Pretty RPGs to Push it to the Limit

darunia106 · April 2007

My brother is getting a new computer that is an absolute beast in the hardware department! Seriously the thing could probably run Crysis without a hiccup!

Now the only problem is that he wants an RPG that is extremely pretty, extremely recent, and is not Oblivion. He really doesn't want to get this game because of the things he's heard about the leveling system. He wants to get a newer RPG so any suggestions of golden oldies like Fallout or Deus Ex are out. I'm really not all that familiar with western RPGs much less ones that have appeared recently. Could anyone come up with any suggestions?

Also any referrals to any other upcoming, awesome, pushing-hardware-to-the-limit games would be appreciated.

EDIT: Forgot to add, no MMORPGs. The only one my brother's playing is World of Warcraft and he has next to no desire to spend hours and money on another one.

Prohass · April 2007

Oblivion/Shivering Isles. Seriously, just get em.

Aside from that, maybe the Titan Quest games, Hellgate London is looking pretty spiff. Dunno.

Neo Rasa · April 2007

System Shock 2 (though it's more actiony) is a must, there are high resolution texture packs and such available also. Fallout, its sequel, and Fallout Tactics are also great games.

Make sure he gets Hellgate as soon as it's available.

FireWeasel · April 2007

Is it wrong that the title immediately made me think of "Fghwgds"?

Also...not many choices there, as the best RPGs are still largely 2d-ish, i.e. Baldur's Gate, Fallout et al. Gothic 2 was fun if not buggy (avoid 3 like the plague), and of course there's the mandatory Oblivion as mentioned above.

thorpe · April 2007

Oblivion and Shivering Isles.

Yes, I read the op. Your brother is a retard if he's going to reject what is widely hailed as one of the best games of all time because he has only heard about nonspecific problems with "leveling."

That aside, Titan Quest is a good bet.

However, most of the big CRPG titles people are getting excited about have yet to come out but will in a few weeks or months. He's poised in a very good position now to tackle those games as soon as they come out.

Darlan · April 2007

NWN2 was pretty good. Not BGII good mind you, but a lot closer than NWN1.

Edit: Your brother is far from objectivley wrong, too. Oblivion was pretty "eh" to me.

darunia106 · April 2007

FireWeasel wrote: »

Is it wrong that the title immediately made me think of "Fghwgds"?

Also...not many choices there, as the best RPGs are still largely 2d-ish, i.e. Baldur's Gate, Fallout et al. Gothic 2 was fun if not buggy (avoid 3 like the plague), and of course there's the mandatory Oblivion as mentioned above.

It's fine that you thought that. I'm probably gonna just convince him to get Oblivion.

DeVryGuy · April 2007

I hate to be a grammar critic, but the "'s" is for possession, not pluralization.

The most recent non-oblivion RPG that comes to mind is Neverwinter Nights 2, might want to give that a shot.

deadonthestreet · April 2007

Lord of the Rings online looks really, really good.

Blake T · April 2007

thorpe wrote: »

Oblivion and Shivering Isles.

Yes, I read the op. Your brother is a retard if he's going to reject what is widely hailed as one of the best games of all time because he has only heard about nonspecific problems with "leveling."

That aside, Titan Quest is a good bet.

However, most of the big CRPG titles people are getting excited about have yet to come out but will in a few weeks or months. He's poised in a very good position now to tackle those games as soon as they come out.

I would agree with his brother and non-specific problems with "leveling".

It's a huge problem. I haven't touched it since I realised my character 10+ hours is boned and I'd need to start again because creatures keep getting stronger and I can't fight skeletons at all.

However he's running it on a PC, they can patch it and fix it so leveling actually levels you.

darunia106 · April 2007

DeVryGuy wrote: »

I hate to be a grammar critic, but the "'s" is for possession, not pluralization.

The most recent non-oblivion RPG that comes to mind is Neverwinter Nights 2, might want to give that a shot.

Fixed, I'm nit-picky about grammar too

darunia106 · April 2007

Blaket wrote: »

thorpe wrote: »

Oblivion and Shivering Isles.

