Computer RPGs Discussion

[crystallogic13]

So I think a dedicated RPG thread for the related discussion of Computer (& Consoles/etc) RPGs is worth it as relevant posts are not lost in the "currently playing VG" thread..

I wanted already to start the thread with commenting about Larian's very recent reveal of Baldur's Gate 3 , a sequel most of us worshipers of BG trilogy(1/2/ToB) always wanted to see.. The reveal caused an uproar in the BG dedicated community as many people felt it was way more Divinity Original Sin inspired (Larian's major blockbuster RPG) than original Baldur's Gate (in original Bioware or remakes same take).. I 'm still unsure of the outcome but honestly I was happy with the remakes Infinity Engine games got from Beamdog despite the same uproar the community had (for various reasons)... Any thoughts anyone ?

And since we are at it, a fast list of some of my favorite ever RPGs would include : Phantasie I,III(the best from the early era), Ultima Underworld I(a real world deep beneath more than legendary in all aspect and great atmospheres), Dark Sun 1(such great game in such a unique setting,lots of ways to tackle situations) , Betrayal at Krondor(greeeeeat story and battle system and puzzles etc etc), Quest for Glory 1+(legendary adventure/rpg hybrids, great classic stuff),Might & Magic 3(I still haven't got to advance 4-5 despite keeping it for the "good time" all these years, but 3 is awesome really), Dragon Wars(hard for its time but many many ways to tackle situations,such solid game), Baldur's Gate 2 + ToB, Planescape Torment, Icewind Dale II (all really IE engine games are legendary and for a reason, BG2+TOB & P:T are my GOATs), Neverwinter Nights 1 and its official main expansions + ENDLESS mods),Diablo 1-2 (of course, hack n slashing the RPG-kinda way was never greater, besides Golden Axe that is )... I think these are out of the top of my head.. And not fantasy, but RPG (in my book) also Deus Ex 1 (prophetic,legendary,GOAT,etc, its this good) and Mass Effect 1 (as much as I liked 1 I disliked 2 never advanced it but 1 is best sci-fi I've played in this style..)..

Let us listen now to some more cRPG suggestions , bring em on!

[Griantor]

Well, there will be no comments from me about Baldur's Gate 3 or any other modern CRPG just because I have no much interest in modern games. I have a 10 y.o. desktop bought purposefully for oldgaming in an office of a small bankrupted company up the street I live, where I installed WinXP, expanded its RAM up to max 4Gb (well, 3,25 in fact) and also bought 2Tb hard disk. So any '64-bit-only' stuff is not my style, as well as all this now-fashionable 'remaster', 'redux' and 'anniversary edition' money-grab production. I don't like 3D visuals much too, there's nothing better than good old sprite graphics.

As for my favorite CRPGs... well, I'd name (in no particular order) Fallout 1-2, Infinity engine games, M&M 3-5 (never shared the people's rapture about M&M 6-8 though), Gold Box games (especially Krynn trilogy), Diablo 1-2 (RPG of sort, isn't it? ), Wizardry 6-8, Dark Heart of Uukrul, Bloodwych and its sequel Hexx, Summoning (NOT Summoner!), Ishar trilogy, Neverwinter Nights (2002), Ultima 4-5, Disciples of Steel (really, really exceptional RPG - thank you, CRPG Addict ), Demon's Winter, Lords of Midnight trilogy (I consider it equally as RPG as wargame), Perihelion (absolutely tremendous Amiga game I played via Windows emulator).

And maybe my most beloved RPG game of all time (and one of my top-10 games in all genres) - kinda 'sci-fi Diablo in space' Harbinger (2003). Though its RPG elements are very basic, its atmosphere is simply unsurpassed in any other game I ever played. Its soundtrack is like 'dark sci-fi space dungeon synth', there are no words that can describe its greatness, really...

If someone would be interested in it, I'd upload this OST somewhere like MediaFire though it's better to taste it fully while playing

[crystallogic13]

Great list mate,great points there...

