I have a a couple questions.........

[North Star]

I have to agree with you, GB. It was distinctly average and that was if you liked it. I think the new Star Ocean was like that - whichever game it was that had a VAST 200-level dungeon which was just tough monster after tough monster with ZERO plot. Diablo without the fun stuff... Star Ocean certainly had half-hour FMVs or something like that.

NS, not impressed.

[Zipp]

Ghost said:

I've only played FF7, and was extremely underwhelmed by it. It's just not a good game. Distinctly average playability, distinctly average plot... Wouldn't get anywhere near my top 10 games.

Chrono Trigger is far superior.

-GB

Well, that's because Chrono Trigger is the best RPG ever made. Those were the glory days, of Earthbound, and Secret of Mana, and FF4...

And North Star, I think you mean "it was distinctly average and that was if you didn't like it, or like it a litte." Obviously, if you liked it, you would think it was better than average.

[North Star]

I would have to disagree about the best RPG ever. I've never played Chronotrigger, but I've played Morrowind for countless hours. Neverwinter Nights is great and I loved Planescape: Torment too.

NS.

[outspaced]

Planescape: Torment is probably the greatest C-RPG ever made.

[North Star]

I'd have to agree, but unfortunately, once you're smart and you've done everything, it really feels linear. However for sheer ambience etc., only Morrowind rivals it. I just love the game because I love Planescape itself.

NS.

[Zipp]

Morrowind was fun and all, but you can't say that it boasts a great plot, nor good dialouge. And the world feels so "empty."

[North Star]

Well I like the size of Morrowind. Call me stupid but I love room to move in. Yes, Morrowind is empty in a lot of places, but then that is down to its sheer size and detailed areas.

NS.

[Zipp]

North said:

Well I like the size of Morrowind. Call me stupid but I love room to move in. Yes, Morrowind is empty in a lot of places, but then that is down to its sheer size and detailed areas.

NS.

Oh, I agree they built a very large, nice world, but I can't call it the best RPG of all time if it doesn't have even a story (and Morrowind didn't really have a story). Not that I didn't enjoy playing, but it just got old for me, sorta like Everquest got old.

But everyone is entitled to their own opinion. By all means, enjoy Morrowind. I smile upon playing of any kind.

You know there's a second Morrowind out now, NS?

[North Star]

Morrowind: Game of the Year? Oh yes, I changed over last week.
As for Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, I look forward to that with interest.

NS.

[Nathan P. Mahney]

Bah! All pale in comparison to Ultima IV and V! And Ultima Underworld I & II! And the Bard's Tale series, the most illogical RPG ever created!

Nathan P. Mahney, kickin' it old school.

[outspaced]

The Bard's Tale was completely impossible! I defy anyone to get out of Skara Brae! I got my behind kicked from here to the Adventurer's Guild in almost every house I entered. I had a solution guide with maps for all the levels, but I never managed to get past Inn Cellar level 2 because every encounter seemed to be:

"You face death itself in the form of 5 Kobolds, 3 Trolls, 1 Assassin, 2 Goblins, a Werewolf, His Mother, 1 Giant, The Giant's best mate, His Brother-in-law, and 1 Ogre."

Grrrr! Actually completed Ultima VI: The False Prophet on my redoubtable Amiga 1200 a few years ago. Fun game, especially the odd conversations you could have with the NPCs (like persuading the gypsy woman to "give you experience" for money--and her funny acceptance of it if your PC was female!), but the game world was really too big. Same with Daggerfall, the prequel to Morrowind--it was a good, fun game, but too big and empty, and that marks it down in my estimation.

Torment has an exceptionally well-written storyline, and I didn't really notice any more linearity to it on replay (I completed it twice) than with Baldur's Gate (another very good C-RPG series). I think what sets it apart as one of the best games is there's much more to it than fighting to get XPs and completing little quests for lazy NPCs. You're trying to find out the forgotten truth of your own existence. And rather than coming across as pretentious, they did a very good job with it.

sigh Wish I could meet a succubus as nice as Fall-from-Grace . . .

