RPGmasterBoo

Half Life is an ingenious game compared to either of those.

They show up on occasion but most of the time are horribly overpriced. Eg: Planescape Torment cant be found under 70-80$

Similar things have been done before, they just cant seem to get the hang of fluid combat. My bad for playing Counter Strike obsessively. That's correct, much of their post BG stuff was generic, that's why i didn't mention it. They make passably good design, except for Jade Empire which was better than the usual, but you have to keep in mind that: 1. RPGs are a small genre 2. The competition is much, much worse They may not be pushing truly artistic graphical design a la Ico, Shadow of the Collosus, Okami etc. but they have done very good stuff in the past. I think Blizzard's art while really being consistent and clever (in the way you describe it) is also the most gaudy and tasteless (Warcraft III, WoW) fantasy art ever. A sort of manga like simplicity with an insane assault of color on the senses, a combination . Obviously, but the models they do have in DA look as if they were popped out of one model generator (which they probably were), which makes them look somewhat dull. All I was saying is what some people commented before: that it looks as though the AAA team is working on Mass Effect and the rookies on DA. So far i havent seen anything remarkable about DA, to disprove this. And I dont mean in terms of of OMG WHAT AMAZING GRAFIX, but really different, original design of the sort seen on ME char faces. Clarification: second rate as in not much as a shooter, and not very good as an RPG. Doesn't leave much to praise.

To the OP: god I hate you I could never get my hands on any of the boxed editions of Baldurs Gate, so Im stuck with the Forgotten realms deluxe pack

The combat looks as slow and unresponsive as before. Baldurs Gate 2 maps were extremely well made, especially when viewed in higher resolutions. Jade Empire was very good as well. However what I meant, was that considerable effort was put into those character models. In fact they are one of the most detailed in any game released so far, especially the faces. It was obivously done by very skilled and talented people. All for a second rate shooter/rpg, instead of working on DA for example (which so far is nothing special as graphics go).

Oh, granny what big eyes you have! What a sad waste of top notch artistic talent and resources this ME is.

I would have mentioned them long ago, but it made no sense as they are hardly an unknown. In fact they are widely considered one of the best RTS strategies ever made. Since they have been brought up, I would add that they have the best fantasy story ever seen in an RTS with a great narrator telling the events through the diary of a common soldier. The feeling of impending doom and that you are fighting a fight you cannot win permeates the game and sets a great atmosphere - very Tolkien like. In Myth 3: The Wolf Age, which was a good game in the series, though not as good as the first two- you get to play the very heroes which will later become Fallen Lords of the first game.

I never finished the first one (boring) and I finished the second one once. I often wish DnD had started the RPG industry, and then quickly been forgotten. I can understand the sentiment for the first one, like everything thats the first of its kind it lacks a lot of features that you're used to. And its pacing is slower than most newer games. As for the second - one playthrough is not nearly enough to see even the greater part of the games content, or to immerse yourself in the possibilities that it offers especially with the ton of random events/conversations and whatnot. I have to say that when I first played BG1 I absolutely hated all the walking through empty areas, but for some reason, it's grown on me more and more with each subsequent run. I don't know why this is, but I think I completely explored about half of the areas and visited all but 2 or 3 along the right edge of the map. Same here. I actually hated the game for a good while. After a few tries I was hooked.

I spent several hours trying out Crysis. The game ran fine on my rig with all settings on maximum. That is, on a configuration that didn't exist when the game came out. The game doesn't live up to the hype at all. Its just an updated Far Cry with a few cool ****TM gimmics thrown in. Nowhere near the revolution Half Life 1 was when it came out. In fact its just a passably good shooter and thats it. Uninstalled.

It can - its actually affordable.

I never finished the first one (boring) and I finished the second one once. I often wish DnD had started the RPG industry, and then quickly been forgotten. I can understand the sentiment for the first one, like everything thats the first of its kind it lacks a lot of features that you're used to. And its pacing is slower than most newer games. As for the second - one playthrough is not nearly enough to see even the greater part of the games content, or to immerse yourself in the possibilities that it offers especially with the ton of random events/conversations and whatnot.

That's right. KOTOR, Jade and ME would have been tactical as well if they weren't too easy. There was never any need to use tactics, when you cant possibly lose. TES 3 and the Witcher are limited by being single character. Its the best implementation of DnD 3.5 combat rules, and much of the combat is quite fun. It also had some of the prettiest 2D graphics ever. The bugs were sorted out with patches, at least I didn't have any problems while playing it. The story however is dull, as are the quests. Still, I enjoyed playing since the game offered a nice challenge. I had a feeling of satisfaction/accomplishment when I beat the game, which these days doesn't happen often. That said, one playthrough is more than enough, there's too much tedium and too little motivation to play it again.

i should clarify - the system of "different" weapons is what I consider broken, the actual shooting was that of a fairly mediocre shooter. I would add that this was made worse by the game being too easy. Also the aim was laggy and irritating, nowhere near as fluid as a dedicated TPS.

