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My favorite genre of all time: the Role-Playing Games. Due to large
numbers of sub-genres and ripoffs, this genre is hard to define. Perhaps
the proper definition is simply "a game which plays according to a set
of pen-and-paper style RPG rules." But for me, the word RPG means a
great storyline with multiple paths and endings, deep and interesting
characters, conversations in which the player chooses the response, lots
of character customization, and an outstanding level of replayability.
This kind of RPG gets rarer and rarer because of long development times
and a limited fanbase, but these are the ones that will really suck you
into that virtual world and put you in the shoes of that character you
created. And then the rest... is all up to you.
NOTE: Some of the games listed here could be considered action-RPGs and
may even call themselves such. However, if a game allows the player the
ability to make choices between good and evil, then this is enough to
separate it from the regular Diablo-clone dredge to deserve a place
here, in my opinion.
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Short Review:
This game is, with hardly a shadow of a doubt, my favorite
game of all time. The only games that even come close are
the other entries in the Baldur's Gate series: the original BG and
Throne of Bhaal. Taken as a whole, the series is one of the best,
most complete role-playing epics ever to grace the world of gaming.
And the series should certainly be played as a whole, from your
humble beginnings in Candlekeep in BG1 all the way to the climactic
ending (yes, a real, final ending) in Throne of Bhaal. All in
all, however, Shadows of Amn is probably the best of the series. I
remember when I first purchased this game in an Electronics
Boutique, and the cashier said he would not recommend it, because it
was far too long and complicated. That is exactly what I love
about this game.
There is so much to do, and so many different ways to do all of
it, that one could not possibly see it all in one or two plays: the
game
begs to be played at least three or more times. The level of
freedom and customizability is one virtually unseen in modern RPG's.
The number of character classes and weapon types to choose from can
be overwhelming at first, but you'll learn to love it. The gameplay
uses the Dungeons & Dragons rules, but one need not know them to
play. Somewhere between turn-based and real-time, Baldur's Gate
involves pausing during battles to direct the strategic movement of
your party members (up to six). But combat is only half of the
gameplay. The other half involves exploring the world and talking to
the people in order to make the choices that will define your
character, your gameplay experience, and the final outcome of the
story. While not as complex at choice-making as Torment or Fallout,
BG2 makes up for it by presenting the overall story in a far more
exciting and gripping way, and it still involves much more choices
than later RPGs. By modern standards, the game's 2D graphics, shown
from an isometric point of view somewhat like an RTS, are pretty
primitive. But unlike in modern RPGs, each area is truly a work of
art, unique unto itself, and the level of detail and awesome power
of the spell effects are yet to be matched by any 3D competitor. It
also bears mentioning that the sound is fantastic, featuring stellar
voice acting and a sweeping, epic musical score that suits the game
perfectly. This game is truly a masterpiece both of the genre (RPG)
and the medium (gaming), and anyone with enough patience to enjoy an
RPG of any kind should not miss out on the opportunity to experience
Baldur's Gate. For modern gamers, I recommend checking out Shadows
of Amn first, since it involves a more serious, in-depth story and
characters than its predecessor. If you enjoy it, then finish the
series with Throne of Bhaal. And then you can go back and play
Baldur's Gate as well, or better yet, start all over and play
through the series as a whole. If you're like me, you'll find it to
be an awesome experience to enjoy again and again. They simply don't
make them like this anymore, and it's a terrible, crying shame. I
just can't stop gushing! Baldur's Gate II: Best. Game. Ever. |
Related Stuff: The Beginner's
Guide to Baldur's Gate - Baldur's Gate II Complete Character
Guide -
Baldur's Gate LEGO Minifigs
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| I've already given you my
raving about Shadows of Amn above, so I see no need go through all
of that over again. However, I will say this: if you play Shadows of
Amn, you absolutely can't miss Throne of Bhaal. This is not so much
an expansion pack as it is a sequel. And guess what? It's the last
sequel. Throne of Bhaal wraps up the entire Baldur's Gate series in
a story that is unfortunately somewhat more linear than the previous
installments, but far more powerful and epic in every respect. Your
characters' powers will ascend to near-godly levels (level 40 and
up!) as you quite literally rise to that level yourself at the end
of the story. You can't miss wrapping up the best RPG series of all
time with this stellar closing chapter that will leave you both
satisfied and distraught that it's all over now, and there probably
will never be anything like it in gaming again. Time to play it
again then! And again, and again, and again... |
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Short Review:
This was the game that basically introduced the world to the "CRPG,"
as it is called, and it created quite a stir when it was first
released. Since then, it still retains its appeal and remains one of
the best RPGs ever. I've already given you my raving about Shadows
of Amn above, so I see no need go through all of that over again.
