HiddenX

As long as you control only one character action gaming is no problem. It works well in Gothic, Witcher, Skyrim etc.. But in party based games, with lots of skills, spells and use of inventory items RTwP can become a chore with a lot of hectic micromanagement. But this is just my experience. Maybe they can improve on RTwP - something like 7,62 High Calibre - maybe the best RTwP game ever made.

Turn based combat just works better in party based CRPGs IMHO. Look at Blackguards, Divinity: OS or Telepath Tactics as recent examples. And while BG1 & BG2 brought back D&D to the PC - I still prefer Pool of Radiance (Goldbox series) turn based combat. Good RTwP or RT combat in party CRPGs is possible, but I knew only a few that are really challenging & fun: Rage of Mages 1 & 2 comes to my mind.

Low fantasy: Wikipedia PoE would be a high fantasy game if you could walk on different planes of existence, like Mask of the Betrayer for example or Planescape Torment. IMHO PoE is a classic party adventure in a gameworld that is very similar to medieval earth with some magic thrown in.

No - PoE has some design flaws IMHO, but at the end of the day Obsidian has managed to create a game that many fans really like. For example: It is the most liked game on the RPGWatch Steam curation list. I made a CRPG element-checklist for PoE with the CRPG Analyzer as well. I personally hope PoE2 will be an enhancement to PoE1 like BG2 was to BG1. And I really hope that PoE2 will feature turn-based combat, more world interactivity, more major C&C and NPC-schedules.

Corwin's PoE review can be found here.

Grognardia: Links of interest The original D&D discussion PS: Muscle Wizard: Cool article about balancing that describes most problems PoE will face: Warrior, Wizard, Thief: Class, Balance and Archetypes in Computer RPGs Good Luck, Obsidian!

@Elerond - I'm a Grognard...

What is a class? Definition: A set or category of things having some property or attribute in common and differentiated from others by kind, type, or quality. => Different classes are distinguishable by their attributes. By creating a system of classes where every attribute is equally important for all classes you create in fact a classless system and reduce the idea of different classes to absurdity.

Call of Duty is not a roleplaying game by any definition, it's a shooter on rails... C7: the primary means of problem solving, gameworld interaction and overcoming challenges is the tactical use of character/party skills/abilities (-> the player's physical coordination skills are secondary) Kills every pure Shooter.

Van Halen - Queen - Brighton Rock Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath Uriah Heep - Lady in Black Taste - Fleetwood Mac -

Since I played ~330 CRPGs in my life (~400 if you count mods - thank you NWN) (-> most of the popular western titles since 1981) I disagree with the term "hundrets" lets say "some" About the Def.: The Must Haves conditions are fulfilled by many games (Unfortunately Diablo is called a (borderline) CRPG, too). All Must Haves + Should Haves are not fullfilled by that many games.

Just for the Record: Choices with consequences are included as Should Have-conditions under Story in Def.1.0 S4: the story is influenced by your decisions and your characters' actions and stats/abilities/skills. S5: your character(s) can interact with information sources (-> e.g. NPC conversation, riddle statue question, …) S6: your character(s) can make choices in those interactions S7: at least some of these choices have consequences S8: advancing in the story requires thinking of the player (-> e.g. irreversible choices, moral dilemma, riddles, …) ***** Back to Jagged Alliance 2: I consider Jagged Alliance 2 one of the very best cRPGs ever. It is very nonlinear, it has free exploring, you can build up/train 3 sqads (6 chars) of non-anonymous troups with many stat & skill options. On top of that you can roleplay your very own (created) character. Choices with consequences everywhere. Some of the best tactical challenging combat (based on character skills). Many side quests. Interesting story and main quest. Hilarious party interaction. The game features crafting, too. Limited inventory. Tons of items to equip your characters. -> This game is the complete package of CRPG goodness. It's a tactical fighting cRPG with a few strategy elements. About the strategy elements of the game: The only strategy parts are freeing the cities and the anti rocket sites and install troups to get resources and helicopter flights. You can beat the game without doing this, playing only with free mercenaries and live only by loot. Hint: Main characteristic pure strategy games: You are playing mostly with anonymous non-named troups and can't beat the game without them. Anyway if you call JA 2 a cRPG with strategic elements or a Strategic Tactical Fighting Game with roleplaying elements, it is a very interesting game for cRPG fans and belongs on the list. After this -> Back on topic, please: The Codex top 70 list

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