List of the must play games

[Phage]

define "story quality"?

That's a lot harder to answer than I imagined.

In my opinion, an interesting setting/premise, unique and fleshed out characters (or even just one character), and a memorable story that builds up to an unforgettable climax.

I'm sure that's the most cliche answer possible, but after playing Planescape I want to know if there's anything else in this medium that matches (or surpasses) it in storytelling ability.

 

[Tycn]

Betrayal at Krondor bro.

 

[TNO]

A Kodex Konsensus on the best RPGS ever sounds like a suitably fun/drama-filled enterprise. But we should allow hybrids, and no putting in crap games because they represent the direction of the genre or made a new first or whatever. I don't want to know what games to play to understand the 'canon' of RPGs, because no right minded person should give a damn. I want to play games that are worth playing on their own merits, right now. (As a corollary, really buggy/broken games which got fixed by third party patches should not have the bugs counted against them now. VtmB should be on the list no matter what a buggy unplayable mess it was at release.)

Eg. KOTOR is probably a very significant game given it launched the Bioware formula to mainstream success etc. etc. etc. It is, however, a mediocre RPG, and KOTOR2, for all its flaws, plainly has a better case to be on the list. The same applies for BG versus BG2.

 

[Phage]

Betrayal at Krondor bro.

Betrayal and Krondor has a story comparable to Planescapes? (serious question)

 

[jancobblepot]

Arena, Daggerfall

Is Arena better than Morrowind

 

[Excidium]

Betrayal at Krondor bro.

Betrayal and Krondor has a story comparable to Planescapes? (serious question)

The story and dialogues are VERY well written in BoK. Even the item and spell descriptions are above average.

I wouldn't say it's comparable to torment in terms of plot...but in writing quality it's on the same level. Or even better.

 

[Phage]

Betrayal at Krondor bro.

Betrayal and Krondor has a story comparable to Planescapes? (serious question)

The story and dialogues are VERY well written in BoK. Even the item and spell descriptions are above average.

I wouldn't say it's comparable to torment in terms of plot...but in writing quality it's on the same level. Or even better.

Sounds great! I'll definitely be checking this out

 

[Mastermind]

Arena, Daggerfall

Is Arena better than Morrowind

No but it's better than Daggershit.

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

JA2 v1.13
Fallout
ADOM
Planescape: Torment
Ultima VII
Darklands

 

[Grimlorn]

Is the list in the OP good? All the arguing and calling it shit kind of undermines it. Kind of difficult to get a consensus on what the good games actually are in there.

I have read the 2010 vote thread also.

 

[Excidium]

It's mostly good, At least the ones I've played.

We could use a more organized list though.

 

[Jaesun]

Is the list in the OP good? All the arguing and calling it shit kind of undermines it. Kind of difficult to get a consensus on what the good games actually are in there.

I have read the 2010 vote thread also.

Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and they all smell. Play it, try it and see if you like.

It's not like we are flooded with good cRPG's at the moment, and you are unable to give them a try and see for yourself.

 

[Grimlorn]

Is there any RPG similar to PST with a good story, setting, characters, that is on the OP's list or perhaps not on the list? (minus Wizardry, Fallout, Baldur's Gate, Ultima, Vampires: Bloodlines)

I've gone through a few of the games but some of them are difficult to find info on.

 

[MicoSelva]

Try Mask of the Betrayer (NWN2 addon).

 

[DwarvenFood]

@Grimlorn: U forgot Arcanum

 

[Exmit]

Where is Temple of Elemental Evil ?

 

[lisac2k]

Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight

Just noticed it hasn't been mentioned yet. I may add some other to this post later.

 

[The Dude]

Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight

Just noticed it hasn't been mentioned yet. I may add some other to this post later.

I really love the game, used to play the shit out of it on my Amiga in the days of yore, but not sure I'd count it as a classical CRPG. Definetely more towards adventure/action with some light CRPG mechanics.

 

[Jaesun]

Ultima 4, Ultima 6

What in the fuck is this bullshit?

Should read:

Ultima IV, Ultima V, Ultima VI, Ultima VII - The Black Gate, Ultima VII - Serpent Isle.

thisisanoutrage.jpg

 

[MMXI]

This thread sucks. No offence. I think this should be overhauled completely. Firstly, the games should be listed chronologically so that people can scan for games within a suitable period. For example, people who aren't interested in pre-VGA RPGs can ignore lots of early to mid 80s games. Grouping games into years would probably be the best way of doing this as it's hard to find the exact release dates of older games. For each game listed there should be a paragraph summarising the key elements of it, describing things like its game mechanics and viewpoint. This would mean that people scanning the list can find out whether a game is a first person blob crawler or a top down tile based tactical RPG. Opinions on game quality should not be included as only good games should appear on the list anyway. Here's an example of what I mean:

1988

Pool of Radiance

Here is a description of Pool of Radiance, explaining its key features such as its top-down grid-based tactical combat and its first person blob movement outside of combat. Maybe a little note about its historical importance such as being the first proper D&D game and the first in the Gold Box engine game.

Demon's Winter

Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny

Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstrom

Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World

Wasteland

The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate

1989

Curse of the Azure Bonds

Dragon Wars

The Magic Candle

The Dark Heart of Uukrul

1990

Champions of Krynn

Countdown to Doomsday

Ultima VI: The False Prophet

Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge

Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire

So, what do you think? I'm willing to maintain the thread and add people's contributions (including their description paragraphs). Basically, I want to replace this sticky entirely as it's a terrible thread.

 

[Excidium]

Finally, a voluntary. Do it!

 

[MMXI]

I would like a moderator's permission first as I don't want to create the thread only for it to be denied a sticky.

 

[Jaesun]

The orginisation by date is nice, but I know reading is teh hard:

so I'm looking for people who want to put together a few paragraphs of the games they recommend so I can cut / shut and put something bigger together.

 

[MMXI]

I don't think it would be a good idea to compile one static article. My idea was to have a more dynamic list with games being added and removed, descriptions being swapped out for better ones etc. If DarkUnderlord wants to create an actual article for the site then it may be a good idea for the forum thread to effectively create the article for him. I'd be willing to put some work in, especially on the maintenance side, but it should be a collaborative effort, which is what DarkUnderlord seemed to want in the first place.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Great stuff, MMXI! I fully support your foolish noble endeavour. Are you really going to do each game's description by yourself?

In any case, more power to ya.