The Best 10 RPGs of all time!

[vid]

ok my list, mostly pretty old stuff:

Amberstar (+moon+Albion)
Mass Effect 1
Might and Magic 4+5
Wizardry 6
Dungeon Master 1
Lands of Lore 1
Gothic 2
The Fall - Last days of Gaia
Gods - Lands of Infinity
Pool of Radiance

The Eschalon series gets a special place, because it consists of all what is good about those old games.

[Antigrav]

In the order that they occur to me:

• Ultima III
  Ultima V (really wish I'd had a computer capable of playing VII)
  Fallout (will someday take another stab at 2)
  Dragon Wars
  The Bard's Tale
  Quest for Glory 2
  Heimdall (though I had to use multiple floppy disks to run it—with mixed results—on my Amiga 500, I still thought it was awesome)
  Star Command*
  Fable: The Lost Chapters had a lot going for it as far as features and polish, with some interesting innovations and plenty of replay value
  Do Infocom games count?

WoW and later, WAR, depending on who was online to play with. However, the heal-tank-DPS routine is a silly and constricting mechanic.

I only vaguely recall Wasteland, enough to know that I really liked it (something about pistol whipping) but not enough to confidently list it here.

*I had mistakenly listed this as Star Control. While Star Control 2 was a very good RPG, I found the main quest line impossible and so I mainly played melee mode.

[Palog]

Hey a top favorite list, always useless but fun stuff. Let try do my own, but it won't look as oldies than most posted, despite I'm most probably quite older than most who posted here.

• Gothic 2 + NOTR
• Fallout
• Dragon Quest V DS Remake
• The Witcher
• Dragon Age: Origins
• Neverwinter Night 2: Mask of the Betrayer
• Baldur's Gate
• Infinite Space
• Drakensang
• Might & Magic Clash of Heroes

Well, why there isn't Ultima Underworld, Dungeon Master, Ultima 7, RealmZ The Sword Lands Trilogy, Avernum 1, Citadel Adventure of the Crystal Keep, Eyes Of the Beholder, Land of Lore, Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer, Ancient Domains of Mystery or Kings Bounty The Legend? I consider all of those from awesome to great. But:

• There's some that don't play well anymore because of controls that had became weird with time, Ultima Underworld, Ultima 7, RealmZ The Sword Lands Trilogy, cough cough and yes the not that old Avernum 1 is close to felt in that category.
• There's some I couldn't play anymore because of a lack of an auto-map, Dungeon Master, Eyes Of the Beholder, Land of Lore.
• Most of these have hard to bear graphics, and that's very rude now to play them, Dungeon Master, Ultima Underworld, cough cough and yes the not that old Avernum 1 is close to felt in that category.
• I know two great Roguelike games (among more played), Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer, Ancient Domains of Mystery. Alas Roguelike gameplay is very special and there's many things in it that I don't like much, but 2 great games anyway.
• Citadel Adventure of the Crystal Keep is a different case, it's a 1989 Mac game, but the Black&White graphics are rather precise and cute, the controls are very modern, it has a nice auto-map system. But it has series of riddles or puzzles amazingly difficult and probably on design has many holes letting you fly through the game if you exploit them.
• And Kings Bounty The Legend is a modern game, cute graphics, very good controls, one of the best game I ever played, but it's not really a RPG, it's more a tactical/strategy turn based game with few superficial RPG elements except a rather good and interesting class system.

When those old game will have a great remake like many done on the DS system like Final Fantasy 3&4, Dragon Quest 4&5&6, Chrono Trigger (more a port, it would worth a true remake), Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, then they could make a come back in my favorites list. Until that I'm hardly able to replay/finish play them anymore so I can hardly advise them to anybody.

[Palog]

Wow, Dungeon Lords? hehe.

I think it was a very underrated game, the Publisher rushed it out with a million bugs like so many games now days just gave it a bad rap but at least the devs didn't Disappoint the fans and stuck with it - I really enjoyed the game

It was an unfinished game, many features on the box wasn't implemented at all, towns and room had something empty. And the worse: they released a new version with many of the features at least implemented and they request original buyer of the game to pay a second time despite they already paid a totally unfinished game, only the recent Haze did worse in that matter.

But it was a very good gameplay anyway, one of the best class system I ever saw, the action was hectic but rather interesting, very fast and dynamic but with some depth, the world was simplified but you had the real feeling to explore unknown lands and dungeons and there was some good puzzles, a nice mood at many places and a fair story doing the job well. That said if I'm not hurt to see it quoted, it is far to reach my top ten list.

