It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
The release of Torment (which I'm looking forward to play), but also the full release price (which I'm not willing to pay at the moment), make me want to try and tackle one of those other CRPGs from my collection instead, the ones which I tried but never really got into that much:

- Dragon Age: Origins
- Knights of the Old Republic
- Fallout
- The Witcher
- Drakensang: The River of Time
- Shadowrun: Hong Kong

In DA:O I never got past the origin stories (tried mage and human noble), because I found those beginnings a bit boring at the time, as often with the average Bioware game. My experience with Knights of the Old Republic was similar, I stopped not that long after the tutorial. Fallout I once played for a few hours but then I got worried by the time limit and wondered if frequent resting could lead to failing the main quest. The Witcher I played until somewhere in Act 2; at the end of Act 1 I was pretty annoyed by certain design decisions, and what I've seen of Act 2 wasn't all that exciting yet either, even though I've heard it gets better from there. I took a longer break from the game and when I try to get back into it now, I don't know what to do anymore, because the crucial entry about my goal in the main quest was replaced by a quest stage update that doesn't really help me now. Drakensang: RoT and Shadowrun: Hong Kong I've played the most, and they were nice enough, but for some reason I took a long break from them, too, which makes it harder to get back into them now ...

Anyway, I'm undecided what to play, but I also have a few question:

- Is it recommended to install the restoration mod for KotOR1 or is there any reason why I should rather play the original release version?
- In DA:O, would it be ok for me (as a completionist who doesn't like replays) to play through all six origin stories first, with different characters, and then decide which character and story I like best, before I continue? If so, how would I know when the origin story part is over and I reach the part that will be the same for all characters?
- How generous is the time limit in Fallout? Can resting after every encounter ruin the main quest?

Thanks for any input and advice! :)
All games I thoroughly enjoyed. So perhaps it may come down to how much time you want to invest in the games:

DA:O and The Witcher are pretty long, so you'll want to be sure you're interested in investing a lot of time in those. For DA:O, playing all of the origins is a good idea, IMO. When you reach Ostagar is the point where they all converge.

I don't think the restoration mod for KotOR is necessary (but for KotOR 2, it is, definitely).

Fallout: I didn't find any issues with the time limit and I tend to be very slow in playing through my RPGs.

Drakensang was a very good game, IMO and well worth playing. Especially when you get a grasp of the rule set, which I quite enjoy.

Shadowrun Hong Kong is a good one and not overly long, so that may be a good choice to play so you can complete it and maybe get a taste for more RPG goodness.

Maybe not much help, but hopefully you'll find some of it useful. :)
I can only speak for Fallout.

Trust me, use your time well and it will be a good ride. CRPGs are the kind of games you need to use a lot of time to fully immerse yourself, and not get easily bored.

Go to http://nma-fallout.com/forums/ and install fixes and updates to make the game even better (and longer). I myself didn't have much trouble with the time (at least not later on). At one point just I didn't care and it was way more funny to explore more of fallout.

Now that I think of it, it's been a while...

Hmmm, it's as they say; whenever someone mentions Fallout, there's always someone reinstalling it ;-)

EDIT: Must call it 'the law of fallout', as I'm dl now :-D
Post edited March 01, 2017 by sanscript
I didn't even know there was a restoration mod for the first KotOR.

Anyway, those are all games I greatly enjoyed, in fact some of my very favourite games ever, except for Dragon Age which I though was merely ok. And I'm only playing Hong Kong now, but I loved the previous Shadowruns, so I'm pretty sure I'll love this one too (and if not it's only because I'm kinda pissed at having chosen to play a mage :P).

I don't know, however, how I could help anyone to "get into" those games. I loved The Witcher, Drakensang and KotOR from the start, and even Fallou, which tooks some time get perfectly comfortable with, still was enjoyable from the get go. I could praise them all for hours, but would that help?

Maybe those are not really your cup of tea. Nothing and no one could make me get into the Infinity engine RPGs or MMOs. I don't think there's any trick to it. It just either clicks for someone or not.

EDIT: Ok, there might actually be one trick for Witcher- if you have not, read the books. That should get you more excited to play the game, interact with the characters and world and just in general put you in the right mood.
Post edited March 01, 2017 by Breja
avatar
Leroux: The release of Torment (which I'm looking forward to play), but also the full release price (which I'm not willing to pay at the moment), make me want to try and tackle one of those other CRPGs from my collection instead, the ones which I tried but never really got into that much:

- Dragon Age: Origins
- Knights of the Old Republic
- Fallout
- The Witcher
- Drakensang: The River of Time
- Shadowrun: Hong Kong

In DA:O I never got past the origin stories (tried mage and human noble), because I found those beginnings a bit boring at the time, as often with the average Bioware game. My experience with Knights of the Old Republic was similar, I stopped not that long after the tutorial. Fallout I once played for a few hours but then I got worried by the time limit and wondered if frequent resting could lead to failing the main quest. The Witcher I played until somewhere in Act 2; at the end of Act 1 I was pretty annoyed by certain design decisions, and what I've seen of Act 2 wasn't all that exciting yet either, even though I've heard it gets better from there. I took a longer break from the game and when I try to get back into it now, I don't know what to do anymore, because the crucial entry about my goal in the main quest was replaced by a quest stage update that doesn't really help me now. Drakensang: RoT and Shadowrun: Hong Kong I've played the most, and they were nice enough, but for some reason I took a long break from them, too, which makes it harder to get back into them now ...

