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[MickeyKnox]

Wait, can you play the game without killing anyone? That would be pretty rad. Though I doubt it considering the devs want to convey the bleakness of the setting.

Depends what you mean by killing

You can absolutely go through the whole game without getting into the combat screen, but you can get a whole bunch of people dead just by being a charismatic, calculating, manipulative bastard. But you have to go all in on the right skills, the actual combat in this game is fucking HARSH, there are 0 filler fights, so if you're gonna make a character that is going to engage in combat, you better be ready for it.

This is what you are greeted with when you click New Game

 

[UltraJay]

Wait, can you play the game without killing anyone? That would be pretty rad. Though I doubt it considering the devs want to convey the bleakness of the setting.

Look at his body count. More than a hundred as an assassin, a whopping 2 people killed as a Lore Master. As an assassin, he has points in all combat disciplines and attributes but the Lore Master has none - they are instead put into intelligence.

brb out buying Age of Decadence...

 

[Intheflorsh]

brb out buying Age of Decadence...

Starting to feel the same way, honestly.

 

[MickeyKnox]

Look at his body count. More than a hundred as an assassin, a whopping 2 people killed as a Lore Master. As an assassin, he has points in all combat disciplines and attributes but the Lore Master has none - they are instead put into intelligence.

brb out buying Age of Decadence...

One of those body counts is because I wanted to get an easy kill very early on with a Critical Strike skill check in conversation (which is why i put 1 point in CS) and the other is from using intelligence and crafting to activate something that killed something else.

 

[Abdul Hafeez]

Depends what you mean by killing

You can absolutely go through the whole game without getting into the combat screen, but you can get a whole bunch of people dead just by being a charismatic, calculating, manipulative bastard. But you have to go all in on the right skills, the actual combat in this game is fucking HARSH, there are 0 filler fights, so if you're gonna make a character that is going to engage in combat, you better be ready for it.

That sounds really cool. I think you've sold me on this game.

Look at his body count. More than a hundred as an assassin, a whopping 2 people killed as a Lore Master. As an assassin, he has points in all combat disciplines and attributes but the Lore Master has none - they are instead put into intelligence.

brb out buying Age of Decadence...

I didn't even notice the body count stat. 2 people, huh. That's quite a low body count for a game in 2015.

 

[Mephala]

Hey, great that you really enjoyed SRF!

Just a heads up for those interested. Arcanum Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura & Darklands among a few others are on sale for around $2 on gog.com.

May as well grab them cheap if you want to play some of the classics.

I remember a gaffer wrote a very nice writeup on Arcanum that convinced me to play it. Can't quite find it now though.

 

[Tenck]

Love how Age of Decadence gets a mention. If it weren't for The Witcher 3 coming out this year, AoD would have been my GotY.

Don't dismiss it because of the graphics. You'd be missing out on an amazing game.

 

[Durante]

Might and Magic X is a good start for a look at a different strain of cRPG with a nice modern UI. Sometimes I swear me and Durante are the only people on GAF who enjoyed that game, heh... So YMMV.

There are dozens of us!

 

[Oracle Dragon]

Modern isometric / tactical?
- Divinity Original Sin: Enhanced Edition
- Pillars of Eternity
- Wasteland 2
- Neverwinter Nights 2 (not "new", but good game with superb expansion and pretty cheap)

Modern first person (sort of) / blobber?
- Legend of Grimrock I and/or II
- Might and Magic X (love this game)

Classic RPGs to taste the greats (and save some cash!):
- Baldurs Gate / Icewind Dale series
- Ultima VII (the best)
- Might and Magic VI

 

[bati]

Now we're up to three. The other nine should raise their hands.

o/

I loved MMX. I actually bought Lords of Xulima because it reminded me of MMX but I've yet to dig in.

 

[Mephala]

Now we're up to three. The other nine should raise their hands.

Mark me for one I guess. I really enjoyed it but I don't think I would recommend it over some of the others here. It is a pretty sweet time to jump in on the genre right now. Plenty of newer stuff and classics to mess around with.

 

[Noaloha]

M&MX proudly took my number 3 slot for GOTY2014 (D:OS sat in second place 2nd, AoW3 with the top spot). Good game!

 

[Tekomandor]

KotOR uses the same mechanics as Neverwinter Nights (I think it even recycles some of the sounds) but hides it well under all the Star Wars stuff.

OBTW, I'd recommend anyone who played (and liked/finished) Pillars to try Temple of Elemental Evil. Grab it from GOG, get the Circle of Eight modpack (latest ver. 8.1, IIRC) and try your hand at ultra-hardcore D&D Gen. 3.5.

