Looking for an old-school (style) PC CRPG

[Herbert_v1legacy]

Hi everyone

I'm currently on the lookout for an old-school style CRPG. Not a JRPG (so no Final fantasy, please (no, you are not funny by suggesting final fantasy)). What I'm looking for is a game that focuses more on thought than action, stats to play with and challenging combat. Think Wizardry, Might & Magic, Eye of the beholder or Fallout, not Mass Effect (Mass effect is a good game, just not what I'm looking for). The game does not need to be old, Spiderweb Software and Basilisk games have both made some outstanding old school-style games in recent years. I'm not looking for hack & slash (so Diablo, Nox & Torchlight are out), nor am I looking for a rogue like (so no Dungeons of Dredmor, Nethack or dwarf fortress), and I don't really consider Deus Ex or System shock to be fully fledged CRPGs (good as they may be).

So what have I played?
Wizardry (series)
Wizards & warriors (talking about the PC CRPG, not the old NES games)
Might & Magic (Series)
Ultima (series, including underworld)
All The elder scrolls games (apart from the cellphone games)
Fallout (the whole lot)
Arcanum
Vampire the masquerade: bloodlines & Redemption
Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 (never really liked 1, found 2 to be a lot better)
Realms of Arkania (series)
Arx Fatalis
Planescape torment
Icewind dale 1-2
Neverwinter nights (hated it!)
Geneforge (series)
Avernum (series)
Divinity (series)
Avadon
Echalon book 1 & 2
Eye of the beholder (series)
Lands of lore (series)
The goldbox games
Pool of radiance 2 (it was bad)
Dragon age (liked 1, hated 2)
Gothic (series, 4 was horrible)
Risen
Drakensang (both of them)
The witcher (both of them)
Quest for glory (series)
Krondor (series)
Knights of the old republic (series)
Wasteland (including its unofficial sequel)
Bard's tale (series)
Dragonfire (not very good)


And probably a lot more that I have forgot about

I'll let you use your best judgement on what might be considered "old school", there are no strict guidlines. Not all of the above are all that old school, but I suspect that someone will suggest them unless I mention that I have played them.
Thanks in advance for any help. I'm really getting desperate for something new in this genre to play.

 

[Aitamen]

Exile 3 and Helherron come to mind, offhand, both fairly modern but with rather retro vibes that I really enjoyed. I too am a fan of these games~

There's also a lot of Japanese-only (well, fan-translated, I'd think) Wizardry stuff more recently than 8 you could check out, that's where I've gotten my fix of late. Wizardry Empire was pretty enjoyable if you enjoy GameBoy hardware and you like seeing what a group can fit into a tiny cart (which I do~)

 

[veloper]

Knights of the Chalice

 

[Herbert_v1legacy]

Exile 3, now that was a long time ago I've gone through Spiderweb's entire library, starting with Blade of Exile, way back. Great games!

I don't own any handheld consoles past GBA, sadly, but the DS wizardry games have made me interested in picking up a DS at some point.

Helherron & KNights of the chalice both looks interesting. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Aitamen]

going to check out Knights of the Chalice now myself. thanks for the heads up, and thanks for the topic, happy I could inform you of something new~

 

[ResonanceGames]

Do you like Dungeon Master? There's a DM clone -- just with modern graphics -- coming out soon. And it looks really excellent.

http://www.grimrock.net/

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Thanks in advance for any help. I'm really getting desperate for something new in this genre to play.

Sounds like you're looking for something OLD in the genre to play! Get it? GET IT?

Okay, here's my best shot...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_of_the_Ancients

Pretty darn fun game. But we're talking SUPER old school here. Fairly warned, be thee.

 

[Herbert_v1legacy]

Dungeon Master was never my favourite game, but it was good. Grimrock looks like it has great potential, and I've been watching it for a while now.

I forgot Frayed Knights in my original post. If you liked Wizardry, and have a fondness for strange dice (that is, if you have played pen & paper RPGs), then you will probably like that game.

Thanks in advance for any help. I'm really getting desperate for something new in this genre to play.

Sounds like you're looking for something OLD in the genre to play! Get it? GET IT?

