Which RPGs surprised you that they're actually great?

[Roqua]

Wasteland 2 - it had some issues before the DC which literally fixed all the big things making it an instant top 10. But I had zero hope that InXile, who have never made anything remotely even playable, could make a real crpg. Not only did they prove me wrong, but they proved they are one of the few dev studios around that actually knows what a fucking crpg actually is.

They are not rpgs (they are action games/dating sims with lite rpg-elements) but for me the major ones would be the Mass Effect Trilogy. I honestly did not think Bioware would ever put out a game that I would find enjoyable at any level, especially since the game systems all suck and I hate most of the characters inflicted on me. But in this case I am not consistent, I am a huge hypocrate, and I thoroughly enjoy these shitty games for what they are, and I think the the perfect mess of shitty systems, covered over buy fancy smancy graphics and talking heads worked for me in these instances. I really liked my Shepard. I really liked Ashley Williams. I enjoyed the games and was sucked into saving the universe. I also enjoyed the original ending of ME3 a lot.

For others - Shadows: Heretic Kingdom really surprised me. I thought it was going to be pure arpg shit, but I really enjoyed the time I put in it.

I am surprised by a lot of the shit games I buy that turn out to be gems. For instance, Last Dream was the first rpgmaker game I got that was better than most of the much more well known crpgs.

 

[sullynathan]

I also enjoyed the original ending of ME3 a lot.

I now see why people consider you a retard

 

[Ninjerk]

aweigh Oregon Trail ultimate RPG?

 

[Severian Silk]

Gothic is the only RPG I can think of where the game exceeded my expectations by a lot. I was expecting a cheap "wannabe" RPG by some obscure no-name German developer. But the game turned out to be awesome, and one of my favorites of all time!

 

[Jaesun]

NEO Scavenger. My gawd, I just could not stop playing it.

 

[hpstg]

I always liked RPGs a lot, but I have been initially more of a proper single player shooter person. I'm ok with a linear AAA shooter, but truly good ones were very rare, and Half-Life 1 had me spoiled forever.

It's been a long time ago, and my memory is fuzzy, but I somehow got hold of Deus Ex. That was my gateway to RPGs as a teen. Ironically, it's below Vampire and System Shock 2 in my personal list, and all of them are below Torment and Fallout 1. So I kind of went backwards. I'm still a whore for a nice shooter, but they are even more rare than RPGs these days. They either are on rails with token brainless stories like your typical CoD, or open worlds with repetitive, grindy systems like the last two Far Crys.

The last good one was the new Wolfenstein. I'm still playing the new Doom, it looks nice, the verdict is still out for that. Too much fan service for my taste, but the game looks good.

There are also no forums for proper, erudite discussions on shooters, level design etc.

 

[DemonKing]

The original Icewind Dale was marketed as a hack and slash RPG using the IE engine but when it turned out to be a beautiful game with awesome music and a surprisingly complicated plot I couldn't have been happier. In many ways it surpassed the original BG despite being mainly linear in nature.

Other games that I went into with low expectations that turned out well were Legend of Grimrock, Wizardry 8, Might & Magic X and Blackguards.

 

[Bumvelcrow]

Icewind Dale. I was on a Black Isle binge just after they'd closed down and before the Codex had fully formed to tell me what I should like. I was vaguely aware that it was basically just a long dungeon crawl with not much of a plot or characters so didn't have very high expectations, but it ended up being one of the most compulsive and memorable RPGs I ever played. One of the very few games I wish I could remember nothing about so I could experience it fresh for a second time.
Also, yes, Mass Effect. I remember all the fuss about it being consolised and dumbed down and barely having a plot and just being a shooter, but I enjoyed it.
I can't think of any others - I pretty much go into any new game with ridiculously high expectations and end up being disappointed. That's why the Codex has ruined everything.

 

[HoboForEternity]

Spiderweb soft/jeff vogel games.

I look at it, and it looked like indie low effort shovelware games. It turned out to be amazing. Especially geneforge. Despite shitty looking and some flaws, it is one of the best setting and rpg ive ever played

Bought teh whole series on a sale for like 2 dollars. Best 2 bucks ever
best 2 dollars

 

[Lady_Error]

Lords of Xulima

 

[Jack Dandy]

For me it was Underrail.

I knew from the get-go that it was based on FO1-2, and these titles really weren't very enjoyable for me: The combat and character progression were boring as shit.
It basically set this idea in my mind, that single-character TB games can't be any fun. (Well, outside of Roguelikes).

Then along came Underrail. I was skeptic, but everybody raving on and on about it made me get the game.
And it was fantastic! Fun combat! Shitloads of skills! Addicting exploration! What a nice title.

 

[Hoaxmetal]

Edit: Warning- Wall of text incoming

Since when 3 short paragraphs are a wall of text?

Joined: Aug 23, 2015

Oh.

