What are your Top 10 RPGs?

[Serious_Business]

My top 10 shitty tactictal games, eh? No thanks buddy

To be more Serious, I would say that I make no distinction in what gives me Great Emotion and Great Feeling, and thus, as a true monist, I must say that everything is the same fucking shit

Inherently in any field of culture, any work that you find to be of some note is either going to be attached to some kind of concensus or deviate it from it in some way ; everything about games is too modern to allow this kind of judgement, or any kind judgement at all for that matter. If anything the consensus is weak and marginal (the Codex being a sub-community in a sub-community of rather niche cultural products), which allows "strong" personalities to authoritatively proclaim what taste should and shouldn't be. But taste resting on one personality is always going to be weak and idiosyncratic. There's something rather puerile in pretending that there is a tradition for something that was created in your lifetime. Give it a 100 years maybe and this kind of attitude will make some kind of sense beyond some kind of bullshit influencer market dynamic. I haven't any top whatever because my taste changes daily ; I am a decadent being, but then that is the modern condition. Blinding yourself to it is an act of forceful stupidity.

 

[Krivol]

What is "Pendragon"? I only know of King's Arthur Pendragon, a great pnp system. I'd love to see a good adaptation, dreams...

Most probably this:


EDIT:

Ninjaed

 

[NJClaw]

Except this is a tired meme and not true at all. It has been long establsihed that RPG's are games where the stats are more important in gameplay than your twitch reflexes.

Wait, so Disco Elysium IS an RPG! Stats are definitely more important than your reflexes!

And Dark Souls is an RPG as long as you are bad at it, because while you suck stats are fundamental; but, as soon as you get good enough to finish the game without leveling up, it's no longer an RPG.

RPGs truly are wondrous creatures.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

Games that we like are RPGs and games that we don't like aren't.

 

[Harry Easter]

Games that we like are RPGs and games that we don't like aren't.

And so the discussion ended and all was well forever.

 

[The_Mask]

Except this is a tired meme and not true at all. It has been long establsihed that RPG's are games where the stats are more important in gameplay than your twitch reflexes.

Wait, so Disco Elysium IS an RPG! Stats are definitely more important than your reflexes!

And Dark Souls is an RPG as long as you are bad at it, because while you suck stats are fundamental; but, as soon as you get good enough to finish the game without leveling up, it's no longer an RPG.

RPGs truly are wondrous creatures.

It's like the stats you initially put into your character, end up being transferred into you, somehow. Trully... a transformative RPG, isn't it? :D

 

[NJClaw]

Games that we like are RPGs and games that we don't like aren't.

When you like it, it's an RPG; when you don't, it's not.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Games that we like are RPGs and games that we don't like aren't.

When you like it, it's an RPG; when you don't, it's not.

I like a good shoot'em up or brick break but they're not RPG for most of them (there's some hybrids though).
I like beat'em all as well but they're not RPG either, the genre evolved into 3D walking simultation beat'em all and now, they want to be called RPG...

Well, in a RPG, you create your character from scratch, you fight monsters, you find some treasure, it's turn based and party based, stats influence dice rolls, there is C&C, there is multiple ways to tackle a problem, as many as you can come up with.

Of course, cRPG are slightly different beasts but the label RPG increases sales, otherwise, we wouldn't even have this conversation.
If walking simulator was a selling label, the walking simulators wouldn't want to be called RPG...

 

[Butter]

What a world we live in. RPG label sells games, but RPG mechanics don't.

 

[TemplarGR]

It has been long establsihed that RPG's are games where the stats are more important in gameplay than your twitch reflexes.

This is a bad definition. For one, it includes games that are clearly not RPGs, like strategy games, or adventure games. And for second, i believe stats are only one of the pillars of an RPG and not even the main one.

An RPG is what the name implies, a ROLE-PLAYING game. This means that it is meant to make the player LARP another character inside another universe and play through an adventure. This kind of ROLE PLAYING game is ancient, and one of the first types of games children instictively play by themselves. For example playing "cowboys vs indians" or "cops vs robbers".

