Recommend me a RPG game with these criteries

[Cold Crashing Waves]

Go for it, it's an awesome game.The developers even cited ASOIAF as an influence :)

[snowleper]

Dragon age is ok, but I preferred KOTOR and Jade Empire.

Fallout 1 & 2 are quality games -- but not really what you are looking for.

I'd also generally recommend Suikoden 2 and Breath of Fire 4 (PS1 games that I would count as being two of the best rpgs ever).

[Sullen]

Jade Empire.

This game doesn't get enough love, hell, the whole wuxia genre doesn't get enough love.

I'd also generally recommend Suikoden 2 and Breath of Fire 4 (PS1 games that I would count as being two of the best rpgs ever).

Glad to see someone else appreciating BoF IV as it should be, people tend to glorify the 3rd one, and while the end of the game was definitively more satisfying in 3, the story and party members were more interesting, and by far, in 4.

Also, Breath of Fire IV's soundtrack is simply brilliant.

Wouldn't recommend playing the PC version though, it's buggy as hell.

[Rhom]

This game doesn't get enough love, hell, the whole wuxia genre doesn't get enough love.

Glad to see someone else appreciating BoF IV as it should be, people tend to glorify the 3rd one, and while the end of the game was definitively more satisfying in 3, the story and party members were more interesting, and by far, in 4.

Also, Breath of Fire IV's soundtrack is simply brilliant.

Wouldn't recommend playing the PC version though, it's buggy as hell.

BoFIV was such a departure from the norm that it took me a while to realize just how good it was.

BOFV was even more of a departure... I wanted to like it, but I just never could.

[Sullen]

BoFIV was such a departure from the norm that it took me a while to realize just how good it was.

BOFV was even more of a departure... I wanted to like it, but I just never could.

Dragon Quarters shouldn't even be considered a BoF game, it murdered the goddamn franchise.

IV on the other hand was both unique and functional , don't think I've seen an RPG set in a fantasy world analogous to China that did it as well as BoF IV did, well, except maybe Jade Empire.

[Bennis of the Brown Shield]

The Witcher games blow Dragon Age out of the water IMO.

Especially the second game has better graphics, more fluid combat, more mature and realistic plot, and a lot more of an authentic medieval atmosphere.

Compare

http://www.nohighscores.com/wp-content/uploads/old-images/todd/dragonage2_party.jpg

http://th04.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2011/072/c/4/sean_hawke_dragon_age_2_by_agregor-d3blr5f.jpg

with

http://www.kaermorhen.ru/uploads/images/TheWitcher2-AssassinsofKings_Multi_Editeur_095.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Bs3omKaOdz4/TfHAHNskH6I/AAAAAAAAAKA/3nx8VuRsmR4/s1600/witcher2+2011-06-09+23-12-00-17.jpg

http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111217190258/witcher/images/0/0f/Tw2-screenshpt-blue-stripes-HQ-005.png

http://cdn2.gamefront.com/wp-content/uploads/gallery/witcher-2/the_trading_outpost_and_town_of_flotsam.jpg

[Underfoot]

This is a little off-topic, but does anyone know how to get KOTOR 1 and 2 to work on a Windows 7 64-bit machine? My nostalgia is kicking in and I would like to reply the games, but can't seem to find a way to make them work.

[Jon AS]

The Witcher games blow Dragon Age out of the water IMO.

Especially the second game has better graphics, more fluid combat, more mature and realistic plot, and a lot more of an authentic medieval atmosphere.

The Witcher games are however much farther away from the NWN2 baseline the opening post specified, not being party-based and their combat having much more of an action focus than most of the other suggestions so far (plus the NWN games aren't exactly known for their gritty medieval atmosphere).

Also, The Witcher 2 is probably going to give the OP's computer trouble, too, as it's one of the more demanding games around.

This is a little off-topic, but does anyone know how to get KOTOR 1 and 2 to work on a Windows 7 64-bit machine? My nostalgia is kicking in and I would like to reply the games, but can't seem to find a way to make them work.

I think this information helped me out the last time I wanted to play KOTOR.

ETA: You might also want to look into some kind of widescreen mod, depending on your monitor.

