Short List of Good Story-Driven RPGs?

[Plano Skywalker]

OK, my role-playing days of the past are primarily of the pen-and-paper variety. For various reasons, I find it hard to find decent RL gaming so I have switched to cRPGs. I've always been cautious, though, because I generally do not want hack-and-slashers with a fake story wrapped around them.

 

I got involved in the KOTOR games not because I like Star Wars (I do, but that is not the reason) but because they were true, dialogue-heavy, story-driven cRPGs.

 

I can do either Xbox or PC platform, makes no difference. I would like any feedback you may have regarding really good, immersive, story-driven cRPGs.

 

I suspect that Fallout and Planescape Torment would be on that list based on what I have read in these forums but any feedback would be appreciated.

[Spider]

Both Fallouts and Planescape Torment would definitely fall into that category.

 

I can also recommend Both Baldur's Gate and their expansions. Combat is more important in those games compared to FO and PST, but it's on pair (more or less) with KotOR, so it should be fine.

 

I'd also recommend Arcanum, but it comes with a few caveats. It takes some getting use to in regards to interface and character creation (there are SO many options to consider) and even then combat is just bad all the way through. But with that said, it is very immersive and has a good story. And a unique and well developed setting.

 

But if you're only going to play one in the above list, Torment would be it. A lot of people have said that KotOR had lots of elements in common with Torment and I am inclined to agree with that. Only Torment is a little less streamlined (imo).

[GhostofAnakin]

If you're one of the lucky ones and bugs/slowdowns don't ruin your experience, you might even want to consider Vampire: the Masquerade Bloodlines. It's got a pretty good story.

[Blaise Russel]

Both Fallouts

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Harharharharharharharhar.

 

But yeah, play 'em anyway.

 

I liked Anachronox. Actually, I loved it. Sadly underrated.

[Baneblade]

If you're one of the lucky ones and bugs/slowdowns don't ruin your experience, you might even want to consider Vampire: the Masquerade Bloodlines.  It's got a pretty good story.

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Yeah, V:tM was better than KotOR II in every category...

The BG series is Excellent... up until ToB, which was crap.

FO 2 is Good

PS:T... WHAT! you mean you haven't played the BEST cRPG in history ???

Anachronox is very good.

Arx Fatalis is also quite good, altough short.

if you download NES emulator, then games like Chrono Trigger and Robotrek are a must.

 

that's about all I can think of.

[SteveThaiBinh]

Quest for Glory series.

 

If you care more about story and dialogue than battles, then try adventure games, too. Broken Sword 3 is a good place to start.

[Llyranor]

Anachronox and PST.

 

And don't forget Jade Empire which has just gone gold.

[Zhen Dil Oloth]

Fallout 1 and 2 and Planescape; Torment are exellent choices.

 

Baldur's Gate and Baldur's gate 2 and their expansion is also a great choice. It will give you the opportunity to spend 200+ hours playing/developping your character and your party. A feat unequalled to this day by any game (that I know of of course).

 

Icewind Dale and Icewind Dale 2 are good choices too. Although they do not make a huge saga like BG. You play a new party in IWD2. Although you meet many characters from IWD.

 

Arcanum gives you a vast world to explore. And the story and dialogues and freedom to explore are the best part of the game. Although there is quite a few bugs, and the game balance is fishy. But if you can ignore that, you should enjoy exploring the world of Arcanum.

 

Temple of Elemental Evil is a good choice if you want to enjoy a lot of tactical options of D&D combat. Although there are many bugs in this game, and the developpers could have made a much better job at developping the story.

 

Neverwinter Nights is an ok choice. Although I did not try it with it's 2 expasions, so maybe it is much better now. But at the time, I was not a big fan of NWN. Got bored with it very quickly. And the game take about 20hrs to finish. A good example of instant levelling. You gain 1 level every hour. If you like gaining levels fast, this would be your game. Although by now there must be thousands of fan made mods out there. So you could play many of these and have potebtially hundreds of hours of gaming at your fingertips. Although many of those mods are pure crappolla at best.

 

And if you really must, you could try Pool of Radiance 2. There are many bugs, but you can still enjoy it with some of the fan-made patches that were made. Just ask online what the major bugs are and how to bypass them and you will be fine.

 

And I guess I will commit the ultimate sin and suggest Diablo 2 and it's expansion. A fun and addictive game that most companies have been trying to clone for years with little success. NWN must be the most successfull of all the Diablo clones out there.

 

And why not suggest Dungeon Siege. Many did not like it for various reasons. Some said it was too linear. Others complain that all your characters must be "Paladins" (warrior/healers) to survive. But it is a fun game if you like to gather a party, and, dare I say it, the only game with pack mules. Can you believe it?? That alone makes it worth it. (w00t) But seriously, it has a great atmosphere, and the winter scenes are gorgeous. And it has a no loading feature taht makes it difficult to go back to games where there is a loading time between each areas. And it is even better in multiplayer, either Lan play or over the net.