As a side quote it's one of the Diablo like game the less Diablo like, behind Din's Curse. It was RPG enough to be close to Divine Divinity 1 (a very good RPG), Dungeon Lords wasn't as good RPG from far but had a quite better action than Divine Divinity 1.

[Palog]

....
*I had mistakenly listed this as Star Control. While Star Control 2 was a very good RPG, I found the main quest line impossible and so I mainly played melee mode.

Geee I forgot quote it in my second list. The list of oldies, great but that I could not play anymore. I played the 3DO version and it's been very great fun, but yes I never finished it (as many other in fact). This one get a faithful remake, too faithful, I could not bear the fights anymore. And with a pad, despite I don't like pad, it was more easy and fun. This freeware remake (and totally legal) is:
The Ur-Quan Masters.

It's been renamed because the trademark has been bought (only the trademark not the original games). And for Mac users ready to play oldies they can rejoice, there's an OSX version that seems work fine when I tried it.

[Evnissyen]

I find it interesting that only two people (not including me) so far chose either Diablo 1 or 2 or both . . . I myself did not put either one in the top 10 because even though I liked them temporarily when I first played them, I now cannot stand them and am also turned off by games (like Din's Curse) that remind me of the Diablo series. Sure, Diablo 2 had decent animation and had interesting effects and cool strategies . . . but basically it was just a dumb game with no story. And the lack of story is a killer. That's why I did not put it in my top 10 despite my limited experience with RPG's in comparison with a lot of people here, coupled with my dislike for -- or tiring of -- older and more primitive games (except Spiderweb). To answer Saxon: the Spiderweb games I put in there partly as filler and also because they actually have narrative and character development. As I've said before: writing is the most important thing, to me, whether we're talking Adventure or RPG.

I'm currently into The Witcher, but . . . although I like the game and I like the strongly story-based aspect of it... it also lacks the versatility of Neverwinter Nights 2, so... until I finish the game (I was at the end of Ch.1 before I had to do a System Restore and thus lost all my saves, sigh... which means when I return to Boston I'll have to start over again. Not a big deal, it'll take me a few days to catch up again, is all, and this time I'll make better character-building decisions.

But... until then my top 3 are now thus:

1. Planescape : Torment (clumsy gameplay but the best writing I've seen)
2. Neverwinter Nights 2
3. The Witcher

Below that is probably

4. Avernum 6
5. Eschalon Book 1
6. Geneforge 4 (Again: not G5 because G5, mid-game, is too difficult to be fun. I like a challenge - I usually play Spiderweb's games on high difficulty - but the G5 balancing is ridiculous. Only two character types, I've found, can make it through.)

...Oh, yeah. Balance is one problem that The Witcher has, as well. Most foes are way too easy, while the "boss" foe at the end of Ch.1 is way too difficult.

The versatility of NwN2 is what, for me, puts it well above The Witcher, at least so far. I might very well develop a greater respect as the story continues, we'll see.

Still can't wait for Eschalon book 2 to come out on Mac. True, I could play the Windows version today . . . but I prefer to play it on my Mac OS.

[jluk]

Started from commodore 64, then Apple IIe, then had the fastest comp in my block, the 486 233mhz, the games as follow:

1. Ultima IV
2. Moebius
3. Ultima VI Blackgate
4. Bard's tale
5. King's Quest 2-6
6. Ultima online (1996 to 2001, sold account for 2k)
7. DAOC
8. Eschalon I and II
9. Guildwars
10. Ultima offline xperiment

[TheBuzzSaw]

Diablo really drew emphasis to the widening gap in "RPG fans". Personally, I am a huge fan of Diablo II, but I also acknowledge that I am not a die-hard fan to the true sense of the term RPG. Diablo is one of those games where the story is there if you're willing to dig for it, but it also offers a path where you can ignore the story and just go at it. Frankly, that is what I like about Diablo II. Go out. Kill lots. Get loot. Sort through loot. Go out again.

True RPGs entail a lot more storytelling. That is what makes true RPGs great, but it is sadly not my cup o' tea. I like gameplay; I'm not really into story and/or realism. (Having no story at all is murder. Story holds any game together and lets everything make sense.)

[shane451]

Glad to see so many people still enjoy classic RPGs, and hats off to Basilisk for producing software that takes us back to the good ole days. Hard to narrow my favorites down to 10, but i'll give it a shot.