Anyway, I'm undecided what to play, but I also have a few question:

- Is it recommended to install the restoration mod for KotOR1 or is there any reason why I should rather play the original release version?
- In DA:O, would it be ok for me (as a completionist who doesn't like replays) to play through all six origin stories first, with different characters, and then decide which character and story I like best, before I continue? If so, how would I know when the origin story part is over and I reach the part that will be the same for all characters?
- How generous is the time limit in Fallout? Can resting after every encounter ruin the main quest?

Thanks for any input and advice! :)
Da: O is a pretty good game. You can even solo it, which I prefer. Its quite long and the origins part is pretty small. Mage is annoying, but dwarf and human are good.

The witcher 1 is also good, though only played once through. Not played w2 as yet, and tried w3 but struggled to get into it.

The others I cant really say, but I would quite happily play da:o again.
About KotOR, nothing could save it from being trash, and adding content to it via a restoration mod is like shooting yourself to help heal a wound, so I wouldn't recommend it - either the game or the patch.

As for Fallout, there's a water chip time limit and a endgame goal limit. The second one was essentially patched out of the game in 1.1, and the first one is so generous that you'd have to mess around instead of playing to miss it (it's also extendable at one point, so if you've been messing around up to that point or intend to do so from that point, you can still make it). Install the unofficial patch(es) - not for the content, but for (against?) the bugs. Also, if a certain pistol sound begins to greatly annoy you, know there's a mod for it :p
avatar
Leroux: The release of Torment (which I'm looking forward to play), but also the full release price (which I'm not willing to pay at the moment), make me want to try and tackle one of those other CRPGs from my collection instead, the ones which I tried but never really got into that much:

- Dragon Age: Origins
- Knights of the Old Republic
- Fallout
- The Witcher
- Drakensang: The River of Time
- Shadowrun: Hong Kong

In DA:O I never got past the origin stories (tried mage and human noble), because I found those beginnings a bit boring at the time, as often with the average Bioware game. My experience with Knights of the Old Republic was similar, I stopped not that long after the tutorial. Fallout I once played for a few hours but then I got worried by the time limit and wondered if frequent resting could lead to failing the main quest. The Witcher I played until somewhere in Act 2; at the end of Act 1 I was pretty annoyed by certain design decisions, and what I've seen of Act 2 wasn't all that exciting yet either, even though I've heard it gets better from there. I took a longer break from the game and when I try to get back into it now, I don't know what to do anymore, because the crucial entry about my goal in the main quest was replaced by a quest stage update that doesn't really help me now. Drakensang: RoT and Shadowrun: Hong Kong I've played the most, and they were nice enough, but for some reason I took a long break from them, too, which makes it harder to get back into them now ...

Anyway, I'm undecided what to play, but I also have a few question:

- Is it recommended to install the restoration mod for KotOR1 or is there any reason why I should rather play the original release version?
- In DA:O, would it be ok for me (as a completionist who doesn't like replays) to play through all six origin stories first, with different characters, and then decide which character and story I like best, before I continue? If so, how would I know when the origin story part is over and I reach the part that will be the same for all characters?
- How generous is the time limit in Fallout? Can resting after every encounter ruin the main quest?

Thanks for any input and advice! :)
For DA:O and KoToR, you just have to push through to get to the good stuff. After Ostagar for DA:O is when the game opens up and in KotoR after the first planet after you become a jedi.
Why don't you go with Shadowrun Hong Kong? It is most simple in terms of game play, have a good writing, interesting world building, and easy.

When you get used to it, then it's time to go for heavier one like da:o or kotor
avatar
kusumahendra: Why don't you go with Shadowrun Hong Kong? It is most simple in terms of game play, have a good writing, interesting world building, and easy.

When you get used to it, then it's time to go for heavier one like da:o or kotor
Yeah I have not finished (or gotten far into it), but Shadowrun is fun setting which you can get into, pickup and play. It is an awesome game series as a whole with Dragonfall at least having some awesome companions (better than DA:O companions.)
As others have mentioned, the time limit in Fallout is not as big an issue as the game makes it seem. I have finished the game a few dozen times and only ran out time once. And that's only because I purposley ran the clock out just to see what happens.

KOTOR was okay, I was much more into it for the lore and Star Wars universe than the game play. I had often wondered if I would have felt differently if the game were set in a wholly different setting, and aafter playing DA:O I think I now know the answer. I finished DA:O and never want to see it again.