Yes, I read the op. Your brother is a retard if he's going to reject what is widely hailed as one of the best games of all time because he has only heard about nonspecific problems with "leveling."

That aside, Titan Quest is a good bet.

However, most of the big CRPG titles people are getting excited about have yet to come out but will in a few weeks or months. He's poised in a very good position now to tackle those games as soon as they come out.

I would agree with his brother and non-specific problems with "leveling".

It's a huge problem. I haven't touched it since I realised my character 10+ hours is boned and I'd need to start again because creatures keep getting stronger and I can't fight skeletons at all.

However he's running it on a PC, they can patch it and fix it so leveling actually levels you.

In soviet Russia this is possible. Leveling levels you!

emnmnme · April 2007

What was wrong with Gothic 3? I haven't played it but I thought they patched the bugs by now.

I'm gonna say Bioshock looks like fun. If you want some more action in your RPGs, Dungeon Siege 2 and Spell Force 2 aren't bad, either. Try out the demos before you buy.

Edgler Vess · April 2007

Recommendation for Titan Quest and its Expansion TQ:Immortal Throne. Diabloesque, but still great, lots of replay value if your a sucker for loot, nevermind the 3 difficulties with loot that goes with each difficulty level and a TON of character customization options.

eryu90 · April 2007

emnmnme wrote: »

What was wrong with Gothic 3? I haven't played it but I thought they patched the bugs by now.

I'm gonna say Bioshock looks like fun. If you want some more action in your RPGs, Dungeon Siege 2 and Spell Force 2 aren't bad, either. Try out the demos before you buy.

I think the problem with Gothic 3 was that you would get raped by the animals so much faster than being raped by the huminoid enemies.

darunia106 · April 2007

eryu90 wrote: »

emnmnme wrote: »

What was wrong with Gothic 3? I haven't played it but I thought they patched the bugs by now.

I'm gonna say Bioshock looks like fun. If you want some more action in your RPGs, Dungeon Siege 2 and Spell Force 2 aren't bad, either. Try out the demos before you buy.

I think the problem with Gothic 3 was that you would get raped by the animals so much faster than being raped by the huminoid enemies.

I tried out the demo and I was just plain flat out raped. Uninstalled it and never thought about it again.

EDIT: Also I'm not sure if Bioshock will be for the PC or will be an Xbox 360 exclusive. Has the PC been confirmed for it?

Prohass · April 2007

Theres a difficulty slider and a fuck-tonne of mods if you run into problems with/dislike the leveling system in Oblivion. That alone is hardly a reason not to play the game, especially if your looking for blisteringly good eye candy.

Sepah · April 2007

Ooooh, I know. Might and Magic, Dark Messiah. There's a demo on Steam if you want to try it out first.

Drool · April 2007

darunia106 wrote: »

eryu90 wrote: »

emnmnme wrote: »

What was wrong with Gothic 3? I haven't played it but I thought they patched the bugs by now.

I'm gonna say Bioshock looks like fun. If you want some more action in your RPGs, Dungeon Siege 2 and Spell Force 2 aren't bad, either. Try out the demos before you buy.

I think the problem with Gothic 3 was that you would get raped by the animals so much faster than being raped by the huminoid enemies.

I tried out the demo and I was just plain flat out raped. Uninstalled it and never thought about it again.

EDIT: Also I'm not sure if Bioshock will be for the PC or will be an Xbox 360 exclusive. Has the PC been confirmed for it?

The PC version was announced before the Xbox version. Its the spiritual successor to System Shock. Of course its going to be on the PC.

Terrorbyte · April 2007

They're all the same, really.

LavaKnight · April 2007

How about the new Might and Magic? That's the only big engine rpg I can think of. Vampire Bloodlines too, but that might not be his style.

Edit: Aw, Sepah beat me. I think it's worth checking out the demo for, though.

