If you already love bioware rpgs then you must play Jade Empire you can pick it up for like $10-$15 on Xbox live games on demand. Epics martials arts rpg with a solid bioware story and some really cool character and environment design.
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is brilliant if a little rough around the edges. I recommend you grab the community updates for it as it irons out a lot of the bugs.
Arcanum! No other game really allows you to create player characters that are as interesting: a savant who can only speak like a cave man, but creates marvelous technological contraptions (including a flamethrower and a top hat that deflects bullets); a clumsy Halfling gunsmith with barely enough strength to carry his guns, with a habit of shooting himself; an evil Elven mage who is so handsome that everyone will comment about being 'delighted' to see him; a persuasive Dwarf who walks around with a company of minute followers; a hydrophobic water mage...
To be fair, Arcanum's combat isn't much fun and it has too many dungeons, but it's well worth a try regardless.
Baulders gate is good, but a bit dated (and didn't really age well).
Did it? I might be a bit biased since it's one of my favourite games, but I've been replaying it a couple of months ago and it's as good as ever. In fact, I have yet to play a recent RPG that surpasses it in terms of depth. It's worth a mention that there's a widescreen fix that makes it easier to play on modern PC's.
Planescape Torment, The Witcher, Ultima VII Serpent Isle ...they're all very story heavy though, guess that's why I love them.
Honorary mention goes to Oblivion - I just love the atmonsphere and the huge open game world. The story is kinda meh though.
If you have Dungeon Siege, I recommend the Ultima V Lazarus fan mod - this thing is absolutely superb and epic, and the soundtrack is just awesome. And it's free too!
edit: since someone mentioned it, Vampire... Vampire Bloodlines is nice too, but it feels really more like an adventure game, even though it has stats'n'stuff.
more like an adventure game? imo its more of a RPG then oblivion, stats that actually affect dialogue and overall a really really solid dialogue system, great story and a solid rule system. Its also built from a PnP rpg.
yeah I know all that I just miss the freedom to do as you please... i.e. roam around the world as in Oblivion, Baldur's Gate or Ultima VII. The smallish levels and the rather linear story make it feel quite adventure-ish to me. I'd say it's more akin to games like "The Longest Journey" in the way it feels, except you can chose different characters
It ain't the type of game you want to play if RPG means to you that "there's a whole world out there to explore".
Mind you, the line that seperates RPG / Adventures nowadays is kinda blurry anyway as more and more Adventures include RPG elements and vice versa. After all, the first CRPGs (e.g. Nethack, Akalabeth) had (almost) no story at all.
Final Fantasy Tactics for PS1.
Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions on PSP is updated with more olde timey style of speaking and a couple of new classes. I prefer the original though.
And I also recommend Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines.
playing risen.. wow what an amazing game.. really getting into it..on chapter 2 atm :P..20 hours over past 3 days, havn't done that since i was 12 lol..
I wouldn't call it bad, it definately works out fine in the game, feels like it is based around timing alot, since blocking is a big part of it, and enemies will block too, so you're blocking and waiting for the right time to strike.
I haven't tried anything but sword/shield combo though.
The combat fits the game , It's not a game thats completely focused around fighting, more solving riddles/quests and talking to people. Ofcourse combat is always there thgough.
-Crono trigger
-Secret of Mana
-Final Fantasy 6 (or was in 3 in america...whatever one has kefka, and terra and no Gay cloud and bad plot holes in the story)
-Final Fantasy Tactic (good game play + story!)
-Seventh Saga
-Lunar
I played Grandia the first one on the playstation it was fantastic it's a really nice upbeat game with a great narrative and it was a good experience. The turn based battle was nice and innovative for it's time and the colour manga/ anime graphics were engaging.
I think everyone knows about it but it was overshadowed at the time because of FF7 I think it's still a great game though and Ubisoft did a great job with it.
I played Grandia the first one on the playstation it was fantastic it's a really nice upbeat game with a great narrative and it was a good experience. The turn based battle was nice and innovative for it's time and the colour manga/ anime graphics were engaging.
I think everyone knows about it but it was overshadowed at the time because of FF7 I think it's still a great game though and Ubisoft did a great job with it.
I loved this game so much when I was a kid, it never got enough love, it was the only game I ever took an entire week off from school (faking sickness) just to play and beat, good times with that game, good times.
Are there any Lord of The Rings RPG'S I could try? I've played Conquest on the 360 which wasn't so great and I know about the up coming War in the North but are there any RPG's based on Mr.Tolkiens beautfil world for the PC?
I'm willing to try anything old and new.