However, there are considerable differences between the original
Baldur's Gate and its sequel. You will find the atmosphere to BG1 is
much lighter, more carefree, and filled with comedy that even goes
so far as to break the fourth wall on occasion. The story does have
its darker parts too, however, especially as the terrible secret of
your character's background is slowly revealed. The story and
characters of BG1 are not as deep and interactive as BG2, but the
game actually has its own advantages as well. Besides the sunny,
more classical medieval atmosphere (which I greatly enjoy) the game
also offers considerably more freedom to wander than BG2. You can go
almost anywhere you like, until your world map is completely full of
locations that you can travel to with the click of a button. There
are at least two quests to be found in every single spot, so the
amount of variety and things to see easily competes with the game's
sequel, perhaps even surpassing it. The combat is simpler due to the
fact that your character is a low level (the level cap is around 8)
and there are relatively few magical items to be found. However,
this actually makes it more challenging in some cases. Personally, I
found the game great fun from the moment I started playing it, and
at first I didn't even like Baldur's Gate 2 by comparison. The two
games are considerably different, as I said, and it's hard to pick a
favorite. But why bother? Just play through both! Your character
will carry over from the first to the second, and then finally to
the third (Throne of Bhaal), where the story hits its epic
conclusion. |
Related Stuff: The Beginner's
Guide to Baldur's Gate -
Baldur's Gate Complete Character Guide -
Baldur's Gate LEGO Minifigs
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| It's hard for me to rate
any entry in the Baldur's Gate series anything below 5 stars, but
Tales of the Sword coast is simply not on the same level as the
other BG games. Unlike Throne of Bhaal, this expansion truly is
merely an expansion pack. It adds new items, new areas, new enemies,
and a decent amount of new stuff to do, but it does not advance the
overall storyline in any way, and the sub-stories behind the various
quests have relatively little variety compared with the rest of the
series. Still, it's hard to even buy Baldur's Gate 1 without the
Tales of the Sword Coast expansion being included these days, so I
recommend installing it if you do get it. It does add to the
original game, and more of good old Baldur's Gate certainly never
hurt anybody. I can't get enough, myself. |
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Short Review:
Ask any old-school RPG player worth his salt to name the greatest
role-playing games of all time, and you can be sure that Planescape:
Torment will be somewhere in the list. With its high level of
complexity and daunting difficulty, combined with the bizarre
setting and freakish cast of characters, Torment is a game with a
pretty limited appeal (basically, it appeals to RPG nuts and RPG
nuts only). That is probably the reason that it was not very
successful financially. However, it's what one may consider a "cult
classic" of the RPG genre. The game follows the Nameless One, whom
you do not create yourself, but whom you may sculpt to your liking
by picking his stats and playing his role. Your class and your
alignment depend on your actions within the game. The storyline is a
dark and bizarre yet fascinating and philosophical tale of personal
discovery, as you uncover the dark secrets of your past. All
storylines like to have some dark secrets to discover about the
character, but there's nothing cliché or corny about the way PsT
does it; you literally explore every facet of your character, and
you are forced to deal with the results of past actions that you
can't even remember. The game doesn't have quite the same level of
customization and variety as, say, Baldur's Gate, but each character
you meet is so unique that a standard level-up and inventory system
wouldn't suit them. As you proceed, your actions shift you toward
not only Good and Evil, but also Law and Chaos. The endings you
choose are also not merely limited to "good" and "bad." In fact,
it's questionable as to whether there truly is a "good ending" -
something that speaks volumes about how seriously the game takes
itself. Along the way, the story is helped by the great voice acting
and the awesome music, the main theme of which (repeated throughout
the game) paints a perfect image of our tragic hero. While all in
all it's not as "fun" as many other RPGs and starts out rather slow
(but builds up considerably later), it's still an awesome,
unforgettable role-playing experience. If you're into the genre,
don't even think about missing Planescape: Torment. |
Related Stuff: Planescape: Torment Character Guide -
Planescape: Torment LEGO Minifigs
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Short Review:
There have been Star Wars games of every imaginable genre, but, for
a very long time, there were no true RPGs. Then something amazing
happened: BioWare, the creators of my favorite RPG of all time
(Baldur's Gate) came along and blew everyone completely away. With
an intriguing storyline that takes place thousands of years before
even the Phantom Menace, great characters, fantastic voice acting,
and a brand new awesome musical score, the game is easily better
than at least half of the Star Wars movies (and I'm sure you
can guess which half). As with all BioWare RPGs, the player creates
a custom character at startup and then proceeds through the game,
making choices that will affect his personal alignment (Light or
Dark side in this case) and powers, as well as the outcome of the
story. While the player is not offered as much freedom as in
Baldur's Gate as far as choices go, this is largely due to the more
cinematic method of storytelling, which many players will no doubt
enjoy. While hardcore RPG gamers will be disappointed in this lack
of depth and complexity (since the game is unfortunately aimed at a
younger, simpler audience), they should still find KotOR worth at
least two solid plays through. Personally, I loved it. With a wide
variety of items, weapons, Force powers, and customization, the
real-time-with-pause style of combat is appealing enough to keep you
interested, while still being simple enough for more casual players
to grasp quickly (unlike BG2). The storyline is intriguing (even
more so than half the films, as I said), and so are the varied and
memorable characters, including various Jedi, a Mandalorian, and one
very evil assassin droid. In fact, half the fun in my case was
taking different characters with me to hear their amusing
interactions and reactions to the various situations presented. The
writing in this case is just plain excellent. As far as graphics go, KotOR is a
huge improvement over BioWare's previous game, Neverwinter Nights.
