Arcanum rocked my world. The world was "believable", there was a well established political and world structure; and moreso, you could essentially do whatever you wanted. It was a very open game; so it's not really a surprise that it came from most of the devs who made Fallout (Who left Interplay and formed Troika, who closed down after the Vampire Masquerade issues).
I'd like to see an RPG set in a real life environment - something like the environment in Grand Theft Auto, but not about crime. I'm sick of all these "Knights of X", "Tales of Y" and "Z Quest", isn't it time these RPGs grew up with us?
Shab, the humor of Arcanum is excellent too IMO. The book that comes along with it is worth the price of the game. I didn't care for the lack of race combinations at the very start but loved all the backgrounds you could give your guy (i.e. "hit with the ugly stick"). Man, once you got into it you could pretty customize ANYTHING. Mechanics, chemistry, and spellcraft all had to compete with things like Personality, Strength, and I.Q. for your few precious skill points.
Man, that game was way too big though. I remember foiling a (get this) bank robbery in some town, getting my ass kicked by an elf storeowner, killed by some ghost in a cave or something, and checking out some whore houses in a giant town. I should really go back to it sometime, if only to see the awesome FMV at the start where the knight in full plate mal and helmet whips out the shotgun. Awesome!
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Actually, one of my favorite RPGs is ADOM. It just drops you straight into a world, it's up to you if you want to save it or destroy it. There's thousands of things to do, monsters to fight, pools to get drunk from, etc. It's all the little bits that make it fun. Like how if you're short on arrows, you can just kick down a few dungeon doors and turn the wood into arrows (with the right skill). Or that you can build bridges or how frost rays can freeze water. And one of the best parts of the game is getting a wish; you'd get a wish usually where you'd least expect (like by rubbing an ugly ring or drinking from a pool) and the excitement of getting what you wanted is damn good. Or if you played a necromancer, you could just kill some gnoll chieftain, take his corpse, and turn him into a mummy bodyguard . And damn, the items in the game are fun, everything from flaming swords to artifacts guarded by an uber-tough monster. The way your items can be blessed, cursed, rusty, corroded, or even destroyed by an angry god is also fun.
Wow, that's the most I've ever rambled in a paragraph about any game . ADOM kicks Diablo's ass anytime, except that it doesn't have multiplayer and the graphics takes getting used to. But it's free, so that makes up for it . Don't get me started on Arcanum, that'll be another long paragraph, but I'll let someone else do it. Arcanum was great, it's just so fun having a guy in mechanized platemail and a rod that blasts critters with electricity . There's only 3 things I hated about that game: There's a level limit (= skill limit ), the only way to quickly go up levels is through combat, and that the storyline sometimes got in the way.
I'd like to see an RPG set in a real life environment - something like the environment in Grand Theft Auto, but not about crime. I'm sick of all these "Knights of X", "Tales of Y" and "Z Quest", isn't it time these RPGs grew up with us
Plenty of those games, they've been around almost as long as the fantasy games, but aren't famous for a reason. Look for something in the 'cyberpunk' genre. Most of them are about something in the near future in some grimy city controlled by huge companies, though a few are a bit more modern. I actually planned to make a few, but never got into it coz I really couldn't get the storyline right. In a fantasy, you can just kill some evil baron/warlock/demon/cult master. In modern times? A terrorist boss? A kingpin? The head of the secret police? It's just not the same.
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
Well Muz, I make it your challenge to design and complete an RPG set in real life, 2007 - with no monsters, mythological creatures and faeries allowed.
The story has to be great. Otherwise, an rpg is worthless no matter how good the gameplay. Also, I never really liked the random battles. Instead, I prefer roaming monsters that start a battle with you once they collide with the hero character. Also, Ive played some RPGs where the battle system is a front-view one. It means that you see the enemy as you would see one in an FPS and also that you cannot see your own characters. That sucks majorly.
Like some other people mentioned I also find the lvling up, abilities, skills and classes important. Having those things diverse really adds to the replay ability of the game since you want to explore the various combinations to see if you can make a superior character in the next run.
I tend to go for the more action based RPGs like Diablo I & II but I really enjoyed FF VII but they are quite different so I guess if you have a good gameplay engine you won't need as much of a story and the other way around. (though both in a game would kick ass )
Well Muz, I make it your challenge to design and complete an RPG set in real life, 2007 - with no monsters, mythological creatures and faeries allowed.
I did one about 20% of the way, then scrapped it because it was turning out to be a typical chinese gangster movie. Sure, I'll make one by next year. But first, I want to want to make a short RPG parody
What I enjoy in an RPG is when buying a new weapon, it actually looks like a new weapon during battles etc.
Actually, I'd agree with that too. There's a few rare gems out there like Temple of Elemental Evil where I'd pick a type of armor or weapon just because it looks cooler.
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.