Suggestions for someone new to PC RPGs

[afewhours]

I think I might try Darklands and Prince of Qin first. They both look very tantalizing, mainly because I'm a sucker for historical settings.

DARKLAAAAAAAAANDS!

Darklands is t3h awesome. I was always rubbish at it, but it's great fun.

 

[Nameless0ne]

To put it simply, I know little about RPGs, and I figured this would be a good place to ask for suggestions that ignore the mainstream hype.

So what would be some good games to start with? Please don't suggest an action-RPG, another one is something I cannot stand. I need something that has substance.

Welcome!

Since you say "substance" - go with these games to start:

Fallout 1/2
Planescape: Torment
Arcanum
Witcher (this is action-but it HAS lot of substance)

 

[Andhaira]

I say again:

Bg1 (with TuTu mod for high rez and more character options) then bg2, then KOTOR 1 then NWN2.

IWD2 can also be a good place to start, thought its more ahck and slash.

 

[ghostdog]

I think I might try Darklands and Prince of Qin first. They both look very tantalizing, mainly because I'm a sucker for historical settings.

How on earth did you come up with those? From what you were asking for in your fisrt post I'd never think to suggest those two. Of course if you're desperately looking for historical background these are pretty good... BUT as I recall about Darklands (played it a long time ago and never finished it) it's pretty unforgiving and without much substance (it's more of a sandbox game). And Prince of quin is a hack and slash game in the style of Diablo. It's better than Diablo IMO, but still it's mostly about click'n'kill and fish for items.

 

[Lesifoere]

Wellll, for historical setting, there's always Lionheart.

Hahahaha.

 

[AlanC9]

BG2's a better game than BG1, but doesn't starting with BG2 pretty much wreck the BG1 experience? You get all the big reveals for BG1 in the opening cinematic.

 

[mjorkerina]

Starting with BG2 doesn't ruin anything because there is no sane reason *today* to consider touching that mountain of dross named BG1 even with highly protective gloves. And i'm saying that even though BG1 was my first cRPG experience, being that at the time i was mostly an adventure game and FPS player.

 

[Binary]

I think I might try Darklands and Prince of Qin first. They both look very tantalizing, mainly because I'm a sucker for historical settings.

How on earth did you come up with those? From what you were asking for in your fisrt post I'd never think to suggest those two. Of course if you're desperately looking for historical background these are pretty good... BUT as I recall about Darklands (played it a long time ago and never finished it) it's pretty unforgiving and without much substance (it's more of a sandbox game). And Prince of quin is a hack and slash game in the style of Diablo. It's better than Diablo IMO, but still it's mostly about click'n'kill and fish for items.

I explained in the first page the reasons for the suggestion of Prince of Qin, go back and read it. You presented a list of games without even suggesting why, and I suspect at least a few of them would throw the OP away from RPGs.

And btw, Prince of Qin has RtwP combat, just like the Baldur's Gates or PST. Saying that it's "hack and slash like Diablo" only shows that you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about or give opinions of things you have never seen before. Your opinions should therefore be ignored.

 

[cardtrick]

I think I might try Darklands and Prince of Qin first. They both look very tantalizing, mainly because I'm a sucker for historical settings.

How on earth did you come up with those? From what you were asking for in your fisrt post I'd never think to suggest those two. Of course if you're desperately looking for historical background these are pretty good... BUT as I recall about Darklands (played it a long time ago and never finished it) it's pretty unforgiving and without much substance (it's more of a sandbox game). And Prince of quin is a hack and slash game in the style of Diablo. It's better than Diablo IMO, but still it's mostly about click'n'kill and fish for items.

Yeah, you just made an ass of yourself. I know very little about Prince of Qin, so I won't talk about that much. Darklands, however, has:

An intuitive and deep, but most of all evocative character creation system in which you choose a wide a variety of stats and also guide your characters through their backgrounds and jobs to make up a career that effects their starting abilities, age, and equipment.

Beautiful hand-painted backgrounds with text for all gameplay except combat, which, like the art in King of Dragon Pass, will never be outdated.

A reasonable and not enormously dated interface.

Unparalleled degrees of historical accuracy for an RPG.

Wonderful sandbox gameplay; together with Daggerfall, the only RPG that I can truly call a sandbox. You can explore the medieval German countryside, venturing into hundreds of small hamlets and dozens of towns, while building up your reputation or infamy and undertaking various quests.

More freedom to use your party's skills than in almost any RPG ever made. Want to get into a city? Pay the toll if you've got the money, sneak inside if you're stealthy, scale the wall at night if you have the strength, slaughter the guards, distract the guards with alchemy if you've found the right formula and ingredients, convince the guards you are allowed in with speech skills, or pray to an appropriate saint for a miracle if you have learned the proper prayers at a cathedral or religious school and are sufficiently virtuous.

Serviceable if not outstanding isometric party-based combat that is intutive yet presents a real challenge.

Fun gameplay even if you never pursue the main quest or get good at the game. Start when you want, stop when you want. Pick up your game weeks or months later.

It was my introduction to RPGs, and I don't think there's any better.

 

[hicksman]

I'd reccomend Ultima7 with Exult for a newcomer to the RPG arena. Its a great game, doesn't get too deep into the fantasty elves and dwarves shit, and doesn't rely on statistics for everything. Also, a lot of the depth the game does have is logical to a curious person, for example being able to open/ bash doors, steal things, kill innocents, talk to people, travel, etc. I would strongly reccomend it over PS:T or BG or most of the other things people are reccomending, maybe besides Fallout 1. That's simpler, but in its own right.

 

[RK47]

Wellll, for historical setting, there's always Lionheart.

Hahahaha.

/vader NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[RK47]

Actually... why did nobody suggest The Witcher? Sure, it's not the best RPG, but it's pretty accessible and offers a reasonable amount of Choice and Consequence. Combat is also pretty cool, and a newcomer shouldn't have too many problems with it.

too radical.

 

[ghostdog]

As I said I played darklands many years ago and never got very far. Also prince of qins battle system reminded me a lot the diablo system "with" pause (never finished that either, maybe I'll replay it someday since it's sitting somewhere around). The main reason I never finished those games probably is the fact that I hadn't played many rpg's at that time. I never said those two games aren't good, I just said they're not the best recommendations for a first time rpg, since they are rather challenging , need patience and are more suited for seasoned rpg gamers, and may turn players away. This is the reason I recommended BG1 for a first time game, even though it's not in my top 5 list.

 

[NoisyKillerHPB]

Embarrassingly I haven't played through the Fallouts yet ( played some and quit cause of bugginess or something). Which fan patches (if any) should I use?

 

[Zhirzzh]

None on your first playthrough. Just use official patches.

 

[Andhaira]

You could also start with Icewindale 2

 

[Niektory]

I recommend using the Killap's patches.