seeking single-character RPG

you can always go solo in BG type of game you do know that right?

personally I'm a different kind of gamer from your-- I cannot stand going solo, and that makes me prefer NWN2 over NWN.

anyway, the only single-pc (player character) RPG (shooter AKA Oblivion or not) that I can stand is Fable: The Lost Chapters. It's still in the sword and scorcery tradition. You go through the whole game as lone wolf and going to have "mules" as fight buddy since you can aquire sommon spells.

you can always go solo in BG type of game you do know that right?teardropmina

Anyhow, I've tried it, which just whetted my appitite for a game that was actually *made* for single-character play.kompik

what do you mean? you're saying BG is made for single character play? I think it's the opposite, it's party RPG par excllence. it seems to me you just don't like inventory mangement? we do have ease of use and some inventory mod for BG2 out there...but I think managing inventory is part of RPG?

as for Fallout...yes it's sci-fi but I still play the game with NPCs following PC. I guess I didn'e mention Fallout games because I was thinking more toward the game that doesn't let me recurit NPCs.

you can always go solo in BG type of game you do know that right?

personally I'm a different kind of gamer from your-- I cannot stand going solo, and that makes me prefer NWN2 over NWN.

anyway, the only single-pc (player character) RPG (shooter AKA Oblivion or not) that I can stand is Fable: The Lost Chapters. It's still in the sword and scorcery tradition. You go through the whole game as lone wolf and going to have "mules" as fight buddy since you can aquire sommon spells.

 

teardropmina

You can go solo if you multiclass.. but it is possible to just take along Arie (in BG2) and use her as your cleric/mage and you as a fighter class/ranger/paladin.... I vote.. Undead hunter Paladin.. pretty much immunity to level drain.. holy avenger.. etc..

 NWN frustrated me.. it felt like a bore.. Some parts were good.. but the beginning was just a drag.. NWN2 is MUCH more my type... and you can choose to go solo with exception of Sandra and those quests requiring you take a certain NPC with you... (Although Hordes of the Underdark was what made NWN1 for me.. I loved Hordes)

A good Solo RPG is Gothic 3.. Morrowind... (Oblivion.. if that is your "thing") Lionheart has a semi-solo experience.. also 3rd edition ruleset.

My recommendation is do a search in GS for RPG games and check a few out that are more your "taste"

Divine Divnity

Beyond Divinity.

Arx Fatalis

Vampire Bloodlines 

[QUOTE="kompik"] Anyhow, I've tried it, which just whetted my appitite for a game that was actually *made* for single-character play.teardropmina

what do you mean? you're saying BG is made for single character play? I think it's the opposite, it's party RPG par excllence. it seems to me you just don't like inventory mangement? we do have ease of use and some inventory mod for BG2 out there...but I think managing inventory is part of RPG?

as for Fallout...yes it's sci-fi but I still play the game with NPCs following PC. I guess I didn'e mention Fallout games because I was thinking more toward the game that doesn't let me recurit NPCs.

He's saying BG was like a teaser for a game that actually isn't meant for single player. He's saying that BG is meant for multiplayer chars and though he liked it, he can't play it, since it's meant for multi-chars.

He's saying BG was like a teaser for a game that actually isn't meant for single player. He's saying that BG is meant for multiplayer chars and though he liked it, he can't play it, since it's meant for multi-chars.

bigmit37

thanks for the heads-up...mind was clear when read it@_@

and yes, Vampire Bloodline is another good single character RPG, and that's two single character RPG I actually finished.

You can go solo if you multiclass.. but it is possible to just take along Arie (in BG2) and use her as your cleric/mage and you as a fighter class/ranger/paladin.... I vote.. Undead hunter Paladin.. pretty much immunity to level drain.. holy avenger.. etc..

