Need advice - good CRPG to waste the weekend

[Henry]

Here's the skinny.

This weekend's game has been cancelled, I've got a long weekend coming up, and I'm jonesin' for RPG play. What I'm looking for is the BEST Computer RPG you know of that fits the following criteria:

1. Not something I've played before - this excludes all the Existing D&D games (Neverwinter nights/Shadows/Hordes, Baldur's Gate 1/2/Dark Alliance, Icewind Dale 1/2) Knights of the Old Republic, plus Diablo 1/2 & expansions, & Hitman 1/2.
2. Not an Multiplayer RPG like Everquest - no desire to open any accounts.

I've heard of one called Sanctuary, but very little else. Any suggestions? Please, my Boredom Quotient depends on it!!!

 

[cybertalus]

Dungeon Seige is fun to play through once, but even if you play it 24/7 for an entire three day weekend you won't finish it in a weekend. It's a little story-lite and dungeon-heavy, but I found it worth my time and money. If you're on broadband and just want to kill time with it for the weekend there's a 200 mb or so fully playable demo available here. The demo covers about the first 10% or so of the actual game, though if the demo gets you hooked, you can't transfer your save games to the full version.

 

[Welverin]

1. Not something I've played before - this excludes all the Existing D&D games (Neverwinter nights/Shadows/Hordes, Baldur's Gate 1/2/Dark Alliance, Icewind Dale 1/2) Knights of the Old Republic, plus Diablo 1/2 & expansions, & Hitman 1/2.

You don't mention Temple of Elemental Evil, is that an ovesight? I just got it at Target for $25, a while back people mentioned getting it at Sam's Club for $17-18.

Beyond Divinity is relatively new and comes with Divine Divinity the game it's a sequel of. It should be about $40.

Then there's the game of the year edition of Morrowind, which is the main game and bothe expansions for $30.

Arx Fatalis was made by big fans of Ultima Underworld.

It's not an rpg, but Freedom Force is total nifty, plus it's $10 or less at Electronics Boutique. Plus Sagiro did a couple of voices (it's by the company he works for, support a fellow ENWorlder!).

 

[Enforcer]

In my opinion you can't go wrong with the Fallout series. Best CRPGs I've ever played. And besides, you can get both Fallout 1 and Fallout 2 together in a $10 value pack! The graphics are comparatively dated, however. Fallout 1 came out in '97, if I'm not mistaken.

Oh, only Fallout 1 (just Fallout on the box) and Fallout 2 are actual RPGs. The other game is more of a tactical game without any roleplaying.

 

[Welverin]

The other game is more of a tactical game without any roleplaying.

Not more of, it is. After all it was named Fallout Tactics, and not by accident. It was supposed to be in a similar vein as Jagged Alliance or X-COM.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I am still having fun with...
Dungeon Siege -
Freelancer - mod heavy
Diablo II - LoD

 

[Henry]

Let me go ahead and edit my post with the following:

A few I didn't mention I've already played: Temple of Elemental Evil, Freedom Force (awesome game!), Fallout 1 & 2, and Dungeon Seige (but not its sequel - is the sequel worth it?)

I'm hoping for something relatively recent that flew totally under my radar, but it's looking bleaker and bleaker.

Welverin, I'll check into Divinity, Arx Fatalis, and Morrowind. Thanks! I was under the impression that Morrowind was Online RPG only, though; is that incorrect? Also, if it is standalone, is it better than the old elder scrolls Daggerfall in plot, or is it "a little too open ended" like Morrowind was?

Any additional suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[Sir Whiskers]

Welverin, I'll check into Divinity, Arx Fatalis, and Morrowind. Thanks! I was under the impression that Morrowind was Online RPG only, though; is that incorrect? Also, if it is standalone, is it better than the old elder scrolls Daggerfall in plot, or is it "a little too open ended" like Morrowind was?

Concerning Morrowind, I only played it a few hours (it's one of the few programs that give me "motion-sickness" as I play - darn it), so I can only give you first impressions.

It's definitely stand-alone, not online. I enjoyed the intro, and the first town seemed pretty open-ended. I quit around the time I discovered a bandit hideout in some caves - the bandits killed me every single time I tried to enter the caves (must have reloaded 6-8 times), so it's easy to stumble into situations well above one's level. Even so, the graphics and feel of the program had really sucked me in (just as the original Elder Scrolls did). If you can find it at a discount, I recommend giving it a try.

Otherwise, have you considered Wizardry 8? It came out a year or two ago and, IIRC, appealed to those who've played the older versions.

 

[xbrokenxswordx]

Morrowind is a fun game, just really really HUGE!!!

It's entirely single player. If you do everything there is to do, supposedly there is over 60 hours with of gaming in just the original game, much less the expansions. Two problems I had with it though related to power levels. It's easy to get yourself in over your head early on. And also, fairly quickly, it's easy to get to the point where almost every enemy you encounter is an easy kill.

Some of the quests and stuff are really pretty cool in their set up though. With things where you have to be in a certain place at a certain time of day to see someone do something. (I'd give more details, but it'd spoil my favorite quest from the early game).

Also, I tended to pick up everything I could, which led to a) people attacking me and b) me carrying way too many empty bottles around.

 

[MythosaAkira]

I have to vote for Morrowind as well. Out of all the CRPGs I've played over the years, I'd say it's my favorite one, just edging out KOTOR Some people will say it's boring, but I found it to be enjoyable from beginning to end (as opposed to some CRPGs, like Might & Magic 6, which I enjoyed at first but then just played at the end to finish it, not because I enjoyed it). The graphics, NPC interaction, storyline, etc. are great, and the attention to detail is stunning.

I never played Daggerfall, mainly because I'd played the first Elder Scrolls game (Arena?), and I didn't like it. *That* game I found to be boring and uninspired. But Morrowind was incredible.

I'd also recommend getting the hint book. Not because the game is hard, but mainly for finding all the little things on the maps you might otherwise miss, like little pockets of monsters, forgotten/discarded items, interesting side quests, etc. Apparently, it'll also tell you how to cure yourself of vampirism (you can become a vampire in the game and get special "vampire-only" quests). It'll also show you were the drunken mud crab is, in case you need to sell really expensive magic items...