As for Fallouts, I've tried more than a coupe of times to start Fallout 1 but always (since it needs a big time investment) get paused by external means and always want to get back to them again.. And as such unfortunately all of Fallout series remain for years and years (as with many others) on my "to play list".. (Wastelands too, I've even kickstarted the second and got physical, again as with many others)..

Great to see that we agree on the IE games, pretty much they will be the standard for RPGs for many years to come and I hope and pray for the return of true isometric successors to them (although many were satisfied with Numenera,POE 1-2 and Pathfinder but again haven't got to them yet.. ).. But I really would love a fanmade IE worship... (and again I'm glad with Beamdog's treat/update)..

Might and Magics are worshiped and I'm glad at least I've played M&M3 back then, although I reached to the endgame, some $^$^@$^ crystals without warning aged all my chars and with one save game slot there it was too late when I noticed I will either go again through it or just finally start M&M World of Xeen that I'm planning for about 25 years now

Gold Box games are a big discussion.. They were great at their time and I *tried* back in the 90s to play the Forgotten Realms series, it was hardcore for my taste since too few levelling (true to adnd at the time) , spell slots, but it had great battles.. Still it's a hard game to play and one I'd rather read from CRPG Addict n stuff.. Unfortunately I haven't even tried the Krynn trilogy.. They are classics though indeed if anyone can handle them nowadays.. (Now some of these would get a treat from some remasters..)..

On Diablo 1 and 2 again totally agreed.. Such atmosphere, gameplay, music, and above all NON-STOP addiction to get one more level and advance.. Diablo 1 also was even scary, such dark moods, and 2 had some of the best cinematics even for today, total classics..

Wizardry is another series I've always wanted to dive from back then but since 1-4/5 are too hardcore I always couldn't decide if I'd go with 6 or 7.. And you get the idea.. At some point in my life though I really want to play at least 7 and the newer 8 as well as Wizards & Warriors which was Wizardry in spirit.. I own aaaall of the above btw in physical as many others, and never played them..

Dark Heart of Uukrul is on my to check list so I'll note your approval

Bloodwych I think was great for the novelty of the multiplayer and great for the 8bits, but as I was a PC player couldn't get into it, seemed kinda primitive, glad that people enjoy it though, just probably hard for me to get into.. I didn't remember about Hexx, so I'll look up into that, thanx for the tip..

Summoning again doesn't ring recent bells so I'll look that up, funny that Summoner indeed does as I own it physical (and never played it )..

Ishar trilogy is another on my "to play" list since they have got much praise and are different kind of beasts..

Agreed again on Neverwinter Nights, I also liked even the main campaign and the Shadows of Undrentide which get dwarfed from most from the greatness that(also for me) is Hordes of the Underdark..

Ultima 4 is a classic in all senses, the virtues, the atmospheres, the whole world,the vast improvement over 1-3 and the NPC interactions, all great stuff.. I didn't finish it but played it a lot throughout, too bad that never finising it halted me from playing the rest of this great series

Disciples of Steel? I thought it was strategy or something, I 'll look that up @ CRPG Addict etc. thanx for mentioning..

Demon's Winter is also unknown for me, great respect for such many games conquered Griantor, hoping you stick with even more great suggestions (I still explore your epic heavy on the other thread, trove of treasure your post there) ..

Aaah Lord of Midnight, a magic game.. I got to play it very late at mid 90s when the first DOS emulators of Amstrad CPC circulated in CD roms from magazines (didn't have modem ofc so no BBSs for me).. A really magic game and I was thinking it when I was doing the first post but again unfortunately I've only fired it up and explored abit.. Respect man..

Perihelion is mentioned a lot and I always forget to note it, this time I'll do, thanx again for the great post!!

Also haven't played Harbinger, don't remember being praised a lot but your good words are good sign so I'll see into it... I'd like to check it's OST, I'll pm you !

Great suggestions, again nice to see you have explored so many digital worlds, total respect!

