I've been looking to pick up a little RPG to play on the side. I'd like some recommendations for what I should grab (under $20) on PC. Would like to be able to grab from Steam, or Good Ole Gamed.
I'll just name off some games that are considered, or may be considered RPGs.

Bastion: Still playing through, absolutely love the game. Maybe not an RPG but a very interesting game.

Dragon Age: Only played through it on the PS3 but I completed both Vanilla and Expansion. I absolutely hate some parts of that game though.

Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim: Played Skyrim to death, need a break. Morrowind doesn't really grab me as much anymore, and Oblivion... can't get into that anymore.

Mass Effect 1 and 2: I didn't really care for 1 beat it in 9 hours (I really rushed through). 2 is a little better, not crazy good but better.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution: Playing through but really isn't grabbing me. I'm not a huge sci-fi fan to be honest.

Recettear: Haven't beaten, probably will never beat but I love the game, so cute and so tongue in cheek.

Fallout 3: Never did beat, hated the setting, hated the violence and gore... just didn't care for it. Wasn't a bad game, just wasn't my style. I got to the final mission and was just bored by then.

The games I've been considering are:

The Witcher (1): The released edition seems rather nice. Don't know if you could call it an RPG but whatev.

NeverWinter Nights 2: Really intrigues me. I've read some of the Forgotten Realms books, don't really remember the lore all that well but the game hits home with me. I have some reservations about the world being too... MMO. Seems like it could be really fun mechanically but may fail in the gameplay.

Star Wars Knights of the old republic (1): Would play 2 if it were on steam. Honestly never played any of the KoTR games, could potentially be fun. Not a huge star wars fan but I can tolerate the setting.

Fallout New Vegas: Kind of want, but also have my reservations due to the setting. Heard good things about New Vegas... I have quite a few obsidian games on here.

Baldur's Gate II, I, or Icewind dale I, or II: All these games look similar, all are based on similar (if not the same) lore, engine, mechanics, etc. May be too old for me to actually appreciate but we'll see.

Diablo II: Never played. Huge fan of dungeon crawling games with loot [censored].

Any other recommendations would be great.

Thanks

There's that new Dungeons and Dragons Anthology: Master Collection for 20 bucks.

It was posted in the forums a month ago: http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1346089-old-school/page__hl__old%20school

You mentioned BG and Icewind Dale and that has all those and then some for the price range you're looking for. That package isn't in Steam though, if thats a deal breaker.

(haha, post above me deleted. Owned)

One great game that isn't on the list is Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines (from Steam). Possibly my favorite of all time.

Another great RPG not on the list is Planescape: Torment (from GOG), which use the same game engine as Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale, but is a much better game.

And I highly recommend Witcher (GOG) on your list, it's a very good game

Planescape: Torment. Inspired a number of the best things in Baldur's Gate II.

Highly recommend The Witcher

Also can happily recommend Ego Draconis - The Dragon Knight Saga. Good game. Has some flaws, but... fun.

Edit - if you like Diablo style games, try Torchlight. It's a blast and very addictive.

The first Dungeon Siege.
I really like that game. No one is likely to agree with me though. If you don't diablo-esque game with tons of awesomeness, then.. It's from 2002 so it's a bit dated.. but I think it's quite nice for the time.

Edit: Seconded on Torchlight.

Forgot to mention I've played Tochlight, which is kind of why I was thinking about Diablo II

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Borderlands
3D Dot Game Heroes.
Deathspank

Avernum and it's many sequels.

just to throw this out there, but dragon age is so much better on pc, it was day and night for me at least. If you don't like fallout 3 you won't like new vegas, its the same with a less good vs evil plot, and slightly better shooting.

i second the vampires the masqurade vote, i had to jump through hoops to get it to run on windows seven, but it was still pretty cool, and i picked it up on a sale for like 5 bucks

I checked out Planescape and honestly... can't really get into it based upon my brief exposure. The setting, characters, or theme can really kill games for me... I guess I'm just either very shallow or picky.


That's two for the Witcher and I'm interested in playing the second so the first may be a decent start. Doesn't it that it's $10 on either GoG or Steam.


Dungeon Siege only comes (from what I understand) as a 3 part collection on Steam. Maybe one day when it's on sale I'll grab it.


