So, what's your favorite RPG of all time? Why?

[fantadomat]

Thief 2 because it is Thief 2!

 

[Pyke]

Fallout.
I got it from a friend of mine and had no idea what to expect. I hadnt seen an advert, read a review - I had no idea what the story was about.

It was an experience that - with the complete saturation of marketing that has to happen nowadays to get a product seen - Im confident will never happen again.

 

[Jimmious]

Seems like I will continue the trend... Fallout 1&2. For all the reasons mentioned already. Perfect open world, great setting which is well implemented, interesting cast of characters, turn based, deep character system... It has everything.

The only thing it misses is GOOD turn based combat. So if Jagged Alliance 2 is an RPG it's also up there with the two Fallouts. Simply because it "touched" turn based combat perfection

 

[Pyke]

Oh - and Star Control 2 - because its pretty much the perfect game.

 

[TC Jr]

Fallout 1, played it for the first time a few years ago after 3/new vegas and immediately replayed it. It actually has a shit ton of flaws (some useless skills, dump stats, a lot of generic npcs that offer nothing significant etc), but from start to finish it's just quality, good mix of storyfaggotry and actual gameplay. must have been incredible when it was released.

My 2nd is New Vegas, more for what RPGs could be as opposed to the game itself, although it's still great.
I've still to play a shit ton more RPGs to be honest, trying Ultima Underworld now.

 

[Cael]

I've still to play a shit ton more RPGs to be honest, trying Ultima Underworld now.

If you do it without any cluebooks or hints, you are in for a real treat.

 

[SausageInYourFace]

DOS1, just can't be argued with how much fun I had with this game. I just love the sandboxy nature, the fucking around with systems, teleporting people around, charming bosses and having them go at their henchmen, fucking around in the crafting, having crazy environmental chain-effects and so on and so forth. I enjoy the music, the tone and style of the setting and I think the writing isn't half bad (I quite enjoyed Jahan as a companion).

Next up in my RPG would be Ultima 7. I still have a text file with a huge impression post that I never really finished so I'll just state: I found it bredy gud.

I've played Skyrim for many hours so I suppose I would have to include it in this list if I was honest. Can't help it, its just really immersive, sorry guys!

There are many classics that I haven't played yet and which I suspect will be great fun but there is only so much time. But I have on occassion been disappointed by certain classics that I went into with high expectations, so you never know.

 

[TC Jr]

I've still to play a shit ton more RPGs to be honest, trying Ultima Underworld now.

If you do it without any cluebooks or hints, you are in for a real treat.

Right off the bat the soundtrack is top notch, I'm going to leave this for tonight, seems like one of those games I'll just play for hours haha (only trying it due to your post, I've never played this series before), I wish they'd make shit like this now, the only thing they could maybe update/improve is the general UI layout/"controls", honestly the only sort of issue with older games. The mechanics, graphics and especially sound hold up so well.

EDIT: for anyone unfamiliar just listen to this, quality - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZwmugqzttY&list=LLxIMsyo3QleEkn_MEtUxM_Q&index=1

 

[Lonely Vazdru]

DOS1

When I started reading this, I thought you were making a joke about the old OS. It was quite the game indeed to make some games run on it. It sometimes took a whole party : software expert, hardware expert, joint roller, english speaker and the occasional beverage provider if the local tavern was closed.

 

[G.O.D]

1) Fallout - innovative setting, and great world and characters.
2) Arcanum - also very original world, setting and tone.
3) Morrowind - outlandish world and many possibilities for exploration.

 

[Trashos]

Story and worldwise it's probably Arcanum. Lots of nostalgic quality also. Still I know it has terrible gameplay, none of depth I want from an RPG. In a similar vein Final Fantasy 8 blew my mind when I played it shortly after release.

But in general?.. I like strategy games and appreciate elegant mechanics. RPGs rarely do that, devs always feel the need to throw stuff at the game. You always have to be able to play as warrior or mage, you need a huge world, all that jazz. So I'd gonna say I love Fallout New Vegas but as with Arcanum it's mostly atmosphere and general story, it's bad gameplay wise and writing is very uneven, and the world design outside of DLC is bad. But it's probably an RPG I'd replay once more even though I did play it like 4 times.

I have no intention of replaying Dragon Age Origins once more but I think it would be an RPG I'd save if every RPG in the world would be destroyed. It has reactivity, beautiful art design, well thought-out world and good combat system. It's in my nature to concentrate on flaws and DAO probably has least of them. It doesn't have many exceptional things - nothing about it is really exceptional, but everything it does it does well. Maybe Knights of the Old Republic is there too but its combat system is inferior.

I am also a strategy player, and I think that RPGs have awesome potential for strategic thinking (optimizing character progression, building the right team, getting the right weapon for the occasion etc). For example, a game with the character design options of Arcanum would certainly catch the eye of many strategy players, if the gameplay did justice to the options at hand.

