Everyone's been incredibly helpful and I appreciate all of your suggestions and advice. Since it's impossible to declare just one of them as the "solution", but I don't want to leave the thread as unresolved, I chose to just mark the first reply, which incidentally is what I went for in the end. But I learned a lot through all the other posts, so once again, thanks a lot!

Now I'm waiting for that list! ;)

Congrats on your purchase. I hope you enjoy that PC for many years to come. And please let us know your first impressions when your PC arrives.

Well, after you're done with The Witcher series and Alpha Protocol, give Two Worlds a swirl. The first game is decent, but the second one is fantastic. Then there's Risen, which I'm fairly sure you are well aware of, and Neverwinter Nights 2 with its modules (yay!)

As for non-RPGs, just go and play Dishonored, and then Knife of Dunwall + Brigmore Witches. Report back once you're done with that :-P

The good news is, I already own The Witcher series, the first Two Worlds, Risen and NWN2. :) And Alpha Protocol is available 'DRM-free' from GamersGate for a fair 15 euro. I just don't know whether gameplay and story will be gripping enough to offset my general disinterest in stealth games and military or espionage settings ...

Oh I hate stealth games - as for espionage, I ... Don't hate it, but I don't love it either. I'm kind of neutral on that really. At any rate, you can mostly shoot trough it, and later on you get abilities which allow you to sneak your way trough anything with ease. The game is all about characters and choices

Well, my fear is that I might have a neutral attitude towards the game, too, as in "I don't really care what happens next". I've read that it's somewhat comparable with the series 24, which I never had an interest in despite all the praise. And I read that most characters in Alpha Protocol are rather stereotypical, which does not bode well seeing that I'm not that interested in the setting anyway. I'm not too fond of shooters either, at least not military-type shooters where you go against real people. I mean, I'm occasionally fine with playing a badass ghost or female vampire preying on nazis and mobsters or some fallen western hero on a personal vendetta, all the base motive stuff for some guilty exploitation fun, I just don't like playing a tough patriotic soldier-type of guy shooting other tough soldier-types in the head, killing in the name of ... Somehow that both bores and discomforts me. Can't really explain it better than that. :/

Yeah, I get what you mean. I can't say that you'll like the game with all honesty - however, it is quite brilliant. It definitely has one of the best written NPCs I have ever seen, and your actions actually matter and can influence what happens quite considerably. Alpha Protocol just excels as an RPG. And if it makes you more comfortable, if you are skillful, you can actually play the game without killing anyone (but that brings us back to stealth, doesn't it?).

Ok, I'll keep an eye on it, maybe wait for a sale, while I busy myself with all the other gameson the list. Thanks!

Given that Two Worlds 2 is currently on sale for $8, would you mind elaborating a bit on that recommendation? I haven't heard many positive things about the series and many people make it sound like it's rather average - what is it that you particularly liked about it, compared to similar games?

How about you play it and tell us?

Wow, thanks! That's very generous! :D

Well, first of all - you have a lot of other, most likely better RPGs to play. Just saying. Now to actually answer the question...

Two Worlds 2 is a broken mess. And it's wonderful. Combat's weird, with active block which just kida sorta does what it's supposed to, archery with complete auto-lockon system, spells which ... Are quite awesome actually, they work on a principle of combining cards with multiple effects to create a spell, that's quite neat. Oh and stealth - just don't even bother.

But, in case you decide to create a class which does happen to work (mage or knight, pretty much - archery is more of a support kind of deal as far as I'm concerned. Oh, and the game doesn't have an actual class system - just pick whatever skills and attributes), the game's actually pretty damn good. As for being generic, I don't really agree - the first chapter takes place in Savannah, not a setting I've seen all that much, and the second chapter is even more interesting (4 chapters or so in total).

But I suppose you care about story and plot, don't you? Well, the best thing about Two Worlds 2 is that, unless you're blind, you will soon find out that it just doesn't take itself seriously. At all. The prologue is a showdown of fantasy chlichés - Sexy warrior chick, Sexy mystical chick, Musculine manly warrior, Musculine manly mage, Musculine manly archer, Evil laughing villian, damsel in distress. The writers just thought "Oh to heck with it" and went all the way :D And after the prologue, the game just goes on with making a bit more subtle jokes and just constantly keeps pointing at other fantasy games, saying 'you're silly.' The subtleties would often make you wonder whether it's intentional or just a bad writing - but there are several moments in the game which make it quite clear that the game written this way quite deliberately.

That's not all tho - the main storyline, and some of the sidequests, are actually quite good. The less I spoil here the better, but while it's still a collection of fantasy clichés, it's put together really well, and actually contains an unexpected twist here and there. Really liked it. And recreation of Indiana Jones. Ehm.

Oh and dem graphix!

Makes me want to fire it up and get in the mix myself! I picked it up a while ago but still on my uninstalled backlog. Maybe I'll have to amend the order :-)