 

And there arfe a few others like;

 

Prince of Qin. Not bad. You can gather a party and the story is not bad. Although the names get confusing after a while. When you are asked to go to Shinzoon. After a while you see many similar names (Shanzoon, Shinzone, Sinzoon) and it gets pretty confusing.

 

Divine Divinity.

 

Lionheart.

 

Nox.

 

All I can think of at this time.

[Niten_Ryu]

Torment and Ultima IV. I also liked Baldur's Gate saga from the pure consept point of view (aftermath of Time of Troubles) and Vampire - Bloolines powerstuggle.

 

Most of times I'm only interested about world aspect in games and how it lets me create my own adventure. Both Fallouts are excellent in that. Crappy story, great world.

[Judas]

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The poster ask for story-driven CRPG's and you suggest games like IWD, Diablo, and ToEE?

[Darque]

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The poster ask for story-driven CRPG's and you suggest games like IWD, Diablo, and ToEE?

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I second that....

[Spider]

Story driven with heavy dialogue. If it was only story-driven I could definitely see IWD.

 

But yeah, it definitely isn't the type of game the original poster wanted. Nor is Lionheart and probably not Divine Divinity either (haven't played that though).

 

Bloodlines definitely is though, at least for 3/4 of the game. The last part, however, definitely isn't (which is a shame).

[Darque]

Speaking of Bloodlines... just how many bugs were squashed before Troika went under?

[Baneblade]

Speaking of Bloodlines... just how many bugs were squashed before Troika went under?

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Not many.

[Darque]

And I really wanted that game too

[GhostofAnakin]

Give it a try. I've heard rumors that a few people didn't run in to any problems. Maybe you'll be one of those lucky ones.

[Darque]

Hmmm.... Or I could "borrow" it first and if it runs bug free I could buy my own...

 

Hmmm

[Baneblade]

Give it a try.  I've heard rumors that a few people didn't run in to any problems.  Maybe you'll be one of those lucky ones. 

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It crashes often, you must save in multiple slots to be save....

 

Only managed to play it through as Malkavian....

 

It was....Quite, eh... Interesting.

[SteveThaiBinh]

Speaking of Bloodlines... just how many bugs were squashed before Troika went under?

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I only really encountered one game-stopping bug, and that was fixed in the patch.

 

I think the issue wasn't bugs, as such, just that the whole game hadn't been well programmed, making it jerky and rather unstable on systems that really should have been able to handle it. I found it very difficult with 512Mb RAM (the recommended amount), but after upgrading to 1Gb, it was a lot better.

 

I'd recommend it, although the ending was a bit Kotor 2-like.

[Darque]

I'll need more ram then <_<

[Baneblade]

I only really encountered one game-stopping bug, and that was fixed in the patch.

 

I think the issue wasn't bugs, as such, just that the whole game hadn't been well programmed, making it jerky and rather unstable on systems that really should have been able to handle it.  I found it very difficult with 512Mb RAM (the recommended amount), but after upgrading to 1Gb, it was a lot better.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

True, if you've got over 768Mb memory it'll be a lot more stable.

 

 

I'd recommend it, although the ending was a bit Kotor 2-like.

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WHAT ?????

 

It had a great ending...

 

I LMAO !!!

 

74/100 (55/100 for KotOR II)

[DarthWeevil]

Give it a try.  I've heard rumors that a few people didn't run in to any problems.  Maybe you'll be one of those lucky ones. 

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Didn't have many problems, personally. the worst i had was the hideous load times for a malkavian. But the game had so many good points I was willing to forgive.

 

And I loved the story and the endings I have seen so far were good. GREAT in fact... Brilliant twist that I didn't see coming for a change

 

 

Would HAVE to put forward Deus Ex 2 as well, a lot like Bloodlines in its balance of rp and action, and like bloodlines, theres several factions you can join with. I loved playing it.

[DarthWeevil]

Give it a try. 

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*coughs*

 

I thought there was no try

[Plano Skywalker]

thanks for the suggestions. Of course, there is also the Elder Scroll series. It looks like Oblivion is going to be pretty good. But I don't know if ES games count since they have no real end. (They are in their own category, I guess)

 

What about the Myst series?

 

Also, what about the new remake of Pirates?

I really enjoyed the old Pirates.

[Spider]

I'll need more ram then  <_<

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Most likely. From what I've heard the game runs fine if you have a high-end system. I, however, do not have such a system and for me it ran pretty crappy, at least in the hubs. In other areas it ran good enough (unless there were zombies involved, those areas kinda sucked to).

 

Load times were atrocious. Like trying to load a saved game in FO2 unpatched bad. Or even worse (it's been a while).

 

As for being buggy, I only noticed two real bugs (excluding performance issues) and both were fixed in the patch. One was a mere nuisance (not getting money-reward from a quest) and the other was a real game-stopper. Fortunately it could be worked around through the console.