Favorite game of all time.

[Sydonai]

You can make a list of the top ten, or just post your over-all favorite.

[Atronach]

Well, I would have to say The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion is probably the best game I have ever played, in my opinion.

[The Dark Fiddler]

A list in no order and of no particular number:

* The Pokemon Series
* Elite Beat Agents
* The Monster Rancher Series

Very short list.

[Shas aia Toriia]

No doubt in my mind: Okami (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Ckami)

That game is god.

[Krade]

Final Fantasy VI will always be my favorite. It will likely hold that coveted position forever. I both anxiously await and fear the day they remake it for DS (provided they ever do, I haven't been paying attention to the company's activities lately).

[arguskos]

Baldur's Gate 2 (with expansion), Planescape: Torment, and possibly Starcraft hold my top three positions, in no real order.

[The Blackbird]

1. Baldur's Gate 2 (PC)
2. Icewind Dale (PC)
3. Neverwinter Nights (PC)
4. Unreal Tournament (PC)
5. Legend of Zelda OoT (N64)
6. Super Smash Bros (Any of them)
7. James Bond Goldeneye (N64)
8.Halo 3 (Xbox360)
9. Fire Emblem (GBA)
10. Pokemon Blue

[Ogremindes]

Persona 3 FES has been my favourite since I played it. But I haven't really tried replaying it yet, so It mightn't hold up to repeated playthoughs.

Discworld MUD is the one game I keep coming back to over and over.

[Green-Shirt Q]

Super Smash Brothers Brawl was this for the longest time, though recently Batman: Arkham Asylum snuck up and officially took that spot.

Also, Banjo-Kazooie will always have a special place in my heart as the very first game I ever played ever, and is one of the best of all time. Seriously, I bet if I got a different game instead, one that wasn't so good, my life and choice of hobby would be A LOT different.

[Inhuman Bot]

Iji and Mother 3 are there, definately. Not sure of the others... Probably Warcraft 3, and Starcraft 2. Yes, already :smalltongue:

[psilontech]

A Top Ten List, you say?

Master of Orion II
Team Fortress 2
CoD4
Master of Magic
Civilization II
Deus Ex
Starcraft
Galactic Civilizations 2
X-COM: UFO Defense
Uplink: Hacker Elite.

[Blue Ghost]

I have had very limited experience with gaming, but I am definitely fond of the Pokemon series.

[Tavar]

In no particular order, just my Favorites;

Master's Of Orion II
Galactic Civilization II(plus expansions)
Sins of a Solar Empire(plus expansions)
Rise of Nations; Rise of Legends
Supreme Commander(plus expansions)
Mass Effect
Mount and Blade
Gratuitous Space Battles
Iji

[warty goblin]

Overall I'd have to say it remains Majesty Gold. In terms of joy per pixel nothing else even comes close.

[Aragehaor]

In no particular order.

Populous the Beginning.
Knights Of The Old Republic.
Knights Of The Old Republic II.
Majesty Gold.
Space Empires IV.
The Ur-Quan Masters.
Neverwinter Nights.
Neverwinter Nights 2.
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Game of the Year Edition.
Mount&Blade.

[Phase]

Top ten, no order:

Portal
Half-Life 2 et al
Team Fortress 2
Just Cause 2
Left 4 Dead (2)
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Fallout 3
Bioshock
Spore
Portal

[Razaele]

Xenogears. That is all.:smalltongue:

[Mushroom Ninja]

In no particular order:

Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II
Heroes II and Heroes III
Final Fantasy VI
Morrowind
Half-life 2 and the episodes
Portal

[Mtg_player_zach]

No order:
Tales of the Abyss
Tales of Symphonia
Team Fortress 2
Super Smash bros (any)
Left 4 Dead 2
Zelda (any)
Fallout 3
Morrowind
Oblivion
Half-Life (original)

[Pig Norton]

3. Super Smash Bros. This is the first video game I really played much of, and for that reason it holds some nostalgia for me.

2. Super Smash Bros. Melee. A very different game from the original, and somewhat better. I'm convinced that 2-D fighting platformer is a genre, and the Super Smash Bros. series are the only games in this genre that I've heard of. Someone needs to make more.

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl. This probably doesn't surprise you, but I love Smash Brothers. I have never played another video game with even half the replayability that the Smash Bros. games have. Multiplayer Brawl is pretty much the pinnacle of video gamedom for me.

The other seven of my top ten, in no real order:
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
Super Mario World
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Sunshine
Fire Emblem: Path Of Radiance
Time Splitters 2
F-Zero GX

[Zevox]

Lets see, what were the games I listed the last time a topic like this was posted...

1) Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES
2) Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
3) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
4) Super Smash Brothers: Brawl
5) Banjo-Kazooie
6) Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
7) Tales of Vesperia
8) Sonic 3 & Knuckles
9) Mega Man original series (all 10)
10) Dragon Age: Origins

Not necessarily in order of preference.

Zevox

[king.com]

Badlurs Gate 2 or Deus Ex probably.

[Remmirath]

Populous the Beginning.


Without a doubt my favourite game of its type. Not my all-time favourite game, but certainly fun.

Huh. Ten it'll have to be. I couldn't pick just one.

1: Baldur's Gate II (with Throne of Bhaal)
2: Baldur's Gate (with Tales of the Sword Coast)
3: Icewind Dale (with Heart of Winter and Trials of the Luremaster)
4: Icewind Dale II
5: Unreal Tournament 2004
6: Knights of the Old Republic
7: Knights of the Old Republic II
8: Dragon Age: Origins
9: Planescape: Torment (will likely move up once I finally finish it. Dunno why I'm taking so long)
10: Pick one of, depending on the day - Lemmings, Commander Keen (all 6), Duke Nukem, Hocus Pocus, Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Populous the Beginning, or Oblivion.

And I couldn't even definitively choose a top ten. I have a hard time choosing these things. Maybe I play too many games? Naw, not possible. Probably just indecision. :smallannoyed:

[MrPig]

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. I own that game across 3 platforms.

[ungulateman]

DORF FORTRESS.

Welcome to Boatmurdered, hope you like magma!

[Avilan the Grey]

I have a few favorites, and I can't really pick between them. I think I managed to narrow it down to five:

Baldur's Gate II
Planescape: Torment
Rollercoaster Tycoon II
Diablo
Fallout 3

[factotum]

I don't think I have one. Fallout, Fallout 2, Planescape: Torment, Might and Magic VI, VII, VIII, TIE Fighter, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas...I could sit here and list games I've played that I consider to be awesome until I hit whatever the word limit of this forum is, I reckon!

[Avilan the Grey]

I don't think I have one. Fallout, Fallout 2, Planescape: Torment, Might and Magic VI, VII, VIII, TIE Fighter, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas...I could sit here and list games I've played that I consider to be awesome until I hit whatever the word limit of this forum is, I reckon!

Well yes, it's basically taking all games I consider to be 10/10 and then try to find minor flaws so that they would not be on the list.

I mean a list of my "favorite game of all time" would probably be 20 games long.

[Moklok]

Ive played s few other games more, but...No other game has ever got me hooked like Everquest 1 did. That game just had this epic feel back then, community was just amazing too. Definitly my favorite game of all time. I wouldnt replay it though :smallbiggrin:

Baldurs Gate2 + ToB, Diablo 2, Starcraft 1, World of Warcraft and FF3/FF6(w/e you call it) are all runner ups....