NWN was BioWare's first 3D RPG, and it was far, far less than
impressive. But KotOR, with its vast environments, skyboxes, and
solid character models, is beyond superior. All in all, while
it's not quite an old-school RPG masterpiece, Knights of the Old
Republic is still a fantastic experience, and, at least in my
opinion, perhaps the greatest Star Wars game ever made. |
Related Stuff:
Star Wars: KotOR LEGO Minifigs
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Short Review:
Without a doubt one of the best RPGs I've played in a long, long
time. Some might find the Witcher's rather dark, dirty world to be
drab and gloomy, but I found it quite refreshing. Refreshing
because instead of your typical cliché Dungeons & Dragons-esque high
fantasy fare with magic flowing everywhere in abundance, all races
living side-by-side in equal harmony, and good and evil clearly
defined like black and white, the Witcher presents things far, far
more realistically and believably. The world looks dirty and
medieval, the peasants are superstitious and terrified of both magic
and non-human creatures, and the decisions you must make come almost
entirely in shades of grey: do you aid the humans who are largely
hateful racists, or the elf and dwarf rebels who are largely
murderers and terrorists? These are the kinds of decisions you will
face, and rather than having an impact only on the immediate rewards
or some arbitrary character alignment, these decisions have both
immediate and long-term effects on the storyline itself. The
combat system is pretty unique and provides a bit more fun and
variety to simple character-based sword-fighting than most
hack-n-slash style games. I will say, however, that it's a bit too
easy at times. Definitely consider playing on the hardest
difficulty. Also, some have complained about the game's dialogue and
voice acting, but you can safely ignore most of these complaints.
The voice actors are quite good, with authentic-sounding accents
that add even more to the game's great atmosphere, and the writing
is far better and more original than most RPGs, with only a few
oddities (like strange cusses or confusing lines) that are probably
the result of poor translation, since the game is based on the
novels of a Polish fantasy author. This, however, is actually one of
the game's high points; it's nice to see the well-written production
of an established author... compared to Oblivion, for example, which
desperately needs new writers. Perhaps the only major drawback to
this is that your character is unchangeable. You are the author's
protagonist, Geralt of Rivia, the White Wolf, a Witcher, born and
bred to hunt monsters for a living. You can make Geralt's decisions
for him and choose his abilities, but altering his physical
appearance, name, race, gender, etc. is impossible. Still, this
"flaw" is overlookable in the face of the game's myriad advantages
and overall greatness at achieving what I see as the goals of the
genre: a rich world to enter, a great story to take part in, and
important decisions to make that have an actual impact on the game's
outcome. Keep in mind, potential players, that this is very much a
mature title, with plenty of adult language, bloody violence (of
course), and also quite a lot of sex. But if you're up for this sort
of thing and want a mature, intelligent RPG to play, then that game
is the Witcher. |
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Short Review:
Also known to some as "Baldur's Gate Lite," Icewind Dale operates on
the Infinity Engine, the same engine as BG, and it plays in exactly
the same way as far as combat goes. However, this game is more of an action-RPG,
concentrating less on story and more on combat. You create your
entire party of characters all yourself at the beginning of the
game, and then you begin romping your way through monster-filled
areas and dungeons. So why, you ask, did I place this game in the
same section as the regular RPGs? Because compared to modern action-RPGs,
Icewind Dale is practically Baldur's Gate itself. Besides the choice
of good and evil alignments for each character you create, you are
also offered the chance to be either heroic or villainous at many
points in the game, and you will find many items that are inherently
good or evil. The environments in IWD are varied and unique, the
story is decent enough to string you along (far better than most
"action-RPGs"), and the dialogue and music are fantastic (I'm very
glad the version I bought included the soundtrack). With the
expansion pack Heart of Winter (the game is almost impossible to
find these days without the expansion included in the package) and
the free-to-download expansion Trials of the Luremaster (it's an
official expansion too), Icewind Dale is practically packed with
content - well worth the money, to be sure. Due
partially to its similarity to BG (ahh, the awesome Infinity
Engine), as well as its own appeal, I personally love Icewind Dale
and consider it perhaps one of my favorite games of all time. Blame
it on nostalgia and love of Baldur's Gate if you want but I can't
help but rate it high. |
Related Stuff: Icewind Dale Party Creation Guide (also
useful for creating parties in Baldur's Gate)
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Short Review:
When I first heard of Jade Empire, I didn't expect to like it. In
fact, I was highly disappointed in BioWare for making an RPG with
simple beat-em-up style combat and set in a cartoony and colorful
fantasy China. However, when I finally sat down and played the game,
I was pleasantly surprised. In fact, it could be said that this game
was the one that secured my position as a borderline BioWare fanboy.
