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The 2016 RPG Discussion Thread
- Thread starter Durante
- Start date
BrokenFiction
Member
Seems like this one is really under the radar. I haven't seen a lot of hype for it at all.
Robert at Zeboyd Games
Banned
"Complete history of RPGs" being only 28 pages made me laugh.
thecrpgbook
Member
Yeah... on one hand I always appreciate when people try to teach gaming history, but saying stuff like "COMPLETE HISTORY!" when there are hundreds of interesting and important games out there is annoying.
This is why the CRPG Addict is so important - he goes beyond the bread & butter and rediscovers games that were left out by these brief retrospectives.
I.e., I'm sure PC Gamer talks about Dungeon Master (1987), but will it mention Dungeons of Daggorath (1982)? It's nowhere near as famous, but it's an innovative real-time dungeon crawler where HP are based on your character's heart rate.
At least it's written by Richard Cobbett, who is a bro and actually played all these games. I'm still angry about that Elder Scrolls retrospective made by a Gamespot guy who clearly had no idea of how to play Daggerfall - or why people liked it.
Or when PC Gamer made an Ultima Underworld video, but the guy who was playing didn't eve know how to equip a pair of boots. For someone who knows these games, it's painfully obvious when you have no idea of what you're doing - and it was much worse than Polygon's infamous DOOM video.
thecrpgbook
Member
Agreed, but the problem is that in such short page count you can't give proper context and weight to everything.
It's really hard, say, to convey how the mid 90's were dominated by first-person RPGs & RPG/FPS hybrids, because most of those games were mediocre. So what you do? They aren't important enough to warrant extensive coverage, but just namedropping them doesn't help either...
What I'm saying is that I would really like if they made the whole magazine about that. It's 148-pages long, so less than 1/5 is about RPG History. That's a shame, because I really don't need to read things like PC Gamer's editors fanboying over Dragon Age again... that will surely be as insightful as them saying "DA2 has the best RPG combat ever". :/
thecrpgbook
Member
Since we're here, what are you people's thought on 2016's RPGs?
To me, it was really underwhelming. It opened strong, with Dark Souls 3 and Strangers in Sword City, but then the following months were mostly forgettable games like Siege of Dragonspear, Desu Ex: MD, Technomancer, Tyranny, Setsuna, Balrum...
Most of the cool games, like M&B2, Torment, D:OS2, Barkley 2, KotC2, Grimoire, etc were all pushed to 2017, so 2016 really felt like an in-between year.
There might be something I overlooked, but seems like FFXV (and Dungeon Rats) were the only noteworthy releases in the second half of the year.
To me, it was really underwhelming. It opened strong, with Dark Souls 3 and Strangers in Sword City, but then the following months were mostly forgettable games like Siege of Dragonspear, Desu Ex: MD, Technomancer, Tyranny, Setsuna, Balrum...
Most of the cool games, like M&B2, Torment, D:OS2, Barkley 2, KotC2, Grimoire, etc were all pushed to 2017, so 2016 really felt like an in-between year.
There might be something I overlooked, but seems like FFXV (and Dungeon Rats) were the only noteworthy releases in the second half of the year.
As you already mentioned, the delays pushed a lot of interesting games out until next year, which makes 2017 very promising.
I found myself playing a lot of strategy games this year, given the wide array of releases, such as Hearts of Iron IV and Sid Meier's Civilization VI.
I don't agree that Tyranny is forgettable. I've been enjoying it a lot so far, although I have yet to finish. That and Dungeon Rats are the two RPG highlights for me.
I keep forgetting Torment is a thing.
I wonder if Obsidian will go with kickstarter again for PoE2, given the tepid reception it got. (Not talking about sales)
If you are listing JRPG, CS2, DQVII, SMTIV and WoFF (and something else I'm probably forgetting) all came out recently, it has actually been a good period for Japanese RPG fans.
I wonder if Obsidian will go with kickstarter again for PoE2, given the tepid reception it got. (Not talking about sales)
If you are listing JRPG, CS2, DQVII, SMTIV and WoFF (and something else I'm probably forgetting) all came out recently, it has actually been a good period for Japanese RPG fans.
if we're whittling it down to 2016 in particular it wasn't a homerun year or anything but i'm still pleased with the output, happy with the direction of rpgs in general, ect
setsuna IMO was breath of fresh air, wasn't amazing but it signals SE is willing to go back to their roots. and while i haven't gotten around to Tyranny yet more Obsidian crpgs is never a bad thing
surprise hit of the year for me is Xanadu Next. granted it is an 11 year old game technically but it was a great way to close out the year
so i've definitely had my fill this year.
thecrpgbook
Member
I like the idea, not the execution. Felt like an Adventure/CYOA game with the PoE engine glued onto it just because "it's an RPG, so it needs combat, companions,exploration, etc."
2017 is fucking crazy for me. There are several games not even on this list.