Okay, here's my best shot...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legacy_of_the_Ancients

Pretty darn fun game. But we're talking SUPER old school here. Fairly warned, be thee.

I'll check it out, that is if I can find a copy. It looks like it has potential!

 

[ResonanceGames]

Yeah, I hear really good things about Frayed Knights. Just watched an interview with the creator on Mattchatt last night, in fact.

 

[Herbert_v1legacy]

I've been watching it to. Just one episode left of the interview.
For you who are interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R8c4YCtncs

 

[GrandmaFunk]

might be worth looking into Guild Wars, it works perfectly well as a totally solo experience.

 

[Herbert_v1legacy]

Not very old school though Guild wars is a fine game, one that I've spent many nights playing, be it in guild vs guild battles, or slaying monsters, but it is not the type of game that I'm looking for right now.

 

[ResonanceGames]

Honestly, if you've already been following indie stuff like Grimrock, this probably isn't the best place to look for a new RPG. You've probably played more RPGs than anyone on here, myself included. The Codex might be a better bet...if you can manage to wade through all the mindless excrement that passes for "discussion" over there.

 

[TopQuark]

If you somehow looked over Temple of Elemental Evil, go for it. T'was from the brain behind fallout and arcanum. It's somewhere between this current genre of rpgs and old school. Last year I went for a rerun along with user-created enhancements since it's release, make sure to take advantage of some.

http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2011-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&updated-max=2012-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&max-results=50

Also this blog has a pretty comprehensive list and reviews into the deepest lungs of crpg history, some makes me feel how little rpgs have developed from the basic formula since then.

 

[JesterRaiin]

Old school you say....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hired_Guns
Debatable, still a cRPG and a very good one. Party of four mercenaries try to prevent planet from exploding by finding 4 parts for nuclear powerplant. Or something.

Dark Sun 1 &2 - AD&D based adventures on Athas - devastated world of fire and deserts. Everything what's alive can use psionics, metal is scarce, halflings are cannibals, dwars are beardless nad bald.

Anvil of Dawn - Eye of Beholder only with better graphics, more animations. Solo adventure.

Dungeon Hack - it's solitaire adventure in procedural generated dungeon, very similar to Eye of Beholder (actually it was made by same people i guess)

Darklands - if you feel you're tough enough for text based game taking place in dark fantasy medieval Europe.

Superhero : League of Hoboken - funny, yet addictive (at least for some) adventures in post nuclear, mutant populated USA. You control a league of superheroes with amazing powers like "Digest everything" or "Organize charts".

Ishar (series) - French, very addictive. Fantasy setting.

Ravenloft + Menzoberranzan + Stone Prophet - There are a few similar games. I don't remember if there were any connections between them. Hardcore AD&D fantasy cRPG in (debatable) second best setting of entire franchise.

The Legacy - Lovecraftian horror in old mansion. Interesting thing - you were able to adjust sizes of every window (inventory, journal, stats).

Veil of Darkness - Some may argue it's not your typical cRPG, but i think otherwise. You're lone survivor of a plane crash. You awaken in land very similar to AD&Dish Ravenloft - there are slavic monsters, gypsies, magic.

Edit : sorry for commotion, i added a few titles & "descriptions".

 

[TopQuark]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hired_Guns
Debatable, still a cRPG and a very good one.

One of the last good games for Amiga, yay! Makes me remember Waxworks, it's graphics were breathtakingly good back then, may go along with your purpose of brains, instead of muscles (in the vein of Eye of the Beholder).

 

[Herbert_v1legacy]

How about Hexplore? It was age since I played it, but at least back then it was a pretty good game.

Ah, Hexplore. That was an interesting release. It was originally meant to be called Gauntlet 3D, but they lost the rights to that name. I have played it, and I think I still own it. The game was quite challenging, if I remember things right.

Honestly, if you've already been following indie stuff like Grimrock, this probably isn't the best place to look for a new RPG. You've probably played more RPGs than anyone on here, myself included. The Codex might be a better bet...if you can manage to wade through all the mindless excrement that passes for "discussion" over there.