I dont think there has ever been a decent lotr RPG no. Shame really its the most complete fantasy world out there imo should make for a great setting for an RPG :i
Okay, this game is probably not what you expect, it was made by some indie guys, but it's really enjoyable. It's free, and I think you'll really really like it:
Final Fantasy Tactics for PS1.
Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions on PSP is updated with more olde timey style of speaking and a couple of new classes. I prefer the original though.
there are also various versions of disgaea that offer similar gameplay, not quite my cup of tea tho. the best J-SRPG i remember playing is clearly level 5's 'jeanne d'arc' on PSP. modernized usability and combat compared to FFT.
anyway, my recommended RPG's however totally unlike the original poster's preferences they might be:
'persona 3 FES' (and portable) and 'persona 4'.
they rock imo, best games i played in the last years for sure. currently playing thru 'persona 3 portable'.
JRPG's with turn-based (tho very much streamlined) battles: yes - tedious grindfests with cliche androgynous characters, stupid dialogue, random encounters and totally linear gameplay: nope.
a more action oriented one perhaps worth a look is 'odin sphere', i found it charming and unusual but too difficult for my liking.
108 character to recruit , very epic 40+ hours story (even with minimum grinding), your own castle that grows. your decision will influence your ending.
a game formula that cant simply be imitated by current gen consoles.
Mass effect - for those who think Rpg is all about medieval and magic, thing game will break the myth, its sci-fi game at its finest.
final fantasy 7 - normally people play final fantasy 7 because of cloud , aeris , and story line, ok, it has good CG but i think thats not the strong part, even the storyline is kinda mediocre.
what makes me looooove this game is their gameplay content. numerous enemies, secret mountains, Gold saucer amusement park, Chocobo breeding, other minigames. the world is just really huge, from little village to very large Midgard city.
it just made FInal fantasy XIII just simply hack and slash arcade game
Arcanum! No other game really allows you to create player characters that are as interesting: a savant who can only speak like a cave man, but creates marvelous technological contraptions (including a flamethrower and a top hat that deflects bullets); a clumsy Halfling gunsmith with barely enough strength to carry his guns, with a habit of shooting himself; an evil Elven mage who is so handsome that everyone will comment about being 'delighted' to see him; a persuasive Dwarf who walks around with a company of minute followers; a hydrophobic water mage...
Arcanum is on sale for less than $6 on gog.com until Monday.
The demo of the original Never Winter.
I just played it xD
Man...I wish in the early 80's so I could play these old legendary games and understand them
Why is Fallout 3 only mentioned once? If you're not into the medieval stuff (like me) then I can't recommend Fallout 3 enough. Seriously, it's really cheap now and totally worth it.
I'm totally in love with old school RPGs too, can't help feeling that they just had that much more to offer somehow (or maybe I've just become too used to it...)
In addition to the ones already posted, like Suikoden(2), Final Fantasy (7,9,6 + Tactics in particular) and Grandia there's more PSX titles that people who like the classics should definitely give a try:
Xenogears. If you like the good old FFs you definately HAVE to play it. To me it's story is second only to FFVII, if at all.
Chrono Cross, Breath of Fire 3+4, Valkyrie Profile.
On PS2 my Vote goes to Valkyrie Profile Silmeria as well, and Kingdom Hearts
On GC I'm all for the Baten Kaitos Series and Tales of Symphonia...
On 360 I'm in love with Lost Odyssey as it's one of the few "new" games that kinda feel a bit like the good old FFs (which is awesome, at least to me) but successfully bring it to HD. This is easily my favorite RPG of this era: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/tgs-07-lost-odyssey/25302
So yeah most of these are JRPGs, if you hate them feel free to ignore them, if not, make sure to play them
Replies
Fallout I & II
Baulders gate is good, but a bit dated (and didn't really age well).
You might like Oblivion and the Elder Scroll series.
The Witcher is also a great game.
it's cheap and gets the job done.
I see what you did there
Havn't played baldurs gate,will checkit out. Also planescape,interesting .
About 10 years ago I played runescape..12 hrs a day, jesus I was so addicted to that :P
The Witcher
Zelda
Airborn well not yet, ehem
As far as non Jrpg's go..
I think everyone has listed the good stuff.
but seriously try Valkeryie Profile: Silmeria.. it was pretty badass and hasn't been mentioned, of course its also pretty old at this point.
Risen
To be fair, Arcanum's combat isn't much fun and it has too many dungeons, but it's well worth a try regardless.
Did it? I might be a bit biased since it's one of my favourite games, but I've been replaying it a couple of months ago and it's as good as ever. In fact, I have yet to play a recent RPG that surpasses it in terms of depth. It's worth a mention that there's a widescreen fix that makes it easier to play on modern PC's.
