Ive played my share of modern rpgs, but I'm always hearing about the "old school" rpgs, and how they were sometimes brutally difficult and required a lot of logical thinking, and also had a lot more depth than today's rpgs. And I'm always hearing and reading people complain about the dumbing down of modern rpgs and games in general.

All I've played that may be considered hardcoe/old-school is Baldur's Gate, which I unfortunately never beat, but I made it significantly far into the game. I really don't know why I stopped, and my thoughts of how much I loved it and my considering starting to play it again inspired this topic haha.

Any suggestions for some great old school rpgs for me to play?

WRPG, JRPG or both?

I'd say...

WRPG: Arcanum

JRPG: Phantasy Star IV

For some similar to the style and era of Baldur's Gate, I'd recommend http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/planescape_torment, http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/arcanum_of_steamworks_and_magick_obscura, and http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/fallout and http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/fallout_2. If you prefer slightly more recent first-person games to isometric games, then you should definitely take a look at http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/gothic and http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/gothic_2_gold_edition, along with http://www.dotemu.com/en/download-game/601/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines. http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/arx_fatalis is also worth a look. Other games definitely worth mentioned are http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/betrayal_at_krondor and http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/ultima_underworld_1_2. And if you find you're looking for something even more hardcoe then you might want to look at http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/realms_of_arkania_1_2 and the http://www.gog.com/en/gamecard/ishar_1_2 series.

pick it up again. BG2 is better in a lot of ways - the characters are a LOT more interesting, and Athkatla's level design is [censored] gorgeous - but the main quest is a little less interesting and it sort of railroads you along to different (generally pretty) areas, whereas the first game left a lot up to you to do on your own. if you dig the combat, Icewind Dale and Icewind Dale II are both really really good games - they're kind of light on the RPG stuff, but they're really solid party-based dungeon crawlers with incredible art direction and what little writing there is is really good.

Fallout 1 is an incredible game along the same vein with really good writing and world design and a ton of atmosphere, but it's a lot more open-ended than BG. the combat is turn-based and while it's pretty terrible compared to something like Jagged Alliance 2, is still kind of fun. Fallout 2 has a lot more content but i felt the overall quality of the writing and atmosphere suffered tremendously, though the world design is still pretty good.

i still haven't gotten around to playing Planescape but lots of people praise that very highly. it's an Avellone joint, though, and i'm not really big on his stuff.

Jagged Alliance 2 is pretty much the pinnacle of turn-based combat in a WRPG, and there's a lot of content. it's more of a strategy game than the other stuff i've mentioned but it's totally worth checking out if you like Fallout's combat.

if you can get over the really weird camera angle, Ultima 7 is an awesome game with a ton of stuff to do. i've seen people say Ultima 6 is better but i don't have any real experience with U6 so i can't say one way or the other. Ultima Underworld is great too, but it's a completely different kind of game.

Ice wind dale 1 or 2 are a pair of bad mofos and I know there not really old but the vampire the masquerade games are all pretty good. Also gothic, arx farcis(really can't remember how to spell it, in sure some one will correct me), planescape: the torment, ultimata 7 and whichever of the old final fantasy game everyone thinks is the best ( I believe it's 9 but it could be 7) are all worth playing

Always hated the terms 'old school' or 'hardcoe' RPGs. To me, that's just a way for elitist CRPG fans to try and separate themselves from open-world RPG fans and ARPG fans, who they deem as lesser.


Anyway, I'd recommend:

Might and Magic: World of Xeen
Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven
Baldurs Gate II (only played the original myself, but a vast majority of people seeem to rate the second one a lot higher)
Arcanum

If you'd like a modern game that certainly goes back to the older hardcoe made-you-think-and-be-careful games, you could give Demon's Souls a shot.

"old-school" is a [censored] term yeah but "hardcoe" is good for weird old dungeon crawlers and stuff like Dark Spire and Demon's Souls (i.e. stuff that's brutally difficult to the point of almost kind of being a little unfair at times). i wouldn't call Fallout or whatever hardcoe - all that [censored] was pretty accessible when it came out.

This. It's better than most modern JRPGs. Even better, all three of the Genesis Phantasy Star games (IV is the best in my opinion but II and III are still good) can be found in Sega Genesis Collection for the PS2/PSP or Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for PS3/360. Both of those are HIGHLY preferable to trying to find a copy in cart form for sale that is still in decent shape.

Breath of Fire 2 is also really good, and you can get that on Virtual Console.

I also suggest early Fallout and Baldur's Gate titles. You can get 'em for a few bucks each over at GoG.com. The old school arepeegee's are awesome, and quite challenging. I recently picked up BG1 from GoG and have been having a helluva time playing it. I swear it used to be easier....

I just started playing Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines - really interesting game so far and very well written characters.

however, if you normally play with a NumPad, as I do, the game is quite buggy, it keeps toggling run and walk and switching camera perspective on me to the extent that I have to exit the game and restart frequently.

Ultima VII: The Black Gate