Gamers of CFC! I need your help!

Ajidica

High Quality Person
Joined
Nov 29, 2006
Messages
22,482
I'm trying to get a friend into RPG's and I'm trying to decide the best one for him to try. Ideally it would be a relatively simple one that has a strong plot and gets you interested from the start.
My collection of RPGs include:
Baldurs Gate
Deus Ex
Deus Ex Invisible War
Deus Ex Human Revolution
Dragon Age: Origins
Morrowind
Oblivion
Fallout 3
Fallout New Vegas
Far Cry 2
Mass Effect
Mass Effect 2
Stalker: Shadows of Chernobyl
The Witcher

Of these, I was think about either Fallout 3, Mass Effect 2, or Human Revolutions to introduce him to.
Any opinions?

EDIT: Forgot to make a poll, could a mod add one?
 
Really? I found Dragon Age Origins a bit complicated when I first played it.
 
Very initially, yes perhaps a bit. But I've tried to play Morrowind and Oblivion and they just confused the heck out of me (and I play a lot of skyrim.) But I got past the initial complication in Dragon Age relatively quickly and it's really just the most fun of all the games you've listed that I've played. Well... maybe Mass Effect, but I think DA:O is far more in line with an RPG than Mass Effect.
 
Knights of the Old Republic is a good choice if you're up for additional recommendations.
 
You list Far Cry as RPG o_O?

I've only played Morrowind and The Witcher from that list (rest...you know...mostly DRM), but I'd say the Witcher is probably not a bad start.
The tutorial is loaded with action, and the story directly kicks in. The mechanics might be a bit heavy, but I'm not sure if there's any RPG where this is not the case.

If you have some money left over, then see if you can get Dark Messiah of Might and Magic somewhere. More action than RPG, but on the game mechanics side relatively light.
 
Go all old-school JRPGs and just frustrate him with level grinding, bad graphics, and Engrish dialogue. It's a sure winner. ;)
 
Baldur's Gate 2

Spoiler :
I am kidding of cours. BG2 is terrible for RPG-newbees unless they are actually open-minded. But the reference was worth a useless post.
Spoiler :
I feel ashamed.
Spoiler :
But still proud.
Spoiler :
It is the best RPG I ever plaied.
Spoiler :
I haven't plaied all them many though, given
Spoiler :
This spoiler is just for fun
Spoiler :
As is this
Spoiler :
You are still looking?
Spoiler :
Now I am ashamed of you.
Spoiler :
Go do something else
Spoiler :
Seriously
Spoiler :
Ha
Spoiler :
I am sorry
Spoiler :
Once you start
Spoiler :
You can never stop
Spoiler :
I stop now
Spoiler :
Right now
Spoiler :
I stop
Spoiler :
Now
Spoiler :
Go away
 
Oblivion. Morrowind is better, but Oblivion would be more accessible for an RPG newbie. He can work his way to Morrowind and Skyrim from here.
 
I wouldn't start with ME 2 without the first game in the series, and Baldur's Gatehas a rather clunky interface by today's standards. Dragon Age might work, but I would recommend a first person game with minimal party management for a start. Either Skyrim, Fallout 3 or New Vegas.
 
Thanks guys for the advice. I thought about ME2 because of the story and plot, but after your points it is a bit hard to drop someone into the series and the squad mechanics might be a bit complicated.

I am surprised at how little love Human Revolutions is getting.
 
Baldur's Gate I and II, then Icewind Dale.

Of course, a side helping of UFO: Enemy Unknown is enormously beneficial to the patient.
 
These games are all drastically different. You have 3rd person shooters, 1st person shooters, party based, dnd rules... If he likes action games go mass effect 2. Mass effect 1 game play is too sub par compared to 2 I'd skip it. Dragon age origins is also awesome and it's simple enough on low difficulties.
 
These games are all drastically different.

Quite.

Some place a lot more emphasis on story, others on action, others on more or fewer RPG-elements. What would your friend enjoy?

I can tell you which of those I enjoyed the most.

For setting and story, I don't think you can beat Morrowind.
For setting - though in a more austere way - and action, I'd favor Stalker. (Fallout - obviously - has a lot of similarities, but I enjoyed Stalker far more than Fallout. Fallout was fine, but I thought Stalker intense.)
For something more like a table-top RPG, I'd go with KotOR (running a party, strong story and character elements, turn-based.)

