After Planescape: Torment...

[Darkfocus]

There's other games I would put on the same level as planescape or close to it but from a purely story based prospective I'd recommend playing through old text adventure games a lot of them were like novels although if your doing that you might as well read a book.

the Phoenix Wright games are actually really really good even though the're almost entirely text based and their really nothing like torment, still I'd recommend them. They can be a bit silly at times but some parts just make you feel so epic and the writings excellent ,fantastic soundtrack too.

heres some other games I'd hold close to the same level as planescape for other reasons like atmosphere,game-play,etc

defiantly Metroid Prime 1(cube version the wii version isn't as good it's missing stuff and the cube one actually has better controls) because it has some of the greatest atmosphere ever and will really immerse you it's also got a great back story and interesting data about all the creatures in the game.(you have to use the scan visor though).here's a review Metroid Prime Video Review - GameCube

System Shock 2 has a pretty good story and great game play it's kind of like a far far superior version bioshock(I didn't like bioshock at all it just felt like a gimped, awful version of system shock). heres a review http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLiZ82oP4CM

Demon's souls is the only thing recent that really pulled me in even though it's light on story the world is crafted so well it just makes you want to explore plus the gameplays the best I've experienced in a long time some people find it too hard for them though but I never did. heres a review http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kUDZYfBugA&hd=1

the Sam and Max games(the new series and the original) are great at some times but at parts the writing falls a bit short season 2 is quite a bit better than 1 but I'd still recommend playing 1 first even if it feels like your slogging through it just to reach the end at times.sam and max review http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuqtyDtk8es

eternal darkness sanity's requiem is pretty cool too and you might like it. It gets a lot better towards the end and has some really cool moments(can't tell you them cause it would ruin it).heres a review for it Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem Video Review - GameCube


I would suggest more but I'm trying not to suggest anything others already have suggested. I also might have missed some games because its 1:00Am and I'm pretty tired I was actually just playing planescape when I ran into a glitch and started searching for a solution to it.

[mooofthecow]

Glad to find a place where people love PST as much as I do. I too have gone on the futile search to find a game as deep and moving as PST. Nothing has proved better but there are good, deep games buried out there among all the crap. Lots of good suggestions already in this thread, I'd like to second Dreamfall in particular. Ico for the PS2 was haunting and memorable to me as well.

One game I'd really recommend for its deepness is an indie game called Dwarf Fortress. It's not an RPG but rather a fortress building simulator, but with huge amounts of detail, freedom, quirkiness and humor. Unfortunately the "graphics" are ASCII and the learning curve is steep, but if you can get past that there's an amazing world to be immersed in. It helps to watch other people play first:

Epic story of "Boatmurdered":Let's Play Dwarf Fortress: Boatmurdered - Thread 1, Introduction

Someone's Letsplay on youtube: YouTube - jefmajor's Channel

[LastDanceSaloon]

Hi, I've just finished Planescape: Torment for the first time. I'm one of the people that has just taken advantage of the 2010 re-release to find out what all the fuss is about. I only started playing PC RPGs around 2003 and any experience of PRGs before that would be the Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone books which were good fun or being invited round to friends houses to play D&D (where I tended to die quickly and disinterestedly).

I agree that this game was a truly great game - a one of a kind within a class - but to say it's the final word on RPGs is going a bit far I'm afraid.

This game is just the closest you'll ever get to reading an epic novel on a computer in a game format. It's more Livingstone/Jackson than it is D&D - it's not kill the dragon, it's a choose your own adventure.

Icewind Dale is equally as great a game as Planescape torment, the two are merely two sides of the same coin. Let me explain why in simple terms:

PS:T is a quest based adventure - all the effort was put into making sure the quests did what they were supposed to. Not once did I have to look for a walkthrough in order to solve a quest. In terms of combat, it was pants a plenty, with either too many too strong monsters or too few too weak and most of the characters had no way of finding half decent equipment and the decent spells come too late in the game and in too short supply to have much fun with. The only times I had to go on-line for answers was with weapons, items and combat problems.

Icewind Dale on the other hand - all the effort was put into making sure the combat was spot on in every scene and all the weapons and spells flowed in tandem with the levelling up plot stage. Not once did I have to go on-line to find out why my weapons and spells were glitching or not working or cursed etc. In terms of quests however, it was pants a plenty, with many of them so basic and yet still impossible due to the solution being more pixel hunting than narrative based. The only times I had to go on-line for answers was when I just couldn't find a door or was stuck at a locked door, and no matter how many NPCs you spoke too, it resolved nothing.

I give both games 90%+ and they are both masterclasses of the genre, but to those who say "I'll never find another game as good as PS:T, therefore I'll never play another RPG", well... I'm sorry, but I just don't get that in the slightest. That's like saying "I'll never watch another film after watching The Godfather", what? And miss out on Alien or The Blues Brothers? Come on, be rational please!