The worst aspects of the game are the limited character
customization and the somewhat simplistic combat system, but if
you're like me, it will take far more than that to keep you from a
BioWare RPG. As with all BioWare RPGs (discounting a few certain expansion
packs), this game features a good story, intriguing characters,
great voice acting, wonderful music and a good deal of variety to be
found in all places, practically insisting that you play it at least
twice. Besides the more action-oriented, real-time beat-em-up combat system
(featuring a variety of fighting styles), it plays a
lot like KotOR, with similar dialogue trees and similar Light and
Dark Side alignment choices (in this case, the Way of the Open Palm
and Way of the Closed Fist). The worst thing about the story
(besides the fact that it's a tad short) is the way you can choose
the good or evil ending very easily at the end of the game, and your
choice eradicates all previous alignment choices, turning you either
fully good or evil. Some people might like this though, as it allows
them to see both endings with only one simple savegame load. There
are enough other choices, however, to warrant playing through the
whole game again. I thoroughly enjoyed both of my play-throughs,
since I was evil the first time and felt like such a despicable
villain by the end of it that I just had to play again and redeem my
character in Jade Master difficulty (I pretended he used his powers
to go back in time and restart his life - yes, I'm that crazy). I highly recommend the PC version, which besides
the new features, also has the
aforementioned "Jade
Master" difficulty mode. Although some call Jade Empire an action-RPG, it's
actually much more than that, and I think if you'll play it you'll
discover what I mean. It's quite an entertaining game full of fun
and interesting characters that tells a story in which your actions
can influence the outcome. Sometimes the gameplay falls short and
the story isn't as deep or free-roaming as some RPGs, but I still
loved it! Give it a try! |
Related Stuff: Jade Empire LEGO
Minifigs
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Short Review:
Mass Effect is a sci-fi RPG, which is the main reason I
love it: because you see so few sci-fi Western-style RPGs. Some say
the universe is very similar to Star Wars and/or Halo, and the fact
is that it DOES bear many similarities to these sci-fi settings,
just as they bear similarities to the previous ones that THEY
copied. Mass Effect is like a homage to great classic sci-fi, and
trust me; if you like sci-fi you'll love this universe BioWare has
forged. Besides a few overlookable technical flaws (annoying load
times and inventory management, as well as a pretty short campaign), my main complaints about the game actually have to do with its role-playing
aspects. The new dialogue "wheel" system is a great idea that really
streamlines conversations, but it's sometimes quite irrelevant, often
containing fake or misleading choices that can be confusing until
you get used to the system. Also, the characters in your party,
though they all have interesting histories for their (alien)
species, have rather bland personalities, and are not as interactive
or well-developed as I've come to expect in a BioWare game. I even
noticed some instances when, no matter which character you bring
with you, they all make the same comment about a situation. This was
a real disappointment after the memorable characters of KotOR, and of
course Baldur's Gate II. This is not to say the game utterly fails
as an RPG; there are a few great stories and some hard choices to be
had; I just wish the characters had matched up to other BioWare
titles. Besides this, the rest of the game is just plain downright
awesome. The character-building system is surprisingly robust, with
a variety of appearances and character classes/skills to choose
from. The combat, although sometimes iffy due to poor AI (ironic
considering your main enemies in the storyline are super-intelligent
AI units), is actually better than I expected it to be. Somehow
BioWare managed, for the first time that I've seen, to combine
real-time shooter combat and even vehicular combat with role-playing
effectively. This is a game where you can switch between a variety
of weapons and powers on the fly, give your party members tactical
orders, hug walls and objects for cover, and drive a tank-like
moon-rover. All of it is surprisingly addictive, if you ask me. And
best of all, it all looks AWESOME, as the art style, graphics, and
great musical score (with the exception of the credits song, which
was definitely not my thing) all combine to suck you into a
cinematic sci-fi experience. The side-quests could have stood a bit
more variety, but they were okay. In the end, the game is definitely
above most titles from other genres in my opinion, and I'd buy two
copies of this game over most FPS titles, but it does fall short of
other RPG's in character and storytelling. Still definitely worth
the money and definitely worth two play-throughs, however. |
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Short Review:
After the critical and financial success of the original KotOR, a
sequel was inevitable. However, the developing reigns for this game
were passed from BioWare to one of the spinoff companies of the
now-deceased Black Isle: Obsidian
Software (and strangely enough, BioWare gave NWN2 to them as well -
see below). With fewer resources and a limited amount of development
time that was cut short by LucasArts, Obsidian didn't have a chance
to make KotOR2 as good as it could have been. As a result, it does not feel as solid
or well-polished as the original. That said, however, the game does
have some of its own advantages. My biggest disappointment was that
I was hoping KotOR2 would continue the story of your KotOR1
character, as with the Baldur's Gate series. But no, the game puts
you in the shoes of an entirely new protagonist at the helm of an
entirely new tale. Still, the story of this
new character is darker, and perhaps more original and less
predictable (though also more unbelievable), than that found in
KotOR1. The best new feature, role-playing wise, is the ability for the player
to now influence his followers toward his own alignment, turning good-guys
to the Dark Side or vice versa (although this has limited effect on
their actual attitudes in most cases). The biggest letdown of the
game is the lackluster ending, many features of which were not
implemented due to LucasArts cutting short the development time, as
I said. However, other parts of the game are very well-done, and two
of the planets are much longer and more in-depth than any in the
first game (though the other two are disappointingly short by
comparison). Actual gameplay is often a bit too easy, but the
powerful new Jedi/Sith classes available and their corresponding
abilities really do make you feel more powerful - and some of the
boss battles are still a bit of a challenge. All in all, most of the things that made KotOR great,
including the story, customization, voice acting, and music, are
still present here. It's not quite as good, but if you enjoyed the
original KotOR, there's no reason to skip out on KotOR2. |
Related Stuff:
Star
Wars: KotOR II: The Sith Lords LEGO Minifigs
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Short Review:
Ask any old-school RPG player to name the top 5 or even top 3
greatest RPGs of all time, and you can be guaranteed Fallout will be
somewhere on their list. Ask any old-school RPG player, that is...
