Favourite RPG

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Fallout 2 was a Black Isle game. Fallout preceded the creation of Black Isle, though; it was a game by Interplay, rather than just published by them.

 

Fallout 2, the game that made me play RPGs. Followed by Might & Magic, which pretty much defined it for me.

KotOR 1 ranks very high. KotOR 2 outshone the feats and skills and was generally bigger as well but didn't really equal the climate of the first game, I think. Still, Icewind Dale I had a greater impact on me when I was playing it for the first time. Baldur's Gate came close but not quite there.

However, honorary mention goes to Warcraft 2, which wasn't an RPG but had the climate. Another one to Blackmoon Chronicles for similar reasons. I think it wouldn't be a great idea to skip HoMM 3 here. Warhammer: Dark Omen perhaps... it looks like I'm going to mention more strategies than actual RPGs, heh.

At the moment, out of RPGs I haven't played yet, KotOR 3 is the one I'm looking forward to the most. I won't get out of my skin to play NWN2 or NWN1 modules. DDO doesn't appeal to me. Neither does WoW. Perhaps BioWare's Mass Effect or Dragon Age then.

 

My copies of Fallout I and II have the Black Isle logo on the slip cases, so they must have acquired the series at some point - if they did not develop the game themselves. I thought they were the ones working on Fallout 3, before their demise?

[ May 23, 2006, 22:09: Message edited by: Chandos the Red ]

 

Ah yes the demise of BI and Fallout three most bad news indeed

 

Well, if Black Isle had anything at all to do with the Fallouts that would certainly explain why I enjoyed them so much.

 

- Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
- Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call (Nocturne in the States, I believe)
- The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
- Eye of the Beholder
- Legend of Faerghail
- Grandia
- Suikoden II
- Final Fantasy IV

Bit of an eclectic mix there. I lean towards the PC side of things these days but there remain a few console RPGs that hold a special place in my heart.

 

Although Fallout and Fallout2 were great, being the Avatar will always hold that special place at the top. Ultima VII (both parts) was simply the best and most innovative game ever made -- it was the standard for all others to follow (including BG).

 

After I learned how to play Lionheart with nothing but hot keys (when outside of dialogue) instead of that annoying GUI it quickly became one of my favorite RPG's. Once I stopped thinking of it as a pure story game and took it for what it really was (a little story.....lots of combat) I was able to really enjoy this game. The things that would have made this game "great" instead of "meh" are autopauses (which would have been easy to add), a better GUI, a city in Persia (who was that Persian merchant selling things to) with some quests (like there were in Barcelona), and a more rewarding ending. It would have taken another 2 months of development to implement that stuff, but I think Lionheart would be at the top of everyone's list if they had.

 

Fallouts were made by Black Isle and they worked on 3, too, before Interplay went down. Now Fallout 3 is being made by Bethesda with few original Fallout devs on the team. I really don't expect a miracle. The golden age of RPG is gone.

 

Nah. They've just hit a lull. I have high hopes for Broken Hourglass, for example.

 

No I agree with Chevalier we are in an age of Money making videogames. What is important is profit not oriniality or if the game is good. It's why there is more and more of FPS and MMORPG which requires fancy graphic and fast action. It's very unlikely we'll see any good Single Player RPG in the next years, or maybe two or three at the most.

 

Not quite right. Black Isle didn't actually come into existence until after Fallout. However, much of the team that worked on Fallout went into Black Isle. Fallout 3 is being made without any input from the original team, Bethesda has explicitly stated that they didn't want any outside help.

Games now are being made to sell, not to be any good. Take a look at Oblivion. It was designed to sell to the console market, not the PC market, hence a number of problems with it, note the user interface. The concept of RPGs seems to have vanished, to be replaced by pretty graphics and non-thinking control systems, and of course, renowned actors doing voice-overs. Gone are the days of multiple ways of completed quests, having consequences for your actions, and, indeed, replayability. I still play Fallout and Baldur's Gate now, with the exception of Knights of the Old Republic, I haven't replayed any games that I have bought in the past three years after completing them.

And now, the future. Roll on TESV: Fallout 3: a post-apocalyptic desert hiking simulator. With Patrick Stewart! And Radiant AI! And guns! And humour! Don't forget the humour, that's what makes Fallout what it is!

/end ranting

 

My list would exclude all those D&D that have their own sections, i.e. BG series, NWN, IWD, etc.

In no particular order:

Arcanum
Fallout 1 & 2
Silent Storm & Silent Storm: Sentinels (3D, turn-base WWII RPG)

 

The only thing to look forward to with the Fallout 3 situation is the internet ****storm when they finally have to announce it properly and release information ... and set up a forum

Other than that (rather morbid) bit of entertainment, everything looks perfectly miserable...

 

Can't recall the starting screen and directory of Fallout 1, but Fallout 2 installs into Program Files\Black Isle\Fallout 2 and displays Black Isle logo, so Black Isle must have legally existed at the point of Fallout 2's release.

Bethesda, however, employs some people who worked on the original Fallout, and those people work on Fallout 3. It's like three people or something, though, not more.

 

Aye, Black Isle made Fallout 2, but it didn't actually exist until after Fallout was made. I think it came into being in 1998, Fallout being released in 1997.

 

I can't believe nobody mentioned the Gothic series. Here is my order, and yes I'm serious about #3.

1. Gothic 2
2. Temple Of Elemental Evil
3. Pool of Radiance: ROMD
4. Baldurs Gate
5. Morrowind
6. Oblivion

 

1. Fallout Series
2. Baldur's Gate 1+2
3. Arcanum
4. FF6
5. Guild Wars