/vr/ - Retro Games

>>5703139
First 2/3 of Arcanum
>n-not retro
It's so fucking much on the fence it still fits in. And if you really must be a dick about it, then Albion, I guess.

Probably Arcanum.
Morrowind, Geneforge 1, Arx Fatalis, Planescape: Torment and the sort-of-crpgish King of Dragon Pass is also up there.

I'm a sucker for games that allow you to explore a cool setting.

Probably Arcanum.
Morrowind, Geneforge 1, Arx Fatalis, Planescape: Torment and the sort-of-crpgish King of Dragon Pass is also up there.

I'm a sucker for games that allow you to explore a cool setting. Also why I prefer Fallout 1 to Fallout 2, I don't mind injokes & references but when they're as 1:1 and jarring as the Hubologists it kinda brings me out of it.

>>5703171
yeah ten years ago I'd have told you that fallout 2 was the better game hands down but in retrospect fallout was definitely better, tons of retarded references in 2 that ruin it

Fallout 2 is better.

>>5703139
Fallout. It is the most playable (turn-based instead of RTwP), the one with the most interesting setting, the best writing, and it isn't as broken and unfunny as Fallout 2 is. Quality > quantity.

>>5703147
People can say what they want about arcanum, that's still an amazing crpg.

PST, followed by Arcanum.

>>5703139

Wizardry 8, any other answer is objectively incorrect.

For all people saying Arcanum. Really? Combat ruins the game. Both real time and turn based have zero balance. The AI is braindead, every enemy in the game just rushes into you in a straight line like a fucking retard. Maxing a stat gives you a ridiculous bonus that in most cases will break the game. Magic and tech are terribly balanced. there are useless spells and others that are nuts right from the get go. It's almost impossible to play the game without accidentally exploiting/breaking something.

It feels like the game was released on alpha without testing.

>>5705040
that sums up about every rpg ever made

I like Arcanum and showed it to my girlfriend, who isn't a gamer, and she won't stop playing it. I can't even use my own fucking computer anymore because she has to play it constantly. She's literally never played a video game before, let alone an RPG, and she's obsessed with it. She's on her second playthrough in a row. What the fuck, guys?

>>5705040
That's why I explicitly mentioned first 2/3 of the game. The final 1/3 is never-ending combat after combat, while the combat system is fucking horrible and ruins entirely a great game.
>accidently
Anon... how new to the genre are you?

>>5705040
I don't think I ever seen an RPG where combat didn't suck ass, and at the very least Arcanum combat ends quickly, and I'm even entertained a bit. Fallout is kinda in the same boat, but Fallout has random out of whack that makes it more frustrating at time. Something like Planescape Torment outright gave me cancer with its combat.

But point is, combat isn't what makes a good RPG, it's ability to play, well, different roles. Arcanum has a fairly flexible selection of who I want to be and whom I want to be friends with, and though I probably won't put it about Fallout 1&2 it's definitely a good RPG.

I feel as if I've yet to play an RPG that gets it all right. The closest would be Fallout 1: it's not overly long, has a variety of quests with several violent and non-violent solutions, and it has a fascinating world with a much subtler sense of dark humor than the rest of the series. Fallout 2 was a classic case of bigger not being better. PST bogged down an excellent story and world with godawful combat. Arcanum has a lot of great ideas but just didn't deliver for me.

>>5705416
What if the proper RPG is some kind of visual novel?

I've been contemplating it for a while whenever I would enjoy an RPG with no combat system at all and it all being just a series of choices my character makes, and maybe some stats to limit my options for a specific character of gauge how well they would do. But it's hard for me to properly visualize this kind of ideal.

>>5705410
>I don't think I ever seen an RPG where combat didn't suck ass
There are some RPGs with great combat, but they tend to sacrifice story-telling and questing in the process. Games like Wizardry and Icewind Dale are all about combat but they end up leaving little room for other RPG elements like non-combat skills and quests with multiple solutions.

