Originally posted by Galuf the Dwarf
Oh yeah, I just realized I forgot to mention some things, so I thought I'd try to breathe some new life into this thread.
My favorite parts of games are:
RPGs:
- Interesting characters/interaction
- Treasure (mainly items that have good uses, though not ultra-powerful; also include varieties of equipment)
- Magic (spells that have cool effects, not as much visually as in physically to targets)
- Good gameplay (decent challenge, fun parts of plot & side areas; would've wished to actually see Frost Giants in IWD2)
- Decent story/plot (The idea of one's lineage being their destiny almost sounds like it's being overused)
- Interesting character generation (I like to see some character changes at times)
- A lengthy plot (If Black Isle is to make another game with the Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale 2 game engines, let the chapters be longer and with more interesting quests, PLEASE!!)
- Multiple uses for character skills (let them all play into various challenges, and really make the gameplay vary)
That's about all I can think of for now.
I will be one to say, as many others, you do NOT need to be a star wars fan to enjoy kotor. you might complain later on that its too easy, if you go certain routes, but thats about it
why preach KOTOR?
-its got interesting characters, and even interesting interaction with the other characters, like BG2 had.
-its got treasures. You can veer towards light or darkness, and gain some treasures for those specific. Also droid killing treasure, armor with different traits for soldiers, and other useful weaponry with different uses (stuns, deflect, extra damage, extra critical help, etc)
-its got spells. well Force powers anyways, but the same thing. You can stun your opponent, and in later levels, you can stun multiple opponents. the light side gets droid killing powers, while the dark will choke or release lightning.
-one you start playing, it gets addicting. yes I said you might complain of being easy, but there are a few challenges, like for the last boss, dont do anything to hinder his special ability, and your in for a very long fight. also try not being a soldier/guardian, and instead go rogue (scoundrel)/ Consular to make it a lil more challenging, as you dont have suberb fighting skills as a soldier/guardian does. some of the side games can be fun too.
-story/plot, sure you past is fixed, but your future is your own. do you save the galaxy, or become its emporer? only you decide, depending on your attitude. join the light or the darkness.
-character generation. well the characters that join with you wont change much, but you can pick between soldier, scoundrel (rogue type), or scout (inbetween soldier and scoundrel), then later on you become jedi and pick which of the 3 jedi types you want, guardian (soldier type), consular (more force power, less fight power), and sentinel (inbetween the 2). Im afraid thats all the choices you get, but can still make the game interesting if you try to get original.
-as for your last 2 characteristics, cant say much for this game, kotor is shorter than bg2, sadly. but I did fill in the rest of the characteristics you hope to look for
as for getting an Xbox, sure with kotor you can wait for the PC version, but another good looking RPG is coming to Xbox, game called Fable (no, not the moderator). Also in this one you can follow good or evil, but your looks actually change to reflect how you act, as what is told byt he makers of this game. It looks like one to watch in the future.
Originally posted by Galuf the Dwarf
Strategies/Empire-Builders:
- Good use of resources for builder/strategy games (I like to harvest things like gold, stone, wood, etc.)
- Different strategies for multiple situations
- More than two sides for RTS games (that's why I liked StarCraft and WarCraft III)
- Let every unit in an RTS have a good use at every playing level, yet give them a downside that made you really have to plan things well
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as for strategy games now. I will give mention to 4 of my favorite, but unpopular strategy games.
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Majesty, a Fantasy Kingdom-building Sim. You are the king, and its your job to build your kingdom. build the heros you want. although you dont have direct control of your heroes, giving out rewards can hopefully be persuasive in them doing what you want. put 1000 gold on a dark castle, and watch half your heroes instantly run over to destroy.
ahh, but how do you get money? you collect taxes, and you gain more taxes by providing for your heroes. they need weapons and armor, so build a blacksmith. wizards need more spells, so build a library. build a marketplace, so your heroes can buy rings and healing potions. and dont forget to build gnome hovels to hire gnomes to help build your buildings, always helps
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Sacrifice, a 3d RTS game. 5 different factions, but you can build them anyway you please. what do I mean? Follow the Earth God (an earthworm jim lookalike) for a few levels, get his earlier tiers, but the follow the Fire God a few more levels, get his mid tiers, and then follow the Death God last levels and get his last tiers, is but an example of how you can change your army around. Of course you can always go the pure route, and just follow the Death god straight, or just the Wing God, or whomever you choose.
Good storyline, good voice actors for voice overs, and addictive fast gameplay, this is one I played multiplayer for 3 months straight when it first came out, but sadly I doubt there is anymore playing multiplayer anymore these days. But havent checked so I dont know.
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Battle Realms
this one has 4 sides. game has an expansion as well, if you ever plan to get this one, buy the expansion, as it comes with the full game. Although the expansion's story isnt all too good, nor the campaign, the original campaign for the Dragon/Serpent clans are great, at least IMO.
good voice overs, gameplay is slightly different from the rest of the RTS games out there, although still follows the same. But that difference is what makes this game fun.
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Conquest the Frontier Wars
now many will say this is just a subpar game. Well I enjoyed it. and yes people will say its just starcraft in space.
3 sides. what do I mean starcraft in space? well thats just in, there is no land in this game, this entire game is space fleets. what makes this game different, is the worm holes. most games you can only play one map per game, as in maps do not connect with one another on the same game. While this one made it different, the worm holes connect up to 16 maps for one game (as little as 4 or 2 can be joined as well)
Now the maps are all randomly generated when it ocmes to multiplayer, and yes since its pure space fleets, you can traverse the maps with speed, providing you dont go into some cosmic dust that slows you down.
how to use strategy in this game? I mentioned cosmic dust. there are different particles floating around in space. some, when fired upon give extra damage to opponents, as the particles are explosive. some speed you up, some slow you down.
the 3 races are, terran (of course), Mantis (zerg like), and Celerons (protos like)
the game, sadly, didnt do well at all. They planned an expansion with a 4th Lizardman style race, but since the game did so poorly, expansion got axed
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hope that helps....all above strategy games you should easily find in bargain bins now, and they are well worth the 10-20 they cost.
