Planescape Torment....easily.

Simply stating why Planescape Torment has one of the greatest stories would take too long to write, since it's story is an achievement on many different levels.....I'll simply take the quote from Gamespot's own "Greatest Games of All Time" article on the game Here:

Because so much of the character's story came from your own choices and interpretations, you would eventually make the Nameless One's story your own. Despite its flaws, and by virtue of its unorthodox design, innovative gameplay, and distinctive story and writing, Planescape: Torment has rightfully claimed its place among GameSpot's greatest games of all time.

And from Gamespy's Hall of Fame article Here:

In fact, the Nameless One's story may very well be the best story ever put down in an RPG. While there was plenty of monster bashing, questing to do and puzzles to solve, the real challenge of the game was self discovery. In the course of his adventure, the Nameless One learns powerful lessons and love, hate, anger, betrayal, pride, hubris, self-deception, self-sacrifice and much, much more. There's enough deep philosophy in the one game to keep a freshman ****at Princeton occupied for an entire semester.

Better question, can it compare to Vice City. Now there was the quintessential GTA game.SemiMaster

This I will agree with. Vice City is the soundtrack to really look to as the high point in the series.....if GTA4 can simply match it, it'll be a winner.

I didn't think GTA III's soundtrack was anything special, really - most of the time I used my own mp3's. As for San Andreas, I thought Radio Los Santos brilliantly captured the feel of the early 90's as far as West Coast rap/hip-hop culture was concerned (a strong reminder of a time when rap music was actually relevant). K-Rose and K-DST are great while roaming the countryside, SFUR and Radio X were my stations of choice while in San Fierro. Only Las Venturras didn't have a strong music identity. None were quite as defining as in Vice City simply because it was a bit all over the place, but if you used the stations according to the setting they still did the job splendidly.UpInFlames

I'll agree that GTA3's soundtrack wasn't particularly anything special, but then again, GTA3's "soundtrack" was never really attempting to be such, it wasn't really until Vice City that the soundtrack became a real staple of the series.....but even then, GTA3's radio stations managed to reflect the setting, time period, and core theme that was persistant throughout GTA3, which is pretty much was an attempt to reflect the gritty inner-city radio sound of Liberty City (based of NY), and it actually did it pretty well, and definitely far better then San Andreas.

I mean....what was the atmosphere and theme of San Andreas and how in any way did the overall soundtrack capture that key theme.....I didn't see it at all.

[QUOTE="rragnaar"]They are going to have 18 radio stations in the game, so there is bound to be something for everyone. *prays for an indie rock station*UpInFlames

Dude, I'm going to flip if there isn't a NYC alt. band station - LCD Soundsystem, Interpol, The Rapture, TV On The Radio...an NYC hip-hop station would be awesome as well - Beastie Boys, MOP, DMX, Jay-Z, Wu-Tang...an NYC electronic station...oh yeah. New York is the biggest and most important musical mecca right after London, the sky's the limit.

Since GTA4 is taking place in modern Liberty City (based off NYC)....I personally think they need the following station themes should be included:

Indie Rock Station (I agree this is a must)
Older Punk Station (Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, etc.)
Modern East Coast Hip Hop Station (Jay Z, 50 cent, Lloyd Banks, etc.)
Old School 90's East Coast Hip Hop Station (Tribe Called Quest, Eric B & Rakim, Redman, Gangstarr, EPMD, De La Soul, etc.)
Bridge & Tunnel Dance Station
Underground Progressive House & Tribal House Station
Drum & Bass / Jungle Station
New Wave & Electroclash Station
Dancehall Reggae Station
Flashback Station (mostly artists that reflected NYC in the late 70's & 80's....Blondie, Donna Summer, Laura Branigan, etc.)
A Reggaeton Station (I don't care for the music at all, but a game based on NYC wouldn't be a complete without it)

Most of all, the whole soundtrack should have an energetic vibe to it. That's what I loved about Vice City's soundtrack, even for the slow songs, the soundtrack had this energy that was reflective of the high life 1980's in Miami.

I think the GTA4 soundtrack should have that same energy, but with with a more grittier feel that captures the fast paced life in NYC with a gritty urban tone.

Most of All...bring back the entertaining and humorous DJs that are reflective of the station in the subtle and witty mocking way that Vice City's DJs were......San Andrea's DJ's felt forced in their personalities and humor that it came of as dumb.

I don't see why GTA 4's soundtrack wouldn't be able to top it, since to me the soundtrack to San Andreas lowered the bar compared to earlier games in the series.

I frankly thought the soundtrack to San Andreas was the worst of the GTA games.....it didn't capture the feel of the decade in the excellent way that Vice City successfully did....and it didn't capture the feel of the location in the way that even GTA3 was able to pull off.

To me, the soundtrack to San Andreas felt like one jumbled mess which didn't have any real theme or direction.....nor were the radio DJs nearly as entertaining as Vice City or GTA3.

Robney, there is a Fallout 3 in the making already; however, it is being developed by Bethesda, which I do believe is the best RPG studio there is.GSU28

Which is why I said I'd want to see a sequel or true follow-up to Fallout 1 & 2.....not a detached spinoff that simply uses the "Fallout" franchise name, which is what Bethesda's game looks to be.