except for me. Personally, I fail to understand what it is about
this game that makes die-hard RPG fans worship it like a god. It has
little to offer in terms of storyline, characters, and, if you ask
me, fun, compared to other games like Baldur's Gate, Planescape:
Torment, or KotOR. The story isn't a story so much as a background,
just like the post-nuclear wasteland world the developers have
created and fight monsters there. As far as the world goes, it's
pretty awesome. The atmosphere is one of the best things about the
game, and everything from the appearance of the items to the entire
user interface fits right in. Perhaps the most intriguing thing
about the game, role-playing wise, is that all of your actions, or
lack thereof, will affect the outcome of the game in the final
ending. Unfortunately, none of these actions or outcomes are really
all that engaging, in my opinion, so unless you're a hard-core RPG
fan like I mentioned earlier, it may bore you. The fighting system
could be better done as well. I don't mind a game with turn-based
gameplay, so long as it involves some use of complex strategy, since
that is the main advantage of the system, but Fallout only lets you
control one character (you), while all of your followers have minds
of their own. This makes the turn-based gameplay rather tedious, and
it involves little actual skill or thinking - it's mostly just luck,
with a little bit of good timing. The character development system,
which is downright awesome (one of my favorite systems of all
time)... is more fun than actually using the character you've
developed. All in all, if the story and combat had been more
compelling, I would have absolutely loved the game. It's full of
quirky humor and tons of cool things to do and stuff to find, and
the final ending can be influenced in a variety of ways. But despite
all this, I never found reason to play it over and over again like
most RPGs, and I wouldn't really sit it beside my favorites of the
genre on my best-RPG list. But then, that's largely because I'm not
all that crazy about post-apoc settings... so I hope you RPG nuts out there will try
not to hate me for this. |
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Short Review:
I was surprised to hear that Obsidian Software had picked up the
rights to make sequels to two BioWare games: the stellar Star
Wars: KotOR and the abysmal Neverwinter Nights, the worst BioWare
RPG ever made. Obsidian's sequel to KotOR was slightly sub-par and
disappointing next to the original. However, their sequel to
Neverwinter Nights... was actually improved upon the original
in nearly every area I wanted! I bought this game expecting to hate
it, since I disliked the first one, but what I got was something
entirely different than I expected. Unlike its predecessor, NWN2
concentrates more on an in-depth single-player experience than the
online multiplayer aspects (although multiplayer is still there,
with all of the original features, along with a much more complex
game editor). The complexity of the character creation and
customization is almost unprecedented, with more races and character
classes available than I've ever seen. The story is not all that
fantastic, but it's well-told and entertaining, and the characters
are mostly interesting and varied as well. The Aurora engine has
been greatly improved upon, and outdoor scenery finally looks more
like actual outdoors and less like a blocky tileset. You can even
see the sky! The game plays, strangely enough, like a combination of
KotOR, NWN, and Icewind Dale II, which is great, if you ask me.
Unfortunately it's greatest flaw is that it lacks the variety of any
of those titles. The biggest problem is that there are only a few
divergent paths available on what is otherwise a very restricted and
linear storyline (and although the final battle can go many
different ways, be warned: the ending video is always the same
rather vague cliffhanger). Yes, even NWN was less linear. It's only
really worthy of two play-throughs, and after that it can get quite
repetitive. The voice acting and soundtrack are a bit iffy as well
in spots, but they're at least as good as the original game's. Many
people have been almost unable to play this game due to bugs, but I
had no such problems at all. Just be sure to install the latest
patch before you start and it will probably be fine. All in all,
it's a decent RPG, though far from being stellar. If you're a fan of
the genre, like me, then at least check out NWN2. It will certainly
provide you with some hours of entertainment. |
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impressions you had of Neverwinter Nights 2: A pleasant
medieval-fantasy atmosphere; mostly stereotypical yet fairly
interesting companions; a linear but entertaining storyline; and a
pretty vague cliffhanger of an ending. Okay, now reverse all those
things to: dark, bizarre atmosphere; companions who are really weird
on the exterior but with surprisingly dull personalities; a
non-linear but rather depressing storyline; and a very clear-cut
ending that leaves little to the imagination. Now you have Mask of
the Betrayer. As you can see, some of these changes are good,
especially the non-linear story and the presence of an actual ending
that is influenced by your actions. The story is also less
character-driven than the first, concentrating far more on you and
your new "spirit-eater" curse than the problems of your companions,
making it a darker, more introspective tale. This is also something
I'm not against, but I wish they had made the companions less
freakish and boring (not to mention ugly - their in-game models are
far more revolting than their new hand-drawn portraits), and I
really, really wish they had given you the opportunity to save some
of your previous companions and perhaps travel with them, because I
still liked them. Instead, their fates are glazed over in a couple
of sentences, and around 80% of them (sorry to say) suffered
horrible deaths soon after you left. This made the story all the
more depressing. Anyway, there are the usual additions: more spells,
more classes, more races, etc., and Epic level abilities to go along
with your new epic levels. However, even though the story will keep
you interested, the combat is somewhat iffy. Don't expect the
feeling of power you get with the epic battles in BG2: Throne of
Bhaal. Though some of the fights are epic and extremely challenging
(even frustratingly impossible due to the many immunities of the
monsters you face), others seem a breeze, especially if you're a
fighter-type with your new, more easily-enchanted weapons. Speaking
of which, the new item-enhancement seems to have lowered the number
of new items you actually find in the game. Clearly, this is no
hack-n-slash. All in all, MotB has a lot of good things going for
it, but I just can't say I found the campaign that entertaining, and
it needed a little more fun to balance out the bleak and depressing
introspection (one reason Planescape: Torment is still far better).
