The Best RPG's Out Now

Xenoblade Chronicles I wish most of you could play it.Thunderdrone

They can if they really want to, it's not like Nintendo is doing anything about it anyways.;)

Xenoblade Chronicles and Dark Souls are some of the best RPGs I've ever played.

[QUOTE="theuncharted34"]

Nier is a really great RPG despite its flaws, and Valkyria Chronicles is the best RPG that i've played this entire generation.

xsubtownerx

I wish that more people would check that game out.
The story is pretty much non-existent for the first 30 hours or so, but the game itself is really quite engaging - great tactical combat, fun character customisation, and an addictive exploration/hex-linking element to it.

The Witcher 2 and Dark Souls are damn good games theres no doubt, but lets face it, no other game can match the sheer scope and freedom of Skyrim. Theres nothing else like playing an Elder Scroll game and having the total freedom to do what ever you want, when ever you want.

Gibsonsg527

Having a huge massive world is nice and all and the freedom is cool, but that's not what I (personally) want when I play an RPG. I'm a story, world and character guy and those are the elements I want from an rpg. bALDUR'S GATE 2, Torment, witcher 2 andf vampire masquerade didnt have huge sprawling worlds, but they had soul.

I'm loving skyrim at the moment, but it is a game to play when all I want to do is explore a fantasy world and slay monster. When I want a more deeper and experience, I play other rpgs. That's why witcher 2 is my game of the year. It raised the bar for me, it made many recent rpgs (two worlds 2, risen, divinity 2) feel like weaksauce.

Oh and one more thing, npcs in the elderscrolls series talk to you in the typical generic fantasy style. But the witcher 2's npcs---they seemed fricking real. That's a huge iimmersion plus for me (reminded me a lot of the Song of ice and fire series).

[QUOTE="Whiteblade999"]

Baldur's Gate 2 if you mean all time. The Witcher 2 if you mean recent.

dreman999

the games aren't what i'd call similar

[QUOTE="dreman999"][QUOTE="Whiteblade999"]

Baldur's Gate 2 if you mean all time. The Witcher 2 if you mean recent.

Planeforger

Makes sense to me - BG2 is Bioware's deepest and best-designed RPG (by a long shot). ME2 is Bioware's shallowest RPG. I can see why someone might prefer one over the other.

Anyway, the best I've played this year is certainly The Witcher 2. Might not be the best this gen - I think I still prefer The Witcher 1, and then there are games like Bloodlines...but TW2 is certainly pretty high up on the list.

That would be Jade Empire :P

Witcher 2, Fallout New Vegas and Dark Souls. Skyrim is mediocre.

[QUOTE="TheOtherTheoG"][QUOTE="moose_knuckler"] Quotes like this usually incline me to purchase it. How does it rank up against Oblivion? Backstory: I give Oblivion an 8.9/10 and felt dissappointed overall, considering it won more GOTY's than Gears of War.moose_knuckler

Skyrim sucks... Imagine Oblivion but with a blander world.

[QUOTE="theuncharted34"]

Nier is a really great RPG despite its flaws, and Valkyria Chronicles is the best RPG that i've played this entire generation.

xsubtownerx

[QUOTE="Gibsonsg527"]

The Witcher 2 and Dark Souls are damn good games theres no doubt, but lets face it, no other game can match the sheer scope and freedom of Skyrim. Theres nothing else like playing an Elder Scroll game and having the total freedom to do what ever you want, when ever you want.

omenodebander

Having a huge massive world is nice and all and the freedom is cool, but that's not what I (personally) want when I play an RPG. I'm a story, world and character guy and those are the elements I want from an rpg. bALDUR'S GATE 2, Torment, witcher 2 andf vampire masquerade didnt have huge sprawling worlds, but they had soul.

I'm loving skyrim at the moment, but it is a game to play when all I want to do is explore a fantasy world and slay monster. When I want a more deeper and experience, I play other rpgs. That's why witcher 2 is my game of the year. It raised the bar for me, it made many recent rpgs (two worlds 2, risen, divinity 2) feel like weaksauce.

[QUOTE="omenodebander"]

[QUOTE="Gibsonsg527"]

The Witcher 2 and Dark Souls are damn good games theres no doubt, but lets face it, no other game can match the sheer scope and freedom of Skyrim. Theres nothing else like playing an Elder Scroll game and having the total freedom to do what ever you want, when ever you want.

Gibsonsg527

Having a huge massive world is nice and all and the freedom is cool, but that's not what I (personally) want when I play an RPG. I'm a story, world and character guy and those are the elements I want from an rpg. bALDUR'S GATE 2, Torment, witcher 2 andf vampire masquerade didnt have huge sprawling worlds, but they had soul.

