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How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

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Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#191

Post by Tsubasachan »

Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #98

OK, so in 1995 there were few computer RPGs. True. In fact I distinctly remember myself at that time, as a huge CRPG fan, thinking that they were bad times for PC RPGs, and hoping for better times. But 1996 was the year of The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, one of the best RPGs of all time (IMO, way better than Baldur's) that would later continue into a saga that is still top notch today. In 1997, Fallout came out. I'…

In 1995 there were few games, period. Videogame market was in its infancy compared to what it is today.

I absolutely adore Baldur's Gate. It is the ultimate expression of gaming for basement dwelling nerds. Black Isle/Bioware always had penchant for lore and world building.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#192

Post by qplex »

dwighttk wrote: post #181

People probably haven't given a shout out to Knights of the Old Republic because it came out almost a decade after Bauldur, but I saw a bunch of people listing their favorite CRPGs and KotOR and KotOR II should be mentioned. (I also like Morrowind and Skyrim)

More like half a decade: Baldurs Gate was released in 1998 and Knights of The Old Republic in 2003.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#193

Post by dwighttk »

qplex wrote: post #192
dwighttk wrote: post #181

People probably haven't given a shout out to Knights of the Old Republic because it came out almost a decade after Bauldur, but I saw a bunch of people listing their favorite CRPGs and KotOR and KotOR II should be mentioned. (I also like Morrowind and Skyrim)

More like half a decade: Baldurs Gate was released in 1998 and Knights of The Old Republic in 2003.

Rounding to the nearest decade

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#194

Post by badpun »

ddebernardy wrote: post #155
tdehart wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was also Diablo 1 released at the end of 1996. It was a great time for RPGs.

Diablo was monotonous, linear hack'n slash. If that's your thing it's cool, but it's not an RPG. As a CRPG fan at the time, it still boggles my mind that such a title had any kind of success after the likes of Wasteland, Bard's Tale 1-3, the numerous SSI/D&D titles, or the Ultima series. Those days were glorious, and nearly all of those titles are still fantastic today. Diablo did long-term damage to CRPGs IMO. It es…

To be honest, I loved Diablo, but I never even viewed it as an RPG. It was just a mostly brainless, almost casual game to play after school. You could jump in and out for however long time you had and grind some XP and loot. My friends played it too, so at school we got to brag who had more Zodiacs etc.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#195

Post by rjf72 »

mancerayder wrote: post #111

I long for a proliferation of 'adventure' or slower RPGs, instead of the FPS-type we see so much of. One advantage of the former is there's often a party component, like the old-school Wasteland (or the new Wasteland II), old Bard's Tale, etc. Or perhaps the party component fell out of favor for a different reason? I've quite enjoyed Witcher 3's atmosphere and story, but there's something hack-and-slash about the com…

You're alluding primarily to AAA games that target consoles. Nothing wrong with these games, but they are generally built to target the widest possible demographic and so you're going to get some typical patterns: action + simplicity + low difficulty + crazy good production values. Probably not what you're looking for.

To find what you're interested in just step off the beaten path a bit -- right now is probably the single best time in history for things like RPGs. For instance there is literally a brand new Bard's Tale out, in the same spirit as the originals, including having Michael Cranford on board. [1] You could start your search there - the "More like this" suggestions (on Steam) tend to be really quite good. Another place to start the search might be with the remastered Bard's Tale Trilogy [2]. Definitely don't avoid games just because you've never heard of them. For instance I'd never heard of Spiderweb software but have gotten an immense amount of enjoyment out of their games. [3] If you're okay with just dropping the story and playing a turn based RPG type game purely for an incredibly phenomenal monster training/creation type system in an incredibly expansive world then the Siralim [4] series is another great thing to check out.