I'd recommend that you actually just play 3.5 at that point. It's still very popular, and ToEE is still a massively cut down and neutered version of the gloriously broken mess that is 3.5

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

Now we're up to three. The other nine should raise their hands.

I will buy the second it's rid of that goddamn Uplay horseshit.

GOG, work your magic!

 

[NIN90]

M&MX was pretty cool!

 

[Cleve]

Depends what you mean by killing

You can absolutely go through the whole game without getting into the combat screen, but you can get a whole bunch of people dead just by being a charismatic, calculating, manipulative bastard. But you have to go all in on the right skills, the actual combat in this game is fucking HARSH, there are 0 filler fights, so if you're gonna make a character that is going to engage in combat, you better be ready for it.

This is what you are greeted with when you click New Game

Your posts in this thread sold me on this game that slipped under my radar. Thanks, and I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Arulan]

Now we're up to three. The other nine should raise their hands.

*Raises hand*

It was one of my favorite games last year, finished it at over 140 hours, and unfortunately I don't believe it sold well enough for Ubisoft to make another. When modern open-world RPGs continue to sacrifice exploration and quest design, what I would consider one of the most important aspects of being open-world, by quest marker-focused design, it was very refreshing to have exploration mean something.

A few screenshots I pulled from my Steam uploads:

My party:

 

[human onion]

I would like that game better if it didn't run like absolute dogshit.

 

[decoyplatypus]

Now we're up to three. The other nine should raise their hands.

*Raises hand*

Might & Magic X did pretty well in last year's RPG of the Year thread, didn't it? I remember some thread where Sinatar, Durante, et al.'s glowing reviews convinced me to buy it. It left me a helpless addict for like a month.

 

[marzlapin]

KOTOR was very simplistic compared to the D&D games Black Isle/Bioware/Troika did before it, so you might have enjoyed thosw games more than the KOTORs (I certainly did).

Pillars presents itself as a Baldur's Gate successor, but in practice it is somewhere between D&D4e and an MMO. You have a big party, 6 to KOTOR's 3. Some abilities require you to rest to replenish, while lower level spells (D&D style, so: still useful throughout the game mostly) refresh per encounter.

If you like a bit of micromanagement without things getting too tedious, you might enjoy Pillars. Most of the complaints I have with the game are stuff a new cRPG player won't care about, so I can recommend it.

Hm, that's helpful, thanks!

 

[Faerith]

On Age of Decandence: Those unsure about the game, like I was, really should try the extensive demo (iirc the whole first chapter) available on steam.
Being able to go for non-combat solutions is really refreshing.

Now we're up to three. The other nine should raise their hands.

*raises hand*
I enjoyed it until that first roadblock boss that blows you of the tower on like his last HP for the Xth time ... then I got distracted by other games... .

I've been reallllly wanting to put down all my current games, and replay a lot of the classics... both ones I played as a kid (wasteland, ultimas, bard's tales, and more) and ones i somehow missed (might & magic, specifically).

But I'm finding it -really- hard to decide 'when' to do this. I'm happy that I'm halfway through both the first Bard's Tale and M&MLX (modern).... and then i have console games, other games, etc.

Backlog stress is real, especially given that I could probably game for years just with decade(s) old games in my GOG collection.

Heh, I have this problem too. I get into the mood for some fondly remembered classic like Dark Sun, Xeen or Anvil of Dawn and then remember my horrible playthrough-rate for PC due to sales on GOG: 19,92%... . So I put myself on a buying-stop (except for TiTS SC, Xenoblade and whenever Zelda and Xanadu Next comes out, ehe).

 

[Arulan]

And because I can't recommend The Age of Decadence enough, everyone with an interest in RPGs, or a mild interest in the game should read this article:

The Fanatic and His RPG

Just a few days ago I was certain the game would be my GOTY. Of course, as fate would have it, UnderRail now has a December 21st release date. That isn't to say it won't be for sure, but UnderRail is another game everyone with an interest in RPGs, especially fans of Fallout, should take a look at.

 

[MickeyKnox]

Your posts in this thread sold me on this game that slipped under my radar. Thanks, and I'll let you know how it goes.

Enjoy!

Post tin the ot if you have questions, I'll be checking it.

And because I can't recommend The Age of Decadence enough, everyone with an interest in RPGs, or a mild interest in the game should read this article:

The Fanatic and His RPG

Just a few days ago I was certain the game would be my GOTY. Of course, as fate would have it, UnderRail now has a December 21st release date. That isn't to say it won't be for sure, but UnderRail is another game everyone with an interest in RPGs, especially fans of Fallout, should take a look at.

