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[Whiteblade999]

About what I expected, a much better list then the terrible essential RPGs one we came up with (opinions folks). Last year there was something for everyone mostly and its amazing when you look at the actual output.

I grabbed M&M X (liked it for what it was), Blackguards (was lured in by premise of the story, didn't care for the huge combat focus), Dragonfall (great adaptation), Dark Souls 2 (loved it for all its flaws), Transistor (short and sweet), Divinity: OS (best turn based game since the original Fallout as far as I'm concerned), Valkyria Chronicles (double dipping, loved it), and Trails in the Sky FC (fantastic game with some pacing issues at the start).

 

[sear]

For me personally, it was probably either Legend of Grimrock 2 or Dark Souls 2. I'm glad Grimrock 2 especially is getting some recognition. I really hope Almost Human can go on to do more cool stuff.

People will whine about how awful Dark Souls 2 is compared to the first, but I think Dark Souls 2 had stronger core combat mechanics and enemy design, at the expense of consistency in level design and boss battles. Still was easily one of the best games of the year for me. Can't wait for Dark Souls 3 (and I'll be very sad if we never get Bloodborne on PC...).

 

[WanderingWind]

I imagine they're mad about the horrendous balance and lack of combat depth in Wasteland 2, both of which are extremely legitimate concerns.

Shit balance would be more acceptable - it's an ideal and that ideal is never really realized - if the character development or just about anything that's not conversational wasn't so poorly designed. I think you can skate by having bad combat if the organizational stuff leading up to it is compelling (Fallout 1 and 2 come to mind), but WL2 lacks that, with development being restricted for the most part to incrementally unlocking better ways to unlock doors, safes, toasters, rigged fences, crumbling walls, etc. And with no real dependencies between stats and skills, there's no real point in playing anything other than high int, high initiative rangers.

Whenever I think about going back to finish the game I think about all the junk I'll have to wade through with the garbage combat. It's hard, especially with the backlog.

Heh. Amen to that. The combat and mechanics were fantastic in D:OS, but after a while I really lost any and all motivation due to the piss poor story / writing.

We can always hope modding fixes the problem as in many cases.

It's great to see you're not alone in holding an unpopular opinion.

 

[RenegadeXV8]

Didn't inXile mention they were going to do a major balance pass for Wasteland 2 soon? I think I read it in one of the recent newsletters.

 

[Raggie]

I normally don't want anything to do with RPGCodex as those people fail at being decent human beings, but I'm glad to see Might & Magic X get recognition somewhere.

 

[Lime]

I just checked out NEO Scavenger and I simply can't deal with that UI and those visuals.

 

[BrassDragon]

The Codex is not my choice of poison but I defer to its collective knowledge of mechanics, world building and development history. In my view, this list is much more credible than the 'essential' RPG collection that GAF came up with.

NeoScavenger and Dragonfall are wonderful and deserve their time in the sun. Divinity OS has brilliant emergent gameplay but is hampered by an unengaging story and setting.

I guess the common thread in this selection is genuine depth and variation in gameplay, something that's only given token attention in the current crop of AAA roleplaying games.

 

[Durante]

And with no real dependencies between stats and skills, there's no real point in playing anything other than high int, high initiative rangers.

I enjoyed WL2, but this is undeniably a huge issue. The whole attribute systems needs to be completely overhauled, and either affect skill checks or cap skill levels.

 

[vocab]

I'd like to see larian nail a good story from start to finish. I find their written dialogue pretty good, but it seems the story just falls apart or goes in places that lack any sense. Div2 forces so much stuff on you its kinda all over the place. At least dragon commander is pretty straight forward and more about the characters. I have yet to play divos, but hearing some of the complaints are upsetting, but some what expected. It seems like a very dense game. Tough to tie that stuff together.

 

[nonadventurer]

I'd like to see larian nail a good story from start to finish. I find their written dialogue pretty good, but it seems the story just falls apart or goes in places that lack any sense. Div2 forces so much stuff on you its kinda all over the place. At least dragon commander is pretty straight forward and more about the characters. I have yet to play divos, but hearing some of the complaints are upsetting, but some what expected. It seems like a very dense game. Tough to tie that stuff together.

Swen Vincke has acknowledged the problem with the game's dialog in his latest blog post (http://www.lar.net/2014/12/18/leaked-the-larian-plans-for-20152016-and-beyond/), so there's still hope they're gonna do it better with D:OS 2 or whatever their next RPG will be.