[Underfoot]

I think this information helped me out the last time I wanted to play KOTOR.

ETA: You might also want to look into some kind of widescreen mod, depending on your monitor.

Thanks! I do have a 1080p x 1024 screen so I may need to do that. I'll give these steps a try!

[Bennis of the Brown Shield]

The Witcher games are however much farther away from the NWN2 baseline the opening post specified, not being party-based and their combat having much more of an action focus than most of the other suggestions so far (plus the NWN games aren't exactly known for their gritty medieval atmosphere).

Also, The Witcher 2 is probably going to give the OP's computer trouble, too, as it's one of the more demanding games around.

Perhaps. Though NWN2 doesn't have a very similar atmosphere to Star Wars or Planescape: Torment either, and the Elder Scrolls games are not party based (well you can have followers, but they are stupid as hell and get in the way all the time). It depends on how similar to NWN2 the game has to be I guess, since Dragon Age indeed is that.

In any case, the Witcher 2 is a true first class fantasy RPG that deserves to be mentioned in any thread discussing those kinds of games.

[Jon AS]

Perhaps. Though NWN2 doesn't have a very similar atmosphere to Star Wars or Planescape: Torment either, and the Elder Scrolls games are not party based (well you can have followers, but they are stupid as hell and get in the way all the time). It depends on how similar to NWN2 the game has to be I guess, since Dragon Age indeed is that.

In any case, the Witcher 2 is a true first class fantasy RPG that deserves to be mentioned in any thread discussing those kinds of games.

Well, I wouldn't have recommended any Elder Scrolls games either, but not having played one of those since Morrowind I'm not really in a position to comment.;)

Torment, quite apart from being one of the best games of all time, actually has some elements in common with Mask of the Betrayer, so anyone who liked the latter would probably enjoy the former.

The Witcher 2 is excellent, but as I said: steep system requirements. The first one doesn't have that issue, but is also a markedly inferior game.

[Bennis of the Brown Shield]

Well, I wouldn't have recommended any Elder Scrolls games either, but not having played one of those since Morrowind I'm not really in a position to comment. ;)

Torment, quite apart from being one of the best games of all time, actually has some elements in common with Mask of the Betrayer, so anyone who liked the latter would probably enjoy the former.

The Witcher 2 is excellent, but as I said: steep system requirements. The first one doesn't have that issue, but is also a markedly inferior game.

True in terms of themes and such then (I have not played through Planescape myself to be honest) but the setting seems very very different to me, at least. Very original though.

True about the system requirements, and while the first one is indeed not as good as the second I still think it holds up pretty well compared to other games from around that time. What it really stood out with though, was having the worst tutorial/prologue section I've seen in a game, ever. It's pretty amazing how bad it was (compared to the rest of the game that is), though it's hard to put a finger on exactly why.

When I first got the Witcher 1 I quit it half an hour in because I thought it seemed so shitty, then I started playing it a couple of months later because I had nothing else to do, struggled through the rest of the starting act, and then discovered that the game was actually good. I then recommended it to two friends and they then went through exactly the same process.

[Jon AS]

True in terms of themes and such then (I have not played through Planescape myself to be honest) but the setting seems very very different to me, at least. Very original though.

I was actually more thinking of the cast off characters, the main character suffering from a mysterious yet kind of useful condition etc. And of course Mask goes all planar later on (Planescape just refers to the setting, btw, like Forgotten Realms where NWN and BG are set; all D&D settings used to be connected to the planes).

True about the system rquirements, and while the first one is indeed not as good as the second I still think it holds up pretty well compared to other games from around that time. What it really stood out with though, was having the worst tutorial/prologue section I've seen in a game, ever. It's pretty amazing how bad it was (compared to the rest of the game that is), though it's hard to put a finger on exactly why.

When I first got the Witcher 1 I quit it half an hour in because I thought it seemed so shitty, then I started playing it a couple of months later because I had nothing else to do, struggled through the rest of the starting act, and then discovered that the game was actually good. I then recommended it to two friends and they then went through exactly the same process.