Alkpaz

I've never soloed, but based on my own playing experience, and discussions in BG2 community, Sorcerer and Kensai-Mage would be the best (or say "easy") choices for soloing. Sorcerer is the most powerful single class in the game -- imagine soloing, you probably can cast time-stop mid-way through the game? its only downside is that there's one particular anti-magic area in Watcher's Keep (which there's mod item makes up for it); Kensai-Mage is always a candiate for the most powerful of all single-dual-multi classes. 

same feeling toward NWN and NWN2; I think NWN2 actually upsets some NWN fans because it plays too much like BG2 rather than the original.

So, I'm kinda looking for a Diablo / Baldur's Gate crossbreed. Or something like WoW without the MMO part. D&D-esque character developement rather than solely gear-based. Sci-fi or modern-day rather than a swords and sorcery genre is fine, but I don't want to be playing a shooter.

So, any tips on what's come out over the past few years that I might like would be highly appreciated.kompik

sounds like vampire the masquerade: bloodlines will be perfect for you - take reviews with a grain of salt, pretty much all the bugs have been patched out now and all that's left is a perfect character-based roleplaying game

you play a single character, the character development is almost entirely skill and statistic based (the only real items you're dealing with are your weapon, your (one) armour item and a few cool items that improve passive ability) - it's set present day, and there are guns, but guns aren't very effective against vampires - it's mainly a melee game, the story is interesting enough and the characters have the best voice acting i've experienced in a game ever, they all have real personality - it's highly polished

but the roleplaying is the centrepiece of the game -  everything defers to it, the combat, the character development - you have a good degree of choice on how you play the game (from killing people to stealthing past them to intimidating or seducing them), and there's tons and tons of really great sidemissions that are really enjoyable

i'm not a huge roleplaying fan, mainly because there are so few games as great as bloodlines 

SW KOTORcharliehanks

[QUOTE="charliehanks"]SW KOTORAxel_rocks14

I personally think KotoR is the best RPG since BG2...but, I don't think it's made for single character play...soloing through the whole thing (except for the final battle of course)? to me the NPCs and character interactions are too good to be left out in this game.

Divine Divnity
Beyond Divinity.
Arx Fatalis
Vampire Bloodlines 
bigmit37

bigmit37 mensiond some good ones. 
Iin my oppinion Vampire: Bloodlines is the best of them.

Others I can recoment:
Sacred / Sacred Underworld
KOTOR 1 & 2
Oblivion / Shivering Isles / Knights of the Nine

My ideal party would be 1 PC and 7 Mules.kompik

Check. 

So, I'm kinda looking for a Diablo / Baldur's Gate crossbreed.kompik

Check. 

D&D-esque character developement rather than solely gear-based.kompik

Check. 

Sci-fi or modern-day rather than a swords and sorcery genre is fine, but I don't want to be playing a shooter.kompik

Check.

Yes, Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines fits the criteria perfectly. 

[QUOTE="kompik"] Sci-fi or modern-day rather than a swords and sorcery genre is fine, but I don't want to be playing a shooter.Planeforger

Check.

Yes, Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines fits the criteria perfectly. 

this last one is probably not as perfectly fit -- the game does play a lot like a shooter; Fable, I think, meets this cretion more "comfortably." at any rate, I think these two games come closest to what OP asked, especially both are good RPGs, and thus recommanded.

[QUOTE="Alkpaz"]

You can go solo if you multiclass.. but it is possible to just take along Arie (in BG2) and use her as your cleric/mage and you as a fighter class/ranger/paladin.... I vote.. Undead hunter Paladin.. pretty much immunity to level drain.. holy avenger.. etc..

teardropmina

I've never soloed, but based on my own playing experience, and discussions in BG2 community, Sorcerer and Kensai-Mage would be the best (or say "easy") choices for soloing. Sorcerer is the most powerful single class in the game -- imagine soloing, you probably can cast time-stop mid-way through the game? its only downside is that there's one particular anti-magic area in Watcher's Keep (which there's mod item makes up for it); Kensai-Mage is always a candiate for the most powerful of all single-dual-multi classes.

same feeling toward NWN and NWN2; I think NWN2 actually upsets some NWN fans because it plays too much like BG2 rather than the original.