Looking at the list, I realize how much of a RPG fan I am...

[Dogmantra]

4. Team Fortress 2
4. The World Ends With You
3. Portal
2. Gotcha Force
1. Morrowind

Those two 4s aren't typos: I really cannot decide which I prefer 'cause they are so different for one.

[Comet]

Whenever this question arises, my first reaction is always Planescape: Torment.

I kinda dislike the notion of having to name one or several 'best games of all time', since every great game has a certain thing it does very well, while some other elements are left with less attention. It's really hard to compare, since the games are so different.

But still, I choose Planescape for now. While the gameplay is not as polished as in some games, the story is by far the best I have seen in any video game, ever.

[Reshbj]

10. Halo 3 & ODST
9. Final Fantasy XII
8. The World Ends With You
7. Super Smash Bros
6. Earthbound (Mother 2)
5. Final Fantasy VI
4. Pokemon SoulSilver & HeartGold
3. Mother 3
2. Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
1. Metroid Prime

(Well, the Metroid Prime Trilogy would take the top 3 spots, but I wanted to be fair to the rest of the universe.)

[banjo1985]

Hmmm, I base how good a game is on how much fun it gives me, how much time I spend on it, and what effect it has on me once its over. My Top 10 will no doubt include a lot of RPGs. :smallbiggrin:

1 - Grandia
2 - Legend of Dragoon
3 - Final Fantasy VIII
4 - Final Fantasy IX
5 - Quake 3
6 - Final Fantasy X
7 - Sega Rally
8 - Azure Dreams
9 - Elder Scrolls III - Morrowind
10 - Skies of Arcadia

Yup, 8 out of 10, 5 of them PsOne games. Guess I'm of that generation. :smalltongue:
I love Grandia with a passion I can't really explain in words. It just held me in such wrapt attention on the first playthrough it always comes right at the top of my list. Legend of Dragoon and FF8 came close, but Justin and Feena win every time. I know that Fri shares my feelings, and he'd probably explain them far better than I can!

[Winter_Wolf]

I still play Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri with the Alien Crossfire expansion to this day. The game came out in the 1990's sometime. It's kept me captivated for that long.

Need for Speed Underground 2 has been a contender from just about the first time I ever played it on my PS2. I tried with my PC, but lacked the proper control paddle (i.e. NOT my keyboard) and it suffered for that. I love me a good racing game, but the other titles in the series have really failed to capture the entertainment factor of this installment. I have a copy of Gran Turismo 4 which I popped into the PS2 once to make sure it worked, then never got around to it. Some day, I suppose.

Beats getting pulled over by the Authoritah for doing 90 in a 65. Although I know that my car can get up past 100 if I'm willing to waste the gas on it. Had an old Ford Contour LX 1999 model that I managed to get up to 135 mph in the Yukon, and it was loaded to brimming in the trunk, backseat, and passenger seat with all my crap, as well as my weight. Too bad it had that wonky front end alignment. No! Bad Winter Wolf! Games, the thread was about games!

[Thorcrest]

Ahhhh another one of THESE threads...

Ok here goes, in no particular order...

Emperor (NES)
Morrowind (PC) [I don't know why, but my enjoyment is diminished when this is on a console]
Galactic Civilizations II (PC)
Starfox 64 (N64)
Rome: Total War (PC)
Mass Effect (PC)
Eve Online (PC)
Romance of the Three Kindoms VII (PS2)
Romance of the Three Kindoms II (NES)
Final Fantasy (NES)
Super Star Wars (SNES)

Alright, so the OP said ten, so I should stop now, even though I have so many more to list...

Oh wait! I have to add... PONG

[Fostire]

Earthbound would be top spot with Ocarina of Tima and Majora's Mask tied up for a close second place.

Other favourites include the smash bros series, other zelda games, the mario games, pokemon series, and metroid series. Yes I'm a big Nintendo fan. The only non-nintendo game I can think off that I would put in a list of favourites is Morrowind.

[Deth Muncher]

My favorite game is the one you just lost. http://i40.tinypic.com/2cx6s1t.jpg

[Strawberries]

Whenever this question arises, my first reaction is always Planescape: Torment.

I kinda dislike the notion of having to name one or several 'best games of all time', since every great game has a certain thing it does very well, while some other elements are left with less attention. It's really hard to compare, since the games are so different.

But still, I choose Planescape for now. While the gameplay is not as polished as in some games, the story is by far the best I have seen in any video game, ever.

I was going to post this almost word-for-word. So yes, Planescape:torment is my first choice.

Others, in no particular order:

- The elder scroll 3: morrowind. Because I spent hours just wandering around and marveling at the sheer number of options
- The legacy of Kain series: because I expected just an action game, instead I found an intriguing story, and deep characters
- The first three games in the "monkey island" series. Because they make me laugh :smallbiggrin:.
- More recently, Dragon Age. It had been a while since I found a game that intrigued me so much.

[Thufir]

Chess.
...
Maybe you should've specified 'video game' in the thread title? :smalltongue:
I might give a serious answer once I've had time to think.

[Gecks]

While I feel System Shock 2 deserves honorable mention for the game that had the largest emotional impact on me, I would have to pick Mass Effect 2 as my overal favorite. I have always been a sucker for "the sum is greater than its parts" type games, and Mass Effect 2 is the far and away winner of that category, IMHO.

Close second would be the old sierra game Heros Quest (later renamed Quest for Glory) I.

[Sydonai]

Chess.
...
Maybe you should've specified 'video game' in the thread title? :smalltongue:
I might give a serious answer once I've had time to think.

I never said "Video Game". I meant any game, Chess is a valid answer.

[The Blackbird]

I never said "Video Game". I meant any game, Chess is a valid answer.

Oh...

D&D would be my number 1 then.:smallbiggrin:

[Rowsen]

10. Jet Force Gemini
9. Super Smash Bros Brawl
8. Pokemon Diamond
7. GTA: San Andreas
6. Final Fantasy 6
5. Goldeneye 007
4. Castlevainia 4
3. Metroid Prime 3
2. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
1. Banjo-Kazooie

[Gorgondantess]

For video games...
Well, normally I'd just throw Morrowind out there and be done with it, but y'know what? It's not my favorite game.

Hands down, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Shadow Over Chernobyl. Yeah, nobody else is gonna list it in their favorite games. Yeah, it was buggy. Yeah, you Halo people can't run up and circle strafe your enemies. Yeah, the game was totally and completely broken. But y'know what? I loved it nonetheless. The combat was beautifully, realistically difficult (though, in my years of playing it, I've gotten so good it's getting easier than Half-Life 2...) and the atmosphere was... just... wonderful. Orgiastic. Perfect. Whatever the game has going against it... that makes up for it, just fine.

[Grimlock]

SPEEDBALL 2: BRUTAL DELUX!!!!!!

I looooooooved that game on my old Amiga A500 (with a half meg upgrade), oh those were the days...

or

Elite

[Avilan the Grey]

SPEEDBALL 2: BRUTAL DELUX!!!!!!

I looooooooved that game on my old Amiga A500 (with a half meg upgrade), oh those were the days...

