I want a decent RPG

[Lunatic Dreyfus]

I see you can now get the whole Baldur's Gate series plus expansions in one pack - very tempting, there must be months of gameplay there.

It is good value, but even better if you can grab it from a auction site. I just ordered a copy from 'somewhere' while waiting for the latest patch for NWN 2. Just be prepared for circa. 2000 gfx ( I often find myself trying to zoom in with the mouse wheel when playing its cousin, Icewind Dale 2 ) and a challenge.

With regards to the posters recommending Oblivion, I just can't get in to it all. Though that's possibly down to me just liking my fantasy worlds D&D style and having a party of devoted followers.

 

[tuftyfella]

Dungeon Siege 1+2 + expansion/s arent too bad
Titan Quest + Expansion

these are the only ones i could get into really, would recommend Oblivion for hugeness of gameplay but i found it pretty boring.

 

[WatchTower]

Dam I'm so addicted to Gothic 3 I love it just as much now as I did when I first bought it. Fantastic RPG.

 

[Tical]

Dam I'm so addicted to Gothic 3 I love it just as much now as I did when I first bought it. Fantastic RPG.

Hows its stability now? I tried it when it first came out, and turned it off within 15 minutes because of the bugs, 3 times in that 15 minutes it crashed.

Is it patched and a bit more stable now?

 

[Artemic]

Rememmber theres always BGtutu which updates the graphics from the first bg to the second games engine not todays graphic standards, but better none the less.. it also gives you all the new classes too.

 

[WatchTower]

Hows its stability now? I tried it when it first came out, and turned it off within 15 minutes because of the bugs, 3 times in that 15 minutes it crashed.

Is it patched and a bit more stable now?

There's a 1Gb patch on it's way. I think it may come with addons. So you may want to give it another batch then just in case the patch forces you to have to restart the game.

 

[Matmulder]

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion + mods

*THREAD CLOSED*

LOL!

Lets look at the OP's question in more depth...

I'm after one that has plenty of depth of story

Oblivions story is really shallow in RPG terms. And I call Oblivion an RPG in the loosest sense. BG series, KotOR and Deux Ex absolutely annihilate it for storylines.

and good character development

Awful levelling system, character cannot talk and theres no attachment/personality there at all.

fairly easy to get into.

To be fair, it is easy to get into.

I'd value decent gamepley over snazzy graphics.

Oblivions graphics and beautiful game world are its big selling point. Take those away and your not left with a lot.



IMO, the BG series, KotOR (especially if you like Star Wars), Fallout for old schooling, also consider Planetscape Torment and Deux Ex for Sci-Fi (more FPS with RPG elements)

But you can't consider any RPG until you've done a Baldurs Gate 1 through 2 complete run. Still the RPG king.

 

[Tical]

There's a 1Gb patch on it's way. I think it may come with addons. So you may want to give it another batch then just in case the patch forces you to have to restart the game.

Oooh, 1gb patch! Maybe it'll be playable for me then.

Is there any date been announced for when its released?

 

[Phalanx]

Oblivion is pretty rubbish without mods, amazing with mods though.

Morrowind is fantastic without mods, amazing with mods though

get both

 

[bakes0310]

diablo 2 with expansion pack

 

[colinuk]

Mech Commander 2? - or is that too old and too hard?

 

[MooSey-UK]

LOL!

Lets look at the OP's question in more depth...



Oblivions story is really shallow in RPG terms. And I call Oblivion an RPG in the loosest sense. BG series, KotOR and Deux Ex absolutely annihilate it for storylines.



Awful levelling system, character cannot talk and theres no attachment/personality there at all.



To be fair, it is easy to get into.



Oblivions graphics and beautiful game world are its big selling point. Take those away and your not left with a lot.



IMO, the BG series, KotOR (especially if you like Star Wars), Fallout for old schooling, also consider Planetscape Torment and Deux Ex for Sci-Fi (more FPS with RPG elements)

But you can't consider any RPG until you've done a Baldurs Gate 1 through 2 complete run. Still the RPG king.

I know where you live......



RPG's are typically a very personal affair. i loved my Dark Elf before S.I corrupted him.
i always think you only get out of a game what you put in.
but i can understand why many people do not like Oblivion.

they just need shooting

 

[HicRic]

I just got into Baldur's Gate 2 recently and I'm blown away, it's fantastic. I don't know why people are mentioning the graphics being outdated though - it's got absolutely lovely 2D pixel art backgrounds, quality art like that doesn't date nearly as badly as old 3D games. Loads of things to do in it and it's got an interesting story.