[Griantor]

Mar 8, 2020 11:45:48 GMT -5 crystallogic13 said:

Great list mate,great points there...

Please, be aware though, mate, that I used to value games firstly by their atmosphere and aesthetics, and only then by their 'quality of life' options or gameplay consistency . E.g. most of people might call Harbinger boring or repetitive, or Demon's Winter a hell of GUI, or Disciples of Steel buggy and confusing... Moreover, most of these games I discovered not so long ago (within 10 years, I think, and I'm 42 now), so there's no pink glasses of nostalgia here. I just realized one day that I literally can't bear modern games with their bells and whistles, flashy 3D, big red buttons "PRESS ME TO WIN" and so on. So the games I play and value now may seem... somewhat 'not so AAA-class' to someone, awkward or desperately obsolete.

They often urge you to read big fat manuals and cluebooks thoroughly just to get the idea how the hell you should create your character and what the hell you should do at all in the game's world.

And I have to say also that I like to play games for playing itself and not for winning (playing through), so not all of my favorite games I have beaten And even if I would to beat them, I think my wife and my children would not be too glad to see me every morning red-eyed and completely mad about 'killing that freakin' warlock in the Castle of Something Appropriately Named'

As for Harbinger OST, I will gladly upload it sometime tomorrow (it's evening here already, in the vast and gloomy Northern Eurasia ) just because it's on that secondary secret oldgaming PC that is hidden deep in the bowels of my apartments. If you want, I could also upload the Harbinger installing distributive itself. It's a legal digital copy I bought on GamersGate years ago, and developers and publishing company are already no more for a long time so the 'pirate hunters' won't hunt you down, it will be just like in the good old days, if I would lend you the CD to play. It works like a charm on Win7-32 (and on WinXP, of course), don't know about newer systems though. In case of issues you could use the magnificent little program DxWnd, it has fixes for hundreds of old (and not so old) games:

sourceforge.net/projects/dxwnd/

[crystallogic13]

I've bookmarked dxwnd, thanx for the link, although I won't be needing it soon it might save the day one day.. Thanx for the ost, great, looking forward, as for the game, there is no need for your trouble, I have a long list of to play so atm I'll just thank you for now!! Also, I appreciate any suggestions since everyone has different taste but all thoughts are taken into consideration always from seasoned RPGers I'm also at the after 35 age so I have no problem to load even Adventure on the A2600 or a complete ascii roguelike but I just prefer since there is no much available continuous time games that allow some ease of life.. When I have some more free spaces of time I'll surely invest in deeper stuff again , rest assured!! I've also haven't beaten all of my favorites, I've beaten Phantasie I repeatedly but III repeatedly failed at the end castle etc etc , only a few maniacs (in a good sense) like CRPGAddict etc.,with a bit of OCD can go through all of them and attempt to finish them ..

Currently, as far as RPGs go, I'm in the middle of playing (through the excellent Exodos collection) again Phantasie III ( ) trying to finally beat it as well as started some months back the first Eye of the Beholder (now somewhere on level 4 only.. ) with the original plan to go through all 3 (I only partially played EotB 2 back in the day), but at this rate I'll be old before Myth Drannor is saved...

[Griantor]

Well , I uploaded Harbinger distributive (it contains OST in separate folder as well), and I still suggest to listen to it while playing the game. It will help to immerse completely

I PMd you the Google Drive link.