I'm loving skyrim at the moment, but it is a game to play when all I want to do is explore a fantasy world and slay monster. When I want a more deeper and experience, I play other rpgs. That's why witcher 2 is my game of the year. It raised the bar for me, it made many recent rpgs (two worlds 2, risen, divinity 2) feel like weaksauce.

You missed my point. I stated earlier that story, world design and coherency and characters make or break an Rpg for me. Witcher 2's depth for me is the amount of detail poured into every thing from npcs to what they wear to the way they talk. Comparing the gameplay offerings of skyrim and the witcher is a bit pointless, ;). Just like I would never compare the gameplay of something like jagged alliance 2 (which I love) to baldur's gate (which I love more than nearly any game).

ReADING the witcher novels and playing the game gives me a feeling that very few games do. So yeah, I love skyrim (so far), chances are it will be one of my favourites, but it will not (I know this) be a game that I will hold too special like my other favourites.

I accidentally bought Skyrim when I was drunk the other night, but it's totally surprised me. The pathfinding is still shocking and the NPC companions are still f***ing useless, but the world and the atmosphere is far and beyond Oblivion's copy pasted, wholly derivitive Cyrodill.

It's also more challenging on normal (at least for me). I'm about 10 hours in and have been felled by many an ice troll/giant.

Story is a bit lacking, and some of the dialogue/voice over work is laughable, but I expected as much.

damn, no edit buttomn.

like fallout and stalker. While I enjoyed what fallout 3 and new vegas had to offer. the stalker series (personally) obliterates them. I had more fun playing stalker than I did fallout 3 and NV simply becuase the npcs/backstory and game world in stalker felt more.............they had soul.

[QUOTE="Gibsonsg527"]

[QUOTE="omenodebander"]

Having a huge massive world is nice and all and the freedom is cool, but that's not what I (personally) want when I play an RPG. I'm a story, world and character guy and those are the elements I want from an rpg. bALDUR'S GATE 2, Torment, witcher 2 andf vampire masquerade didnt have huge sprawling worlds, but they had soul.

I'm loving skyrim at the moment, but it is a game to play when all I want to do is explore a fantasy world and slay monster. When I want a more deeper and experience, I play other rpgs. That's why witcher 2 is my game of the year. It raised the bar for me, it made many recent rpgs (two worlds 2, risen, divinity 2) feel like weaksauce.

omenodebander

You missed my point. I stated earlier that story, world design and coherency and characters make or break an Rpg for me. Witcher 2's depth for me is the amount of detail poured into every thing from npcs to what they wear to the way they talk. Comparing the gameplay offerings of skyrim and the witcher is a bit pointless, ;). Just like I would never compare the gameplay of something like jagged alliance 2 (which I love) to baldur's gate (which I love more than nearly any game).

ReADING the witcher novels and playing the game gives me a feeling that very few games do. So yeah, I love skyrim (so far), chances are it will be one of my favourites, but it will not (I know this) be a game that I will hold too special like my other favourites.

[QUOTE="omenodebander"]

[QUOTE="Gibsonsg527"] I really liked The Witcher 2 too but how was that game deep? There is much more flexability in leveling up in Skyrim, and it allows you to experement with different play styles and you can mold that play style as you see fit. In the Witcher 2 you are pretty much forced to use buth magic and combat and on the normal difficulty alchemy is pretty usless.

Gibsonsg527

You missed my point. I stated earlier that story, world design and coherency and characters make or break an Rpg for me. Witcher 2's depth for me is the amount of detail poured into every thing from npcs to what they wear to the way they talk. Comparing the gameplay offerings of skyrim and the witcher is a bit pointless, ;). Just like I would never compare the gameplay of something like jagged alliance 2 (which I love) to baldur's gate (which I love more than nearly any game).

ReADING the witcher novels and playing the game gives me a feeling that very few games do. So yeah, I love skyrim (so far), chances are it will be one of my favourites, but it will not (I know this) be a game that I will hold too special like my other favourites.

Thanks for understanding, it is very hard to have a nice, non fanboy related discussion on gs forums for once. For open world, freedom rpgs, (risen, divinty 2, two worlds, oblivion, skyrim, gothic, fallout 3 and N.vegas etc.) skyrim is the king. And that's what I play them for--the huge sprawling world and freedom. But for story telling, npc and plot, and world design, that's where games like baldur's gate, vampire masquerade, mass effect (I know, I know), and witcher comes into play.

oh, and I'm hoping that the kingdom of amalur game lives up to hype. It's got skyrim to contend with for open world rpg offerings.