However, RPG designers are probably not much of strategy players, and so the strategic aspect of their games is usually criminally underdeveloped (why optimize your build, if you don't really have to...). I think the main fundamental difference is that strategy games are built for repeat play and are most enjoyable after one is experienced, while most RPGs are designed to be the most fun on the first playthrough with little care about the few who will replay.

I hope this changes at some point. The civilization series sells tons of copies, hopefully game designers will take notice of the potential there.

 

[imweasel]

Baldur's Gate 2

cuz it's gud

 

[PorkBarrellGuy]

Three way tie between Fallout, Fallout 2 and Wizardry 8.

Thief 2 because it is Thief 2!

That isn't an RPG though.

 

[Jason Liang]

FFVIII -

Reason -

Runner Up -

Reason -

Praise for Saerilith Romance Mod:

[Saerileth] has a well-developed personality, and romancing her has been more fun that it ever was with the Bioware NPC's . . . . all in all, this must be one of the best mods for [BG2:EE] that I've ever tried, especially because I enjoyed the quests that came with her.
--Grunker

 

[oldmanpaco]

Ultima IV, Ultima VI, Starflight, BG2, FO2.

 

[ilitarist]

I hope this changes at some point. The civilization series sells tons of copies, hopefully game designers will take notice of the potential there.

I'd say there is hope.

One comes from the JRPG side. Some of them - like, say, Final Fantasy series - do understand the need to optimize stuff. They also make the main story perfectly playable with going wiht the flaw - e.g. Final Fantasy X has very linear character progression which opens up past the point you can beat the main boss, so you can optimize to kill optional bosses. Before that Final Fantasy 7 & 8 had autoleveling so lots of people had suffered from subotimal builds.

Our second saviour comes from Josh Sawyer. People joke about his love of balance but he really made one of the best RPG combat in Pillars of Eternity - although he needed 2 expansions for that.

 

[Cosmic Bane]

Wizardry 6: bane of the cosmic forge. Because you can murder naked women in it without going to jail. Best. Game. Ever.

 

[Beautiful Clown Painting]

In chronological order: Questron/Ultima IV/Wasteland/Dragon Wars/Fallout II/Bloodlines/FO:NV

And the winner is WASTELAND

 

[fantadomat]

Three way tie between Fallout, Fallout 2 and Wizardry 8.

Thief 2 because it is Thief 2!

That isn't an RPG though.

Depends on how you are looking at it . It is one of the most immersive games that make you roleplay.

 

[Falksi]

I much prefer older school stuff overall, but my actual fave still reamins The Witcher 2.

I thrive on C&C, and TW2 just has a ton of layers to it in that respect. It's superbly paced with very little filler, but enough side-questing to keep things fresh. Combat isn't great, but it does capture the feel of being a Witcher as - similar to TW1 - you have to prep stuff before fights. It's got a host of characters that really hit the spot for me, but most importantly I just love the main story & how it's told - a fantastic balance of earthyness & epicness combined, with it nailing the feeling of a bloke doing his job getting caught up in grander things.

 

[gaussgunner]

The old Ultimas, Star Control 2, or Bloodlines.

There never was a golden age as far as I'm concerned though; 80s rpgs were limited by RAM and graphics, Windows fucked up gaming the 90s, then graphics got too good and developers lost sight of gameplay, then Kickstarter poured more fuel on that fire.

I really need to play Fallout 1 (and/or 2), the one great 90s rpg I've never played.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Realms of Arkania HD.

More seriously: Hard to say. Krondor will always be my first, though, the first one, where the rpg part clicked into place.

 

[Trashos]

Our second saviour comes from Josh Sawyer. People joke about his love of balance but he really made one of the best RPG combat in Pillars of Eternity - although he needed 2 expansions for that.

I respect Josh (despite some disagreements I have), and his New Vegas mod turned a good game into one of my favorite games. I have my doubts for his design vision in PoE, but I guess we will see when Deadfire is ready. Let's hope you are right.

 

[ilitarist]

I respect Josh (despite some disagreements I have), and his New Vegas mod turned a good game into one of my favorite games. I have my doubts for his design vision in PoE, but I guess we will see when Deadfire is ready. Let's hope you are right.

Have you tried Pillars of Eternity 3.0, the one with both expansions? It's much better than release version in terms of combat gameplay. Tyranny wasn't as good and I doubt PoE2 will be as good on release.

 

[octavius]

Runner Up -

Reason -

Easy with that vaseline, dude.

Praise for Saerilith Romance Mod:

[Saerileth] has a well-developed personality, and romancing her has been more fun that it ever was with the Bioware NPC's . . . . all in all, this must be one of the best mods for [BG2:EE] that I've ever tried, especially because I enjoyed the quests that came with her.
--Grunker

Funny, I could swear that quote was from long before there was a BG2:EE...