No affiliation with any of the companies/products mentioned here. But I was literally in the exact same situation as you. Was really disappointed that it felt like my console had every type of genre - first person shooter/stabbers and third person shooter/stabbers! I was never much of a PC gamer. Then I took the path I'm recommending here and was just left jaw dropped to realize we're seriously in the golden age of games right now, most certainly including classic RPG style games!

[1] - https://store.steampowered.com/app/566090/The_Bards_Tale_IV_...

[2] - https://store.steampowered.com/app/843260/The_Bards_Tale_Tri...

[3] - can't link

[4] - https://store.steampowered.com/app/841770/Siralim_3/

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#196

Post by brennebeck »

nu5500 wrote: post #160
s_trumpet wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Modern CRPG's are pretty great, I enjoyed all of the following: - Divinity OS 1/2 - Underrail - Age of Decadence - Bastard Bonds - Serpent in the Staglands - Tyranny - Torment: Tides of Numenera However, I did not care for Pillars of Eternity at all.

I feel like Tyranny is greatly under rated. There are rough edges for sure, but the story line and atmosphere sucked me in in a way that I haven't experienced in a long time. Really fun combat system too.

Yeah, I was looking for this comment before I created another. Surprised by how little Tyranny has been mentioned.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#197

Post by kungtotte »

goodbyehorses wrote: post #45

Baldurs Gate was really good, but I think people give it too much credit. Fallout 1$2 and Planescape Torment showed what really is a narrative-driven RPG game, they deserve more attention.

You know, I feel the same way about Half-Life.

It's a good game and lord knows I played it enough to know it like the back of my hand, but people keep bringing it up like it is the Monolith from 2001 bringing us gamer-apes into the modern world.

It's still a first person shooter. A well-made one, but not revolutionary. Unreal came out six months before it and it also had story-driven gameplay and used environmental effects like lighting too.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#198

Post by aeze »

elithrar wrote: post #120
ArrayList wrote: post #79

Anyone remember Neverwinter Nights? That was my "thing". Also, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete was a high point in my childhood.

I played NWN1 for _years_, on "Persistent Worlds" - the (usually) 40 - 80 concurrent player worlds created by the community. Battledale and Dasaria. Had some of the best gaming & storytelling experiences on those servers. Sidenote: I used to moderate PlanetNeverwinter, the NWN forum on Gamespy's ForumPlanet.

Yep, I played on Aventia - those servers were great.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#199

Post by bradknowles »

rjf72 wrote: post #195
mancerayder wrote: post #111

I long for a proliferation of 'adventure' or slower RPGs, instead of the FPS-type we see so much of. One advantage of the former is there's often a party component, like the old-school Wasteland (or the new Wasteland II), old Bard's Tale, etc. Or perhaps the party component fell out of favor for a different reason? I've quite enjoyed Witcher 3's atmosphere and story, but there's something hack-and-slash about the com…

You're alluding primarily to AAA games that target consoles. Nothing wrong with these games, but they are generally built to target the widest possible demographic and so you're going to get some typical patterns: action + simplicity + low difficulty + crazy good production values. Probably not what you're looking for. To find what you're interested in just step off the beaten path a bit -- right now is probably the…

Are any of those available on iOS?

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#200

Post by tomc1985 »

StrictDabbler wrote: post #163
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Morrowind does have more following, but Daggerfall has an extraordinarily staunch user base. 22 years after its release, its Reddit and various forums are pretty active and there is a full remake in Unity getting close to full functionality, with all code recreated from scratch, and people are already creating various mods for it. (obligatory link: https://www.dfworkshop.net/ ). Daggerfall and Morrowind had a quite d…

It's fairly simple. Any person's favorite Elder Scrolls game is usually the first one they played. The games have become less Elder with every installment. Morrowind's art, though... that beat the tar out of the releases before it. It was the best balance of big exploration and visual world-building.

I'm not so sure about that, I started with Morrowind and while I remember sinking away countless hours in that game I remember it feeling like a glorified database client, what with all the text to read and stats to shuffle about. The game that really stuck with me is Oblivion
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