Incline Of the Big Three, which is your favorite? (Fallout, PS:T, Arcanum)

[KeighnMcDeath]

Funny thing you brought Vampire: The Masquerade-Bloodlines into this, as I'd say that is more of a FPS adventure game then a RPG.

That's like saying PST is a diablo-like because it is isometric.

The Bloodlines gameplay is dialogues + arcade/fps combat, though.

The same cannot be said about PST (I mean dialogues are there as well, plenty in fact - but the combat is more organized, can be paused, planned).

I thought all three of these games had a pausing of sorts for tactical. It isn't an early ultima where there is an internal timer. No wait a bit and it skips you saying PASS!




From the vids the PST combat looks a tad annoying.

 

[Ismaul]

PST being "great", I can live with. "Intellectually stimulating" however...


Someone is really easy to stimulate.

I was 14 man. So yeah, exposure to new ideas, playing around with them.

Also, what's in the game is one thing, what it makes you think about is another. The game is but a gateway. But maybe you're the type who, when ideas come in contact with your mind, no additional reflection happens.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

I wouldn't go as far as to call it intellectually stimulating, but it was an enjoyable experience for a storyfag. No more, no less.

 

[Generic-Giant-Spider]

None of the above.

 

[Beans00]

Fallout > arcanum > pst


Fallout/Arcanum are my 1st and 3rd favorite rpgs(fallout 2 2nd).

Arcanum might beat fallout if the game wasn't so uneven in quality. Tarant is maybe the best content of any RPG ever. Then you have so many other places that are very barebones.


Pst in the top 10 but towards the bottom. Great game but awful combat and the last 30% of the game is complete ass.

 

[NerevarineKing]

Fallout since it's very well-rounded. (I've also never played Arcanum and keep putting it off. The gameplay sounds kinda shit, even worse than PS:T.)

 

[NerevarineKing]

Also where the hell is Baldur's Gate 1 or Pool of Radiance?

 

[The_Mask]

I like Planescape most, because each character in the game that has a line felt well-researched and fleshed out. Each one felt like they had a lesson to teach.

But, honestly, I think each one is a great game, depending on your mood.

Oh, and Arcanum has great character creation.

 

[Cryomancer]

Arcanum has HARM and evil gnomes so Arcanum wins. hu3hu3h3u3

Jokes aside, all games there are masterpieces. I vote Arcanum cuz it has a more interesting setting IMO and a extremely well crafted dialog and actions/consequences.

 

[Glop_dweller]

I've always thought of Planescape as the better RPG, with Fallout being the better game.

___________________

Aside:
I once asked MCA whether it was intentional that they cast Micheal T. Weiss as the Nameless [pretender], because... well of course they should. Alas as far as he knew it was just a lucky coincidence; Mr. Weiss was available at the time of the job offer.

 

[Drop Duck]

People find P:T pretentious?

Most people who use the word pretentious do so in a pretentious way since they don't really know what it means.

 

[mediocrepoet]

People find P:T pretentious?

Most people who use the word pretentious do so in a pretentious way since they don't really know what it means.

People who try to pretend that people who use pretentious don't understand what pretentious means are pretentious.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

Funny thing you brought Vampire: The Masquerade-Bloodlines into this, as I'd say that is more of a FPS adventure game then a RPG.

That's like saying PST is a diablo-like because it is isometric.

The Bloodlines gameplay is dialogues + arcade/fps combat, though.

The same cannot be said about PST (I mean dialogues are there as well, plenty in fact - but the combat is more organized, can be paused, planned).

Bloodlines would've been greatly improved if it actually did have arcadey combat and shooting that was akin to a normal first person shooter instead of the mess (especially with the shooting) they tried going for. I love the game, but I'm not really sure why they did what they did with the combat in that game.

 

[gurugeorge]

Isn't it funny that all 3 games have loads of feats and features that don't actually do anything and are just LARPs, and all 3 funnel you down to only a few builds that are actually effective, often based on obscure items that you wouldn't know about unless you know the game inside out? But I suppose that's just the equivalent of a difficulty slider - LARP harder and pick useless feats if you want a challenge

Truly, nostalgia goggles are mighty.

But yeah, of those 3 Arcanum is my favourite, as it's the only one I played when it actually came out (the others only quite a bit later). BG is what popped my CRPG cherry, so that's the CRPG I remember most fondly from that era.

 

[Volourn]

FO ... tainted by FO3+.

ARC ... tainted by Troika.

PST... tainted by being a D&D game with no fukkin dwarves.


GAME OVER, MAN, GAME FUKKIN' OVER!!!!

 

[Haplo]

Isn't it funny that all 3 games have loads of feats and features that don't actually do anything and are just LARPs, and all 3 funnel you down to only a few builds that are actually effective, often based on obscure items that you wouldn't know about unless you know the game inside out? But I suppose that's just the equivalent of a difficulty slider - LARP harder and pick useless feats if you want a challenge

Strong disagree.
I mean sure, you can possibly make weak characters there, but then its on you. There are many strong combinations in all 3 (guess the least in PST, as it only has 3 classes - but all are valid).