And to whoever said it, no Neverwinter Nights is not abhorrent, I think that's the one game that has thus far come closest to pleasing everyone with the perfection of quest/combat/atmosphere/puzzles, it's just a bit too linear for some and lacks the deep complexity of good/evil even though intellectual thought is still present in abundance.

[RPGguy]

I agree that this game was a truly great game - a one of a kind within a class - but to say it's the final word on RPGs is going a bit far I'm afraid.

I agree. The setting was fascinating. The interactions with the NPCs was extremely satisfying. The story was well written. Many interesting items, encounters and game mechanics like the faction element.

But the combat was terrible, the magic system in particular. And the key encounter(s) were far cries from the build-ups that preceded them, leading to disappointment in my case.

Agree that 'combat' should not define the quality of a title but it's a pretty significant component of the game that frankly sucked. And the ending scenarios seemed contrite, watered down and rushed.

Glad I experienced it, but it does not dethrone BG as the best overall saga ever made.

That being said, I don't believe the IWD series even enters the conversation for best ever. 'Very Good' is the best I can give it. But I'm more inclined to use the word 'solid'.

Just my opinion.

[valkir]

Uh, yeah, Icewind Dale isn't anywhere near Torment to me. It's a good cRPG, with its own freezy ambience, absorbing setting and lively combat. But it's not outstanding in any category, while Torment, apart from combat and a couple of glitches, is extraordinary.

Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale series are completely different from Torment. IWD is a combat-oriented game with a shallow plot; Torment is a story-oriented game, with less focus on combat. BG is a mix of these two, I'd say; it features a great story - not as brilliant as Torment's, though - and properly developed combat. So in the end it's all about what suits you more, but when you want to be judging these as *RPG* games, you can't put IWD on the same shelf.

[kmonster]

The IWD games are classic style crpgs with solid story (but not without depth, they just don't showcase fake depth nonsense like BG2) and balanced combat, PST has an emphasize on roleplaying and story depth.
Both IWDs and PST are great games on their own.

The BG games have neither the balance of the IWD games nor the real story depth of PST (especially the BG2 story is depth faking nonsense), so I wouldn't rate them that high. For watching a let's play or playing after a walkthrough they might be better, but not for a real gaming experience.

[LastDanceSaloon]

I'm at a disadvantage in responding to the two of you as I am yet to experience Balders Gate!

The reason I used Icewind Dale as a direct cross comparison was because they were both from the same company. My disc for Planescape Torment even features an advert for the 'upcoming release of Icewind Dale'.

It seemed an amazingly apt comparison to make that the two games, from the same company, were both so directly aligned as complete opposites.

Both have a fantastic narrative base, both have the varied team element, both have an ambience that is stand-alone to almost any other games, but one is deliberately running away from the kill the dragon element and quest based whereas the other is pure kill the dragon with a few quest interruptions.

To say that either is less of an RPG than the other is a dilemma straight out of Planescape Torment!

Dungeons and Dragons is just that - Dungeons and Dragons! In this respect IceWind Dale is right at the top of the pile.

Fighting Fantasy is just that - Some fighting in a fantasy setting! In this respect Planescape Torment is right at the top of the pile.

In the old days of pen and pencil the extent of quest dilemmas would depend on the intellect of the Dungeon Master and the willingness of the players not to beat him/her up when he/her pulled to many tricks on them. Hence:

The basic outline of a Dungeons and Dragon game should always be simply that one is gradually gaining enough experience and/or firepower necessary (by means of defeating other opponents) to take on the powerful Dragon and it's hoard of treasure - any deviation from this and you are bringing in elements from outside such as fighting fantasy and/or adventure gaming, which might make for a better game experience, but is still, nonetheless, not pure Dungeons and Dragons - to which Icewind Dale is the most pure Dungeons and Dragons PC game I have ever played.

End of sermon lol

[LastDanceSaloon]

Kmonster can say it better than me with fewer words, lol.

[Scully]

I've played all the great ones as well. Today I'm only able to get minor erections from games like Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins. I tried playing Anachronox, supposedly an awesome underdog. But the combat is just too ****ty for me.

[valkir]

Ohh, Anachronox, completely forgot about this one.

After my last PS:T playthrough I started working on Fallout, finished it, loved it more than F2. Now I'm replaying the latter one, and in the same time I've managed to finish Fallout 3 (it was a question of determination really, I just started playing that more or less when it was released and stopped due to the lack of any attraction). Right now I'm working on a mod for Fallout 3, hope I'll make it. And, while I'm on the topic, I recommend an in-depth look at the Fallout: New Vegas previews. It's back in the right hands - Obsidian - and sounds really promising, I can't wait for its release.

[Curry]

You guys should definitely play Gothic. It's different but a great game nontheless.