Poll: Purchasing a Retro RPG
- Thread starter RebelRising
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Baluder gates, Fallouts, are rpg winners.
X-coms are more squad tactics but enjoyable to no end.
Diablo is not a rpg its like the old Guantlet arcade dungeon crawl and without online gear hunts there is little reason to buy it. Without Battle.net its a dead game.
X-coms are more squad tactics but enjoyable to no end.
Diablo is not a rpg its like the old Guantlet arcade dungeon crawl and without online gear hunts there is little reason to buy it. Without Battle.net its a dead game.
Planescape: Torment as there is nothing else like it. Then Fallout and Baldur's Gate 2 (don't bother with the first).
Wow, you have three of my favourite game series in that list. I'd go like this:
Baldur's Gate (2 is the best)
Fallout (1 is the best)
Planescape: Torment
Planescape is the most amazing game of the lot, but Baldur's Gate is probably the most fun. I'm surprised to hear someone say BG1 has worse graphics than Fallout; to me, it stands up pretty well, whereas Fallout absolutely requires the high-definition patch (google it) to be playable.
Oh yeah, download all the patches and fixes before you play Fallout. It's a great game, but it has a few errors that the mod community had to fix up.
Baldur's Gate (2 is the best)
Fallout (1 is the best)
Planescape: Torment
Planescape is the most amazing game of the lot, but Baldur's Gate is probably the most fun. I'm surprised to hear someone say BG1 has worse graphics than Fallout; to me, it stands up pretty well, whereas Fallout absolutely requires the high-definition patch (google it) to be playable.
Oh yeah, download all the patches and fixes before you play Fallout. It's a great game, but it has a few errors that the mod community had to fix up.
It looks like Im going to go for Baldur's Gate series; one last thing, though; Is there anything story-wise that should dictate whether or not it's worth getting number one as opposed to number 2?
You SHOULD be able to find a Full Game Pack somewhere out there...RebelRising said:
But there is a little bit of back story and while BG 1 is WORTH playing, 2 is MUCH better and has a better story.
If you feel lost just read a synopsis online.
Urge to kill...rising.Hawkez said:
Seriously though, Quake is 'old & blocky', and while Baldur's Gate and co. might not be as up to date as their peers, at the very least their environments and sprites are all done rather well. However, this is offset by the crappy resolution, if you're still interested in the series at all you should have a look for a resolution patch, makes things a lot better.
Agreed. That game was so ahead of its time. It had a fully open world, npcs with daily routines, a full day/night cycle, and you could even bake bread if you found the ingredients. You could do anything, even set a cripple on fire with a flaming torch for having the insolence to approach your godly armored visage (not that I did that, of course...).schubi said:
However, Baldur's Gate 1&2, Planescape Torment, and Fallout 1&2 are also good choices. Hell, buy them all, you won't regret it.
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Try anything and everything. Especially Geneforge, Avernum, and even Exile.
Why? Two words: No Bullshit. No sloppily-coded engine next to which Crysis is pretty much Quake 1. No slow and uneventful hiking to the next destination, no waiting for slow-ass battle animations and UI frills to finish, no mediocre actors voicing text that scrolls upward one line per second for the sake of players with second-grade reading levels. In other words, none of the stuff that got pretty much all other RPGs after 1996 or so consigned to the bin, possibly for good.
Try anything and everything. Especially Geneforge, Avernum, and even Exile.
Why? Two words: No Bullshit. No sloppily-coded engine next to which Crysis is pretty much Quake 1. No slow and uneventful hiking to the next destination, no waiting for slow-ass battle animations and UI frills to finish, no mediocre actors voicing text that scrolls upward one line per second for the sake of players with second-grade reading levels. In other words, none of the stuff that got pretty much all other RPGs after 1996 or so consigned to the bin, possibly for good.
I put Planescape Torment as I feel that game is in a class by itself. Fallout 2 comes close though.
I personally suggest seeing if you can track down a game called "Wizardry 8" or if you can tolerate older games the whole trilogy "Bane Of The Cosmic Forge, "CRusaders Of The Dark Savant", and then "Wizardry 8". The storyline is rather cool, and being able to transfer your entire party (albeit without all their equipment) is fun. Bane in paticular has aged quite a bit though.
The thing with retro RPGs though is that your probably going to have to tinker with programs like Dosbox and Slomo to get most of them to run. I am unsure how many of the games on that list will run on modern systems without assistance. I have a horrendous track record with such programs so have become unable to run a lot of my favorite RPGs.
