CRPGs/WRPGs - Computer/Western Role-Playing Games - No Squares or Atluses allowed

[skykiii]

Aspyr knows better than to promise that after their KOTOR 2 debacle a few years ago.

What happened with KOTOR 2? I wasn't paying attention to CRPGs at the time so completely missed this.

........

When it comes to CRPGs, I tend to like mostly older MS-DOS era ones. It's not nostalgia since most of them I didn't discover until around the WinXP days... I just like how many of them have keyboard interfaces whereas around Windows 95/98 we started to see so many that used mouse clicks for everything.

Like legit, I wish someone would do a version of Baldur's Gate that runs in the Gold Box engine. The interface alone somehow actually makes the game boring for me.

 

[Froggy Fresh Sextape]

Decided to give BG1 Enhanced Edition a shot because it was cheap on steam and I kind of regret it to an extent because someone at Beamdog thinks their original do not steal companions are really cool. Really, really fucking cool. So cool they just grab my screen and interrupt my play sessions just so they can tell me how cool they are and/or tell me their really well written backstory as I’m trying to stop an iron crisis going on in a town.

That's why you install the BG1 NPC Project so they don't stand out as much. Now everyone is terribly written and won't shut up.

 

[OutInTheRain]

Decided to give BG1 Enhanced Edition a shot because it was cheap on steam and I kind of regret it to an extent because someone at Beamdog thinks their original do not steal companions are really cool. Really, really fucking cool. So cool they just grab my screen and interrupt my play sessions just so they can tell me how cool they are and/or tell me their really well written backstory as I’m trying to stop an iron crisis going on in a town.

Also their attempts to remaster the 3D cutscenes looks ugly. I really don’t know if Amber Scott has any writing credits on this edition, but man her fucking style is really well replicated in this remaster in that Scott has no fucking idea how RPGs, table top or computer, are supposed to be played or told. She genuinely thinks putting “cutscenes” in tabletop rpgs is good writing and pausing action to describe a character’s backstory is a good idea.

There are mods to remove all the beamdog additions. The companions are notoriously awful and have been a complaint since they came out. They are so tonally jarring it takes you out of the game.

 

[skykiii]

There are mods to remove all the beamdog additions. The companions are notoriously awful and have been a complaint since they came out. They are so tonally jarring it takes you out of the game.

Makes me glad I didn't bother with the Enhanced Edition. Until now I didn't even know about the companions... the thing that turned me off was just knowing that they "updated" the game to run on D&D 3.5 Edition rules rather than the original AD&D 2nd Edition rules. I can't even imagine how that works.

 

[Grub]

Like legit, I wish someone would do a version of Baldur's Gate that runs in the Gold Box engine. The interface alone somehow actually makes the game boring for me.

I used to play a lot of Neverwinter Nights and I haven't played a ton of the Gold Box games but I enjoyed what I have played of them but I could never get into the Baldur's Gate games or that Planescape game. I've tried playing them a few times over the years and I never make it very far before I get bored and quit.

 

[Throng of Titans]

I'll add a little something to the talk of Beamdog and say that their EE for Neverwinter Nights is fantastic and doesn't fuck with the base game at all. Some of the new premium modules are misses (Dark Dreams of Furiae fucking sucks) but you don't need to bother given both the depth and wealth of free content that the game has on offer.

 

[Kerr Avon]

What happened with KOTOR 2

All of Aspyr's promo material promised they were adding all the lost content back. Then launch day comes and its nowhere to be seen . To their credit, they offered refunds , but it was still greasy shit to pull.

 

[Dave.]

There are mods to remove all the beamdog additions. The companions are notoriously awful and have been a complaint since they came out. They are so tonally jarring it takes you out of the game.

It’s crazy because this is my first time firing up this game and I immediately knew which ones were Beamdog and BioWare companions because the Beamdog ones stick out like sore thumbs.

Setting that aside I kind of want to take a moment to sperg about the intro. What the fuck happened to low stakes introductions? In this game you’re just given money to go to an inn and buy what gear you’ll need because your mentor told you bad shit was about to go down. It starts off quiet and slow and helps to ease you into the bare bones basics of the game. And while gorion does get killed, it’s not a world shattering event. Sure there’s higher powers involved, but that’s not revealed until you’re 6-7 levels into the game.