[North Star]

Heh. I hear you, Outs. Then again, I've completed Torment five times. Technically, you meant "predecessor", because a prequel is a sequel set previously in time. C.S. Lewis' "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and "The Magician's Nephew" are perfect examples of this.
I liked Baldur's Gate, particularly BG II, but I thought BG - TOB was a bit TOO hard. I actually got bored of Icewind Dale I about 2/3 through, simply because of all the unremitting tides of monsters, and that is something I don't normally do!
I do like Might & Magic VI and VII too. VII is arguably the better game, but VI has the university nostalgia feel to it. VIII was all right, but too short. I never even played IX because I really disliked what they'd done.

Update: I've now finished Morrowind with my 57th-level Altmer Mage. Dagoth Ur was a push-over
Now to start on Tribunal and Bloodmoon!

NS.

[outspaced]

North said:

Technically, you meant "predecessor", because a prequel is a sequel set previously in time. C.S. Lewis' "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and "The Magician's Nephew" are perfect examples of this.

Y . e . s . . . except the English language is continually undergoing change, and the word 'prequel', though meaning "something that comes before but was written after", is coming to mean simply "something that comes before". And I hate to use the word 'predecessor' in that way because it's really referring to ancestry rather than writing! As long as people don't start using 'everytime', 'alot' and 'nevermind', I'm fairly cool with language evolution. Since 'prologue' is something that comes first, one might say it was the pro-cessor . . . no, wait, that doesn't work either. I'll stick to misusing 'prequel', I think!

I liked Baldur's Gate, particularly BG II, but I thought BG - TOB was a bit TOO hard.

Yeah, I don't disagree, it got stupidly hard. Did you ever manage to take out Demogorgon? I somehow managed to kick his butt, but it was insanely difficult and largely a matter of luck. I also hated how the special attacks took a round to begin. Which bright spark came up with that idea?

I actually got bored of Icewind Dale I about 2/3 through, simply because of all the unremitting tides of monsters, and that is something I don't normally do!

I completed Icewind Dale, and the expansion Heart of Winter, and the free official expansion Trials of the Luremaster, but it isn't a particularly interesting game, just a bunch of unfairly hard fights strung together along a linear path. Not great fun, but it's alright.

I do like Might & Magic VI and VII too.

Never played any of them. Loved Eye of the Beholder I and II (never played III). II is probably better because there's less wandering about around previously cleared areas looking for bizarre special quests. Great fun. And they can't be too hard if I managed to complete them.

The main module that came with Neverwinter Nights was boring, so I never played it. Completed the Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark ones, though. Had to cheat a bit with HotU and give myself extra gold at one point because the end fight is literally impossible, but it is by-passable if you have enough money and know what to do with it.

[North Star]

Tsk tsk. The main plot was quite fun. I was rampaging around with my LE human (tiefling-look) Paladin 3/Ftr 4/Blackguard X, with double my Cha to my saves!

NS.

[Relenoir]

I found a copy of FF Origins at the mall just yesterday, and played it long enough to beat Garland. Am very impressed with the improvements, but can't figure out what the significance of the guy fighting the dragon at the beginning of the game was.

I've only played FF7, and was extremely underwhelmed by it. It's just not a good game. Distinctly average playability, distinctly average plot... Wouldn't get anywhere near my top 10 games.

Well, that's different, but hey--everyone's got different tastes!

Chrono Trigger is far superior.

Haven't played that one yet, but hope to next year after graduation. I have it as part of FF Chronicles.
Incidentally, I was over my friend's earlier and he showed me a couple of the cinema scenes in the new RotS video game. It looks awesome! I forced myself to leave the room before a scene involving Obi-wan, Anakin, and Count Dooku! Couldn't believe how easy it was to avoid a spoiler. . . I've never walked out of a Star Wars movie before! ;D Jar Jar Binks got me close, though.