As for other really good RPGs I omitted in the previous posts, I'd want to mention:

Albion (classic Amiga/PC RPG, hard as nails but satisfying as sex)

Ancient Evil: Curse of the Snake Cults (Diablo 1 contemporary and somewhat similar but with emphasis on dungeon exploring and riddle solving)

 

Anvil of Dawn (visually perfect good old dungeon crawler)

Bludgeons & Krakens (cool name and very cool game, kinda Diablo/early Ultimas crossbreed with turn-based battles)

Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess (psychodelic masterpiece of old, not an RPG per se, kinda RPG-ish adventure)

Clans (obscure isomeric dungeon-crawler, strange and atmospheric)

Cogmind (modern classic roguelike with robots with absolutely brilliant ASCII graphic style)

Din's Curse (and its sequels Zombasite and Din's Legacy - indie action-RPGs with unique class-skill system and dynamically changing world with dynamic quests; with monsters attacking your town and killing your merchants... )

Dungeon Siege 2 Legendary mod (allows you to play Dungeon Siege 1 on DS2 engine with all its enhancements)

Gorasul (obscure German Baldur's Gate)

Hard Truck Apocalypse (cult Russian post-apocalyptic arcade-autosim-RPG with armored trucks, kinda 'Fallout on wheels')

Hellgate: London (how could I forget to mention it... With years passing I like it more and more. Especially with fan mod Hellgate Revival)

Heroes of a Broken Land (trying to mix Heroes with dungeon crawler)

Inquisitor (cult Czech isometric diabloid RPG focusing on lore, plot, investigation, burning heretics and looooot of reading of game texts)

Jade Empire, of course (the best Bioware post-Infinity RPG before they start to focus on LGBT and SJW stuff )

Loki: Heroes of Mytholgy (as buggy as unique French diabloid action-RPG in mythology worlds that was before the success of Titan Quest)

Mines of Titan (sci-fi RPG, old as f**k but equally good)

NightStone (obscure Spanish Diablo-clone, dark and atmopsheric)

Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (yeah, I used to like games that no one else likes )

Sea Dogs 3: City of Abandoned Ships (THE best game about pirate life, period)

Sil (traditional ASCII roguelike in Silmarillion setting)

Telengard (the main inspirational source for Diablo)

The Broken Land (the best of Chinese Diablo-clones)

And that's all I have to say about the war in Vietnam...(c) For now, at least.

[dungeonsnake]

I was a big fan of Roguelikes for a long time. Nethack was one of my favorites, along with of course Dwarf Fortress... If you haven't heard of Dwarf Fortress I encourage you to look it up, there's few games I think would be more appealing to a fan of Dungeon Synth.

Nowadays I enjoy Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup, Caves of Qud and Unreal World. All very dungeon synth-adjacent.

[crystallogic13]

dungeonsnake I didn't any of the above, thanx for the recommendations, the first ones seem very interesting-nice, but the third one (Unreal World) with its survival elements I saw mentioned in its pages made me step back Yeah I'm aware of Dwarf Fortress, it is advanced as not only a Roguelike, but as any game can really be, so complex and read many many great things.. Decided I'd rather read about it than go for it, anyway most people say to go blind which I already thus can't .. But classic one as Nethack, if I have time again to dive into a full Roguelike that'd might be it... Respect for doing so, if I go for one I'll always now listen to DS, so very fitting !

Griantor : Lots of great stuff here too, my thoughts on them :

Albion, Anvil of Dawn are both forever and from back when I read about them in the magazines of the day, on my to play list ... Like others, they are treasured for a "satisfying" playtime ..

Ancient Evil, Bludgeons & Krackens, Chamber of Sci-Mutant Princess,Clans, Cogmind, Hard Truck Apocalypse, Heroes of a Broken Land, Inquisitor, Mines of Titan, Nightstone, Sil & The Broken Land were all unknown to me, I will take a look into all of them (great to have my hands full ) and get back to you, I'm sure I'll discover some gems there !!

Din's Curse I remember for a loooong time mentioned in RPGWatch, eventually I still haven't got into it.. What a surprise again : P

Dungeon Siege I gave me a blast I bought it, I finished it -great Action RPG with party but lots of inventory management, still lots of gooood combat - and then I bought again the pack with it along the expansion LEgends of Aranna and... never played the expansion, too  burned out by then and left it for later which became never.. I want to play Dungeon Siege 2 sometime though, it's always on my mark..

