Will there ever be a RPG like this?

[cduin]

Hello all,

I haven't posted much here on this forum, but I read it all the time. For years i play RPG's, and I've played many of them. Never was there one that I remember better than this one. I play it every year, but it keeps amazing me. The interaction with your team members is so realistic. It is like you walk in another world. I replay the game every year, and I keep enjoying it. All by this huge sense of detail.

I have tried playing other RPG's, like Divine Divinity, Might and Magic, Dungeon Siege, Tales of Symphonia, Icewind Dale I and II, Neverwinter Nights, Gothic I and II, Morrowind, and more. However none can even come close. They are nice games, and I finished them, but they don't have the epic scale.

The only other game that shares a bit with BGII is Star Wars: KotOR. Especially the plot twist makes me remember it. The story and the characters were just great. The sequal dissapointed me, however.

Neverwinter Nights lacked the party-management, and there wasn't much detail; the icons for things were horrible and the characters forgettable. A shame really, because the base to make an epic game was there.

Will there ever be a game like BGII? My last hope is Dragon Age. for the details look very good. Maybe you don't agree with me on all points, but this is my opinion. I don't want to start a flaming thread .

[Thrifalas]

Ever tried Planescape: Torment or the Final Fantasy series? For while I do consider BG the best game ever, there are some points on which it falters. If you like characters, stories, music, concepts and that kind of things you should try these games - Planescape has the best story ever seen, and Final Fantasy... well, there's a reason why it's one of the most famous series ever.

Personally I stick to BG for the awesome gameplay. There's still spell combinations to be found and ways to do things. It's just so frikkin' awesome... ;D

[Pellinore]

Yeah, BGI and BGII are the best I have played. I lose interest in games really fast but these keep me interested. With so many character options, you can play several times without it becoming boring. My problem is, I play about halfway through and want to start a new character.

[Coot]

@Cduin: You mentioned Morrowind and although the games are quite different I found it to be as immersive as the BG-series. Still, that wouldn't have been the case if not for all these good and creative mods and modders out there.

[cduin]

Thanks for the reply's. For Morrowind, I played it indeed, and although the world is wonderful, the NPC's are like statues. And the NPC interaction is a big point for me in games. So I never quite liked Morrowind. Final Fantasy, well, I tried FFX, and I was quite far in the game. I just dislike the battle system, but yes, the characters were very nice. It was a really good story.

I think I will buy Planescape: Torment when I see it, though I prefer a medieval setting instead of a more SF approach. I will try it, however.

[Thrifalas]

Final Fantasy X doesn't have a good story at all, then BG have even better. Wait untill you try Ps:T or FFVII. Now there's storys for you.

Don't except them to be close to BG in gameplay though, cause they won't. But no game I've played so far is... ^^

Plansecape have about the best settings ever... That's one of it's strenghts. It's not really sci-fi, but it's more of a mix. It's so awesome... I love that game.

[Deadalready]

Baldur's Gate sadly will probably be the last of it's kind.

In this day and age focus tends to go into graphics; afterall it's how consumers are forced to buy better parts for their computers. It's through forcing upgrades that companies make profit and so because of this it's important that games have graphics that exceed the limits of older computers.

Unless the budget is a huge sequal, it's obvious to point out that personel and time are limited. If more people are devoted to the art department, obviously there has to be sacrifices in other ones...

[Celacena]

Priest of Cynic

Games companies in league with component manufacturers to make people upgrade?

I can see the attraction, but I don't think that it is that way round - games companies want their games to be at the forefront of what is possible - and if people have to upgrade to get there, well "so what?" is likely to be their response. games writers want to be cutting edge and probably soup-up their own machines just because they want to - they probably have to cut back on what their games demand to have enough sales to break even - if a game is absolutely cutting edge - the sales will be a lot lower than by just being 'high-end' - and pitching at what they expect 'high-end' to be at the time of release is a gamble. the nearer to high-end they pitch, the longer the game will appear current-spec.