"Ice cream! Ice cream!"

(I upgraded mine to a full 2MB! I found an 1,5MB upgrade in an ad and that worked like a charm).

[Eldariel]

In no particular order:

Baldur's Gate 2
Chrono Trigger
Starcraft
Final Fantasy 6
Tie Fighter
Jagged Alliance 2
Civilization 4
Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Medieval: Total War
Freespace 2

And few bonuses since the list is too short:
Master of Orion II
Master of Magic
Super Mario Bros 3
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Command & Conquer: Tiberian Dawn
Counterstrike
Combat Mission II
Close Combat II
Mass Effect
The Witcher
Megaman II (Free bonus: Obligatory (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUEO9Mfmn4M) Youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbX6yTKHkCU) links (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykkdvYThT_Y&feature=related) - yes, you should click every one of them; you won't regret it)

[potatocubed]

The top two slots are occupied by Baldur's Gate 2 and Planescape: Torment. I'm not sure I could pick which one I like most.

[Grimlock]

"Ice cream! Ice cream!"

(I upgraded mine to a full 2MB! I found an 1,5MB upgrade in an ad and that worked like a charm).

Ooooooh. 2MB action! *drools*

[Vorpal word]

Unfortunately haven't had a chance to play most of the games previously mentioned (specifically, 90% of the RPG's and shooters, Banjo-Kazooie and other older games, etc.), but here's what I can come up with for video games.

1. Super Smash Bros Brawl
2. Warcraft 3
3. Super Mario World
4. Pokemon (2nd Gen and up)
5. Civilization 3 & 4
6. Metroid Fusion
7. Megaman 2
8. Fire Emblem 6, 7, and 8
9. Mario Kart DS, Wii, and Double Dash
10. Zelda A Link to the Past (have not played OoT)

[Eldariel]

The top two slots are occupied by Baldur's Gate 2 and Planescape: Torment. I'm not sure I could pick which one I like most.

How the heck did I fail to list that? Yeah, add Planescape: Torment to my topmost list.

[endoperez]

Dominions 3


The fact that there's little competition in the "turn-based fantasy strategy game" genre helps. The fact that the game has something few dozen nations and few thousand different units means most competition doesn't compare.

[JediSoth]

I absolutely cannot pick just one, as I've played so many games over the years and they've evolved so much since I played Pac-Man on my Atari 2600.

So, in no particular order:
VIDEO GAMES
Half-Life 2
Planescape: Torment
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
Fallout
Fallout 3
Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny
Star Wars: TIE Fighter
Jade Empire
Descent: Freespace

BOARD GAMES
Carcassone
umm..that's about all I have for this category. Carcassone is the only board game I've played that I had a burning desire to purchase after playing for the first time (I have not played Settlers of Cataan).

RPGs
Dungeons & Dragons
Paranoia (2nd edition is my fav.)
Star Wars (WEG d6 edition)
Shadowrun 4th Edition
Eclipse Phase

[Weimann]

The best game of all time is impossible to answer, really; times change. However, there are a few which stand out as replendant examples.

Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney 3: Trials and Tribulations
What did this game NOT do right? Apart from having possibly the longest name of any game I've played, I just love every itty bit of it. The characters. The storyline. The humour and the script. The music. That moment at the end where... OBJECTION! It's definitely the top of the list. The only bad thing is that the replay value is low, but that's just what you can expect from such a story-bound game.

This game played a great part in my decision to study law.

Elite Beat Agents
This game clocks in on second place when it comes to the amount of game hours I've spent on it. It's a great concept executed flawlessly, with compelling and detailed character designs, COMPLETE lack of taking itself seriously and even a psuedo-story wrapped around the gleaming nugget that is the gameplay. Can you say replay value? I'm torn on wether a sequel is a good thing or not, but I KNOW I'd buy it as fast as my chubby little finger can grab for moeny to throw at them.

Trauma Center: Under the Knife
This game series is a bit less known, but I love the concept. I've always loved doctors with the "save everyone" attitude. The controls are super, and I think it's the best I've seen in utilizing the DS touchscreen. I just wish they'd release the sequel outside of the USA, goddammit! I know there's been sequels to the Wii, but I don't have that contraption.

World of Warcraft
When I said Elite Beat Agents was second in the gametime league... yeah. I was quite addicted for a good while. I've stopped now, and I've been clear for a good year. Still, the game holds a special place in my heart. It's so marvellously welldone, particularly the environments and moods each part of the world reflects, and it's shockful with history for an old Warcraft II player like me (and I, unlike many, do not feel the lore has been butchered). It was my first MMO, and it will likely be my last MMO, but damn if it wasn't my best MMO.

Huh? They are releasing another explansion? *fidgets* W-well, I-I've quit, so that's not of my concern... *twitches* NONE of my conCERN!

Super Smash Bros. Melee
I don't own it, but a friend does. Our battles are epic, but he usually wins. It's my favourite beat-'em-up. I've tried Brawl as well, but it didn't stick so well, probably because I've had, what, 6 years of indoctrination on Melee, and just don't have the time these days to get that fimiliar with Brawl.

[Pig Norton]

I never said "Video Game". I meant any game, Chess is a valid answer.

Well shoot, why didn't you say so? I'm more of a board gamer anyway.

New and improved top ten, in no order:
Tigris and Euphrates
Galactic Emperor
Magic: The Gathering
Ra
Feudo
Palatinus
Tribune: Primus Inter Pares
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros.

[Raz_Fox]

Hmm. I've played some really good games in my time, and Fire Emblem is immediately leaping up and yelling with the voices of a hundred awesome characters - "Pick me! Pick me!"

But what if there was a game that was based on - no, reveled in - my own cultural heritage and mythology? A game that happened to be the most beautiful and visually distinctive video game ever made? One filled with unique and distinctive characters, absolutely amazing music, and happens to be just plain fun to play?

Oh, wait. There is. It's called Okami.

[Crispy Dave]

Also, Banjo-Kazooie will always have a special place in my heart as the very first game I ever played ever, and is one of the best of all time. Seriously, I bet if I got a different game instead, one that wasn't so good, my life and choice of hobby would be A LOT different.


this.

As for a list.(in no particular order)

Banjo Kazooie and the Tooie
Call of Duty 4(MW2 sucks)
Neverwinter Nights
Dawn of War
Half Life series
Portal
The Void(might just be shiny and new now but It's what I've been playing lately and it's amazing)

[Fri]

Hmmm, I base how good a game is on how much fun it gives me, how much time I spend on it, and what effect it has on me once its over. My Top 10 will no doubt include a lot of RPGs. :smallbiggrin:

1 - Grandia
2 - Legend of Dragoon
3 - Final Fantasy VIII
4 - Final Fantasy IX
5 - Quake 3
6 - Final Fantasy X
7 - Sega Rally
8 - Azure Dreams
9 - Elder Scrolls III - Morrowind
10 - Skies of Arcadia

Yup, 8 out of 10, 5 of them PsOne games. Guess I'm of that generation. :smalltongue:
I love Grandia with a passion I can't really explain in words. It just held me in such wrapt attention on the first playthrough it always comes right at the top of my list. Legend of Dragoon and FF8 came close, but Justin and Feena win every time. I know that Fri shares my feelings, and he'd probably explain them far better than I can!