Nowadays every modern RPG has to start with some cataclysmic event or your character doing some crazy magic shit that saves the day before you’re finally thrown into the world actually exploring. But, surprise, your character is way weaker than he was before and struggles to murder basic mooks. And your character at the time was level 1 by the way. Are zoomers just that low attention spanned that they need things catching on fire to understand the gravity of situations?

 

[skykiii]

I used to play a lot of Neverwinter Nights and I haven't played a ton of the Gold Box games but I enjoyed what I have played of them but I could never get into the Baldur's Gate games or that Planescape game. I've tried playing them a few times over the years and I never make it very far before I get bored and quit.

I can't speak to the later games but the thing that always bothered me about BG1 (original since I never played EE) was that despite being an RPG it for some reason decided to control like a real time strategy game, and it just felt weird. What works for a game where you control squads or small armies doesn't necessarily work for a game where you control a six-man party.

 

[hog cranking frog]

Cautiously hyped for the NWN2 remaster. Loved NWN1, especially the DM tools and custom modules back when it released. Played that game more than anything in 2003.

 

[I Know 孤独のせい]

Cautiously hyped for the NWN2 remaster. Loved NWN1, especially the DM tools and custom modules back when it released. Played that game more than anything in 2003.

Yep NWN1 is great. Good for NWN2 to finally resurface on Steam, took them long enough. Wanted to replay that one for ages.

 

[Grub]

I can't speak to the later games but the thing that always bothered me about BG1 (original since I never played EE) was that despite being an RPG it for some reason decided to control like a real time strategy game, and it just felt weird. What works for a game where you control squads or small armies doesn't necessarily work for a game where you control a six-man party.

The rpg type levels were always the worst in those old RTS games as well. Those one where you just have a hero and a handful of units and have to make it across a map somewhere. I always hated those kinds of missions.

 

[hawkisnight]

Warcraft 3 had the best rpg type levels because it wasn't a gimmick. Rpg elements were part of the game. Heroes had levels, usable items and abilities. I loved those levels in campaign.

Real time with pause has its place in the universe and its one of my favorites. Not every rpg needs to be turn based. It's more actiony. Nothing beats equipping character with fireball arrows in BG1 and unpausing the game to watch the carnage. Granted it gets a bit autistic with pausing, prebuffing and spellcasting overall when you play on higher difficulty levels but it mostly works fine on closer to middle of difficulty slider.

 

[skykiii]

For me its not even the combat that bugged me with BG1... it was just....

In most RPGs, the mere act of exploring is an active experience. In BG1 its clicking into the darkness and then waiting while twiddling your thumbs until something happens or they make it to wherever you indicated. It just feels very dull.

 

[hawkisnight]

I have played around a bit with NWN2:EE.
They redone the main menu and how character creator looks. The UI in the game looks pretty much the same... until you connect the controller and it switches into controller UI. Bummer but all the work with the UI went into this. It's usable but ugly. I couldn't find a way to zoom out on controller. Had to use mouse to adjust it. Granted I didn't try absolutely every combination.
At least UI in mouse and keyboard mode now scales with resolution. However I don't see options to scale it further. Text on is now readable on higher resolutions without mods. The performance is much better too. Cameras feel the same. Overall I am disappointed.

 

[Froggy Fresh Sextape]

In most RPGs, the mere act of exploring is an active experience. In BG1 its clicking into the darkness and then waiting while twiddling your thumbs until something happens or they make it to wherever you indicated. It just feels very dull.

BG1 at least had stuff going on in the wilderness maps. Drizzt, demon dog, basilisks, bear bridge, the xvart village, the flesh golem cave, etc.

Modern CRPGs would have given you quest hooks in town for such things, but this is back in the day where we just wandered into the woods looking for things to fight.

 

[StacticShock]

Real time with pause has its place in the universe and its one of my favorites. Not every rpg needs to be turn based. It's more actiony. Nothing beats equipping character with fireball arrows in BG1 and unpausing the game to watch the carnage. Granted it gets a bit autistic with pausing, prebuffing and spellcasting overall when you play on higher difficulty levels but it mostly works fine on closer to middle of difficulty slider.

one thing old turn based games do is use the turn based as a time padding mechanic.
then FF came up with ATB and it's just the best for any turn-based game, cuts through so much bullshit and you still can keep the pausing/thoughtful strategizing of turn based without any hassle, chrono trigger is literally the best example of this system else it's RTS-y.

and yes i'm mentioning Drakensang The River of Time, to me it's mind boggling seeing this talk about turn based like it's some sort of golden calf that any attempt to make it more expedient is seen as trying to make it RTS or even recognizing the bullshit timepadding part of it is some sort of sacrilege, autism i guess but still, mind boggling.

