Coming back to RPG games.

[Ergonpandilus]

NWN 2 is not a bad choice, though I still think if he wants turn based with whole party management he should play TOEE first.

Definitely!

Temple of Elemental Evil

If turn-based is must, then try Temple of Elemental Evil. Just remember to put Circle of Eight mod, which fixed a LOT of bugs from the original game. I myself discovered ToEE just few months back and I really enjoyed it. Like a hidden gem for me really. Though, you need to tolerate the isometric view, which I doubt if you are looking for a game with fresh look.

SW: Knights of Old Republic series is nice too, but they are more like Science Fiction action-adventure games (like Mass Effects) more than really RPG games.

Yeah, but Drakensang is boring piece of shit with retarded characters and dialogues and over-shiny-next-gen-graphic so I wouldn't recommend this. Dragon Age was mediocre for me but I can see why someone would like it. Anyway there are better games to recommend him.

To the OP: This says more about the poster than about Drakensang, so please ignore it.

Drakensang is one of the more old school RPGs of this time and very recommended.

Yep, that's why I like it so much. It's the only game for years that reminded me of Baldur's Gate.

"Drakensang does not reinvent the wheel, but what it does do, it does very well."

 

[Maylander]

Can't see why getting NWN2 to work should be a problem. I've played it on a wide range of computers and never had any issues. I'd do a little searching on the official forums if I were you.

Personally I was never a huge fan of ToEE. Not enough story. Sure, good combat simulator, but that's not enough for me.

 

[JDR13]

I liked ToEE simply for the fact that it's one of the few D&D games that doesn't take place in the Forgotten Realms. I love FR, but it's nice to play in a different setting once in a while.

 

[Ergonpandilus]

And ToEE applies the D&D 3.5E rules much better than NWN2 in my opinion. And I really liked the graphics design, reminds of Dragonlance. Unfortunately the game is somewhat short for RPG.

 

[wolfing]

ToEE is the best game engine with the worst game 'module' ever made for D&D. I don't know why they chose that one instead of many other much better D&D modules. I didn't like ToEE (the two times I had to play it in PnP and neither the computer version). Seriously, it's just a "hey, you're here, and there's a rumor of a goat that died mysteriously 1 mile east of here", you go there, go down a hatch and just start hacking and slashing your way down without any real goal or backstory.

 

[GothicGothicness]

Try knights of the chalice… if you can stand the graphics. Probably the best turn based D&D combat ever made… and the AI is not stupid!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Zaleukos]

I concur with the suggestions of Drakensang and NWN2 for an old-schoolish feel. Dragon Age (havent played it yet) and Kotor 1/2 also allow party play. The Kotors have fairly mediocre party control mechanics though, even if they in many other ways are similar to NWN2. Good games IMHO but shorter than NWN2 and Drakensang, and much easier.

If you get NWN2 to run properly the SoZ expansion supposedly lets you create your entire party from scratch.

Other than those titles you have to go back to the early 00s, with the infinity engine games and their competitors...

NWN2 worked for me on XP64 so I'm sure it will work on Win64. I personally didn't like the game, so I haven't re-installed it on Win7, but since older games work fine there's no reason this shouldn't.

NWN2 runs fine under 64-bit Win7 Home Premium (on a Core2DUO with a 5670 vid card) at our place. I suspect the issue isnt with Windows.

 

[Konjad]

Definitely!

Is this screenshot from an alpha or something? Because TOEE's graphic looks much better:

 

[Ergonpandilus]

The same, just resolution is different.

 

[Konjad]

No. Your is worse. If you can't see it looking at whole pictures try looking only at character's shadows. Your pic has just some crappy circles under characters, while mine have 'normal', nice looking shadows. You can't just don't see the difference. Colors in your pic don't have that 'deep' in them (they all look pale and I think everything is in 2D). Game in your picture looks more like Arcanum than ToEE.

 

[GothicGothicness]

Different settings? Shadows -> off or some such?

 

[DArtagnan]

Is it really a big deal, though?

The game isn't about visuals and it's so old now, that it won't matter with the details.

But the character shadows in the first image is a lower setting, where you just get a shadow "blob" - and the other images is on a higher setting.

For what it's worth, the game looks pretty good - especially considering the genre. Now, the game itself is another story - except as a good tactical combat engine. I got a real kick out of it, because it has that nostalgia factor - but as a CRPG, I found it SEVERELY lacking.

 

[Prime Junta]

PST and MotB are great games but I wouldn't recommend them for a beginner (well, he already played some old cRPGs but had a very long break). They're just… idk how to say it… 'hardcore' when it comes to atmosphere, dialogues (well PST at least) and story.

I'd say he should play two or three another cRPGs before playing them.

I agree. PS:T is magnificent in terms of narrative and atmosphere, but the learning curve is brutal, and because it's so poorly balanced, you run a real risk of ending up with a squib—a character that's almost unplayable.

 

[Thrasher]

The awkwardness of the NWN 2 UI, installation, and required tweaking would make me rule that one out for someone coming up to speed on the genre.

OTOH, Drakensang out of the box is as solid as a rock. The english manual is very poor though. There weren't even any instructions on how to point the camera!

For turn-based combat and the best implementation of DnD 3.5 ruleset, I'd go with ToEE WITH the Co8 patches that fix the engine/ruleset bugs.

 

[Konjad]

Is it really a big deal, though?

No, it's not a big deal. I asked because I was interested in alpha - if there is any. But he just probably posted first random picture from internet anyway, so nevermind.

 

[Ergonpandilus]

No, it's not a big deal. I asked because I was interested in alpha - if there is any. But he just probably posted first random picture from internet anyway, so nevermind.

Of course I took the first picture I found about it, because the main thing wasn't the graphics nor the picture. I wanted to just put some random picture of ToEE there to see how it generally looks. I don't care if the shadows are on very high, high, medium, low or even OFF! It doesn't make any difference.

But honestly, maybe ToEE isn't THE pearl of cRPGs that we're looking for, if we really want to introduce some great overwhelming roleplaying experience to somebody who is not familiar with recent RPG games. NWN2 neither isn't the perfect RPG. Perhaps Dragon Age would be good, because it's pretty much simplified, easy to understand and looks good.

Note! I don't know in which level the graphics or shadows are set! It just look like a good example of graphics of the game.

 

[dteowner]

DUDE! Iz ALL about da purdy pichurs. If you want to know if a game is any good, you look at screenies. Gameplay is for pussies.

 

[Maylander]

Doesn't change the fact that DA is a good place to start. Not overly complex, excellent graphics, gameplay, decent story, somewhat interesting characters. It's a fairly complete package.

 

[Konjad]

decent story, somewhat interesting characters.

:lol:, especially at story. It has the worst story I've ever seen in cRPG game. Seriously, evil army taking over the world which you have to defend is 'decent'? What the hell, dude?

 

[xSamhainx]

It's not all that bad, if not a bit typical for the genre.

But more than the main storyline, I found that DA's storytelling strengths lie in the sub-quests at the hubs for each civ that you must get to help you in your overall quest. The main quest for the Elves, the Redcliffe section, the Dwarven political situation - it makes for an enjoyable time if youre not simply blasting thru the game asap.