Ultimately, I recommend the game, though less enthusiastically than
I'd hoped. Still, it's definitely not one that RPG players want to
miss, especially with the RPG drought we've been having lately. |
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Short Review:
Of all the games that run on the Infinity Engine (the same engine as
Baldur's Gate), Icewind Dale II is probably my least favorite. I
won't say it's the "worst," since that sounds too negative. I'll
just say it's my least favorite. All in all, I was disappointed in
this game. Unlike any of the previous Infinity Engine games, IWD2
runs on 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons, which means the messed-up
stats system and overly-complex use of skills and feats are all
there, making your gameplay more miserable. As you can see, I prefer
the older versions (of both D&D and of the Infinity Engine). 3rd
Edition does have some advantages though, and it at least throws in
some variety from other IE games (as does the redesign of the engine), making the game
play differently than its predecessor. As far as the story goes,
IWD2 does a good job, with great voice acting (the main characters
are voiced by Aerie and Jan Jansen from BG2, yay!) and good music.
However, a lot of it feels like deja vu, as the game takes
you back through many of the same areas from IWD1 all over again
(although they are redesigned now to look different), and it ends up
feeling like a sort of messed-up remake of the original more than an
actual sequel. One thing IWD2 tries to do is mix up the combat with
other, more puzzle-like things to do, but these just get annoying
and cause the game to drag in places. The "battle square" and the
maze-like forest will drive you crazy. In the end, IWD2 is a good
game, and if you really liked IWD1, then you should definitely give
it a try. But it's certainly not the best of the infinity engine
games. |
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Short Review:
The worst RPG ever made by BioWare (discounting one of its own
expansion packs). I'd like to say "but that's
still a great RPG," but unfortunately I'd be lying. Neverwinter Nights
is perhaps good, but not great. I waited for this game ever since I bought Baldur's
Gate 1, since they claimed it to be the "spiritual successor to
Baldur's Gate" ... and I could not have been more disappointed.
Graphics-wise, the game is far inferior not only to newer games, but
also to older ones - the low-poly, blockish, simplistic models are
far less impressive than the highly detailed 2D world of Baldur's
Gate. Then there's the fact that, due to the terrible "tile-set"
method with which all of the areas were developed, every part of the
game looks almost exactly the same. NWN was developed far more for
multiplayer than single-player, which came as a huge disappointment
to me, causing me to be even more disgusted that they had advertised
this as the "spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate." Multiplayer is supposed to be used like a pen-and-paper D&D
game, only on the computer, but I never was able to find such a game
online - just people using the system to chat with each other while
standing around in boredom. It was terrible. And the single-player
story is, quite frankly, pitiful, and pretty much entirely
forgettable compared to any other BioWare title. The gameplay is
about like Baldur's Gate since it's pseudo-turn-based, using the
spacebar to pause. But all appeal of this system (and of D&D itself) is lost since you can only control a single
character now, which takes away nearly all of the actual strategy
and therefore the fun. Even the sound effects, voice
acting, and music of Neverwinter Nights are surprisingly bland. In
the end, I just see almost nothing good about NWN, and I usually
just try to forget it existed. Although it's an okay RPG that still
holds a few hours of boredom-alleviation for role-players, it's
nowhere near one of those unforgettable classics you'll want to play
again and again... like most of BioWare's other titles. |
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| It's hard to rate HotU. It's not that great as far as RPGs go, but
it does significantly improve the original NWN in some ways, and
it's certainly a far, far better expansion than the original
(Shadows of Undrentide). At least HotU adds some new player heads, new monsters,
higher levels, and new tilesets, along with a moderately decent
single-player romp that is considerably more appealing than the
original Neverwinter Nights campaign (and FAR better than SoU). Unfortunately, the
aforementioned campaign
feels more like three half-arse pieces thrown sloppily together than
a coherent whole (you even get new followers every chapter). Chapter 1 is a half-hearted attempt to re-create
an old D&D module called Assault on Undermountain, Chapter 2 is a
half-hearted attempt to re-create the dark appeal of the Underdark
from Baldur's Gate II (which it fails to do), and Chapter 3 is a
half-hearted attempt to re-create the bizarre appeal of the Planes
from Planescape: Torment (which it fails to do). All three of those
games are better than this thing. Still, it's a definite improvement
to Neverwinter Nights (skyboxes and free camera rotation, anyone?).
But don't expect to love it if you hated Neverwinter Nights. It's
certainly still the same game. |
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| I didn't think it was possible to be more disappointed in BioWare
after the release of Neverwinter Nights, but with SoU, I stood
corrected. This is the worst thing BioWare has ever created.