I'm pretty sure you can buy a dvd compilation of bg1 + expansion + bg2 + expansion for about a tenner now, bargain!

 

[Mp4]

You can get all of them for £10 - free postage

Baldur's Gate:

Chaos threatens to overwhelm the Sword Coast. The state of Amn is under siege to the south, the High Moor is being overrun in the north, and the region around Baldur's Gate is in turmoil. The player starts the game with one character. This character can be generated using any of the races, classes, and alignments allowed by ADVANCED DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS. Up to five other adventurers may join the central character as the epic quest proceeds. The player begins in the glorious castle of Candlekeep, an orphan seeking self-knowledge.

Tales Of The Sword Coast:

Continue your travels on the Sword Coast with the next set of adventures in the award-winning Baldur's Gate roleplaying game series. Legends of treasures lost and monsters to be defeated abound in the region. Almost all have at least some basis in truth. Are you up to the task? Will you return with even more fame than you accumulated in your previous travels? Or will you journey off, never to be heard from again the source of your own legend, in turn?

Baldurs Gate 2 - Shadows Of Amn:

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn is a mythic saga continuing the much-loved Baldur's Gate storyline. The Forgotten Realms adventure ensues along the southern portion of the Sword Coast in the merchant kingdom known as Amn. The borders of this region include such diverse environments as the Elven forests of Tethir, the Cloudpeak Mountains, The Drow cities of the Underdark, and the Capitol City of Amn, Athkatla.

Baldurs Gate 2 - Throne Of Bhaal:

Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal takes players through an all-new storyline rich with intrigue and treachery as they unravel the mysteries of the Dungeon of Watcher's Keep and explore other new areas such as the City of Saradush, the Fortified Monastery of Amkethran, Sendai's Underdark Fortress and the player's own Planar Stronghold.

 

[Surfer]

if you dont fancy the standard forgotten realms fantasy in BG series try smt like Arcanum, Wizardry Gold (7), and tbh i really liked Realms of Arkania when it first came out (the first one) beause the isometric turn based combat (none of this pretend turn based combat ala BG) was pretty good (it reminded me of the old SSI gold box series but with nicer graphics)

Arcanum

+ Atmosphere
+large interestingworld open environment (minimum loading)
+lots of experimenting and modifying of guns, potions objects etc
+ nice mix of magic and technology lots of character upgrade options (more than BG anyway)

- buggy
- combat is a bit dodgy at times (coz its still pseudo real time)
- graphics a little bit worse than BG2 but atmosphere makes up for it

BG2

+ Excellent storyline
+ good cast of characters

- too vanilla
- lots of loadings screens breaks up atmosphere
- combat still pseudo real time style

It depends how hard core you want to be. At one end of the spectrum theres ultra light rpg Final Fantasy and Dungeon Siege then at the other end you have stuff like Fallout, Temple of Elemental Evil, Arcanum, Planescape Torment etc.

If you just want items and level up your character/team with or without a good story then choose Dungeon Siege or Diablo/Titan Quest/Sacred

If your talking about First person RPGS (completely different from party-rpgs) then you have ones which are more about free-roaming adventuring like Oblivion and then you have ones which are more deeper RPG like Vampire Masquerade: Bloodlines, Deus Ex and Gothic series. (edit: actually modded oblivion is much much better more depth)

p.s. yeah i dont like real time combat in a proper PARTY rpg. For first person rpg then yeah its fine. Proper rpg should be tactical turn-based fares.

p.p.s of recent times best storyline and characters in a FPRPG goes to Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines

 

[dafloppyone]

planescape torment ...the best rpg of all time, no rpg has come close in writing

 

[Father Ted]

Thanks for all your advice, it's definitely helped me make a decision.
I'm going to go with Baldurs Gate and get the compilation packeage.

Cheers folks.

 

[wizard91]

Morrowind or Guild Wars, Oblivion maybe if you want to keep with the times.

 

[tuftyfella]

Mech Commander 2? - or is that too old and too hard?

too hard? one of my favoutite games tbh, very easy i thought

would love to see more mech games like MC2.

 

[Trojan]

I'd definately look at Planescape Torment, absolutely fantastic RPG with masses of depth and character storyline development. Should be able pick up for mere peanuts these days as well.