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

[Jaesun]

But from what I hear PB jumped the shark with Risen 2, so a new Gothic from them may not necessarily be a good thing.

Piranha Bytes did what their publisher asked of them for Risen 2.

If say they made their own new Gothic game via Kickstarter, you can bet it would be VASTLY different than what shitty publishers and their marketing department's want demand.

 

[Jaesun]

Evil publishers: scrapegoats for game developers since 1991.

The market is quite a bit different from 1991 though.

 

[Minttunator]

Ok, somebody please check my math.

Oblivion - 51 votes
NWN - 44 votes
DA2 and Fallout 3 - 37 votes
Gothic 4 and Mass Effect - 21 votes
Dungeon Siege - 18 votes

My count is mostly pretty similar (I'd say yours is probably correct, I didn't pay a lot of attention):

1. Oblivion - 52
2. Neverwinter Nights - 44
3. Dragon Age II - 39
4. Fallout 3 - 38
5. Arcania: Gothic 4 - 21
6. Dungeon Siege - 20
7. Neverwinter Nights 2 - 18
8. Lionheart - 17
9. Dragon Age: Origins - 17
10. Mass Effect - 16
11. Might and Magic IX - 16
12. Ultima IX: Ascension - 15

 

[DalekFlay]

My count is mostly pretty similar (I'd say yours is probably correct, I didn't pay a lot of attention):

1. Oblivion - 52
2. Neverwinter Nights - 44
3. Dragon Age II - 39
4. Fallout 3 - 38
5. Arcania: Gothic 4 - 21
6. Dungeon Siege - 20
7. Neverwinter Nights 2 - 18
8. Lionheart - 17
9. Dragon Age: Origins - 17
10. Mass Effect - 16
11. Might and Magic IX - 16
12. Ultima IX: Ascension - 15

Call me a newfag asshole but Dragon Age Origins really stands out on that list as a WTF.

 

[Minttunator]

Call me a newfag asshole but Dragon Age Origins really stands out on that list as a WTF.

You newfag asshole!
Joking aside, I agree. I think DA:O was one of the best games of 2009 - and the Codex agrees as well. To be fair, though, it was a fairly polarising game even then and it's apparently no longer "cool" to like it since DA2 was so horrible.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Dragon Age: Origins is a bad game. Visually it's a treat, but the gameplay is a nightmare. It's impossible to protect your spellslingers with your warriors. Creatures just push against them until a space opens and they can run by them to make your caster mince meat. Meanwhile your fighters let them on through as they patiently wait their turn to strike. The treants were ripped off straight from Lord of the Rings, complete with the manner of speech. They sexed up your female companions past rational dialogue. You can lead monsters and bandits into villages and towns, but the local militia will just stand there and watch while the monsters focus on your character, complete oblivious to the fact that they are running through a crowded market of tender civilians. Oh, and the civilians are equally ignorant of the danger and continue on their meandering business. The plot only makes sense if you imbibe the proper amount of alcohol, and the motivations of many of the NPCs are ramrodded to fit a narrative that suffers from too many kitchen-sink ideas. So yes, DA:O belongs on the bad game list.

 

[DalekFlay]

So yes, DA:O belongs on the bad game list.

I agree with most of your issues with it but it still rises above damn near anything else released in the last 5 years from a major publisher, as far as "true" RPGs are concerned.

And putting it above Might and Magic IX is just pissing on a cripple.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Might&Magic 9, still cannot believe how bad that one is,

Dragon Age 2, first one is already medicore on so many levels so i see DA2 as a quite accomplishment for being worse, this one is even bad as a game even if we disclude shallow RP parts,

Mass Effect 2-3, even ME1 was not that good RPG but it had endless potantial but no, lets ruin it! I could easily accepted ME2 if they have done some prorer job at third game. 4th game will probably more like Dragons Quest.

Gothic 4, cannot say this a RPG hope P Bites do a better one now they have the rights, but after Risen 2 didn't i don't have high hopes.

Last Pool of Radience, gave me cancer.

Deus Ex 2:Invisible War: Oh.my.god. I generally cannot understand developers, are they really playing their games at all?

Lionheart: Another wasted potantial, felt asleep so many time playing especially at later stages of the game where it becomes hack&slash,

Fable 3: :Second game gives you hope, 3rd game smacks you good with it... "Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment!" And also lets blame fellow customers,

Dungeon Lords: Don't know why but i was much hyped for this one. Ends up disaster...

Game of Thrones RPG: Peh, good story and writing but everything else just sucks, another wasted potantial yet,

Beyond Divinty and Dvinity 2 Draconis: Divine Divinity is a good RPG, others are just hack&slash, still good ganes though but not RPGs.

Fallout 3: There was Fallout 1-2?!? at least New Vegas is decent.

Edit: Also Any Final Fantasy games after 8th.. I especially hate the IP after FFX


Im also suprised many of you fellas counting Diablo and its clones(including Dungeon Siege here) RPG.

 

[felipepepe]

Call me a newfag asshole but Dragon Age Origins really stands out on that list as a WTF.

I think both ME1 and DA1 are "symbolically" on the list; while bad, they aren't the worst thing ever, but they perfectly represent all the decline and biowarization of RPGs in recent years...

 

[Roguey]

It's impossible to protect your spellslingers with your warriors.

Raise your threat bro.