Huh.. interesting.. I should try that! I quit playing BG2 a long time ago right after beating the campaign with just 2 .. my main chr and Arie.. Also, I have to agree with the "hate" of NWN2 being that it upset a lot of NWN1 fans.. but to me NWN2 is far better than the original... heck playing it over even reveals more stuff I missed.. that is ALWAYS a good thing :)

Bloodlines.. played that RPG game quite a lot.. though have yet to play it with a Nasferatu.. (to get the haven) done all others that had alternate havens.. even collecting posters fer my haven..  I guess I'm more of a "story driven" RPG gameplayer :)

Gothic 3 is still very much worth your time.. :) I loved the game... n it wasn't as buggy as people have stated. It also looks tons tons better than Oblivion(w/o mods)  Not to mention ending changes and different side quests etc depending on what you side you wish to choose. Replay value is a def in Gothic 3.

this last one is probably not as perfectly fit -- the game does play a lot like a shooter; Fable, I think, meets this cretion more "comfortably." at any rate, I think these two games come closest to what OP asked, especially both are good RPGs, and thus recommanded.teardropmina

[QUOTE="teardropmina"]

this last one is probably not as perfectly fit -- the game does play a lot like a shooter; Fable, I think, meets this cretion more "comfortably." at any rate, I think these two games come closest to what OP asked, especially both are good RPGs, and thus recommanded.Planeforger

Hmm...probably. I don't think of it as a shooter, as I almost never use guns, and only rarely enter first-person mode.

I don't think of it as a shooter either; it's definitely a RPG. It's just that when the idea of "shooter" gets into the discussion, I feel more "shooter" elements in Bloodlines than in Fable (or KotOR, NWN2, RPG in 3D). Switching between 1st person and 3rd is from FPS to 3rd person shooter. You travel, move, and fight more like in a shooter, especially those boss or tougher fights. 

BUT I think this is not important at all~~~~~I like the game, and it's a rare fun single-character (cannot imagine soloing Nameless One, eh) RPG to play, this is what's important^^ 

Vampire sounds pretty good, especially since I'm kinda fond of that genre anyhow.  I'll probably give that a try.  Someone else gave Fallout a ringing endorsement, so even though it's pretty old-school, I might pick up the bundled collection since it's pretty cheap.

I've played KOTOR 1 & 2 and I enjoyed them.  Should have mentioned that.

I played some of Fable on my brother's something-box, something-cube, or something-station (I have no interest in console systems, so I can't keep them straight) when he visited for a long weekend.  I just couldn't get over trying to fit too much interface on something as low-res as a TV screen and how you couldn't jump or climb over 2-foot-tall obsticles.  It might be better as a PC-port...but that's seldom the case.  (I think I was playing KOTOR & NWN at the time and just kept thinking how the over-hyped concept of choosing a good vs. evil path was a rip off of about every good RPG out there.)

Like Dracunos, I played the Wizardry 8 demo and found the interface too clunky or something.  It just didn't click.

I'll check into the other games mentioned to see if anything else tickles my fancy.  Thanks guys and gals!

Gothic 3 is still very much worth your time.. :) I loved the game... n it wasn't as buggy as people have stated. It also looks tons tons better than Oblivion(w/o mods)  Not to mention ending changes and different side quests etc depending on what you side you wish to choose. Replay value is a def in Gothic 3.Alkpaz

I wasn't really into the previous Gothic games, and so I hasn't (not that interested) checked out Gothic 3...but maybe I should give a try.

I played some of Fable on my brother's something-box, something-cube, or something-station (I have no interest in console systems, so I can't keep them straight) when he visited for a long weekend.  I just couldn't get over trying to fit too much interface on something as low-res as a TV screen and how you couldn't jump or climb over 2-foot-tall obsticles.  It might be better as a PC-port...but that's seldom the case. 

kompik

although not as good a PC-port as KotOR (it almost as if it's made for PC), PC version of Fable is quite good. It looks great and the screen is not crowded at all (mine at 1600x1200). Since now it's a CRPG, guess it's so normal that you couldn't climb or jump over anything right^^