Just like in almost all wRPGs no matter how much they try to cover it up. I like this personally, the endless character creation choices that amount to nothing in DnD 3.5 just kept getting on my nerves. I'd say it depends on the system. In World of Warcraft (yes, I know you hate it, but almost everyone knows the game) I'd say playing a hunter is sufficiently different than playing a warrior, rogue, or mage because of the focus on traps and using your pet. Between multiclassing and prestige classes, I think 3.5 pretty much tossed the idea of class purity out the window anyway. Possibly, I've only watched people play WoW so I wouldn't know. Of course its not impossible to offer a different class, its just not usually attempted in any meaningful way. All I was saying is that - that is one part of Dragon Age I don't mind is missing if it is balanced out by quality content. Stats, character builds and all that I like only as far as they don't become burdensome and detract from the gameplay.

Just like in almost all wRPGs no matter how much they try to cover it up. I like this personally, the endless character creation choices that amount to nothing in DnD 3.5 just kept getting on my nerves.

Yes this game is silmilar to Mass Effect. However it may pull off what that crap Mass Effect didn't - to be a satisfying role playing game. First, like Maria noted its - a very similar game to Deus Ex, except for the perspective. However I seem to remember that Deus Ex had exploration hubs, (bits you could walk through, talk to people and in general explore) and it seems that Alpha Protocol wont have those or at least every video that I've seen shows either a safe house or a mission in progress. That could be a flaw. Second besides having a stupid plot, the dialog system in ME, as the guy on RPGCodex so well pointed out wasnt original at all. It was just exchanging a rectangle for a circle, and the text was a short version of what the PC spoke. That is all. Alpha Protocol might turn this into something concrete with its time based responses and three way approach. I think this is a good trick, that will suit this game, but I wouldn't want to see it replace the regular dialog trees permanently. Third the shooting mechanics in Mass Effect were broken, in fact Max Payne, around 10 years old now played better. I hope Alpha Protocol fixes this, but this is new for Obsidian so we'll see how they manage. I am sceptical about the stiff hand to hand combat though. Fourth, characters and storylines are much better in Obsidian games in general, though its unevenly distributed amongst them with the upper crowd being KOTOR II + MotB and NWN2 + SoZ not coming close. Overall Alpha Protocol has much more potential to be a fresh game than Mass Effect 2, since it apparently turns the movie/action RPG type of game into a real genre of its own. However while I'll enjoy playing this game I would never wish this to be the replacement of traditional RPGs.

If you're talking about the first Divinity you're wrong. The game becomes easy about halfway through, slaughtering mobs by the dozen becomes a pushover. Sort of like Diablo II difficulty.

... except when Mystra bit the dust. True. But that would be about it. Other gods kicked the bucket with a lot less bang.

All done not out of charity but as a result of following intensely personal goals. That makes much more sense than the usual impersonal approach, and that's what made it immersive. Besides a region and a smaller city are somewhat more believable than galaxy/universe blabla... As for ToB, well yes it could have been better, but as an expansion pack it was better than many full games. It did the job that was intended. I've still to play the Ascention mod and see how the plot was improved there.

Yes well.. I guess it's easier to make save everything-storys and sell them. I don't think Dragon Age is going to be as B&W as Mass Effect, which was some sort of apex of black & white. The story is probably more personal, and you just happen to save the world during it Just like BG2. That's the funny thing - you don't really save anything in BG2 except an elven city, and in the series as a whole. After all if Bhaal is destroyed Cyric would just keep his portfolio and things would go on as they have before. If Bhaal comes back, Cyric is the one who is worst off. The weird Forgotten Realms system of deities is like that, a mortal can become a god and gods can die, but the overall impact on the "world" is negligible. Unless Ao gets pissed.

You are an evil one, luring someone innocent to the RPG hate machine itself Somethings you must see with your own eyes to see the big picture. And for this bitterness, people are just expressing their opinions. I would love to see a another game like Torment, but I don't mind the black & white stuff bioware does. I will very likely like Dragon Age a lot. It didn't use to be so black & white. That's what bother's me most. Sure Baldurs Gate had more or less two paths through the story, but the choice (of what to do with the throne of Bhaal) never came off as a blunt good and evil thing - I thought it was not about saving the worldTM but about making a personal choice. After that it was save the galaxy, save china, save the universe and hopefully it wont be save Ferdelen.

Same as above, except i wouldnt buy it.

That sounds exactly like the first one. The first dungeon was the hardest in the game along with the first patch of open ground. From lvl 10 onwards it kept on getting easier and easier, especially with the teleport pyramids. Towards the end of the game monsters and the end boss were a pushover. Still that's the most enjoyable action RPG I played along with Diablo 1.

I'm thinking of tormenting myself with it too. That's the best thing about it, as a game its bloody replayable. I think I started the first one five times, and the second one 7-10 times. I didn't finish it every time but it sure as hell was fun. Die gibberling, die. I've put off Gothic II. Have to figure out how to get some armor and increase strength in the very beginning, to use a nice sword I stole.

Yes they're really pushing the blood design. I think the sword slash-dragon-ea logo is one of the more disgusting and pointless things I've seen lately. Electronic Arts delenda est.