The Alliance Alive
Battletech
Call of Cthulhu - The Video Game
Copper Dreams
Cosmic Star Heroine
CrossCode
Death's Gambit
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Dragon Quest VIII
Dragon Quest XI (call me crazy but I think it's a 2017 game)
Dragon Quest Heroes II
Eitr
ELEX
Expeditions: Viking
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
Mage's Initiation
Mass Effect: Andromeda
Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
Nier: Automata
No Truce With the Furies
Pixel Noir
Pyre
Radio The universe
Seven: The Days Long Gone
Shenmue III
South Park: The Fractured But Whole
Torment: Tides of Numenera
Valkyria: Azure Revolution
Vampyr
Vigilantes
Yakuza 0
Yakuza Kiwami
The Alliance Alive
Battletech
Call of Cthulhu - The Video Game
Copper Dreams
Cosmic Star Heroine
CrossCode
Death's Gambit
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Dragon Quest VIII
Dragon Quest XI (call me crazy but I think it's a 2017 game)
Dragon Quest Heroes II
Eitr
ELEX
Expeditions: Viking
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
Mage's Initiation
Mass Effect: Andromeda
Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
Nier: Automata
No Truce With the Furies
Pixel Noir
Pyre
Radio The universe
Seven: The Days Long Gone
Shenmue III
South Park: The Fractured But Whole
Torment: Tides of Numenera
Valkyria: Azure Revolution
Vampyr
Vigilantes
Yakuza 0
Yakuza Kiwami
I wonder if it'll be our best CRPG Renaissance year yet.
I'd love that to be true. Torment and Divinity OS2 have a lot to live up to.
I even have that pre-ordered. there are so many games, I can't even keep track of them.
LurkerPrime
Member
Yeah, 2017 will be awesome. Expeditions: Viking and Persona 5 hyyyppppeeee!
And for DOS2, it has a great foundation; the writing and graphics are wonderful, in particular. If they keep it up the full release will be something special.
And for DOS2, it has a great foundation; the writing and graphics are wonderful, in particular. If they keep it up the full release will be something special.
For sure.
I had a great moment showing the game off to a friend. It involves the black cat.
We had begun to grow fond of it following us. As we were exploring another part of town for the first time, we cross by the western gate, and one of the guards, out of nowhere, shoots his crossbow and kills our cat right in front us. He says something to the effect of "Don't you know you shouldn't let black cats cross in front of you?". My friend and I just stand there in shock. Enraged, he casts a spell at the guard, and we enter combat, and then proceed to be slaughtered.
Beyond that, he really enjoyed the freedom the game allows you to have in almost everything. Unfortunately for him, unless the game gets a Spanish translation, he won't be able to play.
I just realised I didn't play that many games this year, apart from a few which are non-RPG, I played mostly 2016 JRPG releases:
Xanadu Next
Atelier Sophie
Star Ocean 5
Grand Kingdom
Nights of Azure
Trails of Cold Steel II
Final Fantasy X HD Remaster PC
Final Fantasy XV
Two western RPG:
Deus Ex Mankind Divided
Tyranny
And other games I played, including some from previous year plus non-RPG, although I could say that XCOM2 feels like SRPG to me:
Disgaea 5
XCOM2
Until Dawn
Dishonored 2
Ys: The Oath in Felghana
The Last Guardian
Xanadu Next probably has the most intricate level design outside Dishonored 2. I love the choice and consequence of Tyranny. I wish we didn't get railroaded into choosing one or the other faction though. I had huge hopes for Deus Ex MD, but it's somehow considerably shorter and whilst the sandbox elements are good, I felt that the story could've been bigger and Squeenix's DLC practices made it worse. Trails of Cold Steel II could've been a shorter game and toned down its shounen tropes and still be a good game, but regretfully the game lack both.
I'm still playing The Last Guardian and FFXV, which I will probably play for the rest of the year.
Xanadu Next
Atelier Sophie
Star Ocean 5
Grand Kingdom
Nights of Azure
Trails of Cold Steel II
Final Fantasy X HD Remaster PC
Final Fantasy XV
Two western RPG:
Deus Ex Mankind Divided
Tyranny
And other games I played, including some from previous year plus non-RPG, although I could say that XCOM2 feels like SRPG to me:
Disgaea 5
XCOM2
Until Dawn
Dishonored 2
Ys: The Oath in Felghana
The Last Guardian
Xanadu Next probably has the most intricate level design outside Dishonored 2. I love the choice and consequence of Tyranny. I wish we didn't get railroaded into choosing one or the other faction though. I had huge hopes for Deus Ex MD, but it's somehow considerably shorter and whilst the sandbox elements are good, I felt that the story could've been bigger and Squeenix's DLC practices made it worse. Trails of Cold Steel II could've been a shorter game and toned down its shounen tropes and still be a good game, but regretfully the game lack both.
I'm still playing The Last Guardian and FFXV, which I will probably play for the rest of the year.
JustSomeone
Member
It wasn't as good as 2014 and 2015, but it wasn't bad either, with tyranny, deus ex and smt4A being the highlights for me.
Probably VR support for Bard's Tale 4.
You're probably right, although I have to wonder how that would work for a party-based game and its interface, assuming it's not a sloppy implementation.
I'd love to see a dungeon-crawler designed for VR with a focus on environment interactivity, puzzles/secrets, and exploration, but I fear it'll be a while until I see one. They come by so few and far between even outside of VR.
Are there any RPGs that I can finish in one day? Does such a thing exist? I love RPGs but I just don't have time to commit to them anymore. I'd love to play some super short 6 hour-ish RPGs.
Edit - Found this thread: Short RPGs
Edit - Found this thread: Short RPGs
You, I believe this is your destiny.
I could entertain the idea myself, but this would be my first real OT and I'm frankly not sure I would be up to the task. I mean putting some hours / days in a nice thread is one thing, but the whole maintenance side of it is intimidating.
For curiosity's sake, how many games and screenshots can a post contain ? That seem like the first thing to take into account.
Edit - Good Lord at the work Durate has put on these past OT ^_^
For curiosity's sake, how many games and screenshots can a post contain ? That seem like the first thing to take into account.
Edit - Good Lord at the work Durate has put on these past OT ^_^
Scratch that, I can't be sure I will have the time to maintain it all year long.
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