This pitiful excuse for an expansion pack adds no higher levels, no
new character faces, no new armor pieces - in short, nothing
I would have actually wanted in an expansion. We get some new
monsters and a few new tilesets - one of which is essentially a
repaint of an existing one. Definitely not worth the money. But even
worse is the new single-player story, which could quite possibly be
the worst RPG story I've ever attempted to play. I almost died it
was so bad. I exaggerate not (much)! You start out in a tiny little
"adventurer school" (am I the only one that thinks having
adventurers go to a
school completely ruins the appeal of the profession?) full of a motley crew of
annoying idiots (a female dwarven thief, a half-orc
sorcerer, and a hateful little kobold bard are the only
available followers, for crying out loud!), and operated by a
dwarven wizard who has just about the dumbest name, dumbest voice,
and dumbest plot purpose I have ever encountered. After you leave
the school, the game degrades even more than I thought possible
until you find yourself dragging around boring dungeons that all
look the same, fighting the silliest monsters in the universe. Even
though I know I was right near the end, I never finished the
campaign because I simply found it too dreadfully boring to figure
out where I was supposed to go in the dull, repetitious dungeon.
Utterly pointless and mildly confusing, Undrentide wins the my "corniest games of all time" award, along with the "worst
expansion packs of all time" award, permanently. |
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Short Review:
I find it hard to rate this often-overrated game. It's at least
better than The Elder Scrolls III: Bore-o-wind in terms of combat
and overall gameplay, but it's actually a bit dumbed down in RPG
terms (as hard as it is to admit that, since Morrowind was a pretty
lame RPG to begin with), and it still has a lot of Morrowind's
flaws. Oblivion is very close to the kind of game I've always
wanted: a medieval/fantasy FPS/RPG, and this time the advantages of
the FPS genre are not *completely* lost like in Morrowind (though
they could still be better used, as in Dark Messiah). However, most
of the RPG aspects
are still lost... the characters are still mostly flat and
bland, the storyline forgettable, and almost no actual
story-altering choices are offered to the player. In fact, I'm not
sure if this game even deserves to be in my RPG section. There is no
way to be good or evil in Oblivion. When following the main quest
storyline or any of the other guild stories, your character is
obviously a goodguy in both word and deed. Yet upon joining the Dark
Brotherhood guild, he can only be as evil as they come. The game may
be non-linear, but all of the available quests are perfectly
straight lines, with no alternate endings or even alternate methods
of finishing, despite what the developers so avidly claimed before
it was released. In fact, the game practically holds your hand
through every quest. After a while you just yawn and nearly fall
asleep; even the "epic" ending falls flat. In short, they really,
really need to get a new writer. The game can be very fun at first,
but then it starts to get dull, and eventually you just forget it.
Still tries too hard to be an FPS and RPG... and ends up being
neither. The only thing I can say is, if you want to enter the
beautiful but bland world of Oblivion, do it on the PC - at least
then you can download and create mods, which are one of the only
things that kept me playing as long as I did. |
Related Stuff:
TES4:
Oblivion LEGO Minifigs
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| When I first heard about the Shivering Isles, I thought "God, that
sounds stupid!" The earliest screenshots reminded me far too much of
Morrowind, with giant mushrooms and everything. And the idea that it
was going to be all about a sort of "plane of madness" did not sound
encouraging either. But then I thought about something: just about
the only slightly memorable characters one can think of from
any Elder Scrolls game have been insane. And since it's
apparently the only decent character trait the writers can think of,
the characters in Shivering Isles actually *are* a bit more
interesting than the ones in "vanilla" Oblivion. The entire world
suffers from manic-depressive disorder, with half the island being
manic and the other half depressed. The lord of this land (Sheogorath)
is also manic-depressive, and a stark and comic contrast is provided
by his dry-witted butler. The game does offer some choices in the
form of whether you yourself are insane in a dark or light way, but
if you expect to play this as a single spark of sanity in the world
of madness, you will be sorely disappointed: the choices offered are
simply different paths to the same ending every time. That said,
there is a lot more new content here than in Knights of the Nine,
and if you enjoyed Oblivion (and didn't get so bored with it that
you never want to play it again), then you'll have to pick this one
up. |
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| Not so much an expansion as a package of all the downloadable
Oblivion content that Bethesda released on their official website,
Knights of the Nine does what an expansion pack does at its
simplest: expands. If you're interested in boredly running around
the relatively dead world of Oblivion even more than you already
have, here's some new stuff to do (although I use the word "new"
loosely, as none of it is that interesting). Only one of the
expansions is actually worth talking about: the extremely cliché
quest of the "Knights of the Nine," which involves finding some new
armor (seriously, that's all you do - find a new set of armor and
weapons). Most of the other add-ons included just add new "houses"
for your character, as if you needed another place to stash your
junk. The horse armor is pretty neat, but it's aesthetic only, with
no real purpose. In the end, there are actually some completely free
user-made mods out there that add better stuff than this little
expansion pack. I guess it's worth its current price though... if
you care enough to buy it. |
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Short Review:
Many critics gave this game an unfairly hard time, largely because
it was released late, with some technical flaws, and at the
same time as the critically-acclaimed BioShock. However, while Two Worlds deserved some scorn for its
shortcomings, it certainly did not deserve as much as it got in
terms of negative reviews. It does have drawbacks: occasionally jumpy
load times and autosaves, a cliché and pretty much linear storyline,
cheesy dialogue and voice acting, extremely limited character
customization (at least in terms of appearance... the customization
of your character's class and abilities are actually quite robust),
and the tendency of your character to annoyingly narrate everything
he does. And finally, you hardly
ever get an important dialogue tree: usually your fully-voiced
character just says everything himself (and surprisingly has a very
callous and mercenary personality - you're not an altruistic hero in
this game). This is not to say there is no role-playing at
all though: occasionally your choices will end up destroying
settlements or factions you could otherwise have saved. Ultimately
the game fares better if it's compared to a hack-n-slash instead of
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Admittedly though, even though the production values are
lower and the game is less polished, Two Worlds does have more of everything than Oblivion: tons more items (all with a good
deal of upgradeability), more spells, more cities, more varied
locations (and a much bigger world), more guilds, more quests with more
variety... you name it! And it doesn't quite hold your hand through
everything like Oblivion did. Sometimes you have to think for yourself a little bit. The
atmosphere of the game is also pretty good, and actually feels
more like a believable medieval world than the Elder Scrolls (though
you'll have to get used to the medieval-esque way of speaking).
