RPG Codex Top 50 cRPG's 2013 Edition (poll results)

[octavius]

I'm curious. How do you feel about the encounter design and combat of Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale II?

In BG1 you encounter several other adventurer parties, including bounty hunters. Combine that with the Sword Coast Strategems mod to inprove their AI and you have some of the best combat in CRPGs ever.

 

[Zetor]

I actually sort-of agree that meeting enemy parties in BG1 (and 2) makes for somewhat-interesting and tactical combat. Unfortunately, the RTWP abomination doesn't allow for the depth of decision-making necessary to fully realize those encounters (auto-pause at end of turn isn't good enough, sorry). I'd kill for a BG1/2 or even IWD1/2 mod that turned combat into something similar to the system of Dark Sun 1-2.

 

[octavius]

I actually sort-of agree that meeting enemy parties in BG1 (and 2) makes for somewhat-interesting and tactical combat. Unfortunately, the RTWP abomination doesn't allow for the depth of decision-making necessary to fully realize those encounters (auto-pause at end of turn isn't good enough, sorry). I'd kill for a BG1/2 or even IWD1/2 mod that turned combat into something similar to the system of Dark Sun 1-2.

I discussed Dark Sun vs the BG games a bit in another thread. My conclusion about the combat in Dark Sun:
In a turn based system the player should have complete control. The lack of a grid was very annoying, especially since the game already uses an invisible grid for movement. I think this is a much greater "sin" than the lack of complete control in the Infinity Engine games. Since the IE games are RTwP and have simultaneous movement, a certain degree of chaos and lack of control actually feels natural.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I prefer BG1 and BG2 over the Gold Box games because I believe the tactical aspect of combat was still strong and BG did better in portraying a virtual Forgotten Realms. Helll, it made me like the Forgotten Realms which is a feat in itself as I hated the books. However, I would disagree with those that would say the Gold Box games fail to stand up to today's RPGs. I'm playing through the Gold Box games for the first time and the tactical aspect is still top notch. It doesn't have the versatility in combat scenarios that Baldur's Gate was able to have with its various dungeons and twisting tunnels, but the Gold Box games still excel and beat many modern RPGs in its simulation of pen and paper RPGs. Then again, I am admittedly biased towards tabletop RPGs and wargames, so I also love games like MegaMek while others might shun such programs due to their lack of modern graphics.

 

[TOME]

I have played 15 of the 50 games listed, 4 of them in top 10. How about you?

 

[octavius]

I have played 15 of the 50 games listed, 4 of them in top 10. How about you?

Played 36, 6 of them in the top 10.
Completed 28, 5 of them in the top 10.

 

[Mother Russia]

Star Trail is #28? wtf codex...

And why isn't Grimrock on the list?

 

[hoverdog]

And why isn't Grimrock on the list?

'cause it's a mediocre game.

/

Played 47 of the 52 76 games listed. Finished 21. Played all from the top 15 (or rather 18), completed all but Gothic (piece of shit game), IWD2 (my enthusiasm always cools off somewhere near the end), F:NV (couldn't stand the engine) and ToEE (good system, bad game)

 

[Zetor]

Is #28 for Star Trail too high or too low?

Out of the full list on page 1 (76 games), I have played 55 and finished 35.
Out of the first 50, I played 40 and finished 29.
Out of the top 15, I played 13 (didn't play Gothic 2 and NWN2-MOTB) and finished 8 (did not finish IWD1, IWD2, Morrowind, Arcanum, TOEE).

Of my 25 votes, 19 made the list. The ones that didn't: Buck Rogers, Death Knights of Krynn, Exile 3, Freedom Force, Superhero League of Hoboken, The Summoning.

FWIW, for some games like diablo or diablo 2, 'played' means 'spent 10 minutes before uninstalling'.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Well, there are more than 50 games on this top 50 list. Out of those listed, I played 56 and beat 36 of these. Out of the dozen in the top 10, I played all except Vampire: Bloodlines, mostly because of the bugs in the first game made it so that I could never finish the game and I swore off the second due to this bad experience. That and the cover art was a bit too over the top for me.

The one game I did play in the top 10 and never finished, regrettably, was Temple of Elemental Evil. I couldn't beat the monsters in the elemental planar rooms. I thought I had a bad party build and gave up. It wasn't until later that I found out that you weren't expected to take on the creatures head on, but finish your mission and get out. That's one of the few times I regretted quitting and uninstalling a game.

I'll have a larger score by next year. I should be done with MM6-8 by then, and have moved on to Darklands and the Magic Candle and the rest of the Gold Box games.

 

[Rpgsaurus Rex]

Star Trail is #28? wtf codex...

And why isn't Grimrock on the list?

Because not everyone is a fan of real-time crawlers. Praise Allah.

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

I played all except Vampire: Bloodlines, mostly because of the bugs in the first game made it so that I could never finish the game and I swore off the second due to this bad experience. That and the cover art was a bit too over the top for me.

When you say first game, do you mean VtM :Redemption? B/c Bloodlines was buggy, but in the intervening years patches and modders have done quite a bit of improvement. I think Bloodlines is definitely worth checking out if you're a storyfag or you like exploring small but relatively dense areas. But not so much if you're just hoping for top notch combat.

