What RPG should I play through next?

[Ebonsword]

I've been playing through Kingdoms of Amalur and, while I really enjoyed it at first, I'm starting to get a bit burnt out on it (I'm about 60 hours in).

So, I think it's time to move on to a new game.

While I normally prefer turn-based RPGs like the Temple of Elemental Evil or Dungeons & Dragons: Tactics, after playing Dragon's Dogma and Kingdoms of Amalur, I'm starting to think that action RPGs might have more to offer than I thought.

Which is making me consider Skyrim for my next game.

Unfortunately, while I loved Morrowind, I found Oblivion to be so annoying (particularly with its level scaling) that I stopped playing it after less than 10 hours. Which makes me wonder if I will feel the same way about Skyrim.

I prefer playing on a console if at all possible, so I'm not too keen on modding the hell of a game to get it playable.


So, what would my fellow Codexians recommend? Should I give Skyrim a shot or pick up something else?

 

[Ebonsword]

Oh, and I should mention that I tried playing both Demon's Souls and Valkyria Chronicles earlier this year, and neither really clicked for me (Demon's Souls just didn't feel very fun and I kind of hated the real-time-meets-turn-based combat system in Valkyria Chronicles).

 

[Angelo85]

According to the KKK Skyrim is definitely incline over Oblivion, but still miles away from Morrowind.
Alternatively you could look into The Witcher. Combat in The Witcher is closer to Kingdoms of Amalur than Skyrim AFAIK.

If you don't mind Sci-Fi Settings there's always Mass Effect if you haven't played it yet. Action RPG in Space with guns instead of swords basically.

 

[Dickie]

If you play Mass Effect, steer clear of the uninhabited planets. That killed the game for me because they're so GD boring. I bought Two Worlds 2 on PSN for $5 and I must say I'm getting my money's worth. It has a very neat magic system and NPCs that will fuck you over (rare in games that I've played). It's not game of the decade, but it's kinda neat.

 

[Ebonsword]

If you don't mind Sci-Fi Settings there's always Mass Effect if you haven't played it yet. Action RPG in Space with guns instead of swords basically.

Oh, yeah, I played through Mass Effect a few times when it first came out. I really enjoyed it, but I never got around to playing through the sequels. They seemed kind of dumbed down.

If you play Mass Effect, steer clear of the uninhabited planets. That killed the game for me because they're so GD boring.

The unihabited planets did get a bit boring, but I did like the exploration aspect of it. What I really loved though, is when you would stumble across a derelict spaceship while exploring a system. There were only a few of those, but I remember them adding a really cool survival horror vibe to the game.

I think that there might have been missions you could pick up which would direct you to those derelicts, but it was much more thrilling to just discover them accidentally.

 

[roll-a-die]

OK, why not take a break from modern games? Replay something like Fallout 1, or Fallout 2 to completion. Or pick up a classic from an era you never played games in. Like Ultima Underworld or something similar.

 

[Aeschylus]

So, what would my fellow Codexians recommend? Should I give Skyrim a shot or pick up something else?

Nah. Play Gothic 2 with Night of the Raven. Best action-RPG ever, and it's not particularly close.

Although I suppose this is the wrong subforum to be discussing it in.

 

[Metro]

Lol at the 'exploration' in Mass Effect. The only thing that yielded were those random items required for those over-arcing fetch quests: Collect X medals, collect Y crock pots, etc. Utterly pointless.

 

[Kem0sabe]

I've been playing through Kingdoms of Amalur and, while I really enjoyed it at first, I'm starting to get a bit burnt out on it (I'm about 60 hours in).

So, I think it's time to move on to a new game.

While I normally prefer turn-based RPGs like the Temple of Elemental Evil or Dungeons & Dragons: Tactics, after playing Dragon's Dogma and Kingdoms of Amalur, I'm starting to think that action RPGs might have more to offer than I thought.

Which is making me consider Skyrim for my next game.

Unfortunately, while I loved Morrowind, I found Oblivion to be so annoying (particularly with its level scaling) that I stopped playing it after less than 10 hours. Which makes me wonder if I will feel the same way about Skyrim.