Yes I remember Gorasul, obscure af but I was searching to buy it back in the day and didn't succeed.. Dunno if I'd play it today, possibly if it is playable and a fan patch or something exists for solid experience.. Either way I always have it on the back of my head..

Hellgate London : obviously as a FP A-RPG I wanted to get into back then, didn't on release and then read so much flaming for it that I just dropped any plans.. I also remember something about not being playable due to onling being off or something but maybe that and many other issues is fixed.. Dunno though, but your good words on it is a good plus I'll consider..

Jade Empire is also a favorite of Bioware , totally agree on your comment too that instead on focusing on RPGs they focused on other stuff later.. But back then, on my original xbox which I still own (best console ever btw) I played and finished it , GREAT GAME Jade Empire it is, great game with great endgame too... Only thing I regret is I Played the original release version and not the remastered which later came out on PC I think.. Still, one of the best games and in a unique eastern setting, great great graphics for its era, fighting system.. A must play really.. I'd love to see a true Jade Empire 2 someday (just sayin..)..

I tried Loki back in its time, I didn't like it mate, I didn't even finish my playthrough, must have dropped it somewhere along more than midway, the one thing I remember is that above and all its hack n slashing become boring after a while, unsatisfying completely.. Dunno if it was because of art/graphics/effects/polishing or what, but you didn't feel like playing just a little more which you should with an addictive Action RPG like Diablo 1,2,3, Titan's Quest, Torchlights etc ..

Pools of Radiance Ruins of Myth Drannor I bought and still have in a "mini" box on release, still haven't played it, still on my to play list for like , 18 years ? dunno... :/

Sea Dogs I always wanted to play, great, if 3 is the best I'll go straight for its wheeeen time is due..

Thanx for so many recs, appreciated and I'll keep getting back !

[andrewwerdna]

I know I've mentioned this before elsewhere on here, but yeah the main ones for me were Neverwinter Nights and Gothic 1+2.

Gothic 3 is great too (with the community patch, a necessity), but had a very different feeling. The depth when it came to the choices and consequences in that one was really impressive, felt like it really mattered. And I also really loved the Risen games, by Piranha Bytes as well, basically the Gothic formula. But yeah, there's something about the atmosphere in the first two Gothic games that can't be beat for me, maybe it's a lot of nostalgia because I was young when I played them, but I do think there's something magic about those games.

Neverwinter Nights, probably my favorite RPG bar none, though definitely not for the main campaign. I thought the main campaign was pretty bland, more of an example of how to use the toolset than the game in itself. I feel the same way about the expansion campaigns, but they were a bit better. I think I played all the "Premium Modules" as well, remember those being pretty good but short. But yeah, what made NWN so amazing was the toolset, and the endless top-notch modules made by the community, not to mention the DM client and online "progressive worlds." Unfortunately I didn't get too many opportunities to run or play DMed sessions, though I did get pretty damn good with the toolset. I could and still can make a fully-functional single-player module, but just didn't have the focus to ever see any of those attempts through to completion. I played online for a while when I was a kid, and have particularly fond memories of a small strict roleplaying server called Battledale. I remember my first session in that progressive world, I joined up with a group to delve into the local crypt. At the bottom of the crypt there was this skull statue and I had my character do the "worship" emote, which is like the character on their knees bowing, but I was just joking around, my character wasn't evil or anything. But there was an LG cleric or paladin or whatever in the group and they got pissed. Having no experience with proper roleplaying whatsoever, I was confused and very apologetic and felt terrible, and couldn't get over it, haha. Then the player explained to me via private message that there were no hard feelings but that's just how their character would react in that situation. It blew my mind and I spent every free moment I could playing on that server for like a year after that. That particular server/world is probably my most cherished gaming experience. I've thought about maybe trying to find a good strict NWN roleplaying server nowadays, but that's just too much of a time commitment unfortunately.

