New player who bought several RPGs - where to start?

[luj1]

It sounds like the move would be starting with Fallout 1/2 and VtMB

Fallout 1 is an excellent start, but why VtMB? It came out in 2004, at the very end of the Renaissance era. There is a bunch of cult classics you should play before that.

Upon leaving the vault entrance and getting past the rats, I clicked on the world map in a random direction and soon realized the days were flying by as I "fast traveled" and started mildly panicking since I saw there is a time limit on the quest.

While the time limit exists in Fallout, its practically a non-issue. You'll have plenty of time, I wouldnt worry about it.

 

[Darkzone]

And for anyone wondering, I've started Fallout 1 today per suggestions. Upon leaving the vault entrance and getting past the rats, I clicked on the world map in a random direction and soon realized the days were flying by as I "fast traveled" and started mildly panicking since I saw there is a time limit on the quest. Ended up in some random mountain valley. This will be a good experience.

Don't worry you can finish the game within 50 gamedays and the time limit is there to give you a sense of urgency. Btw. This is a game that can be played multiple times with different builds (very funny with low intelligence).

 

[Darth Canoli]

• Age of Decadence

• Arcanum

• Betrayal at Krondor and Betrayal in Antara (BaK & BiA)

• Divine Divinity

• Divinity 2

• Morrowind (heard this is good... I thought Skyrim was quite boring)

• Fallout 1 & Fallout 2

• Gothic 1 & Gothic 2

• Icewind Dale 2

• Lands of Lore 1 & 2

• S2 Silent Storm

• Ultima VII

• UnderRail

• Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines

Maybe putting them into their respective categories might help which one you want to play first.

Party Based Turn-Based (TB)

• Fallout 1
• Fallout 2
• Arcanum
• BaK & BiA
• S2 silent Storm (Tactical combat, this is not a cRPG)

Single character TB

• Age of Decadence
• Underrail

Real-Time with Pause party-based

• Icewind Dale II

Real-Time (RT)

• Divine Divinity
• Divinity 2
• Lands of Lore 2
• Vampire the Masquerade
• Morrowind
• Gothic 1 & 2

RT & Party-based

• Lands of Lore 1
• Ultima VII

I recommend playing Fallout 1 before Underrail and Arcanum.
Chronological order isn't always the right one but for games inspired by another, i think it's best so you can experience the evolution, incline and decline of the genre over the years like we fossils did.

I also recommend the opposite for BaK, because the UI, combat and disarm trap didn't age very well, so better to get into other older games first (Ultima VII, Lands of Lore 1 & 2) to get used to it.