What's been the most disappointing RPG you can think of?

[Reality]

Legend of grimrock 1

Kind of weird since I played a lot of my favorite blobbers only after Grimrock. I just found it disappointing even before I had things to compare it too.

 

[ds]

Have to jump on the Numanuma hate train here - I didn't expect it to live up to it's purported spiritual predecessor but I was hoping they would at least try.

 

[PapaPetro]

It posed a great question.
But made a lot of mental work for me.

I don't think Arcanum posed a question in the way that Planescape Torment did. Just presented a slice of history adapted rigorously to a fantasy world.

To me it did.
It was an old metaphysics vs physics question, represented it in dialectical tension. That was the hook of the game, right? Science vs. Theology ("Magic").
The slice of history is obviously analogous to our own 19th Century, particularly with Modernity and our supposed/smug apotheotic transitioning of the "Death of God".
The question could be rephrased as "Tradition vs Progress" or whatever dyadic relationships you wish to pit against each other.
I was disappointed because you didn't solve this as a meta problem; you add a 3rd element to fix incongruencies in the dyad's tension.
So to syncretize Magic & Science, you add something like [X] that can be explained in both Magic & Science terms as a substitution (think Rosetta Stone but for Metaphysics).
If any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, then any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology; thus One must have a position to distinguish what is "indistinguishable" (and explain it to others).
I mean this is basic Hero's Journey stuff; I was looking for an ending where a transcendent hero fixes the Magic vs. Technology problem in Arcanum so it could coexist without causing plot holes; thus allowing me to NG+ and goof around in the game world longer with new options available.
You think of a better version of Lord of Light.
In my version, Sam wins quicker/sooner and under budget.
I can't help myself, it's my nature to improve on things.

Thanks for reading my blog.

 

[Bruma Hobo]

Oblivion, Baldur's Gate, Ultima VII, Might and Magic 2, Times of Lore, Questron.

But especially Oblivion.

 

[octavius]

Might and Magic 2

 

[Prince(ss)]

Mass Effect 3 probably. The Mass Effect trilogy could've been on the same tier as Star Wars (not including Disney's fan-fiction of course), but the lead writer of ME3 decided to go full retard in the final stretch.

 

[Grauken]

Might and Magic 2

The more appropriate reaction is

 

[ERYFKRAD]

It posed a great question.
But made a lot of mental work for me.

I don't think Arcanum posed a question in the way that Planescape Torment did. Just presented a slice of history adapted rigorously to a fantasy world.

To me it did.
It was an old metaphysics vs physics question, represented it in dialectical tension. That was the hook of the game, right? Science vs. Theology ("Magic").
The slice of history is obviously analogous to our own 19th Century, particularly with Modernity and our supposed/smug apotheotic transitioning of the "Death of God".
The question could be rephrased as "Tradition vs Progress" or whatever dyadic relationships you wish to pit against each other.
I was disappointed because you didn't solve this as a meta problem; you add a 3rd element to fix incongruencies in the dyad's tension.
So to syncretize Magic & Science, you add something like [X] that can be explained in both Magic & Science terms as a substitution (think Rosetta Stone but for Metaphysics).
If any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, then any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology; thus One must have a position to distinguish what is "indistinguishable" (and explain it to others).
I mean this is basic Hero's Journey stuff; I was looking for an ending where a transcendent hero fixes the Magic vs. Technology problem in Arcanum so it could coexist without causing plot holes; thus allowing me to NG+ and goof around in the game world longer with new options available.
You think of a better version of Lord of Light.
In my version, Sam wins quicker/sooner and under budget.
I can't help myself, it's my nature to improve on things.

Thanks for reading my blog.

Lmao look at this smoothbrain not going full melee on both.

 

[Harthwain]

Might and Magic 2

The more appropriate reaction is

I would understand being disappointed by Might and Magic 4, especially when compared to Might and Magic 3.