I'm honored and a bit flustered that you remember me :smallredface:

Yes, Grandia is my favourite game of all time. It's not the first RPG I played, but it's the RPG that sent me to this roller coaster of rpg-dom. And I'm not hyperbolic if I said that it's the game that changed my life.

Why I like it so much? It's the only game that got the sense of adventure right. Now I can see that it's full of cliche, but by god it's delicious. The unknown final frontier, the literal edge of the world, the missing civilization, the guild of explorer... By god it's just brimming with ADVENTURE! (not simply adventure, but ADVENTURE!)

That scene where Justin, Sue, and Feena stand at the edge of the world, when the theme song play and the camera pans... still my favourite scene of any game ever.

The fact that it got the best combat system in any rpg ever is just the topping of it :smallamused:

It's that game's fault that I'm in love with adventure, explorers, and goggles, right now.

[potatocubed]

Elite Beat Agents
This game clocks in on second place when it comes to the amount of game hours I've spent on it. It's a great concept executed flawlessly, with compelling and detailed character designs, COMPLETE lack of taking itself seriously and even a psuedo-story wrapped around the gleaming nugget that is the gameplay. Can you say replay value? I'm torn on wether a sequel is a good thing or not, but I KNOW I'd buy it as fast as my chubby little finger can grab for moeny to throw at them.

Possibly relevant to your interests. (http://osu.ppy.sh/)

[waterpenguin43]

Mother 3

Seconded. And EarthBound.

[Pronounceable]

Since tetris is a disease and not a game, I'll go with Doom, Dungeon Keeper, Torment set.

[Grimlock]

Since tetris is a disease and not a game, I'll go with Doom, Dungeon Keeper, Torment set.

A disease yes, but an oh so good one!

[Martok]

Star Trek The Next Generation: Birth of the Federation

A 4x strategy game set in the Star Trek universe? Yes please! :smallbiggrin:

[Rollory]

1) Deus Ex
2) Star Control 2
3) Terminus

I just recently started playing Terminus again. I was in the mood for some simple spaceship zap-bang stuff and had never played Freespace so I got the old 98 machine working and installed it and played a while and was just sort of bored. Then I pulled out Terminus and installed that and just fell into it again. I am remembering all the awesome moments I had and am diving into it to make some more.

There never was a better space sim.

[Raroy]

Persona 4.

I find it strange most people prefer 3 over 4.

[Terraoblivion]

Most people do? In my experience people prefer 4 over 3.

[Ogremindes]

I like P3's story and battle system better, and the overall 'mood' of the game makes it more compelling to me than it's sequel. Also, I liked the fact that I couldn't directly control your allies (and I'm disappointed that Atlus seems to have abandoned that idea).

P4 does do a lot of things better. The simple act of moving dungeon exploration to the afternoon time slot makes time management choices a lot more meaningful. Ditching the tiredness system and dropping the free refills of HP and MP just makes more sense. S-Links giving bonuses to your allies is good (but they take deadly hits for you way too early in the progression). S-links in general are better. Side quests are less of a pain. Enemy groups are better designed, making random encounters a lot more interesting in general (but some of 'em, the ones with no weaknesses in particular, are just a grind to fight). There's more variety in dungeon environments...

...yeah, P4 does a lot better than it's immediate predecessor. I still like P3FES better.

[Woot Spitum]

Basketball :smallamused:

If we go with video games, I'd say Super Mario 3.

For tabletop RPG's Changeling: The Lost.

[king.com]

Baldurs gate 2 and Deus Ex.

[Terraoblivion]

It makes sense they abandoned the idea, though. Not a whole lot of people liked it, especially with Mitsuru's fondness for using Marin Karin at weird times. The problems have been overinflated though. What makes P4 really win for me, though, is that most of the party members are just plain better characters. This is not to say that i don't love most of your party in P3, but Kanji and Naoto are just about the best characters in any video game i have ever played, while Ken and Koromaru aren't really terribly interesting.

[Cute_Riolu]

Hands down, without a doubt, my favorite game of all time is The World Ends With You.

From the fantastic music, the quirky, funny, and lovable characters, the excellent, well-told story, the intense and unique battle system, all the way down to the little things like what different people say (can't really explain more without spoiling it!). TWEWY is a must-play for any DS owner.

[Zevox]

while Ken and Koromaru aren't really terribly interesting.
Well, to be fair, one of them is a dog. And not one of the magical talking types video games and other fiction sometimes use when making animal characters. So there's not really much you can expect when it comes to character depth there.

For myself, I can't really choose between Persona 3 and 4 for which is better. Yes, I definitely liked some of the gameplay improvements to P4, like being able to control your characters (I still don't get why you'd make an RPG where you can't in the first place), or the dungeons having actual themes rather than the monotonous tower that Tartarus ended up being after the first few months (the little changes of scenery only went so far). But then there was also a couple of changes I wasn't as fond of, like your main character losing the ability to equip different types of weapons, or all physical attacks being categorized as the same type of damage.

And really, I guess I ultimately just can't choose which I liked better story- and character-wise, which is ultimately what makes those games so great anyway.

Zevox

[warty goblin]

1) Deus Ex
2) Star Control 2
3) Terminus

I just recently started playing Terminus again. I was in the mood for some simple spaceship zap-bang stuff and had never played Freespace so I got the old 98 machine working and installed it and played a while and was just sort of bored. Then I pulled out Terminus and installed that and just fell into it again. I am remembering all the awesome moments I had and am diving into it to make some more.

There never was a better space sim.

Try Freespace 2, commonly considered the apogee- and swansong- of the genre. Plus if you screw around with Freespace Open, you can make it look quite good.

[Eldariel]

Try Freespace 2, commonly considered the apogee- and swansong- of the genre. Plus if you screw around with Freespace Open, you can make it look quite good.

Independence War or I-War is another one that deserves mention, and unfortunately the less remembered of the two. It's got different strengths, most interestingly completely different (and quite a bit more believable) flight and weaponry modeling, and it's roughly from the same era. I love them both to death and can't suggest them strongly enough. Doesn't hurt that both have a story mode that's pure dynamite.

Also, as aged as it is, Tie Fighter (or XWA with Tie Fighter missions if you feel like it; I'm not sure if the project is finished, but I do know such exists) is still among the top of the space simulators out there. Sure, it's an ancient game with graphics made for x86 machines, but everything else about it is still top of the class.

[Rollory]

Try Freespace 2, commonly considered the apogee- and swansong- of the genre.

If the gameplay is anything like 1, "widely considered" just means lots of people are wrong.

[Ogremindes]

... like being able to control your characters (I still don't get why you'd make an RPG where you can't in the first place)

Ostensibly the main character is meant to be you. Not being able to directly control the other characters reinforces that.

[Zevox]

Ostensibly the main character is meant to be you. Not being able to directly control the other characters reinforces that.
...that strikes me as incredibly bad way to unite gameplay and story, since it will serve only to make the gameplay mechanics more annoying, not better in any way.

Zevox

[warty goblin]

Independence War or I-War is another one that deserves mention, and unfortunately the less remembered of the two. It's got different strengths, most interestingly completely different (and quite a bit more believable) flight and weaponry modeling, and it's roughly from the same era. I love them both to death and can't suggest them strongly enough. Doesn't hurt that both have a story mode that's pure dynamite.