I had completley forgotten about Shadowrun Hong Kong, I played Returns and Dragonfall already and really enjoyed them. Somewhere along the lines I picked up Hong Kong and then forgot I had it. Time to rearrange my back log!
Just to make it clear, since that list of classic games I haven't played yet may make it seem like I'm not that familiar with CRPGs in general - I have played loads of them. Just not these series. But almost all the others by Bioware, Obsidian, Black Isle, Troika, Larian (and a few by Piranha Bytes, Bethesda etc.).
avatar
Breja: I don't know, however, how I could help anyone to "get into" those games. I loved The Witcher, Drakensang and KotOR from the start, and even Fallou, which tooks some time get perfectly comfortable with, still was enjoyable from the get go. I could praise them all for hours, but would that help?
Probably not, I wouldn't trust your judgement anyway ... since you don't like Planescape: Torment!!! ;P
avatar
Breja: Ok, there might actually be one trick for Witcher- if you have not, read the books. That should get you more excited to play the game, interact with the characters and world and just in general put you in the right mood.
That's good advice, I was wondering myself if that would make it easier to put up with the weaker sides of the CRPGs.

For now, I've given DA:O another try, starting with the dwarven noble origin story. That was actually much more interesting than what I had seen of the mage and human noble origins so far. But I guess it also helped that I was in a more generous mood today than the last two times I tried. I'm looking forward to play the other origin stories now, and then I'll decide whether I'd like to continue playing, and with which character.

Thanks for all the comments!
Casteless dwarven rogue story was fun, too. It's going to be hard to settle for one of these characters afterwards. I wish I could build a party with those six ... You get much more attached to the characters if you play through their backstory, instead of just reading through some NPC dialogue.

Anyway, I have some question about party management in DA:O:

EDIT: Never mind. I fogured it out myself.
Post edited March 01, 2017 by Leroux
I usually read some relevant FAQ while starting to play CPRG, just to prevent making obvious mistakes in e.g. character creation at the beginning which I might regret 50 hours later, or doing things I shouldn't be doing (like getting rid of some quest item that is needed at some point). Many FAQs have this kind of "whatever you do, don't..."-section.

For instance, now as I am playing Fallout Tactics, I'm thinking did I invest too much on Charisma, as it is not clear is it really any use in the game for anything. In earlier Fallout games (1-2) it was, at least it set the limit how many party members you can recruit (something like "divide by two and round down", meaning that with e.g. CHA 8 or 9 you can recruit four party members in addition to yourself, while with 10 you can recruit full 5), and I guess it might have affected some conversations too, but at least the party limit thing was important to me in Fallout 2.

But in Fallout Tactics, there aren't any branching discussions so at least those Charisma shouldn't affect I think, and by reading different FAQs, I am unsure if it affects anything else either. Some say it serves absolutely no purpose, some claim it allows you to recruit higher-degree party members... but as long as I can recruit five party members (six member party) from freshmen, I hold on to them and develop them the way I like, rather than later selecting some higher level character that already has lots of selected perks which are useless. I rather keep my existing party members for whom I've hand-picked the most useful perks over time.

So should I have set the CHA to the minimum in the beginning, and use those points to other abilities instead? I am running the Redux 1.3 mód for the game so I have no idea if it affects the usability of CHA either.
Post edited March 01, 2017 by timppu
avatar
Leroux: - Dragon Age: Origins
Decent game from Bioware, finished it once - including expansion, the second time I couldn't somehow find patience for it, but might do it again some time. It's not their best writing, but not their worst either.
avatar
Leroux: - Knights of the Old Republic
If you like Star Wars, this is NeverWinter Nights: Star Wars. Decent story with some interesting twists at times. Must play for Star Wars fans, but even for others it's enjoyable. Finished it twice, Light side vanilla and Dark side restoration mod. You don't miss much if you don't use the mod, but it rounds a few things out.
avatar
Leroux: - Fallout
One of the best RPGs ever. Period. Finished it 3-4 times, halfway finished it another dozen at least. Don't worry about the time limit, the game isn't that long that you can't comfortably finish it under it. And besides, you can find ways to prolong it, <spoiler_alert>though these might have negative consequences</spoiler_alert>. It's amazing in how many different ways and different character types you can play and finish this game.
avatar
Leroux: - The Witcher
Hidden gem of the RPG world. It's a bit unwieldy compared to modern RPGs, but I really liked the combat system, not that dissimilar to the one from Jade Empire if you think about it deeper. Also the story and the setting are very different from most RPGs. Definitely a must play for everyone.
avatar
timppu: In earlier Fallout games (1-2) it was, at least it set the limit how many party members you can recruit
Wait... there were party members in Fallout 1? Why didn't anyone tell me? I had to do everything on my freakin own! Oh my god, I'm an idiot.
Post edited March 01, 2017 by Breja