RPGs with the best late game (or even second half)

[Erebus]

Dark Sun : Shattered Lands has pretty even quality from its beginning to its end. But the last few fights make the ending especially good.

Storm of Zehir is a largely terrible game, but the very last dungeon is surprisingly good.

For me it was the opposite. ADwR part 1 was a fascinating urban adventure with little combat but lots of rogue activities: stealth, subterfuge, thievery, espionage, assassinations and a bit of grand politics.

ADwR part 2 on the otter hand is a boring, combat heavy journey through rpg cliches. Underdark, dwarves, drow, illithids. Most of it completely disconnected from the main plot. A terrible waste of potential.

ADwR 2 is highly disappointing. But even the second half of ADwR 1 isn't that great. In part because the creator shoved into it plenty of overly long, pointless parts (here I must resist the urge to make a terrible joke about certain things that tend to happen to the heroine throughout the game). But also because the game is more fun as long as you remain a low-level thief who must avoid combat as much as possible.

 

[Siveon]

Anachronox? More stuff happening, more enviromental variety instead of same alleys and cities...

You're right but that ending.

 

[NatureOfMan]

Dark Sun : Shattered Lands has pretty even quality from its beginning to its end. But the last few fights make the ending especially good.

True. Still nothing beats the beginning of the game. I'd imagine that if I had played the game when it was releasedmy mind would've been blown by the multiple options to escape the arena.

 

[NatureOfMan]

PST

Dunno about that one. I thought that the beginning was very strong and when Curst hit it became less interesting. For me personally the Dead Nations and the Brothel were probably the best parts.

 

[Pots Talos]

The Great Gaias

 

[Tigranes]

PST

Dunno about that one. I thought that the beginning was very strong and when Curst hit it became less interesting. For me personally the Dead Nations and the Brothel were probably the best parts.

PST was famously rushed in areas like Curst, and it's only some of the ending moments like the Incarnations that really bring it back to earlier game quality. Jason Liang, as usual, mixes possibly reasonable arguments with completely nonsensical ones.

 

[ultra loser]

Infinite Space

Dark Souls.

The game is shit anyway, but the second half was so boring that I dropped it, went back after two years and dropped it again.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Beastro]

Ocarina of Time.

I have to agree. Maybe it's because I was just a kid, but I always felt like there was something amazing to look forward to around every corner.

A Link to the Past is much the same.

 

[deuxhero]

Morrowind? Game really takes off when you figure out how to make the best use of your travel options (chaining recall>guild mage>intervention to get to the middle of nowhere quickly. Custom jump spells. Boots of blinding speed.). Combat is pretty broken by then even without exploits (which there are a ton of) though.

Nioh has a fairly strong end-game, but the midgame on both sides of half is relatively lame.

Beastro
The biggest bullshit of LTTP I remember (that boss that doesn't try to kill you, just knock you out of the arena like it was Wario Land) is in the first half, so likely true.

 

[Alec20]

Might and Magic 6 and 7 had really fun 2nd halves too. Getting those laser blasters was like playing a different game.

 

[octavius]

Morrowind?

No. The end game is a joke, and the Sixth House bases were obviously a rush job.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Dark Souls.

The levels become nothing but aesthetically pretty corridors after Anor Londo.
Dark Souls 2 on the other...

Ocarina of Time.

I have to agree. Maybe it's because I was just a kid, but I always felt like there was something amazing to look forward to around every corner.

A Link to the Past is much the same.

If you guys are going to mention a game like Zelda (that isn't even a jRPG) at least mention the one that actually fits this thread's criteria. Majora's Mask.

 

[adddeed]

Contrary to popular opinion, Risen. I liked the fact taht the last chapter was a dungeon crawl, sinc ei could finally use all my learned skills and weapons slaughtering lizards. At that point i had enough of questing and dialogue, so it was fun to beat shit up at the end and be good at it. Unlike the beginning where you were getting beat up by pretty much everyone.

 

[laclongquan]

NWN2 Original Campaign. The last phase was awesome: Siege!!!

Icewind Dale 2: We have a time travel dungeon in the next to last part~ And the last dungeon was awesome as well. Although to be fair, as a tactical game, IWD2 only shine when you have enough tools to do tactics. Early game you dont have that many so the game feel somewhat like a slog (goblin, orcs...) But if you try Heart of Fury mode, for example, the beginning chapters feel much better than normal mode.

Silent Storm, SS Sentinel: The beginning game we are having it easy, being able to do tactic and cream AI. It's when mecha, aka PK, appear that the difficulty curve up~ Just look at the lot of gamers complain noncessantly about "jarring", "incompatible style". Smokescreen, that is. They dare not say they dont know how to do anti-tank tactics~

PST: the many deaths of Ravel fragments. The closure on Deionarra. The final scenes.

 

[vota DC]

Ultima Underworld? I liked mostly the first half because I saw a mellow goblin named Drog but second half is good as well. Too easy? But beginning is easy too.

Most of action rpg are also good in late game.

Anyway few rpg has second half that bother me. New Vegas the last battle because engine but except that second half is good. Deux Ex because lethal/non lethal become irrelevant but that is the only real flaw.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Das Geisterschiff.

Graphics get better, environments become more elaborate, enemies become more deadly, traps become more annoying...

 

[Big Wrangle]

Graphics get better

Does the game look like a PS1 product by the final level?

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Graphics get better

Does the game look like a PS1 product by the final level?

PS1 is too mainstream, real men prefer Sega Saturn.

 

[kmonster]

Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor has a painfully slow start but speeds up and gets more interesting in the second half.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Realms of Arkania HD

 

[Darth Canoli]

Dark Sun : Shattered Lands has pretty even quality from its beginning to its end. But the last few fights make the ending especially good.

I'd add Fallout 1/2 where the very beginning isn't that interesting, mid game is great and late game is good, specially if you change your weapon focus.

 

[Invictus]

Dark Souls.

No way, the game is practically flawless BEFORE you get the Lordvessel... from there it is still good but the good areas like Archives and Tomb of Giants get mixed with so so like New Londo and the terrible Lost Izlith

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

Guess my answer. Believe it or not - Kenshi. I'm 170 hours in and just reaching mid-game a bit by building a base. I still can't explore the dangerous areas, but it's starting to come together with crafting high grade gear, self sufficiently feeding my team, being strong enough to loot ruins and kill security spiders and pull some phat loot out of those areas, collect medium strength bounties and find phat weapons and armor, etc.. It starts to feel good when you've spent so much time building up your team that you can actually survive a little bit. Deal with it.

 

[Harry Easter]

NWN2 Original Campaign. The last phase was awesome: Siege!!!

[...]

Signed. The game gets better the more you play. Same with the story. You just have to give it a chance.

Hmm, Original Sin 2 gets stronger with every hour (except for the last act in the original game, but they ironed it out with the new edition).

Otherwise, hrm ... Echoes of Aetheria begins good and then the story gets better with every minute you play it. The combat gets also better with every fight, too.

I liked the quests in the second half of Divinity 2: Dragon Knight Saga better. Can't tell you why, maybe because I am now a dragon.