Also, as aged as it is, Tie Fighter (or XWA with Tie Fighter missions if you feel like it; I'm not sure if the project is finished, but I do know such exists) is still among the top of the space simulators out there. Sure, it's an ancient game with graphics made for x86 machines, but everything else about it is still top of the class.

I-War is the one that gives you an actual capital ship instead of a bunch of ridiculously effective fighter craft right? I've always wanted to try it, but have never tracked down a copy, and none of the digital distribution sights seem to have it. Ah well, one of these days.

Tie Fighter/ X Wing never really interested me I'm afraid. Suffice to say I'm really bored with Star Wars, and never even found the movies to have really appealing space combat.


If the gameplay is anything like 1, "widely considered" just means lots of people are wrong.

I think the term 'differently opinionated' is probably more appropriate here, so maybe try getting down from that high horse o' judgment a bit?

[dsmiles]

Well, I would have to say The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion is probably the best game I have ever played, in my opinion.

This, plus Morrowind as a close second.

[Rollory]

I think the term 'differently opinionated' is probably more appropriate here, so maybe try getting down from that high horse o' judgment a bit?

The only high horse is yours and the assumption you just made. I never use words by accident. "Wrong" is exactly correct.

I actually have a CD of the first part of the FS2 campaign that came bundled with something, installed that and tried it. All the problems I saw in 1 are the same in 2.

To start with, the joystick controls are screwy, apparently on purpose. When you are turning your ship, it keeps swinging for a while after you stop pushing the joystick. This means you end up weaving back and forth drunkenly whenever you're trying to follow a moving target - or, I suppose, learn to stop turning early, but again that means you have absolutely no precision in following a target. It's entirely unnecessary and just makes things harder. Turning the ship from side to side doesn't actually turn properly, it rotates the ship at a 60 degree angle to an axis - so instead of just turning left or right, you're swinging around on the surface of a cone. If you're trying to follow another ship moving to one side or the other, this deliberately leads you down and away from it. This isn't necessary either. Since it appears to be deliberately set up as part of the game, I guess they thought it was cool or something. Making the player's controls deliberately function differently from how they intuitively expect it to is not something that is cool.

Second, the flight model. I realize people like airplanes. I realize people find them simple and comparatively intuitive. If I wanted to play an airplane game, I would play an airplane game. Sometimes I do. If I want to play a spaceship game, I want to be able to do things spaceships can do, like lateral thrust from side to side to dodge shots while following an enemy, or coasting while pivoting to shoot at a target, or any number of other things that are inherent in the nature of the arena. This isn't absolute - I liked Wing Commander 3 a lot, in spite of its using the airplane model - but spaceships that think they're airplanes are to be pitied for that fact, the same way one would a woman with a huge disfiguring wart on her face. It is not as if it is hard to make a somewhat realistic flight model that is fun to play in. Jumpgate managed it, and Terminus has a strictly Newtonian model that plays dogfights as well as anything out of Star Wars - actually better, because of those extra tactical options things like lateral thrust and proper inertia introduce.

Third, the HUD and informational feedback to the player. Freespace's radar display indicates general bearing, but not distance, and is rather imprecise - first because the stuff in front of the player is compressed into a smaller area, and the stuff behind is spread out, so movement across the scanner pane always represents different distances or speeds depending on where the object is. When the player wants to know which direction to point the ship to head towards something, you can point yourself in the general direction, but will need to correct the heading probably multiple times if you can't pick it out visually - and if you can, what do you need a scanner for? It's of no use in figuring out where things are near you, either; a hostile ship buzzing around you will move too fast across the scanner to really catch it without a lot of practice. When enemy ships are buzzing around nearby and behind you it is not easy to figure out where they are and which direction they are going. Terminus' color-coded HUD ship trails, and the Elite-style scanner, show the player exactly where everything is nearby, and tell the player when something just went whizzing by and is now behind them and roughly where it is, as well as how the player's ship is moving relative to them - all at a glance, there's no need to even think about it. It's one of the most efficient displays of information I've seen. The flashing of the targeting reticle when you get hits is excellent too - it gives the player immediate feedback on their performance, feedback that implicitly teaches them how to improve their aim - just as the collision warnings and missile alarms teach them to improve piloting and dodging. There's nothing of the sort in FS - I was blazing away and not really sure how often I was actually hitting anything (and the drunken joystick issue didn't help).

Fourth, the missions. I didn't get far into FS2 so maybe these are better, but the FS1 ones were just the same generic replays of spaceship missions everyone has seen dozens of times already. Terminus suffers from this to a certain extent but it is designed to allow some flexibility in how things play out. When escorting the supply shipment to Saldrea and you get ambushed by pirates, you don't have to wipe them out, you just have to distract them while the supply ship makes its way onward - and once that's done, you might get kill missions to go back and clean up ambushers you missed. If there's a friendly patrol in the node, you can call on them to help take out your targets - you can wait to make a move into a node until a friendly patrol shows up, if you care to. There's multiple ways of dealing with hostiles - from destroying their subsystems to bumping them into an activated gate so they transit to another node. When attacking stations, you can sometimes draw out and destroy the defending forces early, which makes getting the troop pods into the stations far easier. The hostiles are operating in the same sandbox you are and according to the same rules, and that's what makes the situations interesting. You have options and possibilities open to you, if you think about it, that simply can not exist in a game where every mission is generated according to a hardcoded template - templates that have already been done dozens of times before and the only variation left is in numbers and ship models.

I could go on (I really want to rant about anybody who puts dumbfire missiles into spaceship games) but I think I've hit enough key points.

FS2 is not in any sense an "apogee". Anybody who describes it as such is simply wrong. Sure, it's the most polished example of the Wing Commander style of games. There are multiple improvements that could be and have been made on that model.

I don't have sales information for either handy - as I recall, Freespace 2 actually didn't sell very well, but just from name recognition I would expect it sold better than Terminus, which came from a comparatively unknown studio that was self-publishing. So it's a reasonable probability that a lot of people who have played FS2 have not played Terminus, and thus can not actually judge. Have you?

[Beorn080]

In no particular order

Dwarf Fortress. Any game, and especially any Alpha, that makes the "most common" occurrence in a game, that is to say losing, into a fun experience, is worth the dozen megabytes to store it on any computer I have.

Final Fantasy 6/Chrono Trigger/Earthbound. Three classic RPGs, three different stories, all epic in my book.

MechWarrior 4. See dwarf fortress. Giant walking death machines, and even if you lose, you see something blow up. Quite fun. Also, thanks to the great folks at MekTek, a massively improved selection of weapons and mechs to blow things up with.

Kirby Super Star. Possibly the best Kirby game, excepting the remake on the DS.

Time Splitters: Future Perfect. I haven't had much experience playing in multi with it, but I get ever so much enjoyment just mucking about with bots. A quite well balanced FPS.

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup. An "easy" roguelike. No super random "Spike pit trap, DL1, you die" deaths, but still very hard, and a massive number of starting combinations.

Spelunky. Indiana Joneslike. With bombs.

Super Metroid. Amazing how much you can do with a cartridge when you have to, and this is an excellent example.

