Vapourware RPGs that can legitimately be called masterpieces

[overly excitable young man]

What are these systems?

I value the freedom the game offers. Freedom to create your own character, their story, explore your own path through the world. Regardless if you like Skyrim or not you must agree there aren't many RPGs at all that offer that amount of freedom throughout the game systems that offers hundreds if not thousands of hours of exploration. I happen to value that.

If character creation is that important to you and you want to spend thousand of hours in an action rpg then the number of games is really rare.
Weird kink but ok. Whatever floats your boat.
I would be bored after a few hours.

 

[Dorateen]

Pools of Darkness is a masterpiece that expanded on the genius of Pool of Radiance, further refining the Gold Box engine and bringing a worthy conclusion to the four part Moonsea saga. Including an additional post-game challenge, similar to the coda of a great symphony.

 

[Lilura]

if the OP included Jagged Alliance then I don't see why not XCOM

XCOM is a masterpiece, I agree.

 

[nikolokolus]

Star Control II

 

[Scroo]

smaug have you even ever heard of Fate: Gates of Dawn?

 

[Scroo]

smaug have you even ever heard of Fate: Gates of Dawn?

Nope.

Thought as much.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

smaug have you even ever heard of Fate: Gates of Dawn?

It was released 10 years before he was born you boomer

 

[overly excitable young man]

Why is this Fate thingy better blobber than other blobbers?

 

[Trashos]

I 'd have to say:

Baldur's Gate 2 Shadows of Amn. Probably the most complete of them all.
Fallout
Gothic 2
Dead Money (dlc)

Possibly Underrail, but I need more retrospective power to judge it as such. I haven't played JA2 for 20 years, so I am leaving it out. But it should probably be on the list, if accepted as RPG.

Lilura, the casuals were infuriated with Dead Money, btw.

 

[Atchodas]

Age of Decadence

Spoiler

time for some

 

[Sherry]

Hi.

Similar threads like this seem to always popup and I have seen them during the many years that I have been here and they are always fun to read because you get a feel for those who post here and what others experienced and those games they like and like much of my own responses they remain similar too based on how much influence they had on me so probably some of you know already right? Okay I will tell you.

The Age of Enlightenment and that spans three games set in Britannia each one changing the landscape to a degree, moving people you met in a previous release to a new town, city or village you can meet in the next game, see the world and how it has changed since your last visit and still maintaining knowledge of locations, mantras, runes, and monsters truly helped flesh out a world that remained consistent with the vision of that world throughout the three games which told the tale of the Age of Enlightenment.

Ultima 4
Ultima 5
Ultima 6

Thanks,
Sherry

 

[moleman]

smaug have you even ever heard of Fate: Gates of Dawn?

It was released 10 years after before he was born you boomer

You're welcome.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

If character creation is that important to you and you want to spend thousand of hours in an action rpg then the number of games is really rare.
Weird kink but ok. Whatever floats your boat.
I would be bored after a few hours.

I'm not saying that's all I want, it's just one of the many styles I enjoy. For freedom and open form adventuring you can't go wrong with Elder Scrolls titles.

 

[undecaf]

Only Fallout and Fallout 2 (because it’s not functionally that far away from its predecessor).

Best balance of content and gameplay freedom where combat doesn’t demand all the attention but is still functional and fun.

Don’t know if I’d call anything else a masterpiece on similiar grounds.

 

[Surf Solar]

For me personally, Icewind Dale fits the bill. Yes, it is rather limited in quest complexity or reactivity, but it does exactly what it wants to be, has masterfully executed graphics, sound/music and atmosphere and offers huge replayability. I know of no other game that does dungeon romping as well as this one.

 

[Scroo]

smaug have you even ever heard of Fate: Gates of Dawn?

It was released 10 years before he was born you boomer

So what. Wizardry VI for example was released before I was born either yet I have played it and a lot of other games from the 80s. And smaug calling a game shit for looking at screenshots is beyond retarded and utter decline not worthy of the codex.

 

[toro]

Gothic
Arx Fatalis
System Shock 2
Betrayal at Krondor
+ others

 

[overly excitable young man]

smaug have you even ever heard of Fate: Gates of Dawn?

It was released 10 years before he was born you boomer

So what. Wizardry VI for example was released before I was born either yet I have played it and a lot of other games from the 80s. And smaug calling a game shit for looking at screenshots is beyond retarded and utter decline not worthy of the codex.

Why has nobody ever played it, if it's such a master piece?

 

[Scroo]

smaug have you even ever heard of Fate: Gates of Dawn?

It was released 10 years before he was born you boomer

So what. Wizardry VI for example was released before I was born either yet I have played it and a lot of other games from the 80s. And smaug calling a game shit for looking at screenshots is beyond retarded and utter decline not worthy of the codex.

Why has nobody ever played it, if it's such a master piece?

Because the PC port never happened, it was only on Amiga and Atari-ST and the English version is one of the rarest games of all time, sadly. Oh and Amiga Emulators suck

But among the ones who played it it is usually seen as an incredibly deep game.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

smaug have you even ever heard of Fate: Gates of Dawn?

It was released 10 years before he was born you boomer

So what. Wizardry VI for example was released before I was born either yet I have played it and a lot of other games from the 80s. And smaug calling a game shit for looking at screenshots is beyond retarded and utter decline not worthy of the codex.

Why has nobody ever played it, if it's such a master piece?

it's a german autism simulator with about 500 hours of content

 

[Pink Eye]

Wait, now we're giving lists?

Ok ok ok, I'll share my list of games:
1) Baldur's Gate 1 (Great game. got me into PC gaming at a young age. Tough early game, tough encounters. I love low level DnD gameplay. Baldur's Gate 2 High level DnD gameplay made me nauseous)
2) Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines (So many role playing possibilities. Too bad the game falls apart after you reach a certain point. Music was great, Wisp's patch also implemented more music, it's great.)
3) Pathfinder: Kingmaker (Basically Baldur's Gate 1 + 2. Tough early game, stupid late game. A masterpiece)
4) System Shock 2 (Great game, great sound track, terrible ending. As a matter of fact the ending was so bad, it made me angry. But, I still liked it, everything was good before ending, so what ever. Looking forward to SS 3)

 

[Citizen]

Where'd the motherfucking BIRTHRIGHT: GORGON'S ALIANCE go at???

 

[barghwata]

- Fallout (PC)
- Deus Ex (PC)
- Jagged Alliance 2 (PC)
- Warband (PC)
- Diablo (PC)
- Darklands (PC)
- Wasteland (C=64)
- Captive (Amiga)
- Hired Guns (Amiga)
- Dungeon Master (Atari ST)

Deux ex is certainly not a masterpiece according to your definition of a masterpiece, the only thing that deux ex does brilliantly, is its incredibly intricate non linear level design which is is still left unmatched to this day, everything else about the game is meh, the combat is not really good, stealth is extremely basic, and the enemy AI can be borderline retarded at times, also the writing is boring (but it's still a brilliant game of course).

I am also very tempted to say diablo isn't a masterpiece either, but i think i just hate hack n slash games in general so in that regard i am clearly biased.

As for the rest of the list, i have a lot of doubts about some of these games being "masterpieces"; among the games you listed i would say the only ones closest to being complete masterpieces are JA2 and Fallout.

 

[DraQ]

In other words, it isn't enough for an RPG to have great this or great that, but fail elsewhere.

Oh, it's easy then:
None.

 

[Dodo1610]

Gothic 2 + Night of the Raven addon