Oh and look up a program called "Exult". Ultima 7 and Ultima 7 Pt. 2 are now public domain. Exult will allow you to run them on more recent systems. You should be able to find the games on most Abandonware sites (like Abandonia).
Abandonware is NOT piracy. Something else entirely.
I have not tried to run Exult under Vista however (messed with it on my last computer) so I am not sure what will happen with that.
>>>----Therumancer--->
I personally suggest seeing if you can track down a game called "Wizardry 8" or if you can tolerate older games the whole trilogy "Bane Of The Cosmic Forge, "CRusaders Of The Dark Savant", and then "Wizardry 8". The storyline is rather cool, and being able to transfer your entire party (albeit without all their equipment) is fun. Bane in paticular has aged quite a bit though.
The thing with retro RPGs though is that your probably going to have to tinker with programs like Dosbox and Slomo to get most of them to run. I am unsure how many of the games on that list will run on modern systems without assistance. I have a horrendous track record with such programs so have become unable to run a lot of my favorite RPGs.
Oh and look up a program called "Exult". Ultima 7 and Ultima 7 Pt. 2 are now public domain. Exult will allow you to run them on more recent systems. You should be able to find the games on most Abandonware sites (like Abandonia).
Abandonware is NOT piracy. Something else entirely.
I have not tried to run Exult under Vista however (messed with it on my last computer) so I am not sure what will happen with that.
>>>----Therumancer--->
Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI, Earthbound, Secret of Mana, Super Mario RPG... Damn, the SNES was an awesome RPG platform (for Americans at least).
All of the above, really. And it wouldn't even be particularly expensive... But of the options listed:
Baldur's Gate 1&2 (and the expansions, of course) first and foremost for the sheer overwhelming amount of content. Great writing, excellent characters, fun gameplay. These are, overall, the best of the bunch. Planescape has a better story, Icewind Dale has more tactical combat, etc., but Baldur's Gate saga has it all and is a well rounded investment that can make you spend hundreds of hours.
Planescape:Torment for one of the best written and original RPGs ever. The gameplay and combat is a bit shallow at times, but the game is a freaking interactive book and I mean that in the best way possible.
Fallout 1&2 come in third place as another pair of well rounded games. You can kick them up to second place if you love post-apocalyptic settings. Free, open world, interesting locations to explore, tons of (dark) humor. Graphically somewhat weak, but not too bad.
Icewind Dale 1&2 in fourth. Featuring the same engine used in Baldur's Gate series, these games focus more on combat and tactics and less on the story and choices. This doesn't mean that they have no story (they do, and it's good), but they are far more linear.
Diablo 1&2 in a faaaaar fifth place (imagine a wide gap between 4th and 5th). Get this if you want to click stuff to death. In fact, you might as well skip D1 and go straight to D2. Save yourself some pain. Diablo was great for its time, but action games don't age as gracefully as proper RPGs and D1 is a bit painful to play nowdays. D2 is a decent (if a bit archaic) hack&slash with varied classes and a popular multiplayer mode.
Baldur's Gate 1&2 (and the expansions, of course) first and foremost for the sheer overwhelming amount of content. Great writing, excellent characters, fun gameplay. These are, overall, the best of the bunch. Planescape has a better story, Icewind Dale has more tactical combat, etc., but Baldur's Gate saga has it all and is a well rounded investment that can make you spend hundreds of hours.
Planescape:Torment for one of the best written and original RPGs ever. The gameplay and combat is a bit shallow at times, but the game is a freaking interactive book and I mean that in the best way possible.
Fallout 1&2 come in third place as another pair of well rounded games. You can kick them up to second place if you love post-apocalyptic settings. Free, open world, interesting locations to explore, tons of (dark) humor. Graphically somewhat weak, but not too bad.
Icewind Dale 1&2 in fourth. Featuring the same engine used in Baldur's Gate series, these games focus more on combat and tactics and less on the story and choices. This doesn't mean that they have no story (they do, and it's good), but they are far more linear.
Diablo 1&2 in a faaaaar fifth place (imagine a wide gap between 4th and 5th). Get this if you want to click stuff to death. In fact, you might as well skip D1 and go straight to D2. Save yourself some pain. Diablo was great for its time, but action games don't age as gracefully as proper RPGs and D1 is a bit painful to play nowdays. D2 is a decent (if a bit archaic) hack&slash with varied classes and a popular multiplayer mode.