[warty goblin]

The only high horse is yours and the assumption you just made. I never use words by accident. "Wrong" is exactly correct.

I did not say, assume, or think you meant to use any other word than the one you used. I said the word 'wrong' was inappropriate. It was, and it still is.

Judging videogames is an entirely subjective process. Now you give some very good reasons why you do not like Freespace, and that's absolutely fine. One of the wonderful things about subjective matters is that everybody can have their own opinion, and their own justification for that opinion. Yours seems to be well thought out and consistent, and you are confident in it. Those are good things.

That does not demonstrate that everybody who thinks Freespace 2 is the apogee of space sims is wrong. They may for instance prefer the story, not mind the radar, or actually like that ships have a bit of momentum when turning. These are obviously not your opinions, but until you, or anybody else, can create an objective method of judging games, one absolutely cannot say that another person's opinion is wrong. Different then yours certainly, not one you can understand absolutely, but not wrong. Now in the highly unlikely event that some sort of rational scientific method for games criticism emerges, complete with ontology and methodology sufficient to demonstrate a result, then you can prove your result and conclude that someone else is wrong.

Either that, or found your own games criticism based religion, complete with received wisdom and holy books in which these things are writ. I suspect that not many would be converted, no matter the articles of faith. I know I cannot agree even with my friends on quite a few game related matters, although perhaps yours are different in that regard.

So yes, calling everybody who's view differs from your own is inappropriate; I might even go so far as to call it wrong. And responding to a friendly suggestion of another title in the same genre which the recommender and others he has talked to enjoyed with what read suspiciously like scorn is, I think, evidence of a reasonably high horse.

[Platinum_Mongoose]

All o' them Bioware whatsits, especially Planescape: Torment, Mass Effect, the sequel thereof, and Dragon Age. BGII is worth mentioning, but doesn't quite live up to those.

Force Unleashed, meanwhile, was the closest we've gotten to a Jedi simulator. So... yeah. Dream since I was four? Fulfilled.

I'm not overly fond of shooters, but Halo 3 pulled off a truly great storyline with a genuinely touching love story (Chief and Cortana, if it wasn't immediately apparent). I'm a sucker for a good romantic arc. That they pull it off in the midst of fragging yappy aliens and Flood zombies is just... impressive. Also, soundtrack win. Those three chords. You know the ones.

[The Rose Dragon]

All o' them Bioware whatsits, especially Planescape: Torment...

Planescape: Torment has nothing to do with Bioware. It was produced by Black Isle and released by Interplay.

[Platinum_Mongoose]

Planescape: Torment has nothing to do with Bioware. It was produced by Black Isle and released by Interplay.

Oh. Ok. Learned something new today.

[Athaniar]

You who post in here, perhaps you should check out this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=148025&page=5) thread, and maybe even vote if there is still a game you like left.

[Samurai Jill]

Myst. My favouritest game ever. I love Myst and I don't want to be friends with anybody who doesn't.

Majesty. Actually a very flawed game in many respects that fell far short of it's potential, but the potential of the concept is vast. I'm still waiting for someone to take this game and do it right.

Caesar III- still the best of the Citybuilder series IMHO.

Civ II kept me hooked for years until I burnt out. Never really been able to get into another Civ game after that, or even SMAC.

Quest for Glory V. Not the best of the series, apparently, but it did practice-based skill-levelling long before the Elder Scrolls series.

I'm a big fan of Jeff Vogel's efforts- the original Blades of Exile and Nethergate in particular.

I quite liked Jade Empire. It was an action game for people who aren't good at action games, and the story was one of Bioware's better efforts. One of the few examples of the 'cinema mode' of gaming where the cutscenes are worth the distraction.

...That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Tabletop RPG-wise, I do enjoy me some Burning Wheel...

[Eldariel]

Civ II kept me hooked for years until I burnt out. Never really been able to get into another Civ game after that, or even SMAC.

How long ago was this? 'cause if it's been over ~5 years, consider giving Civ IV a whirl. I had the exact same experience; I played Civ II way too much and eventually burned out on it. But after years of break, Civ IV felt different enough that I've really gotten into it again. I just hope I don't burn out on that before Civ V...

[warty goblin]

Majesty. Actually a very flawed game in many respects that fell far short of it's potential, but the potential of the concept is vast. I'm still waiting for someone to take this game and do it right.


Out of curiosity, what do you find flawed about Majesty? There's the occasional decision that strikes me as a bit weird, but overall it does a remarkable job of executing a rather strange concept.

[skeen9]

Was it some how implied that all games were to be electronic??????? for I do not see any amazingly fun games such as Munchkin and or Magic the gathering?????

[warty goblin]

Was it some how implied that all games were to be electronic??????? for I do not see any amazingly fun games such as Munchkin and or Magic the gathering?????

Magic: The Gathering isn't a game. It's a disease of the wallet that rapidly converts perfectly good dollar bills into more of that common you already have eight of.

[Eldariel]

Magic: The Gathering isn't a game. It's a disease of the wallet that rapidly converts perfectly good dollar bills into more of that common you already have eight of.

Naa, it converts your dollars into more dollars. I like <3

[Samurai Jill]

How long ago was this? 'cause if it's been over ~5 years, consider giving Civ IV a whirl. I had the exact same experience; I played Civ II way too much and eventually burned out on it. But after years of break, Civ IV felt different enough that I've really gotten into it again. I just hope I don't burn out on that before Civ V...
I played a campaign or two in CivIII and CivIV, but there was nothing sufficiently radical there to truly hook me- I'm mildly intrigued by the changes announced for Civ5, but AFAICS it's been a steady case of creeping featurism over the years. With the computational horespower and AI expertise available these days, it'd be possible to do a vastly more realistic civilisation-simulator, but they can't do that without essentially breaking the franchise.

[Samurai Jill]

Out of curiosity, what do you find flawed about Majesty? There's the occasional decision that strikes me as a bit weird, but overall it does a remarkable job of executing a rather strange concept.
Class balance is shot to hell, especially in MP, the AI is very patchy in places (no worse than most game AI, but it's particularly important here,) plus there are various UI warts and problems with economic balance (again, especially in MP.) It's really more a question of a million small flaws than any single glaring defect, but they do add up.
On the plus side, the concept is gold, the art design was solid and often excellent, there are a lot of touches of humour, especially in the voicelines, the setting and background were mildly interesting and the (lack of) campaign structure was quite liberating. It could use some more depth and a little more focus on sim-like elements (ability to carry on characters, satisfying needs, inter-settlement trade, etc.) but on balance it was still a good game- I was just expecting more.

[warty goblin]

Class balance is shot to hell, especially in MP, the AI is very patchy in places (no worse than most game AI, but it's particularly important here,) plus there are various UI warts and problems with economic balance (again, especially in MP.) It's really more a question of a million small flaws than any single glaring defect, but they do add up.
On the plus side, the concept is gold, the art design was solid and often excellent, there are a lot of touches of humour, especially in the voicelines, the setting and background were mildly interesting and the (lack of) campaign structure was quite liberating. It could use some more depth and a little more focus on sim-like elements (ability to carry on characters, satisfying needs, inter-settlement trade, etc.) but on balance it was still a good game- I was just expecting more.

