Question Your favourite RPG

This is gonna sound pretentious AF probably, but "Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura."

It's horribly dated now, and a lot of it just doesn't work well, but I loved the setting and to some degree the story it told. It's pretty replayable too, at least character-wise. I haven't beaten it more than once, though, so I'm not sure how much the ending can change beyond the choices available to most people. I wish Troika could have kept working on it, I think it had more potential, and I would throw as much money as possible at a sequel Kickstarter.
 

Zloth

Community Contributor
Arcanum sure had an interesting character creator! I grabbed the game on GOG for, like, two dollars just to give it a look. It would be rough to play through now, but it sure had interesting character options - like making the character insane. I got some of the same vibes from Encased, which earned it a spot on my wish list.

My favorite is Witcher 3, hands down. The battles are fun - not great, but fun. The graphics are very good, especially once you get to Skelliga, and double-especially with 3D Vision going. It's the stories that put it ahead of everything else, though. They were top-notch and they were plentiful! It got to be so I was starting to want one of the little contract missions to just have me go out, kill a monster, come back, and get paid what I was owed. The stories were like getting served fantastic, rich meals over and over, so I started craving just a slice of bread with some butter on it.
 
I don't think I can answer that question with a single answer, as there've been so many great RPGs over the years that I really loved, and played, and re-played. Isometric, 3rd person, or 1st person perspectives; it all depends upon which game I want to be immersed in.

Baldur's Gate 1-2, Gothic 3, Witcher 3, Morrowind/Oblivion/Skyrim, the Fallouts 1-4 + Fallout New Vegas, the Dragon Age games, and the Mass Effect games are all at the top of my list of "favorite RPGs"; but I can't list one as my absolute favorite.

, but "Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura."

It's horribly dated now, and a lot of it just doesn't work well, but I loved the setting and to some degree the story it told. It's pretty replayable too, at least character-wise. I haven't beaten it more than once, though, so I'm not sure how much the ending can change beyond the choices available to most people. I wish Troika could have kept working on it, I think it had more potential, and I would throw as much money as possible at a sequel Kickstarter.
it's insane to me that it hasn't had a remaster of some sort.
This was such a great game that was way ahead of it's time, with in-depth character creation, a wide branching story that changed based not only on your conversation choice, but the character you created. A world with magic and technology and the conflicts between both. I think I spent my first day just going through the manual and creating my character.

As @Mazer stated, this game should have been remastered; it's such and intricate experience.
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Arcanum felt clunky and dated the day it came out, it's insane to me that it hasn't had a remaster of some sort.
It really did, which is probably why it wasn't more successful. It's one of those games that I put up with its shortcomings because of everything I liked about it. I'm usually "meh" about remasters, but that's one I'd definitely love to see remastered.
 

Sarafan

Community Contributor
Only one, huh? I'd probably go with Planescape Torment or Baldur's Gate 2, but the recently finished Disco Elysium demands its place on the list. :) Basically the first two are legendary representatives of the genre. Disco Elysium is something newer and unique. I don't have an idea whether it'll become a second Planescape Torment in time, but it's most certainly something special that can compete with the legends. One of the best games that I've played.
 
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If you didn't like the first hours, then probably you won't like the game in overall. Further down the road is more of the same. :)
It's not that I disliked it, it just... didn't draw me in, for some reason? Hard to explain. Sometimes it takes me a couple tries before I get into a game proper. First time I tried The Witcher 3, I didn't play past the initial portion of the Bloody Baron quest (before you even get to That One Part That I Won't Spoil.)

Unless you're saying my character in Disco Elysium spends the entire game confused?

Also, I loved Planescape Torment, and that was a bit of a slow burn at times, so... yeah. I want to give Disco Elysium another go.
 

Sarafan

Community Contributor
Also, I loved Planescape Torment, and that was a bit of a slow burn at times, so... yeah. I want to give Disco Elysium another go.

It's certainly worth another try. One of the best RPGs in history, maybe one of the best games in history. The character is less confused further in the game, so no worries. ;) But some potion of weirdness remains. I invested heavily in the Inland Empire skill (?), so there were some very strange moments during my playthrough. Generally the game takes strength from the inner voices that speak to your character. It's a very fresh and original concept.
 
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It's certainly worth another try. One of the best RPGs in history, maybe one of the best games in history. The character is less confused further in the game, so no worries. ;) But some potion of weirdness remains.

I'm down with weirdness, I just don't think I felt invested enough at first, but I think if I give it a second chance I could be.

Generally the game takes strength from the inner voices that speak to your character. It's a very fresh and original concept.

I definitely like the concept, it reminds me a little of a TTRPG character I played where an elf and a half-orc brain shared a body and the end result was a whole new person who took cues/advice from both voices in his head.
 
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i had Arcanum, I have booklet here somewhere, but I can't remember it... watching videos of it drives that home. MIght be cause I prefer games where I only have to look after one character and I see its a party game. Like Baldurs Gate, I don't enjoy them as much.

I don't have a favorite story driven rpg really. I don't really want to know too much backstory, cut scenes drive me mad (so don't ask about FF13 and its cut scenes) and I generally avoid games where talking is a lot of the game.

Fallout New Vegas is probably most recent one I played for a while. I don't tend to finish games so while I got afair way into the story I never felt like ending it. I didn't like the Bethesda Fallouts.
 
i had Arcanum, I have booklet here somewhere, but I can't remember it... watching videos of it drives that home. MIght be cause I prefer games where I only have to look after one character and I see its a party game. Like Baldurs Gate, I don't enjoy them as much.

I don't think it was a party game... or at least, you don't build a party, which is what I think of when I think "party RPG." Yes you have followers/companions/NPC's/etc., (I don't remember what they were called in Arcanum, it's been too long), but I've rarely seen an RPG where that wasn't the case.

Can you give an example of an RPG where you only look after one character? I'm sure they must exist, I'm just not recalling them offhand. Even Skyrim gives you followers to worry about.

I suppose The Witcher would qualify, but you also don't really get to create a character there, either.
 
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Maybe its because RPG is so broad a description for games. I play Action RPG and games like Sacred and Torchlight don't give you any another character to look after or equip. Diablo 2 might with your merc but all you can control on them is equipment, not what attack pattern they will implement. Those games are character driven, not story.

I didn't watch entire video, its possible they are just followers but I saw 5 avatars lined up along left hand side of screen and almost all other party games had the party avatars on that same side.
 
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Zloth

Community Contributor
Can you give an example of an RPG where you only look after one character? I'm sure they must exist, I'm just not recalling them offhand. Even Skyrim gives you followers to worry about.
The more action'y stuff likes to do that. Borderlands games jump to mind. Most of the action nearly-an-RPG games (later Assassin's Creed games, Middle Earth: Shadow Of <something> games, Control...)
 
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Maybe its because RPG is so broad a description for games.

I would agree with that. Or at the very least, the term encompasses a lot of variety.

I didn't watch entire video, its possible they are just followers but I saw 5 avatars lined up along left hand side of screen and almost all other party games had the party avatars on that same side.

Based on your criteria, I guess it is a party RPG. They're their own people, but much like Pillars of Eternity I think it let you control them during combat. Might have even controlled how they level. It's been too long, so I'm not sure offhand.

I tend to associate "party" RPG's with games that let you create your whole party from scratch, or at least multiple characters, like in Divinity, or the Wasteland games, and no one person is the "hero" character, per se. Whereas in squad-based RPG's like Dragon Age and Mass Effect, there's a definite protagonist.
 
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