My list:
1. Ultima IV (C-64)
2. Ultima V (C-64)
3. Dungeon Master (Amiga)
4. Ultima VI (Amiga)
5. Questron (C-64)
6. Legend of Blacksilver (C-64)
7. Legacy of the Ancients (C-64)
8. Phantasie I (C-64)
9. The Bard's Tale III (C-64)
10. Dungeon Master II (Amiga)

[Tyranthraxus]

OK, leaving EB out of the equation, I guess these have had more replays than anything else, might not be in order after the first few:

1) Pool Of Radiance (original Gold Box) think I bought 4 versions of it, C-64, Amiga, and 2 PC collections with it in. (C-64 still sounds the best, really belts out the intro tune!)

2) UltimaV: 3 copies - C-64, Amiga and PC. Never tire of playing.

3) Moria: Amiga, very nice Nethack/Rogue clone.

4) Ancient Domains of Mystery (ADOM) : so involving.

5) MM3. although World of Xeen catching up fast.

6) Lords of Midnight - C64: OK, bit of a hybrid wargame with some RPG elements, but the cause of so many all-nighters! An early classic.

7) Knights of Legend: C-64 and later found abandonware PC version. For all its bugs, and unfinished state, the basis of a very good game was in here, even with the constant switching disks on the Commodore!

probably Ultima IX: A real treat for the eyes, probably let down by bugs and seemingly rushed finish to it, and support dried up literally at release, as all resources got shifted to Ultima Online. Even so, still an excellent game, would love to have seen Origin carry on and produce another in the same style.

9) Phantasie III: Ok, it looks awful today, but for its time, very appealing.

10) Realms of Arkania - Blade of Destiny: I tried so hard to like this, the ideas within, and just the sheer size of it, it appeared to be a fantastically well-thought out RPG. But, I found too much within it seemed to be filler, so many houses/residents that didn`t interact, some horrible bugs, and a plot that seemed to disappear part way through the game. The early "Ship of Death" quest didn`t always materialise, and being so early, couldn`t always be completed fully with a starting character. Perhaps I was really unlucky with a bad copy, but to almost have a fantastic game at my fingertips, very exasperating.

Well, that`s 10, although so many more come to mind, many of which should be in the 10, but I tried to use just 1 from each series.
All the Ultimas rock, as do the Gold Box SSI games (although the last ones in 2 of the series, Pools of Darkness and Dark Queen of Krynn just didn`t push the buttons like their predecessors).
Buck Rogers was fun, newer games like Baldie`s Gate, Icewind Dale, Pool of Radiance (revisited), NWN, and Oblivion, probably will stand up well, if I ever find the time to play them fully.
Classics like Rogue, Nethack always appeal, as do some of the old `adventure` genre, like Colossal Cave, Zork, and the Scott Adams games, as do games like King`s Bounty (both old and new).
Again, time has never been on my side where the online RPGs are concerned, still got Ultima Online waiting to be tried, and a few others like Guild Wars.

[Tyranthraxus]

Just got to thinking, a friend of mine had a game called "Goblin City", which appeared to be resident on the hard-drive of a 386 pc he bought decades ago.
Sadly, it got deleted, and we never found out where it came from.
Never had any joy finding it on the net, or on any BBS`s back in my Fidonet days.
If anyone has any info, I`d be grateful.

[Simone]

I could only make a top 6, but some spots are shared.

1. Ultima: Exodus and Sacred
2. Eschalon: Book 2
3. Wizardry I-II-III: The Story of Llylgamyn and Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land
4. System Shock 2 and DoomRL
5. The Three Musketeers: The Game
6. POWDER

Worst game I ever played:

The Temple of Elemental Evil.

[sirdilznik]

I want to post a game that I foolishly failed to post in my original top 10. I'm not sure where in the top 10 it belongs but I feel it definitely deserves a mention in the top 10 (I'm thinking somewhere around #7 or #8). I'm shocked no one else has mentioned this game before since it is an all-time CRPG classic. Of course I speak of Betrayal At Krondor.

[Suiboon]

Obviously I haven't played every RPG. But here goes.

1. Planescape: Torment
2. Baldur's Gate II (with Throne of Bhaal)
3. The Witcher Enhanced Edition
4. Fallout
5. Arcanum
6. Baldur's Gate
7. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
8. Fallout II
9. Gothic II
10. Might and Magic VII

left out such games as Eschalon (sorry), Morrowind, Oblivion, Betrayal at Krondor (haven't played it much though)...

[severian]

Fallout II
Fallout
Wizardry VII
M&M VII
M&M VI
Wizardry VI
Witcher
Eschalon Book II
Yendorian Tales series
Betrayal at Krondor
and many more ;>