Ah, see I have less than zero interest in playing a game like Majesty online, since I barely even play the thing to win as it is. It's not terribly uncommon for me to keep playing past the victory condition, just slowly expanding and watching the little heroes run around doing their thing. Bottom line is that I really don't care about the game being balanced beyond the point where I can play it. I'd much rather it had the flavor than the balance, and in my experience any increase in balance comes at the cost of flavor.

[Suicide Junkie]

The games I still play long after I got them:
1) Space Empires IV (PC; CB mod)
2) Dwarf Fortress (PC)
3) Vector Tactics (PC; personal remake (http://imagemodserver.mine.nu/nick/GreenEggsAndHam/textrek/pictures/GraphicsAction5.PNG) of the text-era Begin (http://www.starfleetproject.com/screen1.jpg))
4) River City Ransom (NES; occasional multiplayer games)

Modability is big for me, as I've got a programmer mindset.
Though RCR is just mindless bashing fun with amusing animations, and the big draw is that my siblings like it too.

[Samurai Jill]

Ah, see I have less than zero interest in playing a game like Majesty online, since I barely even play the thing to win as it is. It's not terribly uncommon for me to keep playing past the victory condition, just slowly expanding and watching the little heroes run around doing their thing. Bottom line is that I really don't care about the game being balanced beyond the point where I can play it. I'd much rather it had the flavor than the balance, and in my experience any increase in balance comes at the cost of flavor.
Oh, I do exactly the same thing, mostly- I treat the official victory conditions as a sort of incidental nuisance that I put up with until I can finally build in peace- but I also like to play with people, and either co-op or deathmatch MP tends to become tedious when everyone uses the same race/guild/temple configuration every single damn time.

I'm aware there are all sorts of potential conflicts between Gamist/Sim play, but better AI could have gone a long way toward plugging this gap- (e.g, wizards could have compensated for lower HP by being more intelligent about how and when to retreat in the first place. Then you could afford to tone down their power-profile a little, or up their recruitment cost a bit.) Conversely, warriors of discord (whose main weakness is their personality) could've been made more formidable relative to paladins by making combat more realistic- allowing brute force to smash through parry attempts, or by having opponent skill factor into the parry check in the first place. (At the moment, max parry skill allows a hero at worst a 5% chance to be hit in melee by anything, even a rock golem or a barbarian with HtH 90+.)

The flavour could actually have helped level the playing field, insofar as this is a setting where competing religious and ethnic factions genuinely are holding their own in a state of constant, albeit muted, mutual competition. There are lots of different ways to tweak strength here that wouldn't be possible or advisable in a tabletop RPG, and if a given faction were just plain weak, they'd have disappeared.

[warty goblin]

Oh, I do exactly the same thing, mostly- I treat the official victory conditions as a sort of incidental nuisance that I put up with until I can finally build in peace- but I also like to play with people, and either co-op or deathmatch MP tends to become tedious when everyone uses the same race/guild/temple configuration every single damn time.

That's a valid point. Not having any, I tend to forget that other people have friends who play weird PC games with them, and I really could see Majesty co-op being a bit of a blast.


I'm aware there are all sorts of potential conflicts between Gamist/Sim play, but better AI could have gone a long way toward plugging this gap- (e.g, wizards could have compensated for lower HP by being more intelligent about how and when to retreat in the first place. Then you could afford to tone down their power-profile a little, or up their recruitment cost a bit.) Conversely, warriors of discord (whose main weakness is their personality) could've been made more formidable relative to paladins by making combat more realistic- allowing brute force to smash through parry attempts, or by having opponent skill factor into the parry check in the first place. (At the moment, max parry skill allows a hero at worst a 5% chance to be hit in melee by anything, even a rock golem or a barbarian with HtH 90+.)
My experience was that paladins were more reliable, and infinitely more durable, than the Warriors of Discord, but the latter were so much more destructive it sort of came out a wash. In all the games I've played, I think I've had a paladin actually die maybe five or ten times, which is about my WoD casualty count per game. But yes, there is no denying the paladins are more formidable. Perhaps a more interesting solution would be to give the enemies a bit more complex AI, so that Warriors of Discord could simply frighten off the lower level dudes, or something.

AI wise, my biggest wish was always for something like a Creatures artificial life system, complete with heroes that learn, and ideally some sort of breeding mechanic. Obviously they'd have to start out with a certain, and fairly high, degree of competence, but giving even individual heroes of the same class different ALs that diverged with time could be quite fascinating.


The flavour could actually have helped level the playing field, insofar as this is a setting where competing religious and ethnic factions genuinely are holding their own in a state of constant, albeit muted, mutual competition. There are lots of different ways to tweak strength here that wouldn't be possible or advisable in a tabletop RPG, and if a given faction were just plain weak, they'd have disappeared.
Another interesting point. Really, I think this is perhaps less a failing with Majesty in particular, and more a failure of the high level hands off simulation genre as a whole to become very popular. If it had really grabbed hold of gamers, one could expect some basic familiarity with the concepts on both the part of players and developers, and thus push on to more exciting and complex things. As it is, we're basically stuck with the first few titles of any genre, which although great may not be as fantastically complex and interesting as the later ones.

Also, out of curiosity, did you play Majesty 2 at all? Any thoughts there?

[Samurai Jill]

That's a valid point. Not having any, I tend to forget that other people have friends who play weird PC games with them, and I really could see Majesty co-op being a bit of a blast.
"Friends?" ...I use imported Singapore slave labour.

That leads me to another complaint with the game- Majesty original Multiplayer was incompatible with Majesty NE Multiplayer which was incompatible with Majesty Gold Multiplayer, not to mention segregation between PC and Mac and numerous other connection bugs. I've tried to play co-op over the net in recent years, but I've never gotten a stable connection. *sigh*

My experience was that paladins were more reliable, and infinitely more durable, than the Warriors of Discord, but the latter were so much more destructive it sort of came out a wash. In all the games I've played, I think I've had a paladin actually die maybe five or ten times, which is about my WoD casualty count per game. But yes, there is no denying the paladins are more formidable. Perhaps a more interesting solution would be to give the enemies a bit more complex AI, so that Warriors of Discord could simply frighten off the lower level dudes, or something.
They can actually do that in NE multiplayer- howl of discord has the side-effect of frightening nearby enemy heroes. But they're still random, stupid, slow and underarmoured- WoDs are fine against random monsters, but veteran paladins are almost untouchable (unless you're packing heavy offensive magic,) so the amount of damage can WoDs do when they hit is basically irrelevant. In MP battles, once the monsters are cleared, they fare rather poorly. Priestesses and cultists, even more so.

AI wise, my biggest wish was always for something like a Creatures artificial life system, complete with heroes that learn, and ideally some sort of breeding mechanic. Obviously they'd have to start out with a certain, and fairly high, degree of competence, but giving even individual heroes of the same class different ALs that diverged with time could be quite fascinating.
I know exactly what you mean. It'd be fascinating to play long-term games where characters could grow, marry, propogate their genes, age and die, and a practice-based skills system. More advanced AI learning- neural nets, logical planners, rule induction, etc. could be interesting, but really Majesty doesn't need particularly fancy AI in most cases. If the existing defects were just patched, it'd make a world of difference.