 

[DaveO]

After my post, I did another recount with the added tallies which almost matches Mint's count:

1. 42 The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion 123456789
2. 36 Neverwinter Nights 12345678
3. 32 Fallout 3 123456
4. 29 Dragon Age II 1234567890
5. 15 Dungeon Siege 12345
6-8. 14 Arcania: Gothic 4 1234567
6-8. 14 Lionheart 123
6-8. 14 Neverwinter Nights 2 1234
9-12. 13 Dragon Age: Origins 1234
9-12. 13 Mass Effect 123456
9-12. 13 Might and Magic IX 123
9-12. 13 Ultima IX: Ascension 12
13. 12 The Witcher
14. 10 Gothic 3 1234
15-16. 9 Diablo II 1
15-16. 9 Dungeon Siege III
17-22. 8 Descent to Undermountain 1
17-22. 8 Dungeon Siege II
17-22. 8 Fable 1
17-22. 8 Mass Effect 2
17-22. 8 Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor 123
17-22. 8 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 123456

Revised totals from my count:
Oblivion - 51
NWN - 44
DA2 - 39
Fallout 3 - 38
Gothic 4 - 21
Dungeon Siege - 20

Nothing else breaks 20 votes, although Mass Effect and NWN2 are closest with 19 and 18 votes.

 

[DaveO]

With the vote going on for several months, shall I declare the winners at the end of page 9? Or make a special vote contest where people put the most creative effort on why their vote should be the one that crowns the "winner" of this list?

 

[Unkillable Cat]

END THE PAIN.

 

[Minttunator]

I'd say now's as good a time to end it as any other - I think everybody who wanted to get a vote in, has probably done so by now.

 

[DaveO]

With the last votes counted, let's wrap it up then.

At #1 - Oblivion with over 50 votes
Reason it sucked: Level-scaling, popamole, hiking simulator

At #2 - Neverwinter Nights with 44 votes
Reason it sucked: Horrible, horrible, horrible main campaign.
Multiplayer scenarios would be a slight saving grace.

At #3 - Dragon Age 2 with 40 votes
Reason it sucked: I want to be a recycled popamole Dragon Warden

At #4 - Fallout 3 with 39 votes
Reason it sucked: (Help me out with this one folks)

At #5 - Gothic 4 with 21 votes
Reason it sucked: GiNO(Gothic in name only)

At #6 - A tie between Dungeon Siege and Mass Effect with 20 votes
Reasons both sucked: Interactive screen savers(one with "Choices")

 

[Hirato]

At #4 - Fallout 3 with 39 votes
Reason it sucked: [Intelligence] It fought the good fight with its writing, and made fabulous additions to the canon.

Improved.
Oblivion with guns is essentially the fallout equivalent of Ultima 9.

As for why it's bad, there's too much to pick from...
BSB dungeon crawling, awful plot, writing, and characters, their retarded interpretation of the setting, utter contempt for established lore, many locations that defy basic logic (such as everything around vault 87). And then there's everything Oblivion suffered from turned right up to 11: poor performance, generic and repetitive content with no variety, constant crashes, bugs, and wanton memory corruption that never got fixed...

And you know what, I'm barely even scratching the surface.

 

[RK47]

but it gives birth to new vegas

 

[Jaesun]

but it gives birth to new vegas

Which basically showed Bethesada how to implement simple and basic cRPG mechanics into a Bethesda game, of which they ignored all of that with Skyrim, and went on to sell millions.

 

[Excidium]

but it gives birth to new vegas

And that is supposed to be a good thing? Yeah, it's much better than F3 but rape with love is still rape.

 

[tuluse]

but it gives birth to new vegas

Troika might have bought the Fallout IP if not for Bethesda. Never forget, never forgive.

 

[Excidium]

but it gives birth to new vegas

Troika might have bought the Fallout IP if not for Bethesda. Never forget, never forgive.

Wut

Troika was already dead when Beth bought Fallout. I doubt they would ever have the money Interplay asked for it, anyway.

 

[tuluse]

Bethesda bought Fallout in 2004, before Bloodlines had even been released.

 

[Excidium]

ITEM 1.01. ENTRY INTO A MATERIAL DEFINITIVE AGREEMENT

As of April 4, 2007, the Company entered into, an Asset Purchase Agreement (the
"APA") and a Trademark License Agreement (the "License Back") with Bethesda
Softworks LLC, a video game developer and publisher ("Bethesda"), regarding
"FALLOUT", an intellectual property which was owned by the Company (the "IP").
Although such agreements were signed on April 4, 2007 they were agreed not to be
binding until closing which occurred on April 9, 2007.

Under the APA, the Company sold all of its rights to the IP to Bethesda for a
total amount of $5,750,000.00 payable to the Company, subject to various
conditions, in three cash installments. The first installment of $2,000,000.00
was paid following closing when $200,000.00 was paid to the Company and
$1,800,000.00 was deposited into an escrow account to satisfy various
liabilities. The Company expects to have fulfilled its obligations under the APA
and to receive full payment during the third quarter of 2007. The Company had
previously, on June 29, 2004, entered into, an exclusive licensing agreement
with Bethesda, regarding the IP which was superseded by the APA.

Under the License Back the Company obtained an exclusive license, under certain
conditions, to use the IP for the purpose of developing an Interplay branded
Fallout Massively Multiplayer Online Game ("MMOG").

 

[tuluse]

http://web.archive.org/web/20061004195839/http://www.bethsoft.com/news/pressrelease_071204.htm

July 12, 2004 (Rockville, MD) -- Bethesda Softworks® announced today that it will develop and publish Fallout® 3

 

[Excidium]

Yeah man, it says the same thing up there. They had just licensed it, 2007 is when they bought the IP.