Other cRPGs I've enjoyed: Mass Effect 1-3, Fallout 4, Fallout New Vegas, NWN2 (especially MotB), Morrowind, and Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines

I've tried some of those classic 2d isometric ones like Baldur's Gate, Fallout 1, and Planescape: Torment probably five times each, but I'm the opposite of Griantor, I need my RPGs to be 3d or else I just don't feel immersed. With 3d RPGs I feel like I'm exploring another world, but with 2d sprites it feels more just representative of that other world. Also I really dislike having to build the whole party myself, too crunchy and harder to inhabit a character as an avatar of myself. I'm going to keep trying with those kinds of games though, like Spiderweb Software games seem pretty cool too. I think one of these days they'll click and I'll finally get to experience what I've been missing out on for so long.

[crystallogic13]

Ah I always regret for never going through Gothics, I started with 1, got both trys out of the first camp (which is really nothing) and then probably got sidetracked by another game.. They want investment and they pay off though, I never drop plans to play some from the series and its descendants (Risen and others I think)..

Respect for NWN 1, it seems we are a good fanbase here

About Vampire games I also have them on my infinite really to play list.. Finally, I would like to personally recommend if you give one last try, give it at least to Planescape Torment, it's really cult and masterpiece in every way and I'm sure you will personally enjoy it, a dark game and very DS atmosphered like... Had some best companions NPC ever (Morte etc..).. And if you finish it, I'm sure you will finally step and go through Baldur's Gate original trilogy (1/2/Tob) which is also a must... One of my favorite moments was when I played BG2, much much later than PST(which I played on its era), I found somewhere stuff/loot from the companions you had in PST, the description was poetic really giving you chills .. Must play games mate if you get again ever the chance you will never regret it..

[andrewwerdna]

Mar 11, 2020 14:46:45 GMT -5 crystallogic13 said:

Finally, I would like to personally recommend if you give one last try, give it at least to Planescape Torment, it's really cult and masterpiece in every way and I'm sure you will personally enjoy it, a dark game and very DS atmosphered like... Had some best companions NPC ever (Morte etc..).. And if you finish it, I'm sure you will finally step and go through Baldur's Gate original trilogy (1/2/Tob) which is also a must... One of my favorite moments was when I played BG2, much much later than PST(which I played on its era), I found somewhere stuff/loot from the companions you had in PST, the description was poetic really giving you chills .. Must play games mate if you get again ever the chance you will never regret it..

Yeah, out of all those old isometric games that's the one I'm most interested in, because I always hear it's the best written game ever, with lots of choices and consequences and whatnot. I actually bought the Enhanced Edition last year, but again just barely started. I think I made it out of the mortuary once or twice in my many attempts, but never any further than that.

[dungeonsnake]

Mar 10, 2020 21:41:07 GMT -5 andrewwerdna said:

Neverwinter Nights, probably my favorite RPG bar none, though definitely not for the main campaign. I thought the main campaign was pretty bland, more of an example of how to use the toolset than the game in itself. I feel the same way about the expansion campaigns, but they were a bit better. I think I played all the "Premium Modules" as well, remember those being pretty good but short. But yeah, what made NWN so amazing was the toolset, and the endless top-notch modules made by the community, not to mention the DM client and online "progressive worlds." Unfortunately I didn't get too many opportunities to run or play DMed sessions, though I did get pretty damn good with the toolset. I could and still can make a fully-functional single-player module, but just didn't have the focus to ever see any of those attempts through to completion. I played online for a while when I was a kid, and have particularly fond memories of a small strict roleplaying server called Battledale. I remember my first session in that progressive world, I joined up with a group to delve into the local crypt. At the bottom of the crypt there was this skull statue and I had my character do the "worship" emote, which is like the character on their knees bowing, but I was just joking around, my character wasn't evil or anything. But there was an LG cleric or paladin or whatever in the group and they got pissed. Having no experience with proper roleplaying whatsoever, I was confused and very apologetic and felt terrible, and couldn't get over it, haha. Then the player explained to me via private message that there were no hard feelings but that's just how their character would react in that situation. It blew my mind and I spent every free moment I could playing on that server for like a year after that. That particular server/world is probably my most cherished gaming experience. I've thought about maybe trying to find a good strict NWN roleplaying server nowadays, but that's just too much of a time commitment unfortunately.