ironic that "Civilisation" was so good that it was a playable game years after its graphics looked "out of the Ark". BGII is similar in some ways for "playability" - even BG1 was good - I tried to start with BG1 but it was too retro for my OS, so I loaded up BG2, which I have had some time. BG2 does not challenge my 2 year old + 1Gb RAM/AMD Athlon/256Mb graphics card machine - they make it play smoothly even with as many sprites as the combat system can handle - even with area-effects etc - but that is not what BG2 is about - what happens on-screen is secondary to the RPG element. in BG2, there are many different ways of skinning the proverbial cat (or should that be Bridge-area dweller?) - after a chunk of the quest, you start thinking that the tactics for that party have been sorted and you have a temptation to start again with a different character to solve the problem differently.
my dualled level 14 fighter/l.7 swashbuckler plays the game differently to my l.13 ranger - even though their core skills are similar and that was much different to my druid or my MU. the tactics of a high-level thief with x4 backstab using celestial fury I think) doing 100+ damage were different yet again. it is the variety of solutions that make the game interesting. none of which is based on having cutting-edge graphics.

Morrowind by contrast, did need a strong machine to cut out slowdown and the game-play in that game is wide and free. although my MW character is of awesome power due to the unbalancing effect that making multiple enchanted items has made - that does not stop the RPG element from working.

years ago, I really rated "Descent" - a shootemup with smooooooth graphics when played on a high-spec system - however, the smoothness didn't make up for the enjoyable, but formulaic gaming. it could only be light relief rather than an immersive experience.

however, BG, like Civ before it, depends on immersion/addiction rather than graphics.

[Luis Antonio]

Immersion, storyline, characters, deep quests, "hard" enemies when you start, provoking storyline (I wanted to strangle Irenicus at all costs), a dull expansion that helps you growing on levels and bringing more items if you solo, yadda yadda. Baldur's Gate is the best gaming series ever. I like all of them, in this order:

Baldur's Gate SoA
Baldur's Gate
Throne of Bhaal
Tales of the Sword Coast

I've played SoA both with or without mods, with the best and the worst characters, Ive soloed it with all fighter, all bards and all thieves subclasses, not to mention the classic sorcerer, I've played the game many many times, with many many variants, and nothing ever kept me from playing it. Now I'm playing IWD for a change, but it aint half as deep, even though it is also a nice game.

Morrowind lacks depht. It is huge, really, enormous, with tons of things for you to do, however, it lacks immersion to the main story. I'd play MW for days and wouldnt bother, "bah, the main quest? whatever" then I'd notice to be in level 30 and the main boss stumbled in my path, and I was slaying him without much effort.

Neverwinter nights, pfeh, I was so disappointed when I've got that game. First, it was heavy as hell, not graphic wise, but processing wise, I had to upgrade it to be an enjoyable game. Second, when you update it they insert the upgrades options into your character selectable habilities to tease you (which is really nasty, IMO). The nice thing about NWN is the Aurora toolset, and the rest may rest in peace.

I still hope some developer will dig the Infinity Engine and will bring another nice BG like game with it, with interations and deep quests, and possibly with a "built in tactics mod" for the hardcore and insane players.

[CEO]

[QUOTE=Thrifalas]Ever tried Planescape: Torment or the Final Fantasy series? For while I do consider BG the best game ever, there are some points on which it falters. If you like characters, stories, music, concepts and that kind of things you should try these games - Planescape has the best story ever seen, and Final Fantasy... well, there's a reason why it's one of the most famous series ever.

Personally I stick to BG for the awesome gameplay. There's still spell combinations to be found and ways to do things. It's just so frikkin' awesome... ;D[/QUOTE]

You just said my personall favourite games lol Just want to add that planescape has huge merit cause its game mechanics is AWFULL but the story is just incredible, inmersive... too bad there wasn't a sequel. And about FF series.. FF7 the best , i agree.

Not a single game has ofered me what BG has.. the game mechanics ofers huge replayability and the story is just incredible.

Luis antonio <--- And i thought i was freaky.. i didnt try it with all clases... just almost all . By the way, did you try a No Object walkthrough? Not much of a challenge anyway

[Luis Antonio]

[QUOTE=CEO]

Luis antonio <--- And i thought i was freaky.. i didnt try it with all clases... just almost all . By the way, did you try a No Object walkthrough? Not much of a challenge anyway [/QUOTE]

Never stopped playing the game ever since I bought it. Just that.