Jazz · April 2007

The scaled levelling in Oblivion doesn't bother me, it means I keep getting see new stuff as I progress, and can't always rely on the same gear. That said, the PC version can easily be modded to fix that. And it truly is a wonderful, amazing, phenomenal game. Force him into it.

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines is so good it's almost sexual. It needs the fan-patches, though.

hambone · April 2007

Games for your brother to look out for in the future:

Drakensang

Fallout 3

(no pics)

Two Worlds

The Witcher

Hellgate: London

Dragon Age

Fable 2

(no pics)

Prohass · April 2007

Man I want Hellgate now. And spore.

DarkPrimus · April 2007

I ran into a stalker in STALKER with the nickname "Witcher".

I almost feel like it's a joke.

Lork · April 2007

darunia106 wrote: »

Now the only problem is that he wants an RPG that is extremely pretty, extremely recent, and is not Oblivion. He really doesn't want to get this game because of the things he's heard about the leveling system.

Did he not also hear about the mods that fix this problem?

Darmak · April 2007

DarkPrimus wrote: »

I ran into a stalker in STALKER with the nickname "Witcher".

I almost feel like it's a joke.

Yeah, I almost laughed when hambone mentioned it. Hell, I forgot it's even around.

CaspianX · April 2007

I'd say that if he's looking for stuff that's already out, it might not be a bad idea to check out the KotOR series, Jade Empire and Fable (All a few years old now, but still decent-looking and good games). Also, Guild Wars is absolutely gorgeous, and isn't technically an MMO (online play is absolutely free, and you can totally play it solo if you really, really want to, although you'll be asking for some tough playing farther in).

Some Guild Wars images:

Although I'll still echo the sentiments of the thread - if you like RPGs and your PC can run it, you really, really, really, really, really need to own Oblivion. Really.

P.S. - Really.

DarkPrimus · April 2007

If he doesn't want Oblivion, why not get him Morrowind?

HarshLanguage · April 2007

Hmm. Summing up and adding a couple:

Oblivion (with leveling mods; I agree the original system is screwy)
NWN2 (requires a beastly system to run with maxed graphics, but the game doesn't look as good as you'd expect)
Titan Quest (shallow but very entertaining Diablo clone)
Guild Wars Nightfall (great CRPG, no fees, amazing graphics. CaspianX's images are all from the first GW game, the other two look even better.)
Dungeon Siege 2

Sepah · April 2007

Huh. Wow. I was unaware that Guild Wars looked that good. And the expansions look even better, you say?

CaspianX · April 2007

HarshLanguage speaks the truth - all of those images are from the first game (and VERY EARLY into it, too), and the two sequels do look better. They're stand-alone sequels, too, meaning you don't need the original game to play them.

Here's a few pics from Nightfall:

And just to cover the bases, here are a few from Factions:

Note: That last area is a place where the ground is supposedly made out of Jade or something, and the light reflects off of it in a way that's very impressive, giving it an almost oily sheen. I say this because it looks much prettier in motion.

It should be mentioned that I feel that the GW series has impressive graphics on multiple levels - the characters all feature a good amount of detail and animation, the environments are huge, the art style is very imaginative, and the game scales amazingly well - the graphics actually still look very good, even if you're not running a top-of-the-line PC.

Edit: My apologies for H-scroll breakage, but I felt that larger images would better show the games' graphics.

Vincent Grayson · April 2007

As far as games that're both *good* and will show off his hardware, the only option at the moment is Oblivion. Most of the other games mentioned are ok looking, but won't benefit from absurd hardware the way Oblivion will.

Tell him to get Oblivion, and look online for some custom config stuff to make it look even nicer.

Dírhael · April 2007

Picking up Oblivion is a good idea, but make sure you get Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul and perhaps a few additional mods (Qarl's Texture Pack III comes to mind). I hated Oblivion before installing OOO. Sure it was pretty, but there was no sense of achievement as you played. Enemies leveling with you meant that you never really felt stronger, and it also broke the immersion in the world. Also, the lack of enough unique items was (and still is without mods) a problem compared to the previous Elder Scrolls games.