The graphics, while not as high-quality as Oblivion's, are not
unimpressive - and the blurring of distant scenery really adds to
the realism. However, the extremely bland story and endings keep it
from being great. Still, if you're an action-RPG player or Oblivion
fan, then I'd recommend giving Two Worlds a try, and preferably a
long enough one to get past the beginning (the first cutscene is
awful) and into the meat of the game. The actual gameplay is
enjoyable, and there's plenty to do. Just don't expect anything
great. |
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Short Review:
I'll give this game one thing: it is the only game I've ever seen
that gracefully combines 2D and 3D graphics to a decent and
nice-looking result. Graphically, I find the game pretty impressive.
The combat engine is not bad either, following the D&D 3.5 rules to a
fault, with nicely-done, strategic turn-based combat (although I
wish you leveled up faster, as you only get to use the fun, powerful
attacks near the end of the game). With a
nice-looking and smooth-playing engine like this, a great game could
be made. Unfortunately, ToEE is not such a game. It is almost always boring,
and also pretty glitchy. Most of the areas are dark and ugly, the music
is repetitive and dull, the voice acting is horribly cringe-worthy,
the story is almost nonexistent, the quests are not compelling, and
the strict adherence to both the classic ideals of D&D and the
overly-complex nuances of 3rd Edition annoyed me. In
the end, I found the game so bad that I actually returned it to
the store, something I almost never do, although I actually
bought it back later (out of boredom). Unless you're a D&D nerd who
is in love with the technical aspects of the system and enjoys
anything that lets you create a party of customized characters and
use them in battle (like me), then there really isn't much reason to
buy this game. |
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Rating:
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Short Review:
Morrowind is a strange game. My initial reaction to it was thus: I
was addicted to it for a long time and thought it was great... until
I figured out that actually, it wasn't. It stunk. At first the
illusion of entering a strange new fantasy world will grip you,
until you realize how absolutely dead and boring this "world" is.
The graphics are pretty good for their time, but the character
animation is some of the worst I've seen - very unnatural and
awkward. The storyline is almost non-existent, the world and its
inhabitants are downright bizarre and freakish (and hideously
ugly), and it's just not
fun. Everything feels lifeless and dead and boring. And finally, the
RPG ruleset doesn't blend well at all with the first-person view.
You can slash at a monster all day and your sword will miraculously
do no damage, because the virtual dice running behind the game
dictate that you are actually missing. This takes away all of the
FPS appeal, just as much as the lack of any real story or choices
takes away the RPG appeal. It's not an FPS and not an RPG. It has
the drawbacks of both and the advantages of neither. The resulting
game is something like to call "Bore-o-wind." |
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| My sister could give a better review of this game than I can,
because she's crazy about werewolves enough to play through it (she
insisted I rate it at least average), but
I never found it all that compelling myself, so I never finished it.
It does have some good points though. First of all, it's less
bizarre and freaky than the original Morrowind (since its in a more
classical Norse myth type of setting), and secondly, it
adds more interesting stuff than the pit of boring that was the
first expansion pack, Tribunal. So yeah, it's the better expansion
of the two. But really, this is still Bore-o-wind we're talking
about here. Do we care? I certainly don't. |
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| As far as I'm concerned, this expansion pack adds only one thing
worth mentioning, and that is the pretty awesome red armor that the
guards wear. Unfortunately this armor is almost impossible to get
without going on a murderous rampage. Still, you're only murdering a
bunch of evil, annoying, ugly dark elves, right? Anyway, this expansion
basically adds one stinking city (sure, it's a big city, but it's
just one city) that is an extremely closed-in area all its own (you
can literally hit your head on the sky), and
can only be accessed through a portal. The extremely linear half-arse
storyline offers nothing interesting to be had, nor do to the
side-quests and such. Tromping through the city sewers will get
tiresome after about one minute. In short, there is simply no reason
to install this crappy expansion pack unless you're crazy about red
armor like me. |
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Games I've only tried:
Fable: I simply could not play this game because the art style
was so horrendously stupid. Even if I managed to force myself to play a
game so cartoonish and ridiculous, I could never possibly take it
seriously (thus losing the immersion that is a major reason why I so
enjoy RPGs) because it looks so childish. Not to mention, from what I've
heard, it lacks any real role-playing depth anyway. So... oh well.
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Star Wars: Knights
of the Old Republic
The Witcher
Icewind Dale
Jade Empire
Mass Effect
Star Wars: Knights
of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
Fallout: A
Post-Nuclear RPG
Neverwinter Nights 2
Icewind Dale II
Neverwinter Nights
The Elder Scrolls
IV: Oblivion
Two Worlds
The Temple of
Elemental Evil
The Elder Scrolls
III: Morrowind