Obviously some faggot wanted to make the LARPing more sophisticated for teenagers and adults to play, and he wanted to be able to SELL it and structure it, so he designed a dice-based system with rigid rules to accompany the LARPing. That way he could sell it as a complete LARPing system and make dollars. And the players would have a set of rules (that could still be overriden by DMs anyway) to make the LARPing fair and not have one player say "i used the force to kill you" and the other say "nuhuh, you did nothing of the short, i used the force to kill you first", and end up punching each other to death in real life.

Later, once vidya games began to be made, some faggots decided to transfer those systems to vidya games, and the CRPGs were born. But as the years went by all the autists and spergs, typically drawn to numbers and rules instead of imagination-heavy LARPing, focused extensively on the wargaming part of RPGs, the rules and stats, above the LARPing. Remember, spergs/autists can't really LARP, because their brains don't function that way.

So, we ended up having a multiple interpretation of what an RPG is. Autists think CRPGs are shit with extensive rulesets and huuuuurd cuuuuure gameplay with millions of savescuming per hour. Normal people think CRPGs are escapism games that allow them to LARP another character in a fantasy realm, like Skyrim. Obviously, autists are fewer, but due to autism they are more vocal and dedicated in small communities like this. While normal human beings are far more numerous (which is displayed in Skyrim sales vs any so called "incline" crpg sales), they don't frequent "hard core" sites like the RPGCodex much, people like me being the exception, LOL.

 

[Oreshnik Missile]

It has been long establsihed that RPG's are games where the stats are more important in gameplay than your twitch reflexes.

This is a bad definition. For one, it includes games that are clearly not RPGs, like strategy games, or adventure games. And for second, i believe stats are only one of the pillars of an RPG and not even the main one.

An RPG is what the name implies, a ROLE-PLAYING game. This means that it is meant to make the player LARP another character inside another universe and play through an adventure. This kind of ROLE PLAYING game is ancient, and one of the first types of games children instictively play by themselves. For example playing "cowboys vs indians" or "cops vs robbers".

I agree.

 

[Lilura]

I like a good shoot'em up or brick break but they're not RPG for most of them (there's some hybrids though).

Are you referring to the likes of Radiant Silvergun?

I like beat'em all as well but they're not RPG either, the genre evolved into 3D walking simultation beat'em all and now, they want to be called RPG...

Are you referring to the likes of Guardian Heroes?

there is multiple ways to tackle a problem, as many as you can come up with.

On the proviso that those options are based on the character's stats. For example, we shouldn't be able to swim through the submerged tunnel because we decide to, we should be able to do it because we have cranked the swimming skill and installed aqua-lung augmentation. Everyone else goes the long way around, or drowns.

 

[Ol' Willy]

Someone should take Templar outside and shoot him

 

[Desiderius]

What is "Pendragon"? I only know of King's Arthur Pendragon, a great pnp system. I'd love to see a good adaptation, dreams...

It's a mixture between storytelling, gameboard and tactical combat. The atmosphere and the art are wonderful and the challenge curve is just right.

Take a look here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1240050/Pendragon/

My game of 2020 :D.

Purchased. Thx for the tip.

 

[Lady_Error]

For one, it includes games that are clearly not RPGs, like strategy games, or adventure games. And for second, i believe stats are only one of the pillars of an RPG and not even the main one.

Except adventure games don't have stats and I already said what the dividing line to strategy games is: personal stories with a single character or a small party.

 

[TemplarGR]

Except adventure games don't have stats

Except stats are not the defining aspect of an RPG. Therefore you are full of shit and don't understand what an CRPG is.