 

[Serus]

Isn't it funny that all 3 games have loads of feats and features that don't actually do anything and are just LARPs, and all 3 funnel you down to only a few builds that are actually effective, often based on obscure items that you wouldn't know about unless you know the game inside out? But I suppose that's just the equivalent of a difficulty slider - LARP harder and pick useless feats if you want a challenge

Strong disagree.
I mean sure, you can possibly make weak characters there, but then its on you. There are many strong combinations in all 3 (guess the least in PST, as it only has 3 classes - but all are valid).

Agree with the disagreement. This is nonsense, complete and utter one. All they "funnel" you into are builds that make sense. And even this is true mostly for Fallout, in Torment there are 3 classes and no "builds" to speak of anyway. I don't even know/remember what "obscure" items allow to make specific builds in those games. Possibly there are some, also obscure. And that's not even taking into account that those game aren't difficult. Make a character that makes sense - with stats that match his skills and with a combat skill. Or possibly even speech in Fallout. That's all there is to it. Hell, party members alone will be enough to finish the games, at least in Torment and Arcanum - the dog* can carry you through half of the game, i'm not not making this up.

*not to mistake with Drog.

 

[Konjad]

Arcanum. It is perfection all around except shitty combat.

Planescape Torment is the best "novel RPG" so to speak, and one of the best overall, but at the same time it makes it less replayable. In addition, it had to focus on the fewer and smaller areas. Then late game, which is set in the way more interesting areas in the setting, is quite void as the game was clearly rushed and these areas have few quests, NPCs and things to do in general.

Fallout has the best combat out of these three, but at the same time is far behind in other aspects. I wouldn't even put it in the best 5 RPG list. I enjoyed it, great game, but there are greater.

My top 3 RPGs would actually be:
1. Arcanum
2. Prelude to Darkness (which is as close to Arcanum as any game will ever be, I guess, and improves upon combat tremendously).
3. Planescape Torment

Fallout I would consider after The Void, Gothics, and some other...

 

[snoek]

It's a toss up between Fallout and Arcanum for me in this top 3.
My gut tells me to go with Arcanum. Think it's probably the most replayable of the 3 of them. It has the best world building.

 

[Zibniyat]

My favourite one is most definitely Fallout. Because it is the only one I have not yet played.

 

[Maxie]

contrary to broken bullshit that Arcanum was and the awkward picture book PST was, Fallout is a complete game - well-designed, with nice challenges, thematically tight and cool - if a game isn't cool, why bother?

 

[King Crispy]

It's interesting that although Fallout clearly is the popular choice for favorite, it's the Arcanum fans who seem to be the most passionate about their choice.

 

[Blutwurstritter]

Arcanum seems very uneven in its delivery. I have finished it only once and that was some 20 years ago. It had some good ideas that were poorly executed. The reactivity that people speak a about did not work properly in many cases and I'd have to take the word of other people for it. I certainly don't remember that. The game might be great if everything works as intended, but that wasn't the case when I played it. I mostly remember poor combat and broken stuff. Fallout 1 also had some bugs but I think most people that played it had a good time. There isn't such a large discrepancy between personal experiences as is in Arcanum's case.

 

[snoek]

Arcanum seems very uneven in its delivery. I have finished it only once and that was some 20 years ago. It had some good ideas that were poorly executed. The reactivity that people speak a about did not work properly in many cases and I'd have to take the word of other people for it. I certainly don't remember that. The game might be great if everything works as intended, but that wasn't the case when I played it. I mostly remember poor combat and broken stuff. Fallout 1 also had some bugs but I think most people that played it had a good time. There isn't such a large discrepancy between personal experiences as is in Arcanum's case.

It got a fair bit of patching and I played/completed it a bit after it came out so I probably had a smoother experience.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Let us, rather, try to choose one of the three as rising above the others in your personal pantheon.

First and foremost, they're not my favorite RPG.
I prefer Wizardry 8, Dark Sun Shattered Lands, Isles of Terra and arguably Prelude to Darkness (At least, I'd put the latter before PST and Arcanum).

Fallout is better because even if he's not the best at anything, he does everything right.
- Quest design is quite good (PtD does a better job, PST as well, even Arcanum sometimes)
- Combat is far from perfect but serviceable TB combat with great SFX and gore effects to spice things up.
- Interesting exploration, better than Arcanum because of the dungeon design.
- Settings is average, good idea but poorly realized, It's a near miss here, mad max (the movie) paved the way for something better. It works nonetheless.
- Class-less character dev is bad but they turned something terrible into something edible, the perks even makes it better than decent.

PST second because of the great settings, companions and quest design, some dungeons design was quite good too.

Arcanum last in spite of its great quest design.
The dungeon design is terrible, it's mostly what drags it down, this and the combat being way worse than Fallout's.
Settings is lame, interesting idea but poorly realized.