Over the past couple of weeks I've been furiously trading my games through Goozex and picking up gems from the past that I have either missed out on, or want to play again for nostalgia's sake. As I have been browsing through the website's enormous library, however, I've noticed something. Throughout my gaming career, I have pretty much ignored an entire genre, the PC RPG. This is not because the category doesn't appeal to me, its just something that never came to mind when buying new games. Of course, this isn't to say I've never played a PC RPG; I've been playing Diablo 2 for almost 5 years now and had a horrible, horrible affair with WoW for a while too, I just don't feel that these 2 games alone represent an entire genre that has undergone years of innovation and evolution. That is why I've decided to take time to visit what I've missed out on for all these years and play many of the gems of the genre that I've heard so much about. I am going to start a semi-regular series in which I detail my experiences with various games, and how, if at all, they effect me as a gamer. I hope to explore the intricacies of a game type I know little about, and find what each new game breings to the table.
For my first step into the PC RPG world, I will be playing Freedom Force Vs. The Third Reich, as it comes highly reccomended from a friend, but, being new to the genre, I would appreciate any suggestions for games I should play after that. It doesn't matter if they're old or new, I just want to know of any PC RPGs that you have enjoyed and think I should experience for myself. I only ask one thing:
No MMORPGs please. I want to focus on games that have a definate ending and don't require a huge time commitment to play. Plus I finally managed to kick my WoW addiction and would prefer not to get re-introduced.
I look forward to any suggestions, as well as playing all the PC RPGs I can. Freedom Force just finished installing so hopefully I'll be able to start my musings in not too long!
Anachronox, Omikron: The Nomad Soul, Arcanum, Arx Fatalis, Planescape: Torment, Baldur's Gate & Icewind Dale series. Deus Ex, the Fallout series, the Neverwinter Nights series uh...
I think I'm missing a few of my personal favorites, but yeah those are some pretty spiffy ones.
I'll second Deus Ex by a mile. My wife swears by the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale series too.
i just got mass effect for pc. fucking amazing. way better than the 360 ver if you have the rig for it.
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines was a great RPG - just make sure to get the unofficial patch or it's buggy as hell. Even though it's an adventure game, The Longest Journey is another great game as well.
X-com: UFO Defense and the Fallout series.
MrSadistic summarized most of the great PC RPGs, but he forgot about the Ultima series. But really start with the Fallout series, it is amazing.
The definitive and most important PC RPG series is Ultima, but then again most of these games are probably not very easy to get into from today's perspective. So I would recommend Baldur's Gate. That's a great game that's still very playable and a classic PC RPG experience. If you want a more recent game, I'd say Oblivion.
I used to be a total addict to Neverwinter Nights, those games rock! and they work on all major Operating Systems ( Lnx,macos,win )
NwN was quite the obsession of mine for about a year it really grabs that old PnP feel in a computer setting
Why no one mentions SYSTEM SHOCK 2!!!??? :'(
I dunno. I never really thought of SS 2 as an RPG, I was kinda hesitant to list Deus Ex as well. I mostly disregard any FPS as an RPG.