Honorary mention goes to Oblivion - I just love the atmonsphere and the huge open game world. The story is kinda meh though.
If you have Dungeon Siege, I recommend the Ultima V Lazarus fan mod - this thing is absolutely superb and epic, and the soundtrack is just awesome. And it's free too!
edit: since someone mentioned it, Vampire... Vampire Bloodlines is nice too, but it feels really more like an adventure game, even though it has stats'n'stuff.
It ain't the type of game you want to play if RPG means to you that "there's a whole world out there to explore".
Mind you, the line that seperates RPG / Adventures nowadays is kinda blurry anyway as more and more Adventures include RPG elements and vice versa. After all, the first CRPGs (e.g. Nethack, Akalabeth) had (almost) no story at all.
Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions on PSP is updated with more olde timey style of speaking and a couple of new classes. I prefer the original though.
And I also recommend Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines.
There's the Squaresoft Super Mario RPG game for a bit of an oddity.
Oh and the Super Paper Mario games are sorta RPGS.
I haven't tried anything but sword/shield combo though.
would recommend it, addictgive.
-Crono trigger
-Secret of Mana
-Final Fantasy 6 (or was in 3 in america...whatever one has kefka, and terra and no Gay cloud and bad plot holes in the story)
-Final Fantasy Tactic (good game play + story!)
-Seventh Saga
-Lunar
And surprisingly
-Super Mario RPG
Thats not a RPG that's a dungeon crawler :P
I think everyone knows about it but it was overshadowed at the time because of FF7 I think it's still a great game though and Ubisoft did a great job with it.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FsGTiS9N5Q[/ame]
I loved this game so much when I was a kid, it never got enough love, it was the only game I ever took an entire week off from school (faking sickness) just to play and beat, good times with that game, good times.
I'm willing to try anything old and new.
http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/game/LastScenario
I played through it, and some parts may be a little sluggish, but overall it's really quite good overall.
there are also various versions of disgaea that offer similar gameplay, not quite my cup of tea tho. the best J-SRPG i remember playing is clearly level 5's 'jeanne d'arc' on PSP. modernized usability and combat compared to FFT.
anyway, my recommended RPG's however totally unlike the original poster's preferences they might be:
'persona 3 FES' (and portable) and 'persona 4'.
they rock imo, best games i played in the last years for sure. currently playing thru 'persona 3 portable'.
JRPG's with turn-based (tho very much streamlined) battles: yes - tedious grindfests with cliche androgynous characters, stupid dialogue, random encounters and totally linear gameplay: nope.
a more action oriented one perhaps worth a look is 'odin sphere', i found it charming and unusual but too difficult for my liking.
108 character to recruit , very epic 40+ hours story (even with minimum grinding), your own castle that grows. your decision will influence your ending.
a game formula that cant simply be imitated by current gen consoles.
Mass effect - for those who think Rpg is all about medieval and magic, thing game will break the myth, its sci-fi game at its finest.
final fantasy 7 - normally people play final fantasy 7 because of cloud , aeris , and story line, ok, it has good CG but i think thats not the strong part, even the storyline is kinda mediocre.
what makes me looooove this game is their gameplay content. numerous enemies, secret mountains, Gold saucer amusement park, Chocobo breeding, other minigames. the world is just really huge, from little village to very large Midgard city.
it just made FInal fantasy XIII just simply hack and slash arcade game
http://www.kings-bounty.com/eng/
It's a sort of open-world quest/mission based tactics game. Worth a shot if you're not interested in the typical melodramatic jRPG.
Arcanum is on sale for less than $6 on gog.com until Monday.
http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/arcanum_of_steamworks_and_magick_obscura
I just played it xD
Man...I wish in the early 80's so I could play these old legendary games and understand them
In addition to the ones already posted, like Suikoden(2), Final Fantasy (7,9,6 + Tactics in particular) and Grandia there's more PSX titles that people who like the classics should definitely give a try:
Xenogears. If you like the good old FFs you definately HAVE to play it. To me it's story is second only to FFVII, if at all.
Chrono Cross, Breath of Fire 3+4, Valkyrie Profile.
On PS2 my Vote goes to Valkyrie Profile Silmeria as well, and Kingdom Hearts
On GC I'm all for the Baten Kaitos Series and Tales of Symphonia...
On 360 I'm in love with Lost Odyssey as it's one of the few "new" games that kinda feel a bit like the good old FFs (which is awesome, at least to me) but successfully bring it to HD. This is easily my favorite RPG of this era: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/tgs-07-lost-odyssey/25302
So yeah most of these are JRPGs, if you hate them feel free to ignore them, if not, make sure to play them