I just replayed the first one, and I'd say it's the first chapter that's really bad. You go from some ruined castle you left on a mission to find Salamandra to a random village, and suddenly you're running errands for everyone, there's a creepy child spouting unsettling prophecies and you meet a bunch of people who claim to know Geralt but are surprisingly blasé when learning of his amnesia (never mind that he's supposed to be dead).

[Clueless Northman]

With Witcher 1, I found it really became good and interesting once you get into Vizyma, so after prologue and 1st chapter. Which requires something like 15 hours, if it's your first playthrough and you try to learn the gameplay and where's everything.

And even Witcher 1 required a decent computer at the time - so if OP's computer is really old, better check with some "can you run it?" site befoer considering acquiring it.

[Bennis of the Brown Shield]

I was actually more thinking of the cast off characters, the main character suffering from a mysterious yet kind of useful condition etc. And of course Mask goes all planar later on (Planescape just refers to the setting, btw, like Forgotten Realms where NWN and BG are set; all D&D settings used to be connected to the planes).

I just replayed the first one, and I'd say it's the first chapter that's really bad. You go from some ruined castle you left on a mission to find Salamandra to a random village, and suddenly you're running errands for everyone, there's a creepy child spouting unsettling prophecies and you meet a bunch of people who claim to know Geralt but are surprisingly blasé when learning of his amnesia (never mind that he's supposed to be dead).

Ah okay. I see, I didn't know that about them being connected. So Planescape is like the D&D universe version of the typical "demon dimension" that's common in many fantasy settings, like Oblivion in the Elder Scrolls?

Yeah probably, though I think the part at the castle is extra bad. That's where I stopped the first time, and both of my friends too. I think it all comes off as really tacky or something, I don't know. It really gave a bad first impression.

With Witcher 1, I found it really became good and interesting once you get into Vizyma, so after prologue and 1st chapter. Which requires something like 15 hours, if it's your first playthrough and you try to learn the gameplay and where's everything.

And even Witcher 1 required a decent computer at the time - so if OP's computer is really old, better check with some "can you run it?" site befoer considering acquiring it.

Yeah, it definitely starts picking up there. Chapter 2 and 3 are clearly the best in the game IMO. I really liked the investigations and mystery solving you did with Raymond, and what it led to.

[Jon AS]

Ah okay. I see, I didn't know that about them being connected. So Planescape is like the D&D universe version of the typical "demon dimension" that's common in many fantasy settings, like Oblivion in the Elder Scrolls.

Planescape technically is every setting/universe/world whatever you want to call it. They're all interconnected and you can travel between them if you know how. Torment mostly takes place in Sigil, the city at the heart of the multiverse.

[felice]

The Witcher games are however much farther away from the NWN2 baseline the opening post specified

And the first one at least isn't going to be winning any feminist gaming awards (I haven't played the second).

[emberling]

Count me still extremely confused at what good a western-style RPG is if you can't create your own character. That's what they're for: putting those kind of decisions in the hands of the player. Kind of ruins the whole thing if I'm fundamentally unable to care about the dude I'm meant to be "role-playing". They don't go much out of their way to make him likeable, either. Bedpost-notch trading cards before he shows an ounce of personality? Nope, I'm out.

NWN2 was not that good at this either, mind. But name, gender, hair color and class is a big step up from nothing. You can at least pretend anything else matters.

Still annoyed that Dragon Disciple didn't have visible wings (which it did in NWN1, and it was the best)

[valyrian butter]

CHRONO TRIGGER

[felice]

Count me still extremely confused at what good a western-style RPG is if you can't create your own character. That's what they're for: putting those kind of decisions in the hands of the player. Kind of ruins the whole thing if I'm fundamentally unable to care about the dude I'm meant to be "role-playing".

Surely the decisions you make during the game are more important than character customisation? Having a well-defined protagonist allows for a more personalised story, which is a good thing. It is technically possible to have the game adapt to different types of character (Dragon Age is relatively good at it), but adding different types of reactivity is exponentially expensive, so responding to different character backgrounds generally comes at the expense of something else. Torment couldn't have worked with a fully customisable PC.

You don't get to customise the protagonist in a novel or movie, but people generally care about the characters in those (not all people care about all characters, of course).