Okay, here is my list (in no order, but with a tendency towards the order of playing) :
- Albion. My very first RPG. Beautiful product which graphics might nowadays be a bit outdated. Made with *lots* of love towards details ! Very creative, very interesting. The overall handling is not so good, especially for a beginner. Combat was turn-based. If I would play it again with my experience I've gained in the last years, I'd make it better, I think. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> Hm, let me say ... 75 % - well, I was a beginner back then and didn't quite know how to work with it. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
- The Northland Trilogy by Attic, which has been ported into English as the "Realms of Arcania" Trilogy by SirTech. My second RPG(s). Three games. Part 2 is still my all-time favourite, mostly because of the fact that I could explore the whole lands and discover new paths ! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" /> I absolutely
love Discovering/Exploring, and that's the first thing I do in RPGs EVER ! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
The games have nice stories. The graphics are today definitively outdated, combat is turn-based. (As a newbie, I was irritated and thought this was like Chess ! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" /> ) More fun than great graphics, that's how I'd characterise it/them. Around 80 % .
- <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" /> I ablosutely loved it, because of the ability to explore ! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" /> I loved the beautiful detailed graphics. Everything was so FULL of richness in details ! The combat was so-so, but overall a bit too much & boring. I'd still give it ... 90 % or so. With combat as minus points.
- <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beyond.gif" alt="" /> Have it through, finally. Good game, but too much walk required, too much combat. I'd still give it a 85 % .
- Wizardry 8. A blast. The MOST complex RPG EVER. At least I don't know any one that's more complex. I was absolutely stunned by what mass of details flowed in there. I mean - you can even choose the words to talk about ! Although some of the NPCs are sometimes just standing around, most of them are actually walking like guards walking through a town. To me, it's rather a life-simulation than anything else, I mean there had been so many efforts made to let it appear like an actually living world ! Not everything's good, but most things are very well made, imho. But sometimes a bit too complex.
Complexity is also its minus-point : It's sometimes a bit too much. Nothing for a beginner, I swear. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
Too much combat. You can't walk a mile without being driven into combat by auto-leveling monsters. That was the reason why I never finished it. Without that much combat (which is turn-based by the way), it would be my dream of a game ! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> 79 %
- Icewind Dale. Two words : Potential wasted. Such a wonderfully pictured world - and then it's everything but combat. So much potential wasted. It could've been a wonderful game with *much* more interaction and story. I still throw it into the same bown with Blizzrads D2, because it's almost nothing but combat. Sad. 65 % .
- Baldur's Gate. Begun for the second time. Never finished yet. Hard to say what it's about.
The dialogues and the lively world is almost unique. Every NPC seems to be hand-picked, so to say <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> and they all have their own reasons and traits. I like that. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
But it's hard for beginners. You don't know where you are thrown into, meet some strangers and don't know what to do next - apart from the fact that the chars are notoriously low with money. First impression : 50-70 % . The richness in details regarding NPCs is a big plus here.
- Gothic. Begun 2 times, never finished. Great environment, everything seems to be very lively. Combat so-so, but not great. I mean, I favour turn-based combat. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> So far 90 % .
- Lands of Lore I : Update : THIS was my very first RPG. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> Not Albion. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> I've begun it a few months ago and consider it a lot of fun ! I'm almost through it, and apart from some very difficult fights and riddles (I HATE the Urbish Mines !) the only minus is the backpack : You just cannot take anything with you. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> Although it's very diffucult at some points, I still like the game. I'd give it 95 % . <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
- Eye of the Beholder Trilogy Part I. Begun also a few months ago. Riddles are more difficult and boring than in Lands of Lore (both programmed by Westwood Studios). So far 69 % .
- D1 & D2 & LOD . What do I need to say ? The origin of the Action-RPG sub-Genre. It's fun, collecting is fun, but at one point it began to bore me. The biggest minus apart from the brutality (hacking, hacking, slashing) is that the backpack is DEFINITIVELY TOO SMALL ! Between 60-70 % . The "collection factor" is a big plus here. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
- Sacred. I loved that game - until I met the hordes of monsters. Another example of "potential wasted". A *wonderful* rich and detailed world - and then it's just hacking & slashing. Ugh. Such a shame.
The worst thing is that the gamers like it. In the official German forum, nearly EVERY rant about the monster respawn and the masses of monsters is dominated by the fanboi's replys : "More ! More ! I LOVE these masses !" I don't like it.
I still shake my head and wonder : How could such a
wonderful game be used to make a simple hack & slash game out of it ? I shudder. Such a shame. 70 % with tendency downwards. The monsters are just too much and too many.
- Nox. Tiny, little game. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> I find it "cute" <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> , but that is based on my impression of the graphics of the characters. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> Everything's viewed from above - like in Albion. 70 % .
- Might & Magic series : Just sniffed in. Cannot say anything about it. Maybe one day.
- Planescape : Tormet. Extremely creative game. Never seen such a thing - never before and never after. I was not surprised as I learned that it didn't sell too well - it's just far too mature and sophisticated for the current generation of D2-players. No hacking, no slashing. Just great story. If there war an Olymp of RPG games, I'd DEFINITIVELY put it on the top ! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> Great for story-tellers ! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> Negative points : Too dark and too morbide for my own taste (that's why I didn't buy it for a long time.) 97 % (with darkness as minus).
By the way, Guido (Guy) Henkel who worked with PS:T also worked with Attic for the Northland Trilogy before. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> As one of the German-language section put it : "Quality pays off !" <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" />
- Jagged Alliance : Played a bit in it. The patching status is the worst I know of. There is NOT one patch that contains ALL fixes, but you've got to install patch 1, then patch 2, patch 3, patch 4 ... I think there are four out there. Even WORSE : The current patch-status is limited for the German version of the game (due to the original distributor going bancrupt). That means that the English version has more patches and betzter fixes, but these patches MUST NOT be used with the German version ! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" /> To me it's impressive how increadible stupiy a compaty can be, regarding Patching. Sadly, this gamne was made by SirTech, who also made the fine Wizardry 8.
Gameplay . Good game, but a bit too hard for my taste, even in "easy". 60-70 % .
- Arcanum. Very interesting and quite creative. Sadly the game seems not to be managable as a character who has from everything a bit. I fear that you've got to concentrate either on technology OR on magic, but not having both at the same time. Never finished. Still like the game because of its overall experience. 80 % .
What few people know is that Nasrudin is a kind of islamic "joke-maker", the closest word I know to desribe him is a "jester", but he was no jester. There are lots of funny books and stories about him ! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" /> He seemed to have really lived in Turkey, but that's not too sure anymore, because the tradition around him is now several hundred years old. He has several different names : "Mulla Nasrudin", Nasreddin Afanti", Effendi Nasrudin", etc. .
Apart from that I've got some old Ultima games lying around here, bought at a flea market. I think I'll play them one day. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />
Have I forgot anything ? I don't think so.
Alrik.
