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What's been the most disappointing RPG you can think of?
- Thread starter King Crispy
- Start date
Besides the usual suspects that have been mentioned here several times, I have to say Kingdom Come: Deliverance is one of mine. While it's not an awful game, some parts are actually brilliant, like the simulation aspect - having characters living their lives, the crime system, etc. However, this is where the problem lies. What ruined it was Vavra's autism for Hollywood and telling a deep story. Henry is a nice guy, and doing anything "evil" goes against that in the story. And in general, I felt that the world they built up, and the systems in it were a big waste in extension to this. Much like Mafia 2. Huge cool city, but it has no gameplay accompanying it at all. Plus, I found the combat atrocious, and it was made worse by having skills like master strike and the like. Baffling. I like to imagine this world, but more in line with Mount & Blade, but way scaled down. It would have been so much fun with a looser not as defined character. Now, it just feels like a tourist simulator. I tried to replay it after getting all the DLCs, and unfortunately, it's just an incredibly boring cutscene simulator with shit combat.
^^ good call. DtU was a major controversy in all the major CRPG magazines back then. Holy crap what a stinker that was.
Calovar
Literate
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2023
- Messages
- 14
Divinity Original Sin. Too much pointless dialogue and bad humor. Tedious crafting. Good combat, though.
Deadfire. Combat and class mechanics were improved but the setting swap was a disservice to the story. A lot of plot arcs didn't lead anywhere and just fizzled out without ever being mentioned again.
Deadfire. Combat and class mechanics were improved but the setting swap was a disservice to the story. A lot of plot arcs didn't lead anywhere and just fizzled out without ever being mentioned again.
The one that got to me is Sword Coast Legends. I was expecting a cool, classic DnD RPG but it just didn't deliver. All of the disappointment came rushing in while playing the game. Which is among the worse kind of disappointments in gaming. I remember vividly wanting to quit the game but not doing so as I expected things would get better after a certain point. Also I wanted to earn the achievement for beating the game on the hardest difficulty. But neither did the game get better nor did I get my achievement. There was a bug where it switched the difficulty to the easiest setting. Which made the enjoyment of the game even worse as in the middle of my session I would just randomly start one shotting NPCs.
I don't remember any of the story or companions. There was also an expansion where you started out in the Underdark and you could play a Warlock but it all felt too shallow for me so I didn't try it. Have yet to try Solasta but from what I've read and seen it seems to be something similar to what I was expecting from Sword Coast Legends.
I don't remember any of the story or companions. There was also an expansion where you started out in the Underdark and you could play a Warlock but it all felt too shallow for me so I didn't try it. Have yet to try Solasta but from what I've read and seen it seems to be something similar to what I was expecting from Sword Coast Legends.
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2010
- Messages
- 1,871,768
I tried to replay it a couple of years back and was shocked at the sheer number of trash mobs.
Not sure how I was able to ignore that at the time.
Kliwer
Savant
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2018
- Messages
- 216
For me, there is only one answer: Neverwinter Nights.
It was supposed to be the new champion on a cRPG scene. Its coming was foretold by prophets and easter eggs in Baldur’s Gate. And the new Baldur’s Gate it was supposed to be. New, but better, bigger, with more reactivity, with deeper character creation, with wider world, more companions… And, obviously, with stunning 3D presentation. We got none of it.
I still remember my first impression after starting the game. The ugly, blocky interiors without any charm. The whole firs chapter of the OC, which was more similar to Diablo (in those days I was heart and soul in the anti-Diablo camp) than Baldur’s Gate. It's a shame to talk.
I was never interested in on-line possibilities of NWN. It is always better to meet with friends on good PnP session than wasting time on this clunky engine. It is also better to organize an online session trough some communicator.
Last years I tried NWN again – to check some fan-made campaigns. I didn't like any of them. General architecture of this game is just pathetic. Combat is clunky and boring. Locations look always ugly – regardless of the number of plug-ins in use. Character development usually goes too far – D&D works only on low-to-middle levels but most of big custom campaigns take us to epic levels. For example, I never understand the common admiration for Swordflight series. I do not like writing in this modules – comically epic and too wordy. Combat encounters are a disaster – theoretically difficult, but in practice just bloated. There is simply impossible to make an interesting tactical encounters in this engine. D&D 3 in its most munchkin version.
