Ten RPGs Still Worth Buying at Elder Geek

chevalier · Fri, 2nd Oct '09, 9:45am

Elder Geek believes few games provide better entertainment value for your cash that roleplaying games do and endeavours to recommend ten older games that you might want to play. One of those is Icewind Dale (Baldur's Gate 1-2 and Icewind Dale 2 are also there):

Black Isle Studios developed the Icewind Dale series on Bioware’s Infinity Engine and utilized the tried and true Dungeons & Dragons Second and Third Edition rule sets, giving geeks yet another reason to celebrate PC gaming at the beginning of the decade. The Icewind Dale series wasted no time in tossing gamers into the fray. Create a party. Name your character. Give them stats. Clothe them. Drop them into the action. If you didn’t want to create characters from scratch, you could import characters from previous Dungeons & Dragons-based games or choose prefabricated generic archetype characters supplied by the developers.

Read the rest at Elder Geek.

Caradhras · Fri, 2nd Oct '09, 1:21pm

No Planescape Torment, no Fallout 1. Enough said.

starfox64 · Fri, 2nd Oct '09, 3:08pm

Wow! That's a pretty random list, in my opinion. Those Final Fantasy titles on the list are the two worth missing as there are a number of other entries in the series alot better. I've also played the first Xenosaga and wasn't the least impressed so no need to continue the series. I have to agree with Caradhras comment as well.

Ziad · Fri, 2nd Oct '09, 5:06pm

Chev, you missed a very important element of what the list is about: games worth playing that you might have missed. Having FF12, BG and IWD as "games you might have missed" is weird. I can't imagine that many dedicated RPG gamers who were around in 1998 and who missed playing BG. Which makes it even weirder that they'd leave out the gems that people might have really missed, such as PST, Anachronox, Arcanum...

Caradhras · Fri, 2nd Oct '09, 5:14pm

Or Vampire Bloodlines.

Déise · Sat, 3rd Oct '09, 10:56pm

I think it's a good list. They're all easy to find and to get running and from the ones I've played I'd wager that most of them are still fun to play today. PST is an absolute landmark in the 'videogames as art' debate but as a game I don't think it's aged very well.

I do think BG belongs on the list. Maybe it's different in the US but around here unless you were a dedicated PC RPG player in the year 1998 it's doubtful you would have heard of it. There's plenty of people who don't fall into that category.

Drew · Sat, 3rd Oct '09, 11:11pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Déise

PST is an absolute landmark in the 'videogames as art' debate but as a game I don't think it's aged very well.

Try it with the resolution mod and updated GUI. Once the resolution is accounted for, the game has aged very well.

Déise · Sun, 4th Oct '09, 12:39am

I didn't mean the graphics, which you have to give allowances for. I meant stuff like the user interface is poor and fiddly, frequently used spells having animations that stop the game, the usefulness of many of the NPCs in combat being poor, etc. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it, I did. But all of the games that I played on the list make for much smoother playing experiences. It's especially noticeable comparing IWD1 I think. They're basically the same game and IWD1 is much less limited but it got the general usability a lot better. I think the list is only intended to give ten you might enjoy, it doesn't make the claim that these are the ten best RPGs there are.

Besides, from a listing point of view including Torment would have meant IE games took up 5 out of the ten slots. 4 is already a bit much. Choosing BG/IWD meant you could describe them in two blocks of two and save yourself writing out two paragraphs.

Fri, 2nd Oct '09, 9:45am	#1
chevalier SPS Account Holder Senior News Editor Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: I wish I were in the land of coffee... Posts: 16,675 Like: 2 Liked 1 Time in 1 Post vBActivity - Stats XP: 62,754 Level: 62 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 24.53% Daily Activity 3.53% Weekly Activity 2.52% Monthly Activity 2.73% Achievements	Ten RPGs Still Worth Buying at Elder Geek Elder Geek believes few games provide better entertainment value for your cash that roleplaying games do and endeavours to recommend ten older games that you might want to play. One of those is Icewind Dale (Baldur's Gate 1-2 and Icewind Dale 2 are also there): Black Isle Studios developed the Icewind Dale series on Bioware’s Infinity Engine and utilized the tried and true Dungeons & Dragons Second and Third Edition rule sets, giving geeks yet another reason to celebrate PC gaming at the beginning of the decade. The Icewind Dale series wasted no time in tossing gamers into the fray. Create a party. Name your character. Give them stats. Clothe them. Drop them into the action. If you didn’t want to create characters from scratch, you could import characters from previous Dungeons & Dragons-based games or choose prefabricated generic archetype characters supplied by the developers. Read the rest at Elder Geek.