It's a great article, and yeah I'm shocked UnderRail is making it "out" out within calendar 2015, the early access has been on my machine since it was available, this kinda tips 2015 over 2014 as the RPG year for me.

 

[bati]

I really hope that release date won't bite them in the ass, I think it's a little too close to the steam sales.

 

[hemtae]

I can tell. Sounds good though, so I'm going to try the demo. I feel like the awfulness of the visuals could be mitigated if they didn't use Generic Fantasy Video Game™ font.

When I see this:I think this:

Comic Sans would be moderately more appropriate since the game apparently has some sort of noire theme.

For what its worth, that is my own creation not the developers. The high res image the developers had of that didn't have the logo on it so I found a logo from somewhere and stitched it on as best as I could and the result is about the pinnacle of my photoshopping skills.

 

[Disgraced]

For what its worth, that is my own creation not the developers. The high res image the developers had of that didn't have the logo on it so I found a logo from somewhere and stitched it on as best as I could and the result is about the pinnacle of my photoshopping skills.

Hey, it looks good! You did a great job on the OT as well! Their lower res version of that with the logo on it and almost everything else they have for it still deters me. I get that their stuff is graphic design on a budget but it also makes the game look very uninspired. I would obviously prefer bad design if it was less generic, but there's no accounting for taste.

But the FAQs in your OT and everyone's recommendations are totally turning me onto it!

 

[Nikodemos]

I'd recommend that you actually just play 3.5 at that point. It's still very popular, and ToEE is still a massively cut down and neutered version of the gloriously broken mess that is 3.5

Well, yes, but in tabletop you can't cheese your charstats to natural 20 (minus racial pen if appl.) via using the statswap bug. ^_^

Oh, and I'll get M&MX the minute uPlay is torn out of it.



P.S.: I see nobody recommended Darklands yet, as a classical age RPG definitely worth trying. Unfortunately unsurprising though, since poor Tuco (its biggest champion) was permed. ;_;

 

[MickeyKnox]

Hey, it looks good! You did a great job on the OT as well! Their lower res version of that with the logo on it and almost everything else they have for it still deters me. I get that their stuff is graphic design on a budget but it also makes the game look very uninspired. I would obviously prefer bad design if it was less generic, but there's no accounting for taste.

But the FAQs in your OT and everyone's recommendations are totally turning me onto it!

Are you still here? Good grief.

 

[Mephala]

I see nobody recommended Darklands yet, as a classical age RPG definitely worth trying. Unfortunately unsurprising though, since poor Tuco (its biggest champion) was permed. ;_;

It is on sale on gog atm.

I'm pretty sure I've seen it posted before I did a few post above. While I recommend it as a classic it is not at all where I would suggest someone starts if they are new to the genre.

 

[Nikodemos]

It is on sale on gog atm.

I'm pretty sure I've seen it posted before I did a few post above. While I recommend it as a classic it is not at all where I would suggest someone starts if they are new to the genre.

Oh definitely. Its mechanics are pretty tricky and you need to actually print out pages from the manual (regarding saints' feast days) making it a really oldschool type of RPG. But its setting and atmosphere are quite singular in the genre.

 

[Durante]

Oh, and I'll get M&MX the minute uPlay is torn out of it.

You really shouldn't let that stop you from playing the best party-based first person RPG in a long time.

 

[Nikodemos]

You really shouldn't let that stop you from playing the best party-based first person RPG in a long time.

Well... If Gamersgate runs a -75% offer on it, I'll probably bite, uPlay and all.

 

[Mephala]

Wish I didn't buy Age of Decadence during that last Steam sale. It is on gog right now and cheaper too due to conversion.

 

[funkypie]

baldurs gate 2 worth replaying as a good character? just about to finish playing as an evil bastard.

 

[Violet_0]

yo, I got to check out Age of Decadence. As someone who spent hundreds of hours with the NWN1&2 toolkits, I don't really see an issue with graphics, heh. They are even 3D, what more could you possibly want

baldurs gate 2 worth replaying as a good character? just about to finish playing as an evil bastard.

the NPCs will react differently to you, but it won't change much on a second playthrough. It's probably a better idea to take a longer break first

 

[Durante]

baldurs gate 2 worth replaying as a good character? just about to finish playing as an evil bastard.

Only if you have no other good CRPGs you haven't played yet. Which seems unlikely