RPG Codex - Top 50 WORST RPGs YOU'VE PLAYED vote thread

[DaveO]

I made my vote comment in the other thread about the best RPGs with some good discussion coming out of a single sentence.

With that out of the way, I believe it would be remiss for the Codex to miss a golden opportunity to discuss the worst RPGs and WHY(if possible) they are that way.

I'll kick off with my list, which includes games that I have either played or completed.


Might & Magic 9 - The engine change along with its rushed state make it a pretty obvious choice.
Swords of Xeen - A fan mod which showed that modders throwing something together to make it stick doesn't make a good game.
Descent to Undermountain - Even though I would classify the game as a dungeon crawl action RPG, it still deserves to be on the list. There was a good engine that was made into something pretty bad.

 

[octavius]

"50 most overrated" would have been more interesting.
Personally I rarely even try a game that sounds like it's boring, so how will I know which games are truly the WORST?

 

[Shannow]

Arcanum

 

[Crooked Bee]

Personally I rarely even try a game that sounds like it's boring, so how will I know which games are truly the WORST?

I think this thread is a good idea. I've changed the name of the thread to "worst RPGs you've played", so hopefully you won't feel like you have to play them all before you vote now.

 

[hoverdog]

Overrated or just bad - whatever.

I'll just list all the games I've actually played

Might&Magic IX
Fallout 3
Oblivion
Skyrim
Mass Effect
Neverwinter Nights
Dragon Age 2
Gothic series
Risen
Venetica
Dungeon Sieges

 

[canakin]

Fallout 3

 

[Deleted member 7219]

From what I've played and can remember on the fly (I tend to wipe the really bad ones from memory):

Fallout 4
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Wizardry 8
Arcania
Game of Thrones

 

[Crooked Bee]

My list:

Space 1889
Fallout 3
Oblivion
The Witcher 2
Whale's Voyage
Whale's Voyage II
Akalabeth
Ultima I
Legacy of the Ancients
MegaTraveller I: The Zhodani Conspiracy
InXile's The Bard's Tale
Arcania: Gothic 4
Neverwinter Nights (the OC)

 

[made]

This will look remarkably similar to the top 50 list.

 

[hoverdog]

worst games
Wizardry 8

best games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect 3

 

[undecaf]

Fallout 3
Oblivion
Skyrim
Mass Effect
Fallout: PoS (does that even qualify?)
Lionheart: Legacy of the crusader (never finished, though, just... couldn't bother)

 

[janjetina]

Oblivion
Eye of the Beholder 2
Icewind Dale 2
The Witcher
Game of Thrones RPG
Mass Effect
Alpha Protocol

 

[Rpgsaurus Rex]

Basically the ones that made me ragequit for good before I could finish them, or left a lasting bad taste once they were over:

The Witcher
M&M9
Neverwinter Nights

 

[Sranchammer]

I remember uninstalling DA:O within an hour. And this came after not playing video games for 3 years

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Reading through other people's votes I felt tempted to add Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Icewind Dale II and Lionheart to the list. But I think all of those games had enough interesting things about them to not be amongst the worst. For Baldur's Gate and IWD, it was the visual design and soundtracks. For Lionheart, it was Barcelona - the majority of that portion of the game felt like a medieval Fallout. There were skill checks, different factions to join and different quest resolutions. The game manual and lore were well developed too. Anyway, feel free to move this post if there is to be a discussion thread.

 

[KickAss]

Didn't play the newer Bioware games, and i usually don't remember the bad ones anyway. But:
Dungeon Siege (does that even count?)
Albion (the only grindy RPG I tried to play)
The Witcher (I have no idea why it was so popular on the Codex)

 

[octavius]

OK, the worst/most overrated CRPGs that I've tried:

Ultima VI - claustrophobic playing area and very simplistic combat. Cumbersome and cluttered inventory system. I'm waiting for the Exult or Nuvie version, though.
EDIT: played the Dungeon Siege remake, which was brilliant.

Bards Tale III - both Amiga and DOS versions were bugged. An insane amount of random encounters against monsters whose names are mostly random combinations of two words. Weird mixture of real time mana regeneration combined with random encounters checked each time you move or turn.

Galdregon's Domain AKA Death Bringer - incredibly tedious combat with no feedback on damage received or taken. Very limited 3D view. Worst DM clone I've tried.

Disciples of Steel - Clunky controls. Small view window + large, mostly empty cites. Having to manually check the prices on each item in turn in shops. Inadequate documentation. Very poor graphics for a 1994 DOS game (just a port from the four years older Atari ST/Amiga version, I guess).

Buck Rogers: Matrix Cubed - random encounters every sixth step. Enemies from the first game suddenly have much better THAC0. Need to manually re-equip heavy weapons after each and every combat, or be at a disadvantage in the next fight. Easily the worst Gold Box game and the only one I've not completed.

 

[tuluse]

Fallout 3
Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance
Final Fantasy 8
Winter Voices

These are the only two that were so bad I was offended by playing them.

Edit: wanted to add FF8, this one didn't offend me in it's badness, but was just the dullest and boring game I've ever played.

Double Edit: I just remembered Winter Voices. Man what a shit game.

 

[Bruma Hobo]

Oblivion
Fallout 3
Neverwinter Nights
Diablo 2
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy VII
Dragon Quest IV
Mother 3
Lineage 2

 

[Zed]

The Witcher (disliked the combat and it had some of the worst quest design ever)
Mass Effect 3 (forced morals, childlike character behavior)
Neverwinter Nights (OC) (shallow and trite)
Mount & Blade: With Fire and Sword (the most imbalanced game I've ever played)
Borderlands (just incredibly boring)
Borderlands 2 (exactly the same as Borderlands)
Dragon Age 2 (like ME3, characters feels irrational and childlike. wave-after-wave combat and tons of re-hashed content)
Dungeon Siege 3 (the worst camera I've experienced in a game)

These are just the main reasons why I dislike the games.

 

[evdk]

TES IV: Oblivion
Fallout 3
NWN Vanilla
Dragon Age 2
Lionheart
ME3

 

[Jaesun]

Dragon Age
Fallout 3
Morrowind
Neverwinter Nights (the OC)
Diablo 2
Dungeon Siege
Eye of the Beholder 3
Lionheart
Deus Ex: HR
Ultima IX
Land of Lore 2

 

[Gregz]

Morrowind (Why did they do this to Daggerfall?)
Oblivion (Why did they do this to Daggerfall?)
Skyrim (Why did they do this to Daggerfall?)
Mass Effect II (I actually enjoyed the 1st one, they mangled the 2nd one hard)
Neverwinter Nights
Dungeon Sieges (*gag*)
Borderlands 2 (so boring! Unlike the original which was actually funny and good. Yes, I know no one else here shares that opinion)
Dragon Age 2 (I actually enjoyed the 1st one, they mangled the 2nd one hard)
The Witcher (meh)
Gothic series (UI bitches! It matters!)
Risen (tl;dr)
Deus Ex: HR (I loved the 1st one, they mangled this one hard)
Torchlight II (so boring!)

 

[damicore]

TES:Oblivion
Mass Effect

 

[octavius]

Octavious: Really? you didnt like Ultima 6? It was my second Ultima after 4 (and I played that on the NES) it was pretty cool...maybe nostalgic longing and rose tinted glasses because now that I think about it I have never replayed it. BTW What would you say it is best for replaying Ultima 7 Exult or the Gog Version?

I've never played U7. I want to play U6 first, but I'm still waiting for one of the remakes that does not require Dungeon Siege to be finished.