 

[30+GameOvers]

I've watched the latest Arkham666 video, the one about Planescape: Torment. His overview on the game is actually pretty good and he even offers some interesting history behind the game.

At one point, he goes over the design doc for the game, and there is one part that jokingly talks about there being boobs in the game. Clearly, it's a gag as to how sex sells pretty much everything and isn't supposed to be taken seriously, but the guy still harps about this, he literally says "Guys, this is cringe" right before assuring his viewers he is totally not gay.

This is not something that's unique to him, mind you. Pretty much every big youtuber that makes these kinds of videos about old CRPGs is like this, from Warlockracy to Grim Beard, anyone I can think of is in this weird left leaning soy mode where boobs and edgy humor is not allowed anymore because it is the *current year* and we must atone for our sins we committed in the 90s. You would think the satanic panic was back in full swing, except wait, they're young and leftist and post memes, that makes them totally different!

I miss the time when CRPGs were not commonly played by normalfags like these, while you still had stupid points and arguments brought up by the neckbeard, geeky fanbase at least it rarely revolved around breasts being something you should be afraid of putting in games. Nobody gave a fuck. I hate that my hobby has been taken over by weak, milksop lowest common denominator redditors and bluesky accounts, they really should just fuck off and play the garbage aimed at the "modern audience".

I have played around a bit with NWN2:EE.
They redone the main menu and how character creator looks. The UI in the game looks pretty much the same... until you connect the controller and it switches into controller UI. Bummer but all the work with the UI went into this. It's usable but ugly. I couldn't find a way to zoom out on controller. Had to use mouse to adjust it. Granted I didn't try absolutely every combination.
At least UI in mouse and keyboard mode now scales with resolution. However I don't see options to scale it further. Text on is now readable on higher resolutions without mods. The performance is much better too. Cameras feel the same. Overall I am disappointed.

Did they include the dreaded body type 1/2 or is that coming in a patch?

 

[Dave.]

I've been playing BG1 an unhealthy amount and there was a moment that made me laugh so fucking hard.

Spoiler: If you care

A little girl was standing on top of a waterfall and her cat fell down so I went to go grab it and I saw that it was dead. At first I was a little heartbroken about this and I thought that I was going to have to lie to her or tell her that she ran away or something, but I brought it back up to her and she just goes "Oh this shit happens all the time, I'll get dad to go raise her from the dead again. Here's a scroll." I laughed so fucking hard at this I had to grab a drink.

It really is a game you cannot play with spoilers. It's just an unhinged world that really throws you on a roller coaster for most of the duration. It's also a game that you kind of have to deviate a little bit away from the main story because you'll miss shit like this.

 

[OutInTheRain]

I miss the time when CRPGs were not commonly played by normalfags like these, while you still had stupid points and arguments brought up by the neckbeard, geeky fanbase at least it rarely revolved around breasts being something you should be afraid of putting in games. Nobody gave a fuck. I hate that my hobby has been taken over by weak, milksop lowest common denominator redditors and bluesky accounts, they really should just fuck off and play the garbage aimed at the "modern audience".

D&D got hit hard with the theatre kid infestation that has hit all of nerdom. Critical Role came out, and every weird, gay genderspecial flocked to it. Not to play it, but to tell people they like it. To make it part of their identity. So they flock to videos discussing it, and when they seem something problematic they get all frowny faced. Then then bring that frowny faced to Twitter and the companies panic.

On top of that, you have the nerd fascination with larping as an intellectual. There is a belief in nerd circles that just because they read a book, it makes them one of the great thinkers of history. See the MovieBob and Dobson threads for proof. That makes Millennial nerds, many of whom are not intelligent people, all flock to progressivism. With the belief that parroting the smart man on the tv, makes them smart too.

It's led to nerd culture where you can't have even the littlest bit of risque humour if it involves a woman. Unless it's a man having sex with a bear. Then it's full steam ahead.