Fri, 2nd Oct '09, 1:21pm	#2
Caradhras I may be bad... but I feel gooood! Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Lugdunum Posts: 4,105 Blog Entries: 9 Like: 9 Liked 15 Times in 9 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 10,387 Level: 30 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 30.54% Daily Activity 3.53% Weekly Activity 2.52% Monthly Activity 2.73% Achievements	No Planescape Torment, no Fallout 1. Enough said.
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Fri, 2nd Oct '09, 5:14pm	#5
Caradhras I may be bad... but I feel gooood! Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Lugdunum Posts: 4,105 Blog Entries: 9 Like: 9 Liked 15 Times in 9 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 10,387 Level: 30 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 30.54% Daily Activity 3.53% Weekly Activity 2.52% Monthly Activity 2.73% Achievements	Or Vampire Bloodlines.
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Fri, 2nd Oct '09, 3:08pm	#3
starfox64 Gems: 12/31 Latest gem: Moonstone Contra Champion! LOTR: The Hidden Ring Champion! Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 467 Like: 2 Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 1,469 Level: 12 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 97.61% Daily Activity 3.53% Weekly Activity 12.61% Monthly Activity 5.01% Achievements	Wow! That's a pretty random list, in my opinion. Those Final Fantasy titles on the list are the two worth missing as there are a number of other entries in the series alot better. I've also played the first Xenosaga and wasn't the least impressed so no need to continue the series. I have to agree with Caradhras comment as well.

Fri, 2nd Oct '09, 5:06pm	#4
Ziad I speak in rebuses Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Montreal Posts: 4,088 Like: 0 Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 9,149 Level: 28 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 71.73% Daily Activity 3.53% Weekly Activity 2.52% Monthly Activity 2.73% Achievements	Chev, you missed a very important element of what the list is about: games worth playing that you might have missed. Having FF12, BG and IWD as "games you might have missed" is weird. I can't imagine that many dedicated RPG gamers who were around in 1998 and who missed playing BG. Which makes it even weirder that they'd leave out the gems that people might have really missed, such as PST, Anachronox, Arcanum...

Sat, 3rd Oct '09, 10:56pm	#6
Déise I am both happy and miserable, without the happy part! Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 626 Like: 1 Liked 4 Times in 4 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 1,672 Level: 13 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 72.56% Daily Activity 3.53% Weekly Activity 2.52% Monthly Activity 14.12% Achievements	I think it's a good list. They're all easy to find and to get running and from the ones I've played I'd wager that most of them are still fun to play today. PST is an absolute landmark in the 'videogames as art' debate but as a game I don't think it's aged very well. I do think BG belongs on the list. Maybe it's different in the US but around here unless you were a dedicated PC RPG player in the year 1998 it's doubtful you would have heard of it. There's plenty of people who don't fall into that category.

Sun, 4th Oct '09, 12:39am	#8
Déise I am both happy and miserable, without the happy part! Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 626 Like: 1 Liked 4 Times in 4 Posts vBActivity - Stats XP: 1,672 Level: 13 vBActivity - Bars Level Completion: 72.56% Daily Activity 3.53% Weekly Activity 2.52% Monthly Activity 14.12% Achievements	I didn't mean the graphics, which you have to give allowances for. I meant stuff like the user interface is poor and fiddly, frequently used spells having animations that stop the game, the usefulness of many of the NPCs in combat being poor, etc. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it, I did. But all of the games that I played on the list make for much smoother playing experiences. It's especially noticeable comparing IWD1 I think. They're basically the same game and IWD1 is much less limited but it got the general usability a lot better. I think the list is only intended to give ten you might enjoy, it doesn't make the claim that these are the ten best RPGs there are. Besides, from a listing point of view including Torment would have meant IE games took up 5 out of the ten slots. 4 is already a bit much. Choosing BG/IWD meant you could describe them in two blocks of two and save yourself writing out two paragraphs.