 

[Ivan]

Undertale
/thread

 

[HansGruber]

If this counts: Gothic 3. Was such a giant mess at launch and partially shallow, but as time progressed (and patches from devs and community came), i discovered how great this game was. I was a huge fan of the previous installments though, that made me forcing myself to play against the bugs and mishaps.

I still like this game better than Oblivion, which came out the same year.

 

[hell bovine]

The original Icewind Dale was marketed as a hack and slash RPG using the IE engine but when it turned out to be a beautiful game with awesome music and a surprisingly complicated plot I couldn't have been happier. In many ways it surpassed the original BG despite being mainly linear in nature.

Same for me. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed playing it, even though the pathfinding & enemy AI was just as bad as in the BG series. I think it was the atmosphere; beautiful area maps, amazing music, voice acting, and the story turned out to be quite interesting, even though I wasn't expecting much (and I loved the little twist at the end).

 

[hello friend]

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines.

After having played Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption, I didn't see myself enjoying this one at all. But, folks here on the Codex kept saying it was a good game. I'm currently playing it (probably halfway through, maybe further), and I have to say that it's much, much better than I thought it would be. With a widescreen hack installed, the game plays really well, and I'm surprised how well it's aged.

I've had this sitting ready and patched on my HD for a while now, started playing for a few days ago.

There goes all my spare time. This game is *good*. Might even start a new playthrough immediately after completing it. Most surprising is how buggy it is. I'd heard, but I wasn't expecting it to be so pronounced. Until now when a quest is bugged I've been able to work around it. Not this one, though. First time I meet Imalia and she's pissed at me for failing a quest she never gave me. And those fucking doors! Save every time you're about to walk through a doorway or jump over furniture/stationary npcs, men.

Great game.

 

[Achiman]

In recent time it would HAVE to be AOD. Bought it from the combat death animations alone years ago and thought it might be 1/2 decent. Then about 4 years later the game actually comes out (refused to play beta/ea builds) and it's really fucking good.

I really like Stranger in Sword city atm. Thought it would be jap twee shit from the artwork, but it's actually a pretty cool blobber. Hard af though, the grinding is real.

 

[Prime Junta]

Jade Empire.

 

[Abhay]

1. Arx Fatalis - Had zero expectations. Got it just to try it out. But god was I shocked to find out how great the game felt, and still rocks ( thanks to the patching ).
From the atmosphere to the magic, to some specific puzzles and tasks that are just amazing to play, and didn't try to hold hands unlike Bethesda games. I don't know I was just hooked to this game. I have replayed it over 30 times by now. Oh and you are right. I never played any Ultima games until after realising that Arx Fatalis was intended to bea spiritual successor to Ultima Underworld which later caught my attention and made me pick up Ultima Underworld.

 

[tindrli]

knights of the chalice

FFS

Knights of the Chalice

http://www.heroicfantasygames.com/KOTC_Introduction.htm


i almost forgot NEO Scavenger, had a same experience as a bro that mentioned it above and that was in a early stage of development

 

[GrainWetski]

GTA V

I was skeptical after the 4th one, but this is a good little RPG with a big world.

Starcraft 2

Despite having the dumbest Blizzard crap yet, it has quite enjoyable gameplay. Recommended to all RPG enthusiasts that want a more simplistic RPG to play through.

Mortal Kombat 9

I thought the Mortal Kombat RPG series was dead after all the crappy 3D games, but they really turned it around with this one!

Forza Horizon

If you like open world RPGs, this is a must have. It's a better version of the classic RPG Test Drive Unlimited with a smaller world.

 

[Alienman]

Original War. You could argue that this is mostly a strategy game, but it has plenty of different RPG elements, like leveling up and making decisions that will have an effect on how the story plays out.

Anyway, when I bought it used in a game store here in town (when game stores existed outside of Gamestop) on a whim I was expecting a simple RTS clone. But damn, what a surprise this game was. Charming as hell, similar to Jagged Alliance 2 and it also has a really good Sci-fi story with characters you actually care about, again like Jagged Alliance 2. You will make sure the people you recruit survive the missions, since good people are hard to come by and well, some of them have a really interesting personality. Such a great and under appreciated game this is.

The intro (American side):

 

[Jimmious]

When I was young I was stunned from the awesomeness of FO1. I couldn't believe such a game existed. And that was only from the demo.

As for when I grew up and actually had defined expectations? I'd go with VtM:B too. I went in expecting an ARPG and was stunned from the whole game. Even if the combat was wonky to say the least

Also DA:O was quite a pleasant surprise in that dark period for CRPGs

 

[aweigh]

Ninjerk

i've never played oregon trail though it is so ubiquitous it's even made it into episodes of mainstream television like Person of Interest. wouldn't Oregon Trail be an adventure game? or a derivative thereof?

the problem when discussing "what is an RPG?" is that the majority of the people engaging the discussion are ignorant of what adventure games are and how influential they were to computer rpg's.

 

[Xathrodox86]

Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I was expecting Invisible War 2.0 and got a really good RPG instead.