That's a funny story about the LG cleric.  I played NWN, NWN2 and most of the expansions, and I had similar feelings.  I thought the main campaign was pretty boring but enjoyed casting crazy high-level spells and building my own castle in the later expansions.  I never really got into the online/mod scene too much though.  Do you have any links to some of the better mods?  I doubt I'll play them at this point, but I'd be curious just to see what people did with it.

I loved Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 as a kid... Those were the games that really blew my mind.  I remember in the starting town, being blown away by the detail and freedom to explore.  I had never really played a game like that before.  I started messing around, and attacked a cow... and realized you could actually DO that, and kill the cow!  The cow died.. and then all the NPCs got mad at me and started chasing me!  I remember such a rush of exhiliration.. that was the first time I felt like I could truly do ANYTHING in a game.  It sounds quaint now, but there really weren't many games like that at the time!  I still love Baldur's Gate 1, it's such a beautiful and atmospheric game, and it has such a magical sense of exploration, at least for me.  Baldur's Gate 2 was more polished but it was less about exploring a vast wilderness, and more about just moving from set-piece to set-piece.  Still fine, just missing some of the magic for me.

Another isometric RPG series I really enjoyed was Fallout 1, Fallout 2 and Fallout: Tactics.  Fallout: Tactics is an underappreciated gem in my opinion.  It got a bad rap when it first came out, I guess because people wanted something with a more engaging storyline like the previous Fallout games.  Fallout: Tactics does have a story, it just isn't the main focus.  It looks and plays great... I strongly recommend it to fans of games like XCOM and Jagged Alliance.  It's like a more polished, brutal version of those games, set in the evocative Fallout universe.

Planescape: Torment is probably one of the better-written games of all time, and it looks great too, but the main drawback is that the combat really sucks.  It's janky, difficult, and not very fun.  It's too bad, because it mars what might otherwise be rightly considered one of the best games of all time.  If you can get past the combat there's a lot to dig into, but I don't think I've ever actually beaten it because towards the end it just gets ridiculous.

[andrewwerdna]

Mar 12, 2020 12:40:02 GMT -5 dungeonsnake said:

Do you have any links to some of the better mods?  I doubt I'll play them at this point, but I'd be curious just to see what people did with it.

It was a long time ago that I was playing those, so I don't remember very many, but one that really sticks out in my mind as being excellent in every regard is Almraiven.

And *cough* A Dance with Rogues *cough*. It's very pornographic, but so well-written that I can't help but mention it.

[Griantor]

Though I'm not a big fan of 3D graphics (especially its early low-polygonal samples), NWN1 is one of my all-time favorite games. It seems that literally everything in this game is cozy and warming for me, music, GUI sounds, character portraits, inventory icons... And I like the original campaign too, not only add-ons.

[thekeeper]

I'm really missing out on the NWN1 love. It was always a box that piqued my interest, that super esoteric bleeding eye, but I never got into it. I have the diamond version on GOG, but haven't played yet because I know I won't be able to stop playing. Might have to get the original and install it on the oldshool pc setup I'm working on.

Believe it or not, I came to CRPGs much later in life, most pc or dos games I played when I was a kid were FPS's or adventure games. I did have Icewind Dale when I was a kid though, and that game really blew my mind at the time. It was the first game where I felt like I could really do anything I wanted. Don't want to continue a quest? Just kill the person. Steal anything, attack anything, go non-linear. Of course there are tons of games where you can diverge far off the main questline, but ID just gave me that first.

crystallogic13, speaking of Lords of Midnight, I tried to play the ZX Spectrum version a couple weeks ago without reading the manual first and it was the most obtuse RPG experience I've ever had, haha. Definitely one that requires the manual.