Another interesting point. Really, I think this is perhaps less a failing with Majesty in particular, and more a failure of the high level hands off simulation genre as a whole to become very popular. If it had really grabbed hold of gamers, one could expect some basic familiarity with the concepts on both the part of players and developers, and thus push on to more exciting and complex things. As it is, we're basically stuck with the first few titles of any genre, which although great may not be as fantastically complex and interesting as the later ones.

Also, out of curiosity, did you play Majesty 2 at all? Any thoughts there?
I was underimpressed. It's not an awful game, but... I dunno, there was something faintly 'off' about the whole experience (possibly the visibly worse AI.) The humour was clumsy, though that might have been lost in translation from the russian developers. There wasn't any freestyle mode, which was important to a lot of players. It didn't feel much like a Sim at all, and nobody played MP. I dunno- you might try the demo, but if that doesn't grab ya, steer clear.

[warty goblin]

"Friends?" ...I use imported Singapore slave labour.

That leads me to another complaint with the game- Majesty original Multiplayer was incompatible with Majesty NE Multiplayer which was incompatible with Majesty Gold Multiplayer, not to mention segregation between PC and Mac and numerous other connection bugs. I've tried to play co-op over the net in recent years, but I've never gotten a stable connection. *sigh*

That sucks.


They can actually do that in NE multiplayer- howl of discord has the side-effect of frightening nearby enemy heroes. But they're still random, stupid, slow and underarmoured- WoDs are fine against random monsters, but veteran paladins are almost untouchable (unless you're packing heavy offensive magic,) so the amount of damage can WoDs do when they hit is basically irrelevant. In MP battles, once the monsters are cleared, they fare rather poorly. Priestesses and cultists, even more so.
I found the chaos/order split fairly well balanced for singleplayer though. There were certainly missions where one side got a major boost- Priestesses of Krypta on the dragon maps, Aglara on the undead heavy ones- but in general they didn't feel terrible.


I know exactly what you mean. It'd be fascinating to play long-term games where characters could grow, marry, propogate their genes, age and die, and a practice-based skills system. More advanced AI learning- neural nets, logical planners, rule induction, etc. could be interesting, but really Majesty doesn't need particularly fancy AI in most cases. If the existing defects were just patched, it'd make a world of difference.
The only one that really gets me is wizard's steadfast insistence on picking suicidal fights with trolls at low level. Little bastards cost to much to keep melting all the time like that.


I was underimpressed. It's not an awful game, but... I dunno, there was something faintly 'off' about the whole experience (possibly the visibly worse AI.) The humour was clumsy, though that might have been lost in translation from the russian developers. There wasn't any freestyle mode, which was important to a lot of players. It didn't feel much like a Sim at all, and nobody played MP. I dunno- you might try the demo, but if that doesn't grab ya, steer clear.
That was my original take as well, but it's honestly really grown on me. The humor and general flavor isn't as good as the original, but as I said elsewhere it'd be damn near impossible for it to be otherwise. Once I stopped noticing all the things that the first game did differently (and assuming that implied better), I noticed it was actually a respectable game in its own right. I liked that heroes were somewhat more durable and that healing was available quickly. That made it actually plausible to start secondary guilds later in the game. The interface was also, bad translations aside, vastly more usable and powerful, and I rather liked the promotion system for upgrading existing heroes into champions. If only the names didn't reset...Bottom line, it's not my favorite game ever like the original, but I'd rate it a solid 8.5/10 or thereabouts.

[Sydonai]

100-post mark.

[bloodlover]

Baldur's Gate 2 + expansions.

/end

[Jonzac]

1. Falcon 4.0...nothing says love like full realistic Avionics
2. MechWarrior 2: Intro to the clans, full merc missions...awesome mulitplayer, ACTUAL FREAKIN STRUCTURE AND CRITICAL POINTS
3. Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord (and the rest) but CM:BO was so groundbreaking and so much fun to play
3a. 1:300 scale WW2 minuatures with Armor 44 ruleset...used HO railroad stuff for scenary...very nice
4. Dark Age of Camelot...wonderful PvP...good PvE...and anytime you and 50 of your friends get to use catapults its a good day.

[Samurai Jill]

I found the chaos/order split fairly well balanced for singleplayer though. There were certainly missions where one side got a major boost- Priestesses of Krypta on the dragon maps, [Agrela] on the undead heavy ones- but in general they didn't feel terrible.
They're fine for single-player, and those mission advantages are mostly intentional, (though it seems odd that priestesses aren't effective against undead until level 7...)
The sovereign spells were also a little uneven- Wither is the only krypta/fervus spell that really gives value for money, (and Illusory Hero is virtually worthless.) Bah...

The only one that really gets me is wizard's steadfast insistence on picking suicidal fights with trolls at low level. Little bastards cost to much to keep melting all the time like that.
Oh, my, yes. There's actually a fair number of classes that suffer from the same basic problem. Elves/Rogues/Rangers should all be using hit-and-run tactics, and priestesses and cultists should be surrounded by followers at all times. They wouldn't need Hit Points if they had intelligence.

That was my original take as well, but it's honestly really grown on me. The humor and general flavor isn't as good as the original, but as I said elsewhere it'd be damn near impossible for it to be otherwise. Once I stopped noticing all the things that the first game did differently (and assuming that implied better), I noticed it was actually a respectable game in its own right. I liked that heroes were somewhat more durable and that healing was available quickly. That made it actually plausible to start secondary guilds later in the game. The interface was also, bad translations aside, vastly more usable and powerful, and I rather liked the promotion system for upgrading existing heroes into champions. If only the names didn't reset...Bottom line, it's not my favorite game ever like the original, but I'd rate it a solid 8.5/10 or thereabouts.
I'd give it a 6.5, tops. In the absence of Sim elements it left a lot to be desired in terms of tactical options- temples and parties weren't available until the late game, and there were far fewer sovereign spells to play with. There just seemed to be a total disconnect between the tastes of the developers and the actual wishes of the fans. A wasted opportunity, if you ask me.

[Samurai Jill]

2) Dwarf Fortress (PC)
I've been trying to get that to work on my laptop, actually. Problem is it won't recognise the +/- keys of a macbook, which kind of limits one's starting options...

[Devmaar]

Top Ten (no particular order)
Pokemon Yellow
Half-Life (including Blue Shift/Opposing Force)
PES 10
Medieval Total War II
Daxter
Yu-Gi-Oh GX Tag Force 2
Donkey Kong
Super Marioland 2
Warcraft III (including Frozen Throne)
The Simpsons Hit&Run

EDIT: Nethack. Failing has never been more fun

[Cute_Riolu]

I've been trying to get that to work on my laptop, actually. Problem is it won't recognise the +/- keys of a macbook, which kind of limits one's starting options...

You know you can change what keys it uses, right?

[Samurai Jill]

You know you can change what keys it uses, right?
Good to know...

[JediSoth]

Was it some how implied that all games were to be electronic??????? for I do not see any amazingly fun games such as Munchkin and or Magic the gathering?????

While this particular forum says it is officially "For the discussion of video games, board games, war games, LARPs, kick-the-can, etc." a quick scan of the first pages of posts reveals that most of the discussion here revolved around video games of one type or another. I think most people assume that unless the topic SPECIFICALLY says otherwise, it's going to be about video games.