Obscure-- Word of Mouth Games

mytgroo · Post by **mytgroo** » September 16th, 2006, 12:26 pm

I am looking for obscure word of mouth games, that you really have to look for to find that are quality games.

Basically Isometric RPG games, turn based or real time, it doesn't matter. Storyline and character creation are king. So dungeonsiege is not a good choice for what I am interested in.

I recently finished playing Evil Islands by Nival. I downloaded the thing for $10.00. It was a very interesting game. Someone mentioned it on RPGcodex. I also finished playing Kult Heretic Kingdoms which I found on manifestogames which was a pretty interesting game with an excellent story line.

I am looking for more obscure and recommended hardcore rpgs. Both Evil Islands and Kult Heretic Kingdoms seemed to be aimed at that market. I think Eschalon Book 1 is also. Age of Decadence and Darghul are another two games I am also waiting for.

Does anyone have any good recommendations. I looked at Divine Divinity and didn't really like it.

I have played Arcanum which would fit in this category. I also have played all of the Spiderweb games.

Digging for good games. Independent is best.

YouTube · September 17th, 2006, 8:08 am

I'd never heard of either of the two games you mentioned (Kult and Evil Islands) so I DL'ed the demos and played with them this weekend. Not too bad. Kult is probably a little more favorable to me than EI.

I'm not sure what else is out there right now either. Hopefully a vistior will have some fresh suggestions.

Whenever I am asked for my opinion on RPGs, I always suggests for people to go back and try some classic RPGs that maybe they missed the first time around. The graphics are often painful to look at, but the gameplay is still there. Dungeon Master, Eye of the Beholder (series), Might & Magic...man, that's some good stuff. DOSbox and Abondonware sites are your friend. If the game is still copyrighted, don't DL it...you can always find it used and cheap on the internet (eBay, Amazon, etc). This thread has a lot of classic RPG suggestions.

screeg · Post by **screeg** » September 20th, 2006, 7:42 am

Helherron, which I always tell people should be called "Hel-heroin". It's by a Finnish programmer and someone who did art for Tom Proudfoot's games.

Not much in the way of story, but the combat is turn-based, tactical and loads of fun, and the entire game is free.

Also, you might not have heard of Pirates of the Western Sea, an unfinished indie game.

Larec · Post by **Larec** » October 21st, 2006, 1:14 am

Hmmm, this is my forte!!!

I could bore you with a long list, but I'm just going to focus on one game:
Realms of the Haunting. (1997, Interplay)

This game had suffered the worst fate ever: coming out a couple months after Diablo. Because of that, it was D.O.A. I don't know if you could call it an RPG, since it was more like a Myst-like adventure game done in a first-person "eye of the beholder" perspective.

The game was MAMMOTH-sized and was 4 CDs long. Had some truly amazing graphics and voice overs. If it had come out a year earlier, we'd all be talking about it right now. Great story too. Imagine Amityville horror meets The omen. Very biblical, EXTREMELY FRIGHTENING.

I love one part early on, where you find an old phonograph record player. If you take a nearby record and put it on the player and turn it on, you hear this absolutely bone chillingly frightening evil laughter with the sound of a baby screaming and crying in the background.

dagorkan · Post by **dagorkan** » January 25th, 2007, 8:32 pm

I thought Evil Islands was very good. If the demo experience is a good representation of the whole game I'll buy it. Kult is OK, some interesting ideas but I expect very boring.

txa1265 · Post by **txa1265** » January 26th, 2007, 7:04 am

I liked Kult quite a bit (my review is here), because it was a game that knew what it wanted to get done and *did it*! Too many games reach too high and fail - there is much more that *could* have done, but I like what Kult actually did.

20mithrandir · Post by **20mithrandir** » February 12th, 2007, 2:21 am

txa1265 wrote:I liked Kult quite a bit (my review is here)

Good review for a good game. But if you liked "Kult: Heretic Kingdoms", maybe you know "Prince of Qin" too? Now that game had a crafting system I wished for a lot of games in the genre since...

txa1265 · Post by **txa1265** » February 12th, 2007, 6:25 am

20mithrandir wrote:
txa1265 wrote:I liked Kult quite a bit (my review is here)
Good review for a good game. But if you liked "Kult: Heretic Kingdoms", maybe you know "Prince of Qin" too? Now that game had a crafting system I wished for a lot of games in the genre since...

I have heard of Prince of Qin, but never played. I *have* played 'Seal of Evil', with some of the most horrid translations and voice acting in recent memory ... at that time GamerDad started trimming way back on allowing my more obscure game reviews ...

Rollor · Post by **Rollor** » April 28th, 2007, 8:40 am

Ok i've finally dl the demo of kult and liked it. One thing that annoyed me was that I couldn't find any map

. Neither just a little square in the corner ( ingame) or a big map I could look at.. So tell me does this game have a map?

Rollor · Post by **Rollor** » April 29th, 2007, 4:35 am

Question: Where can I find the minimap?

Answer: Kult doesn't include the minimap feature - the structure of the maps has been kept simple and within easonable size. In some of the maps other orientation helpers like signposts are present for the careful observer.

Why oh why wouldn't they include the minimap??

Gallifrey · Post by **Gallifrey** » April 29th, 2007, 12:15 pm

Rollor wrote:
Why oh why wouldn't they include the minimap??

Graph paper and pencil?

YouTube · Post by **BasiliskWrangler** » April 29th, 2007, 12:26 pm

Now you're talking, Gallifrey!!

Man, back in the day, I'd have 3-4 note pads of graph paper FILLED with maps!! That was the way to play an RPG !!

Gallifrey · Post by **Gallifrey** » April 29th, 2007, 1:30 pm

Yep, same here. Hand-drawn maps were the norm, it wasn't unusual or considered problematic to make your own maps.
That said, I've become terribly spoiled with the inclusion of mini-maps these days, so I would be a bit annoyed at the lack of a map.

But back in Ye Olden Days, the market wasn't saturated with games to distract you, you could sit down with a game and play it for a long, long time, so drawing maps didn't interfere with the speed at which you finished a game. Now there's so much competition, and who can blame anyone for wanting to play so many games when there's a lot to offer, so anything to hasten the process is welcomed.
We've certainly come a long way from graph paper and pencil maps to the automaps of Obilivion and World Of Warcraft where everything is shown to you.

Rollor · Post by **Rollor** » May 9th, 2007, 9:48 am

Patch 1.5

map feature added (toggle - "M" key)

:D:D

No need for drawing or time consuming things like that

Rollor · Post by **Rollor** » May 24th, 2007, 4:23 am

I was good while it lasted

Well worth a try for everyone, a bit short though

Guess i have to try evil islands now..