I have lurked there a bit, to see if I can get some good advice, but all the "4chan style" discussions really got annoying after a while. There are probably a lot of hidden gems in there, but the thought of wading through all the excrement is off-putting I thought I would get some more serious replies here than over there.

http://crpgaddict.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2011-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&updated-max=2012-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&max-results=50

Also this blog has a pretty comprehensive list and reviews into the deepest lungs of crpg history, some makes me feel how little rpgs have developed from the basic formula since then.

I have played through Temple of elemental evil, and thought that it was a terrific game, even though it came with a bucket of Troika-style bugs (Troika made some of the best games of its time, but all their games were buggy, nearly broken on release). That blog gets a bookmark though, there a few great gems in there!

Old school you say....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hired_Guns
Debatable, still a cRPG and a very good one. Party of four mercenaries try to prevent planet from exploding by finding 4 parts for nuclear powerplant. Or something.

Dark Sun 1 &2 - AD&D based adventures on Athas - devastated world of fire and deserts. Everything what's alive can use psionics, metal is scarce, halflings are cannibals, dwars are beardless nad bald.

Anvil of Dawn - Eye of Beholder only with better graphics, more animations. Solo adventure.

Dungeon Hack - it's solitaire adventure in procedural generated dungeon, very similar to Eye of Beholder (actually it was made by same people i guess)

Darklands - if you feel you're tough enough for text based game taking place in dark fantasy medieval Europe.

Superhero : League of Hoboken - funny, yet addictive (at least for some) adventures in post nuclear, mutant populated USA. You control a league of superheroes with amazing powers like "Digest everything" or "Organize charts".

Ishar (series) - French, very addictive. Fantasy setting.

Ravenloft + Menzoberranzan + Stone Prophet - There are a few similar games. I don't remember if there were any connections between them. Hardcore AD&D fantasy cRPG in (debatable) second best setting of entire franchise.

The Legacy - Lovecraftian horror in old mansion. Interesting thing - you were able to adjust sizes of every window (inventory, journal, stats).

Veil of Darkness - Some may argue it's not your typical cRPG, but i think otherwise. You're lone survivor of a plane crash. You awaken in land very similar to AD&Dish Ravenloft - there are slavic monsters, gypsies, magic.

Edit : sorry for commotion, i added a few titles & "descriptions".

That is quite a list, thanks! I have played through most of the old SSI-released games (though I remember rage quitting Dark Sun after it managed to corrupt my save games for the 3rd time! That game was worse than daggerfall.).

I don't think Dungeon Hack was by the same people as Eye of the beholder. EotB was made by Westwood, who went on creating Lands of Lore when they lost the rights to EotB (this is also why EotB 1-2 are better than 3).

I was under the impression that Superhero League was an adventure game. Seem like I was wrong on that one. That one needs to be played. I seem to have been wrong about Hired Guns as well. When I found a box in a bargain bin, way back, I thought it was a Space Hulk rippoff.

If you enjoyed Darklands, you might want to check out King of dragon pass. While a very different game, I think it might appeal to the same kind of people.

The Legacy is a game that I had not even heard of, but it looks great. I'll make sure to keep an eye on the local ebay counterpart for it.

Thanks everyone for your advice! Now I think I have some CRPGs to play

 

[Pearwood]

I dunno, I'm more of a JRPG fan so if it's only Final Fantasy you dislike I'd recommend the Shin Megami Tensei series. Even the "Ewww JRPG sucks!" crowd has a few fans of SMT Nocturne/Lucifer's Call and Persona 3 and 4 within it. Same for Demon's Souls or Dark Souls, they're modern games but they pretty clearly took their inspiration from older games.

Otherwise I'd say it's a bit difficult recommending an old school game that's not Japanese, not a Roguelike, not a FPSRPG and not a hack and slasher. You're really limiting yourself to D&D style games and I'm struggling to think of anything that isn't listed that's worth playing. The only thing I can think of that isn't listed is the Shining and Phantasy Star games, they date back to the time where JRPGs and WRPGs were essentially the same.

 

[Herbert_v1legacy]

It is not that I hate JRPGs, FPSRPGs, SRPGs, hack & slash or any of the other subgenres, it is just not the type of game that would scratch my current gaming itch.

And while I do own some old consoles, I threw out my TV a few years ago, as it was just gathering dust, and I can use my computer for everything that I did with my TV anyway, that was why I specified PC in the topic.