 

[Excidium]

I played all except Vampire: Bloodlines, mostly because of the bugs in the first game made it so that I could never finish the game and I swore off the second due to this bad experience. That and the cover art was a bit too over the top for me.

I think Bloodlines is definitely worth checking out if you're a storyfag

I don't think so, the story is terrible. It's all about chasing some macguffin and gets worse the more you play, not to mention most of the characters are just representations of their clan stereotypes. The quality VO is the best part about them.

It's worth playing if you want a game that is better than the sum of its parts, but if you play it for the story you'll be very disappointed. Read grotsnik's CYOA instead.

 

[Rpgsaurus Rex]

We all love vampires, don't we. Well, it's one of those rare RPGs that's about vampires and is not utter shit. You'll probably enjoy it more if you are/were into the pen and paper stuff (which I was, so it felt quite nostalgic playing a VTM video game).

I played Malkavian on my first and only playthrough, can't say it was "BEST RPG" or anything but it was fun overall with some shining moments (that chick with personality disorder, the snuff movie) and pretty awful moments (the combat areas like the sewers or the last area... or stealth which = invisibility, just complete lack of balance).

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

I played all except Vampire: Bloodlines, mostly because of the bugs in the first game made it so that I could never finish the game and I swore off the second due to this bad experience. That and the cover art was a bit too over the top for me.

I think Bloodlines is definitely worth checking out if you're a storyfag

I don't think so, the story is terrible. It's all about chasing some macguffin and gets worse the more you play, not to mention most of the characters are just representations of their clan stereotypes. The quality VO is the best part about them.

It's worth playing if you want a game that is better than the sum of its parts, but if you play it for the story you'll be very disappointed.

The main plot is only ok, but quite a few of the missions are pretty solid little vignettes. Didn't really mind/notice the clan stereotype issue, but I have zero experience with the PnP version so it was all kind of new to me which probably helped.

ETA: maybe instead of storyfag, call it writingfag? Is that a thing?

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Oh, neat. Dunno how I missed the results thread this long. Guess I glazed over and saw the title and assumed it was still the voting thread.

 

[Akarnir]

I really don't know where I saw it, but at some point someone posted a similar list from 4chan /v. I'm not even sure if it was in this thread. But it was interesting because it was almost the same as the one here on the codex. Can an altruistic soul help me find the way?

 

[BobtheTree]

I have played 15 of the 50 games listed, 4 of them in top 10. How about you?

I've played 24, 11 of the top 10 (which is actually the top 12). Haven't played Temple of Elemental Evil yet.

 

[Jaesun]

Of the 76 games listed at the bottom of the OP, I have played and finished 48 of them. I'm only counting the games I played and actually finished, like I have played the Witcher:EE but could never finish it so I'm not counting it.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Since stats in relation to poster are all the rage, here are mine!

Games of the top 15 I've played: 16 (Only missed Gothic 2. I KNOW METRO I KNOW, I'LL PLAY IT EVENTUALLY! I SWEAR! I HAVE IT INSTALLED!)

Games of the top 15 I've beaten: 10

Games of the top 50 I've played: 36

Games of the top 50 I've beaten: 20

How many of my 21 votes were in the top 15: 8

How many of my 21 votes were in the top 50: 15

How many of my 21 votes were for Alpha Protocol which I like THIS MUCH: 1

As it turns out I'm quite the popamole, which isn't too surprising.

 

[laclongquan]

#15 - Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords (2004 - Obsidian Entertainment)
Game to be played this year


#14 - Icewind Dale II (2002 - Black Isle Studios)
Game to be completed. Good shit

#13 - Jagged Alliance 2 (1998 - Sirtech Canada Inc.)
Great shit, both pre113 and 113 version.


#12 - Gothic II + Night of the Raven (2003 - Piranha Bytes)
Game to be played this year.


#11 - Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer (2007 - Obsidian Entertainment)
Game to be completed . Good shit


#10 - Deus Ex (2000 - Ion Storm Inc.)
Good shit, but I dont feel the need to replay.


#9 (tie) Fallout: New Vegas,The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Temple of Elemental Evil
FNV and Morrowind to be completed. TOEE is... unattractive from what I heard.


#8 - Icewind Dale (2000 - Black Isle Studios)
Good shit.


#7 - Baldur's Gate (1998 - BioWare)
Forever replayed and abandoned. Again.


#6 - Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines (2004 - Troika Games L.L.C. )
Good shit. I look forward to the next time I feel like reinstall it


#5 - Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura (2001 - Troika Games L.L.C. )
Game to be completed. Good shit, but I dont know why I keep abandoned it 2/3 through and make another character.


#4 - Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000 - BioWare)
Good shit.



#3 - Fallout 2 (2002 - Black Isle Studios)
Good shit. Too much replays, so prolly a year or two before the next replay.


#2 - Planescape: Torment (1999 - Black Isle Studios)
Ditto F2



#1 - Fallout (1997 - Interplay Productions)
Ugh~ Codexers are nostalgiafags. Although it's better than BG1.

Completed: JA2, IWD, Deus Ex, Bloodlines, BG2, F2, Torment, F1.
To be completed: IWD2, MOTB, Morrowind, FNV, Arcanum, BG1
(To be completed but definitely not going to: BG1)
Games to be played: KOTOR2, Gothic 2
Games are not going to be played: TOEE

 

[Rpgsaurus Rex]

tl;dr: Good shit.