I would even say that my contact with NWN (when I was still a teenager) was an important event shaping my personality. It was maybe the first time I thought: “Maybe not all new things are better than old ones? Maybe progress is not linear after all?” After this experience, I became much more critical and careful in judgments. My trust in official authorities has also collapsed – because my personal opinion of NWN collided with super-positive press reviews (which started my general distrust of all press).
Yeah, that was a disappointment…
It was supposed to be the new champion on a cRPG scene. Its coming was foretold by prophets and easter eggs in Baldur’s Gate. And the new Baldur’s Gate it was supposed to be. New, but better, bigger, with more reactivity, with deeper character creation, with wider world, more companions… And, obviously, with stunning 3D presentation. We got none of it.
I still remember my first impression after starting the game. The ugly, blocky interiors without any charm. The whole firs chapter of the OC, which was more similar to Diablo (in those days I was heart and soul in the anti-Diablo camp) than Baldur’s Gate. It's a shame to talk.
I was never interested in on-line possibilities of NWN. It is always better to meet with friends on good PnP session than wasting time on this clunky engine. It is also better to organize an online session trough some communicator.
Last years I tried NWN again – to check some fan-made campaigns. I didn't like any of them. General architecture of this game is just pathetic. Combat is clunky and boring. Locations look always ugly – regardless of the number of plug-ins in use. Character development usually goes too far – D&D works only on low-to-middle levels but most of big custom campaigns take us to epic levels. For example, I never understand the common admiration for Swordflight series. I do not like writing in this modules – comically epic and too wordy. Combat encounters are a disaster – theoretically difficult, but in practice just bloated. There is simply impossible to make an interesting tactical encounters in this engine. D&D 3 in its most munchkin version.
I would even say that my contact with NWN (when I was still a teenager) was an important event shaping my personality. It was maybe the first time I thought: “Maybe not all new things are better than old ones? Maybe progress is not linear after all?” After this experience, I became much more critical and careful in judgments. My trust in official authorities has also collapsed – because my personal opinion of NWN collided with super-positive press reviews (which started my general distrust of all press).
Yeah, that was a disappointment…
Ludwig von Eisenthal
Prophet
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2014
- Messages
- 692
Oh yeah, I totally forgot about KC:D. After having played the latest Beta I was fully blown away by the sheer beauty of its depiction of nature. Everything was so lush and lively, the lighting effects were flawless. It actually felt like taking a hike in any typical middle to eastern european forest. Alas they stripped everything down before the release, in a brutal way. The realistic woods now look like they've been exposed to some chemical waste or another, they are way too open and the density of their foliage, bushes etc. is ridiculously low.
And as much as I liked their general world building, there was one detail I couldn't accept: If you simulate a medieval world, you just have to implement children. The lack thereof totally broke the game's immersion for me. I would't object if they used some cheap tricks to make sure you can't hurt the little buggers - no trick could be more unrealistic as the depiction of a medieval world devoid of anybody younger than 20 years.
I never actually played enough from the game to judge its more technical and gameplaywise aspects.
luj1
You're all shills
Tides of Torment Numenera
Imagine thinking the community patch even comes close to fixing that game...lol
I love atmosphere in that game and its a non the less a conclusion to Gothic series. What came after is not even worth mentioning. Just fanfic tier trash with even worse gameplay.
Nothing can fix the combat system and dumbed down quests and dialogues in G3 though.
Any semblance of atmosphere in that game (even if I pretend g1&2 don't exist) is broken by all the dumb content. The brand new human-like orcs, dumb world design like the lack of a port, and like you mention, the dialogue. Even the oh so loved music detracts from the experience. Over the top, doesn't complement the world (getting attacked by brass, electric guitars, etc. Randomly), having an entire orchestra following you around myrtana is ridiculous.
I've seen this with many games people gush over the music for. While a previous entry will have subtle atmospheric soundtrack, the game that introduces a more "epic" theme will be well regarded. I don't know why, maybe there's a huge subset of autistic video game music listeners who are too ADHD to play a game without constantly being spammed by an entire orchestra and want a track they'll listen to in their free time.