I prefer playing on a console if at all possible, so I'm not too keen on modding the hell of a game to get it playable.


So, what would my fellow Codexians recommend? Should I give Skyrim a shot or pick up something else?

Valkyria Chronicles is my favorite console RPG, also if you have a PS3 or a PSP, i would recommend Final Fantasy Tactics, love the story, characters and gameplay in that one.

 

[toro]

Don't waste time with Skyrim, while it looks good sometimes and is reasonably polished, in the end it's just a shallow experience. As all Bethesda's games.

Try Risen, The Witcher 2, Grimrock instead.

 

[BlitzKitchen]

Lol at the 'exploration' in Mass Effect. The only thing that yielded were those random items required for those over-arcing fetch quests: Collect X medals, collect Y crock pots, etc. Utterly pointless.

When I first landed on those planets I'd get out of the Mako and pretend for a moment I was playing a proper space exploration game. Then I'd realize how much Mass Effect was hyped for that genre, but isn't at all, and frown.

 

[King Crispy]

Play System Shock 2, become enlightened.

 

[tindrli]

yep, System shock 2 should refresh.. ah .. do yourself a favor and throw out your console

 

[Heresiarch]

Dark Souls, seriously, Dark Souls. Its combat mechanism makes Kingdom of Amalur like a popamole joke, its atmosphere makes Skyrim like Adventure in Disneyland, it has brutal difficulty and extremely well detailed dungeon and world design, and while its story is not its focus unless you really dig all kinds of minor details here and there, once you get to understand its plot it's one of the most memorable ever (it shocked me even more times and more severely than Witcher 1/2).

Get the resolution fix, and since you have a console it also means you've got a gamepad, so you're good to go.

Well, you said that Demon's Souls doesn't click for me, and since I haven't played that I have no comment. But seriously, Dark Souls is awesome and I've heard it's more fun than Demon's Souls (e.g. they introduced poise so you won't get stunlocked so often, and you don't lose half of your health after death).

 

[Corporate_Jew_Master]

I agree with Dark Souls and System Shock 2. If you enjoyed grinding through Amalur, try out Two Worlds as well. At the worst you'll get a laugh out of it.

 

[deuxhero]

You got a PS3 (as suggested by VC)? Get Atelier Totori.

 

[TeknoBM]

ONLY IF you are thinking of playing Morronwind then throw it away and play Witcher instead. Otherwise play Fallout 1 + 2. There arent any other crpgs.

 

[Gord]

I'm playing Eschalon Book 2 atm. and having much fun with it. Quite nice indie rpg.
You can get the demo to see if you like it.

Playing Book 1 first is not necessary to understand/enjoy Book 2.

 

[whitepony]

Both books are the best indies out there IMO. Cant wait for book 3.

 

[Akratus]

Lol at the 'exploration' in Mass Effect. The only thing that yielded were those random items required for those over-arcing fetch quests: Collect X medals, collect Y crock pots, etc. Utterly pointless.

Those are fetch quests. Not exploration. Exploration was the square miles of planets that were available. To me that seemed like something that could be improved upon to really create a living, breathing universe. Scrapping it is okay too, if you don't want to put in unnecessary detail and focus more on the main story or quests. Too bad Bioware thought both were too hard. I guess that's why the copy pasted fetch quests in there.

 

[nomask7]

Two Worlds on PC is by far one of the best action RPGs, at least if you make it run a bit faster to make evasion more difficult. Great game, either way.

Amalur I found complete crap, the little I could tolerate it.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Fallout 3


But to be serious, go play Shadow Tower or King's Field. Or you can try Rune (Lost Kingdoms).
Ah, I know what you'd want. Go play some Realms of Arkania HD - it's super fun. I've been playing it since it came out and it is awesome. I find something new every day.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Dark Souls.
Demon's Souls.
Final Fantasy Tactics.
Chrono Trigger.
Tactics Ogre (PS 1 verison).

 

[Nael]

Tldr

 

[laclongquan]

Bayonetta.

Action Tits and Asses.