The bold I've played, and the other two are for platforms I don't normally play RPGs on. Not to mention that would require (to my knowledge) buying a physical copy which I'd like to avoid as I'm an introvert who doesn't like to socialize

Checked it out and doesn't seem bad. Honestly never heard of it and I like the retro feel that it has kept over the years despite the newer ones being somewhat current. Not to sure if it's for me at the moment though.


There are just some things about Dragon Age I loved, and some I hated. Being a huge fan of turn based RPGs playing Dragon Age on PC would be a world different than PS3 but I'm not sure its worth playing through again.

I've heard a lot of good things about Vampires and I'll probably give it a try maybe not at full price but at some point. Somewhat pissed because the winter steam sale would have been a great time to grab as many RPGs as I wanted.

Overall I think I'll grab the Wither as the version that both steam and GoG has is redone... which from my understanding was somewhat necessary. I'm still open to suggestion though.

"Hated the violence and gore"

Don't get the Witcher or New Vegas. NV just added even more ways to gore people.

Arcanum - of Steamworks and Magic Obscura - at gog.com

Might & Magic series of games, also available at gog

Really? I bought this on a whim during a midweek sale or something and have been putting off playing it....now you've peaked my interest.

I should elaborate by saying unnecessary violence and gore. I'm fine with gore, or realism if it helps the atmosphere, or immersion. However when a body explodes, or you just rip a person apart I tend to lose all interest.

Fallout 3 was bad for me due to the combination of VATs and limbs exploding off your enemies. It is easier to become detached when it isn't up close and in slow motion.


I'm watching an LP of Arcanum and it seems interesting. I've never played old school RPGs but they seem so... interesting, for lack of a better word. Just the way everything plays together from your background, your stats, to your skills, it just seems awesome. That's what I loved about Morrowind and honestly if companions are involved (like Dragon Age) then I'm sold. My main fear is just the insane difficulty, or dated gameplay mechanics will kill me in the end.

Kingdom of Amalur.

The best RPGs are going to be 'dated' - old graphics, mostly turn based combat

I'll add another vote for The Witcher.

Arcanum is a really great RPG if you can adjust to its style. It's not really all that difficult, plus I think there are multiple difficulty settings.

That's a good one, but I doubt it's available for under $20 yet.

Fallout and Fallout 2 would be a good option. They're very cheap now.

Just a few off the top of my head that I would say are AT LEAST decent:

Baldurs Gate 1 & 2
Planescape: Torment
Arcanum
Neverwinter Nights
Deus Ex
The Witcher
Fable - The Lost Chapters
Dungeons of Dredmor
Titan Quest
Gothic 2
Two Worlds II (on steam right now for $15)

I actually really enjoy turn based RPGs and I can handle dated graphics to a degree. What will affect me most is dated game mechanics more than anything else, however I think the other mechanics most older RPGs bring to the table will be more than enough to outweigh the supposed bad.


I'll be picking up the Witcher soon as I've heard good things and this thread has quite a few recommendations for it. It's only $9 which I think is a steal.

Arcanum reminds me a lot of Final Fantasy 9... well a lot is maybe too much but they both seem to have a similar steampunk(ish) style going for them. Probably be the easiest setting for me to dive into.

KoA is still full price and I'll be waiting for a price drop before I actually purchase it.


I'm very hesitant to try any of the older Fallout games. I know they're good, but I'm not a fan of post apocalyptic settings.

Already played the two bold and the 6 above that I'm definitely considering. Why do you recommend Two World? I've heard very mixed opinions on it.

Mario & Luigi I understand (it is a GBA game), but don't you have a PS3? Or did I misread the rest of your message?

3D Dot Game Heroes is a PS3 game btw.

I would not recommend Two Worlds. It may tick all of the boxes for "RPG" but it's really, really mediocre and quite cringeworthy in a lot of respects.

The first, I'll admit is terrible (though I played through the entire game). The second is not half bad and I actually enjoyed it. Two Worlds 2 is worth a look if you can get it cheap.

Two Worlds 2 is an improvement. It may be worth the OP's time. Personally, I couldn't get passed the voice acting and story. Played it for about four hours, switched it off and sold it.