 

[Thac0]

 

[Metatron]

1. Planescape: Torment (ultimate storydriven game, obviously there are rpgs with better combat but unlike some others like Arcanum it's serviceable enough).
2. Baldurs Gate 2 (probably still the most complete all round rpg experience, unlike most games in the genre it doesn't drop the ball on anything, ticks all the boxes)
3. Dark Souls (best action rpg, also great atmosphere, I won't include Bloodborne but it's up there as well)
4. Betrayal at Kronder (the second best storydriven rpg, combat is good enough, navigating through the world is a bit dated by now but once you get past that brilliant game)
5. Might & Magic VII (does everything 6 does but a bit better, especially char customization options and better story/setting, I don't mind the shorter dungeons, overlong dungeons with a gazillion trash encounters aren't that interesting)
6. The Witcher (a game that gets better each time I play it, has a lot of heart and excels at writing, atmosphere, questing, the series is now very mainstream obviously but back in the day this took quite some risks steering away from Forgotten Realms clichés. I always found it weird that it didn't reach the codex cult status other, lesser eurojank games did)
7. Icewind Dale 2 (a very underrated entry, seems to be a lot less talked about than the other IE games despite having the best combat encounters and atmosphere)
8. Dark Sun: Shattered Lands (I feel this was when the genre really came to fruition, probably biased since I started playing rpgs mid 90s but everything before this feels a bit dated to me)
9. The Witcher 3 (Codex usually get a boner for games made by one neckbeard living on roots in his mothers basement but this game shows AAA doesn't have to be shit)
10. Might & Magic VI (always been my favorite blobber series, challenging but still fun)

Honorable mentions: TOEE, Nier, KOTOR2, MOTB, Div Div, SR: DF

 

[Serus]

You shouldn't have the ability to post here until you learn the definition of a CRPG. People need to stop counting strategy/tactics games and point and click adventures/ visual novels as CRPGs. Then we can talk about taste.

It's the Codex, no one knows the definition. It could be renamed: "Codex of People Who Don't Know the Definition of a CRPG".
I remember a few of serious(tm) threads in the past with codexers trying to produce one. No success so far.

Except this is a tired meme and not true at all. It has been long establsihed that RPG's are games where the stats are more important in gameplay than your twitch reflexes.

The dividing line to strategy games is that RPG's are more personal stories, with a single character or a small party. In some cases, the dividing line between strategy and RPG is blurry, such as Jagged Alliance or FTL.

I see you made a "captain obvious" build for this thread. Unfortunately something being a meme doesn't mean that it's false (or true). Basically you made a side quest without any reward.
As to stats. Tons of games have stats, including whole genres that aren't crpgs. Strategy, wargames, some/many sport games, even some typical action games can have stats. And have "personal stories", whatever that means. You know that definition need to be at least somewhat precise, right? So no, a definition: "CRPG is a game with stats, except when Lady Error say it isn't" is a very bad definition.
In the end you passed the Obviousness skill check, but failed the Computer Games and CRPG Lores (based of Wisdom, Intelligence or Charisma, whichever is highest) one.

 

[Lady_Error]

As to stats. Tons of games have stats, including whole genres that aren't crpgs. Strategy, wargames, some/many sport games, even some typical action games can have stats. And have "personal stories", whatever that means.

Give us examples of games with stats that focus on one character (or a small party) that are not RPG's.

 

[Harry Easter]

Borderlands?

 

[Lady_Error]

Borderlands?

What's the difference between Deus Ex (RPG) and Borderlands (non-RPG)?

 

[The_Mask]

What's the difference between Deus Ex (RPG) and Borderlands (non-RPG)?

One of them is a thought-provoking piece of art, that will likely never age, while the other is a manipulative cartoony nightmare with terrible voice acting that will most likely age like milk?

 

[Harry Easter]

What's the difference between Deus Ex (RPG) and Borderlands (non-RPG)?

Borderlands is all about shooting and killing, but not really, since headshoots don't kill enemies faster. It's all about those stats in your weapon. It just came to my mind, when I think of a game that is all about stats, but still no RPG, since there is no real dialogue wheel or anything RPG related. In Deus Ex you have at least some dialogue choices.

 

[ADL]

Daggerfall
Darklands
Dwarf Fortress adventure mode
Kingdom Come Deliverance
Betrayal at Krondor
Ultima Online
Kenshi
Age of Decadence
Fallout New Vegas + runner up Fallout 1... Fallout 2 is too tonally inconsistent
STALKER freeplay
runner up: Ultima VII

Emergent gameplay is king