1. System Shock 2, Deck 4: Operations

2. Planescape Torment, The answer to "What can change the nature of a man?"

3. Playing HL2 for the first time in 2004 and getting the same awesome feeling I got when I played HL for the first time in 1998....that is the testiment of what makes a great sequel.

4. Beating RE4 on Gamecube....and immediately stating a new game cause it was so excellent. It was then I knew the game would be a GOTY winner and contender.

5. Fallout, the beginning and ending.

6. Silent Hill 3, Discovering who Heather really is.

7. Beating Ico for the first time....a game that has probably come the closest to "art" out of any game I've played.

8. Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Defeating Ganon.

9. KOTOR, Your identity and past revealed.

10. BioShock, "Would you kindly"

The best RPGs have been made on consoles, such as Mass Effect. And yes environment IS important in gaming, are you trying to tell me that playing an RTS with a screen 15 feet away from you is the same thing? Hook up a pc to a TV? Right because everybody's PC is conveniently close to a TV screen and they are willing to hook it up to a TV screen anytime they want to play 1 specific game. Where are your sources for this 'many people already have controllers for pc' comment?

get real, ignorant comments like that must only come from PC fanboys.

greenghost123

PC has been host to some of the best RPG's ever created....This game, This game, This game, and This game are proof of that.

There is a reason those games made it to Gamespot's coveted "Greatest Games of All Time" List.....cause that's exactly what they are.

And that's not even looking at PC RPGs released in the past 3 years or so like The Witcher or Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines or Neverwinter Nights 2 and Mask of the Betrayer.....or upcoming RPGs like BioWare's Dragon Age, which BioWare themselves have said is their most ambitious project to date.

Though it's true that some of the best RPG's have been on Console....it's also true that a number of the greatest RPGs, especially if you're talking about Western RPGs, have been for PC.

Last, There is no need for a PC to be close to a TV to hook it up....In case you didn't realize many PC peripherals are wireless nowadays, This as just one example of how someone could easily connect their PC to their TV without it needing to be close to the set or even in the same room.

I'm definitely looking forward to Mass Effect on PC.....it was the one game released last year that I wanted to play that at the time hadn't yet been on or announced for PC.

Even though I have a 360, I actually held out from buying this game for 360. Mainly because I read about the bug and problems with the 360 version. Second, I pretty much suspected Mass Effect would be coming to PC, it was just a question of when and who would be publishing it.

Luckily I held out for the PC version cause previews for the PC version seem to be really positive and it looks like it'll be the version to get.
I for one am very happy it's coming sooner rather then later, I was actually surprised at how soon it's coming, I was expecting late 2008 instead of May.
The fact the PC version will be published by EA instead of Microsoft is also something I'm happy about, no need to worry about some dumb "Vista-only" or "GFW Live" B.S. being pushed on me.....and the previews seem to indicate they've improved the optimization of the game for the PC platform.
Given all that, EA's purchase of BioWare is currently looking to be quite beneficial for someone such as myself who enjoys RPGs on the PC platform.

I also know with Mass Effect not to expect a pure RPG and more of an action-based hybrid.....besides, The Witcher satisfied my hunger for a single player CRPG last year, and with the enhancements that are coming to The Witcher this year that's definitely a game I will be returning to.

As for Mass Effect, It's pretty much the story that had me the most interested and I've heard nothing but positive things about the game in that regard so it should be a solid gaming experience when it arrives on PC in May.

Mass Effect will probably be the better game on PC out of the two, mainly cause Ubisoft can't optimize a PC game to save their lives. The PC previews of Mass Effect are already extremely positive with some sites saying the PC version has improvements and is running well. BioWare's previous games on PC have worked well, even when they were ported, and EA has been a pretty solid publisher of PC games.

Meanwhile, Ubisoft is probably the worst publisher out there when it comes to PC games, not to mention this is a port that probably won't be optimized at all for PC hardware and I wouldn't be surprised to see it shipped in a bug ridden state, even with the time they've had to make corrections.....just like many of Ubisoft's games over the past couple of years. The system requirements for Assassin's Creed are astronomical, even Crysis doesn't have required specs as demanding, so it's already a hint at what a bad port job this game will be. I never buy Ubisoft developed games for the PC, simply cause Ubisoft has demonstrated it doesn't know how to optimize a game for the PC platform, and it's looking like Assassin's Creed will be no different.

In terms of gameplay....Mass Effect looks to be the better choice. I haven't played it yet (I was actually holding out for a PC announcement), but I've heard nothing but praise for the storyline. I also know to expect more of an action shooter then a pure RPG, which is ok by me since I could tell this game was gonna be an Action-hybrid ever since the first gameplay videos were announced.

I've completed Assassin's Creed, and it is an extremely repetitive game and probably my biggest disappointment of last year. The game looks nice and the environmental work is top notch as is the ability to scale objects in the game.....but it you're literally doing the same tasks over and over again to the point that it becomes tedious and boring and it really does feel as if the developers made this detailed game world and a cool climbing mechanic, but couldn't quite figure out how to put in the actual gameplay. The only reason I actually made it through the game is cause I played it sporadically while playing other games.