When I think of atmosphere, all the bad parts of Gothic 3 actively take away from it.
Things like exploring dangerous Nordmar alone for the first time earning the trust of barbarians, breaking the siege of Vengard, looking at the general state of Myrtana and helping humans overthrowing the orcs contributed to atmosphere a lot. Orc redesign was retarded. But i have nothing against music, except the same combat theme being spammed over and over. Previous Gothic titles had a lot of different combat tracks, here you have like 2-3 and one of them plays 90% of the time in battles.
Also "having an entire orchestra following you" made me laugh. Reminds me of the parody on Witcher 3 where the singing gyspy band followed Geralt around playing music non stop.
Disagree, we already had a great example of this atmosphere in Gothic 2 when you return to the valley of mines during the orc attack, even ignoring the difference in orc behaviour between 2&3. You get there and are immediately stopped by someone completely shocked you made it through, and everyone you talk to has a similar tone of defeat, dread, and shock you made it in. You see a huge, defensible castle broken down and surrounded by camps of orcs, and trying to make it in the first time as a low level is genuinely tense. Then you talk to that dragon hunter who says the mainland is even worse than where they are.
Where is that atmosphere in Gothic 3? Everyone stands around the same way as anywhere else, no one starts dialogue with you and is shocked how the fuck you even made it into the city, the orcs are the lowest level mooks in the entire game so they're not threatening, etc. I don't see how that is atmospheric unless you assume things and make it up in your head as you go, because the portrayal itself is not done well at all.
rubinstein
Educated
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2022
- Messages
- 142
skyrim
i was still a teen, who didnt know much about gaming, and i freakin loved oblivion. oblivion seemed amazing, and i enjoyed fo3 (yeah, i was retarded), so when beth was supposed to release their magnum opus, skyrim, i was extremely hyped. everyone was hyped. i bought it day 1, played it for a week maybe, and... the game was not fun. it was like something between lukewarm-mediocre and "its fine, i guess". i only had this one strong feeling towards it: i hated that almost every system was dumbed down compared to fucking oblivion. how could you, beth? the game didnt feel like a rpg, or at least what i considered a rpg back then.
i felt like i was being lied to. the game did not deserve 95/100 reviews.
i was still a teen, who didnt know much about gaming, and i freakin loved oblivion. oblivion seemed amazing, and i enjoyed fo3 (yeah, i was retarded), so when beth was supposed to release their magnum opus, skyrim, i was extremely hyped. everyone was hyped. i bought it day 1, played it for a week maybe, and... the game was not fun. it was like something between lukewarm-mediocre and "its fine, i guess". i only had this one strong feeling towards it: i hated that almost every system was dumbed down compared to fucking oblivion. how could you, beth? the game didnt feel like a rpg, or at least what i considered a rpg back then.
i felt like i was being lied to. the game did not deserve 95/100 reviews.
You teleport to Vengard temple by rune and you get aknowledged by the guard commander who already heard that you arrived. I dont remember that much of dialogue though and overall tone tbh. The orcs are weak because the nameless hero himself is more powerful from the start, he is not a newbie or handicapped by Xardas resurrection this time so thats why they made orcs less of a threat. At the end of G2 orcs were already effortless trash. Its not about intense feeling of making it into an orc besieged castle as a low level you already felt that in G2 and you just use teleport this time. Its about clearing the city of orc filth and saving fellow rebels and the king. While its not as good as it should be i still consider it an atmospheric moment.
Kliwer
Savant
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2018
- Messages
- 216
Oh yea, I'm the mighty orc-killer, the unstoppable dragon-slayer, I am the destroyer of worlds...
Oh no! A young wolf approaches – run for your life!!
PoE/Tyranny/Numanuma, rolled into one big disappointing turd.
skaraher
Cipher
Tyranny wasnt overhyped as those other two, it always was presented as an experimental side project
That just made it worse, me being an idiot thinking "ok they screwed up poe but this! this will be cool!". I did stumble onto Codex through the tyranny steam forums so it all worked out in the end
All the games in the so-called "RPG Renaissance" turned out to be huge disappointments. Including Wasteland 3/4/5. The lack of creativity and imagination was... unexpected.
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