speaking of Disco, why the hell did Junta finally throw in the towel and self-eject? He took so much shit for so long—what pushed him over the edge?

 

[vazha]

Having recently started replaying PtD, I just have to mention: The Twin Cities of Citadel and Barrier are among the best hubs I've ever come across and I ve played pretty much everything released since 1990.

 

[The Brazilian Slaughter]

Real talk: Towns and Cities with visible limits in RPGs are bad design.

You always want to make it clear that your town/city is bigger than the limited area a player can access.

There should always be an implication that you're just seeing a part of a greater whole.

Of course, the obvious exception is if its really that small.

A good example of a "Fail Town" is Shady Sands/NCR in Fallout 2. Its supposed to be one of the biggest cities in the Wasteland, but its made in such a way that the whole thing looks like a well-managed podunk. Compare with New Reno, which is always implied to be bigger than the parts you are in.

 

[Lord_Potato]

Real talk: Towns and Cities with visible limits in RPGs are bad design.

You always want to make it clear that your town/city is bigger than the limited area a player can access.

There should always be an implication that you're just seeing a part of a greater whole.

Of course, the obvious exception is if its really that small.

A good example of a "Fail Town" is Shady Sands/NCR in Fallout 2. Its supposed to be one of the biggest cities in the Wasteland, but its made in such a way that the whole thing looks like a well-managed podunk. Compare with New Reno, which is always implied to be bigger than the parts you are in.

Examples: Denerim and Val Royaux :D

 

[Darth Canoli]

Real talk: Towns and Cities with visible limits in RPGs are bad design.

"Reality" shouldn't get in the way of game design and i thought NCR was quite good.
Lore vs how it looks in the game is one pointless crusade which would destroy little hope we have of getting more masterpieces if it was successful .

 

[The Brazilian Slaughter]

Real talk: Towns and Cities with visible limits in RPGs are bad design.

"Reality" shouldn't get in the way of game design and i thought NCR was quite good.
Lore vs how it looks in the game is one pointless crusade which would destroy little hope we have of getting more masterpieces if it was successful .

The problem is that NCR looks small, like the entire city is literally what we see.

NCR is said to be one of the biggest cities in the Wasteland, comparable to New Reno. Its the seat of power of the hegemonic power of the West Coast. Yet it looks even smaller than Vault City, and Vault City is supposed to look small.

 

[Justicar]

Real talk: Towns and Cities with visible limits in RPGs are bad design.

"Reality" shouldn't get in the way of game design and i thought NCR was quite good.
Lore vs how it looks in the game is one pointless crusade which would destroy little hope we have of getting more masterpieces if it was successful .

The problem is that NCR looks small, like the entire city is literally what we see.

NCR is said to be one of the biggest cities in the Wasteland, comparable to New Reno. Its the seat of power of the hegemonic power of the West Coast. Yet it looks even smaller than Vault City, and Vault City is supposed to look small.

That's the same problem I have with Tarant in Arcanum if you cant make a properly big city make a part of it and leave the implication that is just a small piece of the bigger city in players head.

 

[Darth Canoli]

I wish i had the autist button.
On the other hand, i'd waste hours using it...

 

[Justicar]

I wish i had the autist button.
On the other hand, i'd waste hours using it...

The only autist here is you jabroni Ncr has almost zero quests inside and looks like a shitty villiage.

 

[Darth Canoli]

I liked the city look and layout, i didn't say i was so happy the city drowned the player under side-quests, i wish it had 10 times more good quests too.