>>5705390
>>5705416
Arcanum as a whole starts to crumble by the time you are on your way to Caladon. The story and gameplay just starts to collapse under own weight and all the issues reach the bursting point, too. The final act is terrible and I'm always amazed how the exact same people were able to make Temple of Elemental Evil, a game with fantastic combat, but in the same time fucked up Arcanum so hard in terms of fighting or importance of combat in general.

>>5705432
I'm annoyed that term "RPG" somehow bundles two completely separate things - one where you pick a role to play through storyline choices and another being about combat and stats and equipment management.

>>5705416
The game that comes closest to getting it all down is Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, which has the best combat, an awesome world and great choices. Really an excellent game, a masterpiece of the genre. But we're not allowed to talk about these games in this forum for some reason.

>>5705440
Nocturne is still fundamentally a JRPG in that the only way to get through it is by fighting everything, CRPGs have a completely different design philosophy much more similar to tabletop gaming

>>5705390
>>5705410
i also forget to mention the fucking random encounters that will simply fuck you up and force you to reload the game simply because you stumbled upon enemies way over your level. Fuck that shit, that's just bad design.

>>5703139
Probably Planescape: Torment and Fallout, though I haven't played as many RPGs as I would like to. For some reason I absolutely adore games that let me progress without resorting to violence, which basically means either stealth or diplomacy, and RPGs tend to immensely benefit from the latter. Too bad there aren't too many that decide to.
If someone could recommend some games with satisfying speech checks, please do.

>>5703139
F1
Stonekeep
Nox if you count that

>>5705362
You have found a keeper. Pump her full of cum and marry her.

For me? It's BG2.
The very best game.
Amazing combat, beautiful world, truckload of content with incredible pacing, great lore, great music, serviceable story with some great parts, good voice acting, memorable companions and great modding community. Nothing sucks in this game and what it does well, it does it really fucking well.

>>5705838
Oh yes. Random encounters. I hate them everywhere, because they are always the same and never fun.

Dragon Age: Origin (Which isn't retro but anyway) had a limited set of unique encounters and I think it's better off this way - and I would still do away with some random spider packs. A truly random endless encounters is just endless interruption.

>>5703171
>I'm a sucker for games that allow you to explore a cool setting.
agreed it's part of why i like fallout.

i prefer the more "untamed" wasteland of 1, 3 & 76 over the rebuilt wasteland of 2, new vegas & 4.

>>5707736
4 isn't really rebuilt, it's wilder then most, having basically just 2 settlements beside faction hubs. But that's the problem, since everything is so generic.

>>5707898
the commonwealth is "rebuilt" in comparison to the rest of the east coast in spite of the institute body snatching people in the middle of the night.

you basically have the 3 built up settlements that pretty much make up the boston ruins (diamond city, goodneigbor & bunker hill) surrounded by smaller settlements & homesteads and a local militia as a police force.

>>5708126
Nah, it's not in any way rebuilt. It wasn't ruined as much, which is probably a better fit for first person perspective, but it's more anarchic than 2.

Good crpg for a newcomer to the genre? Used to play jrpgs as a kid and teen but very few hold up and interest me today. Would like to start playing crps to get my rpg craze filled.

>>5710090
It's far more anarchic than Fallout 1. Fallout 1 has the massive trading network between the Lost Hills, Junktown, Hub and Boneyard.

>>5703139
How EXACTLY are we defining "CRPG"?

>>5710101
Honestly F1 and F2,they are the easiest to master.Don't put points into charisma.
Remove all the points in charisma,and put it in actually useful stats like perception agility and intelligence.

BG2 and Wizardry 8. I've logged thousands of hours on those games through the years. Just supremely comfy.

>>5705362

>>5703171
Arcanum is garbage in just about every aspect.

>>5713892
>t. hates good quests

>>5711203
Isometric RPGs on your computer is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think crpg.