 

[Darkozric]

 

[PapaPetro]

It posed a great question.
But made a lot of mental work for me.

I don't think Arcanum posed a question in the way that Planescape Torment did. Just presented a slice of history adapted rigorously to a fantasy world.

To me it did.
It was an old metaphysics vs physics question, represented it in dialectical tension. That was the hook of the game, right? Science vs. Theology ("Magic").
The slice of history is obviously analogous to our own 19th Century, particularly with Modernity and our supposed/smug apotheotic transitioning of the "Death of God".
The question could be rephrased as "Tradition vs Progress" or whatever dyadic relationships you wish to pit against each other.
I was disappointed because you didn't solve this as a meta problem; you add a 3rd element to fix incongruencies in the dyad's tension.
So to syncretize Magic & Science, you add something like [X] that can be explained in both Magic & Science terms as a substitution (think Rosetta Stone but for Metaphysics).
If any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, then any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology; thus One must have a position to distinguish what is "indistinguishable" (and explain it to others).
I mean this is basic Hero's Journey stuff; I was looking for an ending where a transcendent hero fixes the Magic vs. Technology problem in Arcanum so it could coexist without causing plot holes; thus allowing me to NG+ and goof around in the game world longer with new options available.
You think of a better version of Lord of Light.
In my version, Sam wins quicker/sooner and under budget.
I can't help myself, it's my nature to improve on things.

Thanks for reading my blog.

Lmao look at this smoothbrain not going full melee on both.

 

[KörangarTheMighty]

The City of Doors has led you astray. Unfortunately, you've gone through a door that leads only to despair, entropy, and the occasional modron. We suggest that you return to reality, or in lieu thereof, the RPG Codex.

 

[Space Satan]

Dragon Age 2. After Dragon Age: Origins there was a hope for greatthings to come. That Bioware will fix Origins'' sortcomings and strenghten its good aspects to make a worthy sequel. What we got was a shallow and soulless abomination, full corpo-lgbtsqweqiqew degeneracy, half-assed production and dumbed down...everything. Haughty and dismissing replies from devs ona matter of Voiced protagonist, shifting to awesum buttanz and putting in charge disgusting faggots who hated computer games and RPG genre in particular.
Fallout 3. A huge disappointment and reduction of all RPG elements in favor of actium and awesumbuttanness. And it was shallow, uninspired.
Neverwinter Nights 2 - a HUUUUUUUUUUUGE disappountment. Forced companions you cannot ditch, dumbed down story and idiotic ending, along with cartoonish evil.

 

[Erebus]

Neverwinter Nights 2 - a HUUUUUUUUUUUGE disappountment. Forced companions you cannot ditch, dumbed down story and idiotic ending, along with cartoonish evil.

Not saying that NWN 2 OC was good, but how could it be a disappointment ? NWN 1 OC only allowed you to have a single companion, and it had the most forgettable plot in the history of CRPGs. NWN 2 OC, while painfully mediocre, was technically an improvement.

(Admittedly, HotU was better than NWN 2 OC.)

 

[unsleepingfires]

Disco Elysium. Was fool enough to believe the hype.

 

[KörangarTheMighty]

Neverwinter Nights 2 - a HUUUUUUUUUUUGE disappountment. Forced companions you cannot ditch, dumbed down story and idiotic ending, along with cartoonish evil.

Not saying that NWN 2 OC was good, but how could it be a disappointment ? NWN 1 OC only allowed you to have a single companion, and it had the most forgettable plot in the history of CRPGs. NWN 2 OC, while painfully mediocre, was technically an improvement.

(Admittedly, HotU was better than NWN 2 OC.)