As the best overall, I'd put forth The Witcher. Very strong RPG elements except for "party". As a fairly recent game it looks good. I liked the action. I thought the combat mechanics VERY awkward at first, but I got used it it and enjoyed it quite a bit by the time the first chapter was in full swing.

For all but KotOR, btw, I wouldn't be satisfied with the game un-modded. Err... but that'd go for almost every game on your list. I'll just mention that with Stalker you can get a mod that turns it into more of the desperate-survival game the devs. originally intended.

Re: Human Revolutions. I thought the story OK, though the game was more shooter than RPG, and really liked the character stuff in that you could pick and choose characteristics. Plus of course the game looked great. However: At one point, on a whim, I decided to try just blasting my way through a level full of heavily armed dudes *and it worked.* I couldn't maintain my interest in the game after that. I was already getting increasingly dissatisfied with how easy it was to sneak. IIRC I hadn't even invested much into either stealth or combat. I poked around for mods I thought might make the game more challenging but didn't find anything that worked.

SO: If what your friend would enjoy is a not-particularly-challenging game, but one that's extremely good-looking with slick-action game-play and ... err... I'm having flashbacks to this girl I went out with *once* in college. There are a lot of parallels between her and HR... err... I'm dropping the subject. Anyway: You've played the game, you should know if your friend would like it.


BTW - if you're into CRPGs you should try Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines. Certainly one of the best CRPGs ever made. But it's got some flaws!

From wikipedia:
Kieron Gillen of Eurogamer admired the accomplished and "effortlessly intelligent" script, claiming that "no other game has come close. Nothing's even tried." However, he criticized the game for becoming repetitive in its final third, and for sporting a large amount of bugs on release.

The game has wonderful interactions with NPCs - full voice-acting, and they put some real care and money into it - a lot to do, a solid story, a hub-system for free-but-guided exploration, some very interesting set-piece missions, and great PC customization. The plot doesn't really *branch* except at the end, but not only will different characters have different ways of accomplishing things (stealth vs. combat vs. social, or whatever) but the way the NPCs act toward the character - and what they actually do - can vary a great deal based on both what the character has done and who the character is.).

The game, however, sort of falls apart into a combat grind toward the end. (I turned on "god mode" and just hurried through it to the conclusion.) You really need the third-party patches to fix those bugs.

I pulled out my copy not too long ago and played through it again. Uh, in fact it was right after I stopped playing Human Revolutions. I was in the mood for a good RPG and, for me, HR didn't deliver. Anyway - when I downloaded the patches I discovered there was still modding development going on. Some very elaborate stuff. So I think for some people no other game has supplanted Bloodlines - and surely not all of them are goth-nerds.
 
Oblivion. Morrowind is better, but Oblivion would be more accessible for an RPG newbie. He can work his way to Morrowind and Skyrim from here.

Oblivion is also repulsively hideous graphically (those faces, WHY) and even mods can't fix that. Most of the gameplay mechanics are mediocre at best as well, and it has aged very poorly.

Skyrim would probably be the easiest to get into, but its also had many of its RPG aspects considerably dumbed down (especially questing) and requires extensive modding that a new player shouldn't have to deal with.

Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas are pretty good, they certainly fair better than Oblivion did (although I still wouldn't play them without mods. They'd be fairly easy to get into and quite enjoyable.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution isn't much of an RPG, more of a 3rd person shooter with RPG elements with decent characters and story. Mass Effect is kind of the same, but I feel like it has a bit more room for RPG. Either way, they may not be quite RPGs but they are good games and easy to get into.

The original Deus Ex is great too, but its gunplay hasn't exactly aged well. I don't think I'd start someone off with it.

Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2 are very good and have aged decently well I think. They certainly show a lot of RPG mechanics, multiple dialogue choices, different endings, different outcomes for different characters throughout the game, cool loot, some somewhat epic if small scale battles (it is kind of old) and its Star Wars. The second game needs the community made mod that fixes bugs, puts cut content back in and lets you properly finish it though.

Dragon Age: Origins is pretty good for the most part, though it can be a little rough around the edges. Just make sure your friend doesn't accidentally kill party members instead of recruiting them (Zevran's recruitment scene comes to mind there).

The Witcher games are great, although I don't know if I'd start someone off with them.
 
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