If only we could have Morrowind with Oblivions engine. I can only take so much of the green forrest areas of Oblivion before getting bored.

Vincent Grayson · April 2007

DÃ¬rhael wrote: »

Picking up Oblivion is a good idea, but make sure you get Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul and perhaps a few additional mods (Qarl's Texture Pack III comes to mind). I hated Oblivion before installing OOO. Sure it was pretty, but there was no sense of achievement as you played. Enemies leveling with you meant that you never really felt stronger, and it also broke the immersion in the world. Also, the lack of enough unique items was (and still is without mods) a problem compared to the previous Elder Scrolls games.

If only we could have Morrowind with Oblivions engine. I can only take so much of the green forrest areas of Oblivion before getting bored.

As opposed to what? Morrowind was mostly bland and ugly, Oblivion was bright and beautiful.

Dírhael · April 2007

Vincent Grayson wrote: »

As opposed to what? Morrowind was mostly bland and ugly, Oblivion was bright and beautiful.

Morrowind was anything but bland and ugly. On a technical level it might not be much to look at today, but the style of it was and still is great. The unique landscapes made me completely loose myself into its world, something Oblivion never managed to do. To better explain it, for me the world of Morrowind was like a Grimm Brothers tale while Oblivion felt more like the Disney version.

Vincent Grayson · April 2007

DÃ¬rhael wrote: »

Vincent Grayson wrote: »

As opposed to what? Morrowind was mostly bland and ugly, Oblivion was bright and beautiful.

Morrowind was anything but bland and ugly. On a technical level it might not be much to look at today, but the style of it was and still is great. The unique landscapes made me completely loose myself into its world, something Oblivion never managed to do. To better explain it, for me the world of Morrowind was like a Grimm Brothers tale while Oblivion felt more like the Disney version.

I guess to each their own. I mean, I liked Morrowind, but largely, I didn't care for the landscape, and felt like it was often far too empty.

I love Oblivion's forests and massive fields of flowers gently waving in the wind.

Lork · April 2007

Vincent Grayson wrote: »

Dírhael wrote: »

Vincent Grayson wrote: »

As opposed to what? Morrowind was mostly bland and ugly, Oblivion was bright and beautiful.

Morrowind was anything but bland and ugly. On a technical level it might not be much to look at today, but the style of it was and still is great. The unique landscapes made me completely loose myself into its world, something Oblivion never managed to do. To better explain it, for me the world of Morrowind was like a Grimm Brothers tale while Oblivion felt more like the Disney version.

I guess to each their own. I mean, I liked Oblivion, but largely, I didn't care for the landscape, and felt like it was often far too empty.

I love Morrowind's ash deserts, rolling plains, and marshes with gigantic mushrooms towering over the trees.

Doronron · April 2007

Pretty RPGs:

1. Oblivion (Obviously)
2. Dungeon Siege II (perhaps)
3. Titan Quest
4. Jade Empire
5. Neverwinter Nights 2
6. Knights of the Old Republic
7. Knights of the Old Republic 2

BigDes · April 2007

Speaking of STALKER. Why not STALKER?

Also, there is Vampire. It's not eyerapingly pretty but it is fucking awesome.

Silpheed · April 2007

Lork wrote: »

Vincent Grayson wrote: »

DÃ¬rhael wrote: »

Vincent Grayson wrote: »

As opposed to what? Morrowind was mostly bland and ugly, Oblivion was bright and beautiful.

Morrowind was anything but bland and ugly. On a technical level it might not be much to look at today, but the style of it was and still is great. The unique landscapes made me completely loose myself into its world, something Oblivion never managed to do. To better explain it, for me the world of Morrowind was like a Grimm Brothers tale while Oblivion felt more like the Disney version.

I guess to each their own. I mean, I liked Oblivion, but largely, I didn't care for the landscape, and felt like it was often far too empty.

I love Morrowind's ash deserts, rolling plains, and marshes with gigantic mushrooms towering over the trees.

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