My issue with Neverwinter Nights 2 was that it lacked even a single moral dilemma, in the entire game there wasn't even a single choice that was difficult or that a player might agonize over for any amount of time. NWN1 had a couple of these, most notably with the demon in the cursed castle and with a certain rando NPC chick who was "kidnapped" by orcs. Aside from that, Aribeth's fall and Fenthick's unjust execution was quite memorable. Three interesting scenarios in a sea of mediocrity. I also found that "It was Lizard People." was more memorable than "It was Shadows." but your mileage may vary on that.

What NWN2 did well was Crossroad Keep, the Court Drama quest and The Jerro Family quests. It did them well, but even so, there were no hard decisions in them and all of them felt very one-track and scripted and all of them went exactly how you'd guess they would go. Also worth mentioning, improved companion depth and romance, improved PC dialogue options (purely for flavor) and I'd say far, far better combat A.I.. The final boss fight was also pretty good aside from the absolute dogshit final level you had to wade through to get to it.

In short: there were a handful of moments in NWN that were genuinely interesting in the pile of sludge, whereas NWN2 was a lot more consistent in its genericness. Everything was just okay, but could have been much better. As for me, I can recall the handful of good things in NWN more clearly than the good things in NWN2, even if the rest of NWN was worse. It was disappointing that NWN2 didn't at least match NWN1 in that regard, as easy as that would be, when it improved on so much else.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Starfield and Baldur's Gate 3.

 

[xan]

It posed a great question.
But made a lot of mental work for me.

I don't think Arcanum posed a question in the way that Planescape Torment did. Just presented a slice of history adapted rigorously to a fantasy world.

To me it did.
It was an old metaphysics vs physics question, represented it in dialectical tension. That was the hook of the game, right? Science vs. Theology ("Magic").
The slice of history is obviously analogous to our own 19th Century, particularly with Modernity and our supposed/smug apotheotic transitioning of the "Death of God".
The question could be rephrased as "Tradition vs Progress" or whatever dyadic relationships you wish to pit against each other.
I was disappointed because you didn't solve this as a meta problem; you add a 3rd element to fix incongruencies in the dyad's tension.
So to syncretize Magic & Science, you add something like [X] that can be explained in both Magic & Science terms as a substitution (think Rosetta Stone but for Metaphysics).
If any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, then any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology; thus One must have a position to distinguish what is "indistinguishable" (and explain it to others).
I mean this is basic Hero's Journey stuff; I was looking for an ending where a transcendent hero fixes the Magic vs. Technology problem in Arcanum so it could coexist without causing plot holes; thus allowing me to NG+ and goof around in the game world longer with new options available.
You think of a better version of Lord of Light.
In my version, Sam wins quicker/sooner and under budget.
I can't help myself, it's my nature to improve on things.

Thanks for reading my blog.

I don't think you can substitute just any opposing forces for tech and magic, because that oppositional dynamic is firmly entrenched in the context of Arcanum's world as a representation of the Edwardian West, i.e. the closing years of a gilded age in which aristocratic elites are in retreat before rising forces of mass democracy, a political labour movement, and socialism. In this sense magic represents aristocracy as the established and historical ruling power, while the nature of tech as inherently egalitarian (anyone can shoot a gun) represents a challenge to the status quo.
But, the game then asks you to consider the working conditions of the orcs in Tarant, and you realize that while anybody can shoot a gun, not everybody will be permitted to. Tech is not going to liberate the toiling masses, and the central conflict isn't magic v tech, it's industrial magnates v aristocrats over who gets to rule over everybody else. No synthesis is required or possible, and the two parties are irreconcilable, there is no 'third way'.

Most disappointing game has to be NWN1. I remember this ad for it on one of my game discs and it looked incredible, and they promised you could even import your BG character! I didn't get round to actually playing until around 2006, and I could not even understand what it was. Needless to say it was nothing like any of the IE games, no companion control, no accessing their inventory - I just couldn't get over that. I think my disappointment just sort of evolved into sheer bewilderment.

 

[notpl]

I don't think anything's ever going to top Oblivion for me, simply because I'm never going to be as optimistic as I was at age 13 again.